{"id":21290,"date":"2017-02-09T00:10:34","date_gmt":"2017-02-09T08:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lccredding.com\/lcc\/?p=10042"},"modified":"2017-02-09T00:10:34","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T08:10:34","slug":"february-9-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2017\/02\/09\/february-9-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"February 9, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u201cAnd He said to me, \u2018My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.\u2019 Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.\u201d<\/em> 2 Corinthians 12:9<\/span><\/p>\n

Petty Distractions<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

You\u2019ve probably heard the expression when you\u2019ve gotten sidetracked, \u201cI got distracted by shiny objects.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I recently had a sudden change of circumstances which I allowed to get me \u201coff course.\u201d I was being challenged by the need to be a servant in my own home a little more than usual which was going on a little longer than what I thought was fair or necessary. It didn\u2019t take long before I started to spiral down into a \u201cblue funk\u201d of discontent, leading to self-pity, self-centeredness, and resentment, and I was becoming more and more critical. I totally lost sight of the \u201cbig picture\u201d of who I am in Christ and how I am to live to please and honor Him.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the past I would lash out with unkind and hurtful words which would continue the downward spiral into a deeper depressed state, eventually hating myself for it.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I cried out to God, He helped me keep those hurtful words (that were in my thoughts and just under my breath) until I realized what was really going on: spiritual warfare (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). I was allowing the enemy and hater of my soul to distract me with my own fleshly feelings and pettiness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus told His disciples to \u201cWatch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak\u201d<\/em> (Matthew 26:41). Like those disciples, we can also \u201cfall asleep\u201d from our own weariness. \u201cBe sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour\u201d<\/em> (1 Peter 5:8). Our enemy cannot take away our salvation, but we can allow him to make us victims instead of victors!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My life is indeed blessed and I am truly thankful. I have no reason whatsoever to complain or be discontent. I need to see the bigger picture. When I am able to see with an eternal perspective all the many injustices in our world\u2014the persecuted church, human trafficking, our nation\u2019s moral decline, etc.\u2014I have a whole lot more to be about than my little \u201changnail!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFather, even though there are many serious things to pray and be about for Your kingdom\u2019s sake, I\u2019m grateful that You care about my little \u2018hangnails\u2019 as well. Nothing is too small or too big for You. Help me to \u2018press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.\u2019 Amen!\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAnd He said to me, \u2018My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.\u2019 Therefore […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-women"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p92wjD-5xo","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21290\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}