Overcoming Distraction Addiction - Ian Robson

i want to share something with you some thoughts that has come to my own heart in this past week and that is about an addiction now get your minds working there i hope you are paying attention the addiction of destruction somebody has called it the destruction addiction even to get my thoughts together there have been so many things ever happened over the last few days and particularly yesterday to distract me from what god is primarily saying to me so what i'm saying with sharing with you is what god has been speaking to me about distraction and somebody has said in magazine christianity today that the issue of ministering to an overwhelmed and distracted cultures one of the greatest challenges of today's christian church you got that the issue of ministering and that's not just speaking from the pulpit but even in our personal relationship with one another to an overwhelmed and distracted cultures one of the greatest challenges for today's church now i would add to that therefore what peter says we need the prophetic word made more sure as a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts where the morning star where christ takes over completely my mind my attention that i have the mind of christ and the message bible puts that word very nice very well ii peter chapter 1 verse 19 the prophetic word was confirmed to us you'll do well to keep focusing on it it's the one light you have in a dark time i like that it's the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the morning star in your hearts christ in you the hope of glory that is the morning star so therefore what has come to me we have to take up this fight against addiction it's worse than drugs worse than alcohol worse than pornography when you really think about it distraction we get so easily distracted and the bible is literally full of incidents where god could not accomplish his purpose because his people or his servants allowed the devil to distract them and i think that even as i'm speaking now some of you are distracted you're thinking of things that have happened yesterday last week and things that may happen in the future and that is why when we hear the word in the church it doesn't bear fruit in our lives or if it does it's probably very less even less than 30 percent but i hope that the holy spirit will get your attention this morning because it's spoken to my heart and i want to i want to work on it i i look at it as weeds that come up in the garden that we don't pluck them out by the root in the beginning they begin to spread until until the whole garden gets taken over by weeds and that's our mind that's exactly what can happen to us we don't deal with this addiction the addiction of destruction and like i said the bible is full of incidents where god could not accomplish his purpose because his people or his servants chose or allowed themselves to be distracted that's why jesus spoke about mary to martha only one thing is necessary and mary has chosen it martha you're distracted about many things i wonder whether the lord has to say that to you and me this morning put your name there i know he said that to me you're distracted about many things only one thing is necessary mary has chosen it it's a choice my brothers and sisters it's not positive thinking it's a choice and it's a daily choice it's a moment by moment choice i choose not to allow the devil to distract me to shift my focus of what god has for me in my in this one life on earth and paul was so burdened that you know he wrote one corinthians 7 many things there about marriage and and even if you're married and he says then one corinthians 7 verse 35 i want you to look at that word it's a good word that we can keep always keep before us one corinthians 7 35 he speaks about marriage and those who want to get married and those who want to remain unmarried and many things like that but he says here in 1 corinthians 7 35 he says i say this for your own benefit not to put a restraint upon you but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the lord you see that there paul was scripted that paul himself knew but i tell you that we have two wonderful examples in jesus and paul they refuse not to let themselves get distracted from what god had for their life on earth and i want that we really take it seriously my brothers and sisters to deal first of all acknowledge it's an addiction i have acknowledged before god lord i am addicted like i said worse than any other addiction and we need to be cured otherwise we'll be destroyed we'll we'll miss god's purpose that god has for us in this one life in verse 32 of that one corinthians 7 you know he says i want you to be free from concern i want you to be free from concern i want to secure undistracted devotion to the lord and he was afraid you know what would happen to the church in corinth he says in second corinthians you can turn to that word second corinthians chapter 11 a word that we have heard very often here he says there in verse two he says i'm jealous for you without godly jealously for i betrot you to one husband so that to christ i might present you as a pure virgin but i am afraid that as the serpent deceived eve by his craftiness your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to christ your minds will be led astray you know it's when you're led astray it's gradual you don't notice it that's what distraction is it's gradual it slowly moves us away and shifts our focus to other things and usually it's things of the earth and we lose out on what god wants to do in our lives so he says here he says i'm afraid as a serpent deceived eve by his craftiness your minds will be led astray eve was led astray she allowed the devil to distract her and deceive her by his craftiness did god say he aimed for her mind did god really say you should not eat from every tree of the garden and that's where she began to go straight she entered into a conversation with satan and that's how it is my brothers and sisters and that's how the devil can distract you and me and shift our focus every day and we don't notice it the children of israel they got distracted when they saw the giants two men who were focused joshua and caleb the rest the majority allowed themselves to be distracted and literally blind them they missed god's purpose for their life they perished they died in the wilderness only joshua and caleb made it through it's always a minority the devil used peter to try and distract jesus from going the way of the cross because his mind was set on man's interest and not on god's interests and so jesus had to say to him get behind me satan because you your mind is set on man's interest not on god's interests remember that my brothers and sisters if my mind is set on god's interests then the devil has a hold and he can easily move me away and steer me away from the purpose and path that god has for your life and mind when we set our mind on man's interests we have to do our jobs we go to work we your sisters have to do work in the home send your children to school and many things keep keep home and look after your husband your children and many things all of us have to do but like we heard brother zach say should be like a rubber band you know we do it we back again in focus but i'm sorry to say that that rubber band becomes slack you know like rubber bands after a period of time they become slack so they don't go back and that's what happens with most of us and the devil succeeds in distracting us from whatever it is it's daily things you know you can decide no i must write that email and so many other things you open the internet and your attention is taken up here taken up there something interesting comes up you've got all these things popping up you decide to go and maybe help somebody who's discouraged and think but you put it off and there are other things other things that occupy your attention all the time every day 24x7 this is the battle we are fighting it's an addiction if i acknowledge it's an addiction and i have to deal with it and i have to be cured of this did this addiction then there is hope demons he was distracted he loved the present world paul says and he deserted paul he missed god's purpose altogether and somebody has said you know who's written a book on distraction addiction he says one of the devil's greatest tools is distraction it's a devastating weapon the devil may smile every time we disobey god blatantly but he's just as pleased when he lures us into meaningless distraction and he says distraction is the enemy of focus and clarity two components necessary to lead a spiritual life or to lead a godly life distraction is the enemy of focus and clarity clarity means you see things clearly to be focused distraction is the enemy of both these two components he says necessary to live a godly life and he goes on to say is there i wonder any great thing that can be done when you're constantly distracted can distracted people change the world write the great american novel solve big problems deepen their faith i think not which is one reason i wrote the book distraction addiction the battle is for our minds my brothers and sisters let's recognize that the devil is not so much interested in leading you into some gross sin like adultery or pornography if you're not indulging in it he's not all the time trying to get you there even though you may go to the internet the devil's greatest tool which he uses very successfully is distraction i have come to recognize it but like i said i've begun to see it as weeds which have to be plucked out root by root otherwise they grow again and i've been crying out to god lord help me david in psalm 50 says i'm solely distracted because you faced a problem with his enemies there and is that the case with some of us we are solely distracted things that have happened things that we think are going to happen we think about our children we think about you know what the future is going to be and so many things we worry about and we don't take worry and anxieties seriously and so we get distracted this man wrote this book you know alex bang says connection is inevitable distraction is a choice connection is inevitable apply it to anything not only to the internet connection is inevitable but distraction is a choice and in every day everything we connect with people we connect different things it's inevitable we get connected but distraction is a choice i i make that choice and i have to choose that i'm not going to allow the devil to distract me what we the memory verse that we had god has begun a good work in you and me and he will complete it but i can be god can be hindered because i'm distracted do you know that i can't just hold on to that word and say that god has begun a good work in me and he will perfect it he will not leave it incomplete god will say to me on that day i wanted to complete the work in you but you were so distracted you were so distracted about many things i couldn't complete what i started in you do you recognize that my brothers and sisters let's not deceive ourselves you know we can we can have virtual reality we can heaven we are in an illusion oh you know god has promised he's begun a good work in me he will complete it he will not let me drown he will not leave it unfinished but the lord will say to me on that day i wanted to complete that work ian but you were so distracted may not me my brothers and sisters we have the scriptures to guide us to get us focused and jesus is the best example i want you to look at this i want you to think of two scriptures isaiah 50. jesus is an example of focus not getting distracted in philippians 3 paul two excellent examples and here's what we what the holy spirit says about here in about jesus in isaiah 50. listen to it we have heard it many times this word but now think of it in time in in context of what we are talking about of being distracted you'll see it here it says verse 4 isaiah 50 verse 4 the lord god has given me the tongue of disciples that i may know how to sustain the weary one with a word he awakens me morning by morning he awakens my ear to listen as a disciple the lord god has opened my ear and i was not disobedient nor did i turn back i gave my back to those who strike me and my cheeks to those who pluck out the beard this is jesus i did not cover my face from humiliation and spitting for the lord god helps me therefore i am not disgraced therefore and this is a word i want to underline for us therefore i have set my face like flint and i know i will not be ashamed he who vindicates me is near who will contend with me let us stand up to each other who has a case against me and that isaiah is prophesying about jesus i've set my face as a flint we read in the gospels i i can't remember the reference that the disciples were so scared when they saw jesus so focused set to go to jerusalem he set his face steadfastly to go to jerusalem and that's what isaiah prophesied about him i've set my face like a flint flint is a stone a sharp stone so sharp you know you can cut whether they made knives in in the stone age with flint stone i've set my face as a flint i know i will not be ashamed that's how it must be with you and me i will not be ashamed i will be focused i've set my face as a flint paul like i said is another excellent example you look at philippians 3 when you get time i would encourage you to meditate on these two passages of scripture i really believe it will help us to pluck out the weeds to get focused philippians 3 verses 7 to 14. paul says there whatever things were gained to me those things i have counted as lost for the sake of christ more than that i count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing christ jesus my lord for whom i have suffered the loss of all things notice that there all things has lost and not just in his mind he counted everything as loss he said i've suffered the loss of all things you know it's one thing to think about these things and to preach about it with another thing when we face the reality to suffer the loss of all things and he says count them but rubbish but dogs dung so that i may gain christ may be found in him not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law but that is which is through faith in christ the righteousness which comes from god on the basis of faith that i may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death in order that i may attain to the resurrection from the dead not that i have already obtained it or have already become perfect but i press on you know is focused i press on so that i may lay hold of that which also i was laid hold of by christ not an illusion it's not a mirage it's real i press on because christ has laid hold of me for something so i press on he says brethren i don't regret myself as having laid hold of it yet but one thing i do forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead i press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of god in christ jesus what a man i hope we are challenged with what we read in isaiah 50 and what we read in philippians 3 about jesus and about paul men who were focused never allowed the devil to distract them paul was willing to lose all his coworkers and i thank god that we have a brother in our midst as an example not just jesus and paul but brother zach i've seen it focused not easy to find men like that my brothers and sisters and we don't value them when they live among us men who are focused who are willing to suffer the loss of all things and not just willing but we've seen it and like paul paul was willing to lose even if he had to stand alone he says the lord stood by me and strengthened me that's how focused we must be and it's not just jesus and paul and brother zak it's you and me do you think it's only for such ones god wants to raise up many more among us for this next generation young men and young women who are focused will not allow the devil to distract them or so full of the holy spirit god has spoken powerfully to my heart and i tell you it was a challenge putting my thoughts together i was so distracted i cried to the lord lord i'm distracted i know you're saying something to me and i want to share it with my brothers and sisters but so many things are distracting me please help me and i believe he will help me and he will help you a lot of things that distract you my brothers and sisters a lot of things that happen in your home in your life things with your family with your wife with your children and you're distracted like jesus said you're so distracted about many things one thing only one thing is necessary mary has chosen it will you make that choice my brothers and sisters i've made mine and god helping me i want to keep it to listen that's what he said to me mata yo you are distracted but many things only one thing is necessary can we put that before us all the time only one thing is necessary mary has chosen it so how do we fight distraction here we have examples and thank god we have some examples in our midst let's follow them let's pray and ask the lord to give us the holy spirit and all his fullness like in the beginning it drives me to tears to say lord we are drifting it's not like it was in the beginning it really breaks my heart when i see lord how where are we heading as a church we just gathering people who are distracted about many things or not gripped like it was in the beginning with a few of us may the lord bring a revival my brothers and sisters may god touch your heart and touch your spirit and mind revive us we are drifting the devil is leading us astray from simplicity and purity of devotion to christ recognize it our minds are being led astray he's not leading us into some gross sins i tell you it is something that he wants to do in cfc is to lead our minds astray from simple pure devotion to christ getting us occupied with many other things firstly it has to do with our minds the four things i want to share with you quickly it has to do with our minds we have to set our minds on god's interests and not man's we have to do what the holy spirit tells us to do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds that's the only way it's not positive thinking it's not hearing a message and hearing things like this and i'm going to decide i'm going to set my mind on god's interest i tell you my brothers and sisters you walk out of the door you'll fail i've recognized it the only way is to let the holy spirit come upon me like he did in the beginning and continue changing me like he did in the beginning changing my mind renewing my mind helping me not to let the world squeeze me into its mould not be conformed to the world but to be transformed by the renewing of my mind that i may like it says in romans 12 2 that's what i'm quoting you prove what the acceptable will of god is that which is good and perfect acceptable good and perfect only the holy spirit can do that and if i let the lord begin today i will i will get focused again i'll be gripped again like it was in the beginning and i want to do that at least in my life i don't know how much time i have left but lord i said i want to come back come back to that first love come back to that place where nothing else mattered we just wanted to live for you and serve your purpose jesus said 12 years says i must be about my father's business he told his parents at 12 years i must be about my father's business see how early he got focused you young people some of you i think they're going to sunday school or maybe they're still there yeah sunday school children are here you 12 year olds you can get focused jesus at your age if you're 12 said i must be about my father's business do you not know that i must be about my father's business it challenges me that's how he grew up you teenagers will you let the holy spirit take hold of your mind don't just wait to get into that tank but before you get into the tank say lord jesus baptize me in the holy spirit and fire change me i don't need to get into that tank you can do it before i get into that tank and be baptized it's good to obey the lord in the waters of baptism but lord i need the baptism of the holy spirit desperately i want to say to you those of you who are planning to be baptized otherwise you're going just going to add to this number you're going to just add to the whole not a number of people who are distracted i want to tell you i really believe that most of us very few among us have really taken it seriously to fight distraction to fight this addiction and if you've never seen it as addiction i hope you'll see it this morning an addiction that you need to overcome that you need to be free from worse than any other diction that you can think about i have no doubt about it since i've got light on this and since god has been speaking to me it's the devil's greatest tool that is using very successfully among god's people i'm not talking about all the nominal christians i'm talking about god's people god's family who was jesus speaking to a family to martha who were disciples you are distracted about many things only one thing is necessary and that's the second thing choose the only one thing necessary it's a choice it's not something that i i decide yes i think that's i will do that i have to make a choice and i tell you my brothers and sisters and it's not just it's not just in uh in this meeting when you walk over through that door there are choices that you're going to have to make to choose the one thing necessary you cannot do anything about yesterday you made wrong choices you cannot do anything about last year you failed you messed up you can do something but today you can't do anything about tomorrow but today is the day of salvation today if you hear my voice god says don't harden your heart today when god speaks to me as i go out from church today that's not necessary you can do that some other time i want you to listen to me i tell you my brothers and sisters if we really take that seriously i god can do a work in a very short time in your life and mind we can contribute we can stem if i would use the word stem the decay and corruption that is entering cfc we can stem it if we are willing to choose the one thing necessary in our use of the internet these social websites you hear god speak to you messaging whatsapp messages back and forth back and forth and good morning you get a message and something nice some versus scripture i had to tell one sister please i don't have time to read those stops sending it to me and wakes me up at two o'clock in the morning because she's in some other country and we think we're serving god we're fulfilling god's purpose sending these messages these texts wasting time meaningless you know this is what this man said in christianity today he says he discusses another problem minor distractions constant tweeting text messages calendar reminders anxiety laced news take us away from the stillness needed to seek god you really realize that you think yeah i'm sending something scriptural i'm sending a promise and god says i want to speak to you will you choose the one thing necessary you can you can send that afterwards i have something to say to you you know what jesus said to simon i have something to say to you you're quick to judge that woman simon i have something to say to you and god says to you and me i have something to say to you and just stop for a moment don't get distracted choose the one thing necessary my brothers and sisters to listen listen as a disciple that word we read in isaiah 50 he says the lord god has opened my ear in psalm that's that's from psalm 40 the lord has pierced my ear to listen and you go back to an incident in the old testament with a slave after he served seven years and he could be free he said no i don't want to go i love my master i love my wife and my children i want to stay and it was the law in those in in that time he's taken to the doorpost of his master's house and his ear was pierced with an awl you know what the shoemaker uses to stitch within all his hero spears now they do it with a gun and uh ladies as well as men want to wear these things for i for whatever reason i don't know it's okay for ladies but i don't know why men have to have it it really perplexes me i don't left here right here there's some left here something right here something oh i tell you all kinds of things let's get our ears pierced by the holy spirit my brothers and sisters i want mine pierced so i can listen as a disciple and be focused that's the third thing stay focused paul says one thing i do forget what lies behind reach forward press forward to what is before like i said you cannot do anything but yesterday don't worry about tomorrow worry and anxiety our sins that you and i have to constantly confess and repent of that's the only way i get victory from worry and anxiety you can't do anything about tomorrow by worrying about next year about your children's future marriage all these things why do you worry like that song says when you can pray one thing forget what lies behind be free from concern press on paul says toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of god in christ jesus and the last thing we must have clarity i told you distraction robs us of focus and clarity in fulfilling the purpose of god for our lives to have clear vision to see all things clearly not just men as trees walking lord i want to see clearly touch me a second time if need me i want to see clearly to have clear goals and clear priorities and clear values you know who you are and where you're headed who you are i'm a son and a daughter of the living god lord god of heaven and earth we heard father i can call him but he's lord god of heaven and earth i know who i am and where i'm heading that's what it is to have clarity and to be like what it says of jesus i am not disgraced i've set my face like a flint i know i will not be ashamed may god really help us my brothers and sisters i've shared with you what god has been speaking to my heart because i've like i said we contribute to the direction this church takes we have a whole lot of distracted people we will be a distracted church like we see around us many other things have taken the place of what of what jesus wants for his church and i would leave with you finally one peter 1 13 a word that you can think of i read it to you from the message bible it says so roll up your sleeves you got it you're getting into action put your mind in gear be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when jesus is right arrives don't lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil doing just what you like doing you didn't know any better then you do now as obedient children let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by god's life a life energetic and blazing with holiness because god said i am holy you be holy that is god's purpose for your life and mine let's really seek god to be cured of this addiction distraction lord begin this morning i yield my life to you baptize me afresh with the holy spirit so that i can get focused i can be like you lord jesus i set my face like a flint so that you can fulfill complete the work that you have begun in my life that i would not have to say to hear at the end of my days i wanted it to complete but you didn't let me you were distracted about many things you didn't choose the one thing necessary when we make that choice now maybe we can borrow hits for a moment and if god has spoken to your heart say lord i want to be cured of this addiction i've been solely distracted distracted about many things but i want to get focus from today i cannot do it in my own strength give me the holy spirit lord pour out your holy spirit upon us as a church we need we need a renewal we need a baptism of fire i pray that you will meet with us meet with me because we have a needy world around us help us to be like you help us to be like the examples of those who have accomplished your purpose we ask in jesus name amen

Channel: CFC India

Views: 6,835

Rating: 4.9466667 out of 5

Keywords: zac poonen cfc Christian Fellowship Church Church Fellowship Christian Zac Poonen, Sermons, CFC

Id: ubXr6Uo495c

Length: 40min 32sec (2432 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 20 2021