How to Stand Against the Devil’s Schemes

10/28/21 – 10/31/21

Our Focus in Life

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  10/31/21

When we understand that the enemy is sly and that he attacks us from many different angles, we will be able to fend him off much better.

Maybe your marriage has become rocky or you are facing financial problems. Maybe you have stopped going to church because you were hurt by someone there. Maybe you have experienced the pain of losing a loved one who died unexpectedly.

If we hold on to the hand of God through life’s most difficult trials, we have not escaped sin’s assault on our soul just yet. In an attempt to quench our passion for God and slowly steal away our intimacy with the Lord, the enemy will try to lure our focus and attention elsewhere. He may tempt you to think of things that are not overtly sinful but that distract you from your hope and stay—the Lord. When we take our eyes off God, our strength, we can lose our way and stumble down a destructive path.

We must be diligent to rid our lives of things that divert our eyes from Christ. Is desiring to have a better life sinful? No, it is not. However, when our goal in life becomes an upgraded lifestyle, shifting us away from God, it does become sinful.

Throughout life, we are faced with numerous decisions, many of which are costly by the world’s standards if the right decision is made. Yet, nothing in life will ever be as satisfying as following the Lord.

No matter how many good things we obtain in life, no matter how many promotions we get or fame and popularity we achieve, these things pale in comparison to the hope and joy we experience in relationship with Christ.

Prayer: Lord, help me to keep my focus on You and You alone. Thank You for Your hope and joy. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3).