HOCUS; FOCUS!
Sunday’s Monday
I have something I was given many years ago and I think it truly fits in with this world's current situation. Very early one morning on my way to work I received this insight of truth, “Satan cannot stop God from answering our prayers, ergo his only option is to stop us from praying.” A few years ago, God gave me this fact “Satan is the master of misdirection (the hocus), he scatters our thoughts during our prayer time to misconstrue (our focus) and rape our time spent alone with God.” Today it is obvious, that people’s overall focus is turned to what is happening all over the world, which has created the perfect pandemic of misinformation, fearmongering, and distractions. It is highly feasible and brazenly prophesied in the bible that Satan and his cronies will grow the people in confusion to aid in the hocus of scattering our focused time with Jesus. Satan knows that our faith, and fortitude are built through the time we spend maintaining a relationship of love and trust with Jesus. It helps me to be reminded that Satan has but one desire and that is to steal, kill, and destroy our joy in Jesus. Satan knows exactly how to throw the hocus to my focus. (Note) dictionary.com; hocus: to play a trick on; hoax; cheat: to stupefy with drugged liquor.
God’s word explains concerns of such in 2 Corinthians 11:3 (NLT), But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. Distracted from God’s instructions, Eve’s thoughts and desires became fixed on the fruit of the tree of life and her resolve in God became frail, and while suffering a hocused moment of focus she collapsed committing man’s first sin. In Genesis 3: we find that (Eve) ate of the Tree of knowledge; her guilt led her to persuade (Adam) to eat of the fruit. The Bible doesn’t elaborate but one is left with the thought that Adam momentarily placed his focus on his helper and joined her in sin. He was distracted from his purpose of pleasing God and disobeyed God's only rule for them at that time. I recently heard this on an old TV show that bears repeating, “You may like them too much, to know them.” (Let this sink in for a moment)! I have had many spiritual backsets because I chose to like people who were not good for who God wanted me to become.
For thousands of years, Satan has worked hard at perfecting his art of hocus to our focus. His now you believe it, now you don’t, distraction is his greatest tool against us. Many Christians today are living a fraudulent blissful life based on half-truths and lies humanly distorted from God’s written word. Here’s a quick example, God helps those who help themselves is often quoted as a bible verse but it isn’t written in the bible, or money is the root of all evil, happens to be missing several keywords: 1 Timothy 6:10 (NLT), For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. I heard such as these for so many years that I became indoctrinated with misquotes as truth. Then the day came when my indoctrination was placed under God’s light and the examination was on. I found I had a lot of bad information that had to go. As well I learned, teachings ain’t easy to overcome, and I found they will not go cheap! But God has made a way through Jesus and His Holy Spirit!
All too often Christians fail from the distraction and confusion fueled by those early years of misinformation! As human reasoning collided with spiritual truth it set my inner being on fire, for authenticating what I believed to be the truth. No more excuses to cover my dinky little comfortable lifestyle, “that party had to end” for me to be that Christian God chose. I invested heavily in prayer and the study of God’s word, as well I spent a lot of time with people who knew the truth and were willing to share it. I watched the scales fall from my eyes as the light of God’s truth flooded all through me. I followed the writings in Ephesians 5:15-17 (NLT), 15 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
My prayer is taken from Luke 10:42 (NLT), “There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” Teach us that loving Jesus with all our heart, is our top priority and the rest will fall in place. Amen
HAVE A BLESSED WEEK BY BEING A BLESSING TO OTHERS!
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