Be Aware

We have walked many paths together on our journey from the ashes.

Some days, we had to work so hard to crawl up and out of the mucky pits we found ourselves in.

On other days, we survived by barely clinging to God and resting in His strength.

On the most difficult days, we were desperately aware of our need for God and prayed fervently for His help.

Then, there are the days that are calm and without strife or fear.

Those easy, breezy days string together in our memory and often go unnoticed.

We get cocky and lose sight of God as we "get back to normal."

We get distracted and fall back into our old habits and patterns of self-absorption and distraction.

That's precisely where the devil wants us.

Off-guard.

God is reminding us today that we must always be aware and keep watch for things that pull us away from Him.

Beloved, beware!

Whoa. I never noticed the connection between being aware and beware.

Beloved - beware of the temptation to shift your focus away from God.  

Be aware of sneaky attacks trying to trigger you to fall back.

The devil knows your soft spots. Here's just a few of mine:

Ego - pride

Ego - insecurity

Comparison

Fear

Busyness

Control

That jerk-face devil knows my areas of weakness, and if I'm not mindful and on alert, he can trigger me, and boom - I'm walking back to my old ways.

Not today, Satan, not today.

We must be mindful and aware of our thoughts and stay as close to God as possible - nose to nose- so we don't get distracted.

We are the beloved children of God, and He has many awesome things for us to do and enjoy.  

We ain't got time for any of that nonsense anymore.

We are well aware of what that pit was like, and as God is our witness, we are not going back!

1 Peter 5:8

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

1 Corinthians 3:16

Do you not know and understand that you [the church] are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells [permanently] in you [collectively and individually]? 

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.