Gloria Copeland has an excellent message in today's "From Faith To Faith " devotional!
The cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless. Mark 4:19 The Amplified Bible
Did you know that the seemingly innocent things in your everyday life can suffocate your spiritual life if you allow it? A friend of mine said the Lord told her in prayer one day that this nation had become a nation of maintenance men. You have so many things to maintain, He told her. You maintain your house. You maintain your car, your yard, your machines, your hair....
It’s true. You can become a maintainer of so many natural things that you don’t have any time left to maintain your own spirit! When you find yourself in that situation, it’s time to simplify your life. I’ve had to learn that myself. Now when I’m considering something I think I need, I don’t just count the cost in dollars and cents. I think about how much time it will take to maintain it. I check to see if I can spiritually afford it.
Second Timothy 2:4 tells us not to get entangled in the affairs of this life. One thing I’ve learned over the last 45 years: Nothing is as important as spending time in prayer and in the Word with the Father. Absolutely nothing in my life is as vital as that.
AMEN! Pastor Bill Novak of The Spoken Word Church has shared many times over the years that some have come for prayer and counseling to receive healing, a job, a better job with better benefits, or any number of other needs. He has taught them the Word of God and how to operate in faith for what they needed. They became diligent in the Word until their faith became strong and the favor of God brought into their lives what they had been believing for. After a time, the job, the things that were able to be purchased with the financial prosperity, the GOOD things that God blessed them with, began to take priority over the Word of God, fellowship with God and their local church. If they did not make the necessary adjustments, they soon lost what God had blessed them with, and even more than they had before! Many left church and the Word and went back into the world and its ways! Be diligent to count the cost before you add THINGS into your life! Maintain your 'First Love' at all costs! You DO want to hear "Well done, good and faithful servant" one day, AND to enjoy God's presence and purpose here, in this life! AMEN! Here is Hillsong Worship with "One Thing":Shalom in Him!
