Be On The Lookout...
One of the passages in our SOUL Journal reading today was Acts 6. I was struck by the unceasing work of Satan to try and destroy God’s church. First he tried persecution, as we read in chapters four and five, but instead of destroying the believers it only had the effect of encouraging them and the church grew faster. So Satan tried a different tactic, he looked to destroy the church by introducing sin into the body through Ananias and Sapphira, but God, through the Holy Spirit dealt with the sin quickly and decisively. In chapter 6 we see another of the tactics Satan uses to divide, he stirred up dissension within the church. He used perceived offenses to cause division.
Truth is Satan uses these tactics still today. Persecution, corruption and dissension are all ways today that cause God’s people to be distracted and lose heart. A church that is filled with internal conflict spend all their time and emotional energy on that rather than on the mission at hand because any church focused on itself will not be focused on reaching lost people and even when people become Christ-followers what kind of family will they find themselves in - certainly not one that would help them become fully devoted followers of Christ.
May I encourage you this week to be on the lookout for these tactics of the enemy. He desires to distract us and deter us from fulfilling our mission of multiplying Christ-followers everywhere. Whether you fully believe it or not, this is your highest mission priority as a child of God. Don’t let hard times, sinful decisions and dissension derail you.