Taking your eyes off God.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:3 we are told that Christ will return after the Anti-Christ comes to power and a 'falling away' has happened. The falling away referred to is a description of Christians falling away from their faith in Christ and God. There will come a time when people will start to look for answers without God, they will look to man for help. This is when the Anti-Christ will rise; on the back of this humanistic search for answers.

3. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

This falling away is already starting today, in the hearts of individuals in the Church. With the lack of teaching and stability in Churches people are being easily tempted, they don't have the Word to fall back on as it isn't being taught; their faith is still immature and so easily corrupted. When Jesus was tempted what did He do? He quoted the Word, He used God to fight Satan. We don't have the power in ourselves, but in God we do.

I would like to show in three points what happens when you forget about God and that's what it comes down to, you forget, you give up, you don't actively seek to know more about God. While the Church has to take some responsibility, when it comes down to it, and you stand before God to give an account, you will have no excuses as to why YOU gave up.

We all know the excuses, your life gets busy, your family needs you or you just can't be bothered any more. This first step is a symptom of Sin undermining your faith, and if left unchecked can take you fully away from God and the promise of eternal life. If you believe in 'once saved, always saved' then think again, it is quite clear in scripture that if you turn from God then you are no longer in the promise.

It doesn't take much for you to turn away, but the result is devastating to your life. Let's look at the results of taking your eyes of Christ Jesus.

1. A hardening of the heart. You no longer have the ability to understand.

Titus tells us that that the heart is the centre for our faith, if we have a pure heart then everything else falls into place but if we allow our hearst to be hardened or corrupted then the whole foundations of our faith start to crumble.

Titus 1:15:

15. Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are defiled.

Matthew 5:8 / 6:21 / 12:35;

8. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

21. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

35. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

As we read in the verses in Matthew the heart is a very precious thing, and we aren't just talking about the lump of muscle pumping your blood round, although this is equally important to a long and happy life.

From these verses we see that what you build your foundations on will determine how you act; your inner condition will be seen outwardly because you have Christ in you. Similarly, if you have Sin in your heart then you will outwardly display the results of these foundations which will be wickedness, selfishness, and evil.

Matthew 15:19

19. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all other sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.

Mark 7:20

20. For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,

If your heart isn't right with God then don't expect God to be right with you. Without Christ in your heart your understanding will be nonexistent, you will not be able to fully take part in worship or meaningful prayer. Without a right heart you are on a very slippery slope to destruction.

Acts 8:21

21. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.

This is quite clear, if your heart is wrong then you need to sort yourself out. To get rid of the wickedness you need to repent, to ask forgiveness to put God back in first place in your heart. Even unbelief is considered to be evil, if something doesn't come from God, then who does it come from? You are either for God or against God. If you are against God then you are by default, for Satan.

Hebrews 3:12-14

12 Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.
13 You must warn each other every day, as long as it is called "today," so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.
14 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.

Keeping your heart on the right track is not a once and for all event, it is a walk which requires constant effort, and sometimes we need the help of others.

God will protect you and keep you, if you protect and keep Him in your hearts. Put Him first and nurture your faith in Christ and He will fulfil His promise.

Philippians 4:7

7. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

If you ignore the state of your heart, if you don't look after it, then as in life, you will start to suffer with problems, you will slow down, you will find it hard to move, your whole body will be affected. If left unchecked eventually, you will die.

Don't let the words of Ephesians be a tribute to your life. Get your heart right with God or suffer the consequences.

Ephesians 4:18

18. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

2. A Reorganisation of your mind and your thoughts, your direction.

Initially, and in small steps, you find that God stops being first in your life, your thoughts are on other things and your primary goal is not pleasing God anymore but pleasing yourself, doing things that suit you.

Colossians 3:2

2, Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth.

It is hard sometimes to keep the cares and worries of the world in check, to not allow them to crowd our mind and overrun our thoughts. It is sometimes easier said than done, but it is something we must do if we are going to be effective for God and allow God to be effective in us.

In Colossians 1:21 we see that by allowing the thoughts of the world to rule us and shape our thoughts and actions we become enemies of God. Not because God has fallen out with us but because we have fallen out with Him. Our thoughts and actions, moved us from the will of God.

Colossians 1:21

21. This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions,

What is important to see here is that it is not just thoughts alone but putting those thoughts into action which separates us from God. Having a bad thought in itself is not a Sin but putting it into action takes us into Sin. If we can 'sort the thought' then we can 'kill the sin'.

Ephesians 4:23

23. And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude],

Changing your mind or thoughts doesn't come naturally to us because we are just that; natural and earthly, and our default setting is to be natural and earthly. If we want to change then there must be an upgrade that takes place, a 'patch' to our default operating system, if you want to liken it to a computer.

Only God can provide us with this 'patch', this 'upgrade' allowing our thoughts to be lifted from the earthly to the spiritual. We can not by our own power change our nature, it is beyond our ability, but by having Christ in us we have the ability and power to subdue the earthly nature, desires and thoughts.

It is a continual walk, or work to keep our thoughts in line, to only look at the things that are pure, to feed the good and not the potential for evil in our minds. Spiritual renewal does not get rid of the ability to Sin or think bad thoughts, it just reorganises our mind and puts things in the right order through and with the power of Christ.

Philippians 4:8

8. And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Even with a renewed mind or 'patch' from God it doesn't mean that we will never have a bad thought again. We are human and until that day when we are transformed from our sinful bodies to our new spiritual bodies, we will always be subject to temptation and Sin.

We must actively look for the good and honourable things and stay away from everything which might lead us back to that old way of thinking. It comes easy to us, to do wrong, to follow the desires of our thoughts which are fuelled by our nature. If we allow our nature to come to the forefront of our thoughts then we set ourselves up for failure.

Galatians 5:19

19. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure,

The scripture is quite clear that whatever you look for, what you desire above everything, that thing will dominate your thoughts and heart. That one thing will drive your life and direction. If it is bad then your direction will be bad and likewise if it's good then your direction will be good.

Luke 12:34

34. Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be.

Don't despair though, God is a forgiving God and He knows we fail. In Acts we are told to pray for forgiveness. The scripture does look a little worrying as it mentions that 'perhaps' God will forgive you but this has to be taken in context. The message is clear on this occasion that someone wanted something from God and thought they could pay for it.

Peter saw that their thoughts were wrong and they needed forgiveness, but also that 'perhaps' even asking for forgiveness wouldn't have been enough for them because they probably wouldn't have meant it.

Acts 8:22

22. Turn from your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts,

If, however, you do mean it and ask Christ to come into your life and help you, then there will be no 'perhaps' about it; Christ will give you the foundation on which you can start to change your life and build up on all things good.

Ephesians 3:17

17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

3. A removal of the fear of God and your love for God.

A consequence of putting God second is that eventually you start to put God in the 'god' pigeon hole; what I mean by this is that you demote the one and only God to being the same as one of the other religious gods out there. The Jews did this in Malachi and God warned them to wake up or suffer the consequences.

They got into a safe position where everything was ticking along fine, they didn't need God to get them out of any problems, they were doing just great, and so the rules and regulations prescribed in the Law started to become tiresome, they did things out of habit rather than love and devotion and, eventually, they started to break rules and pretend it didn't matter. They not only lost their love but also lost the fear for God.

God doesn't want blind obedience based on a quivering fear, he wants obedience based on love. The fear is based on a healthy respect from knowing who God is.

Philippians 2:12

12. Dearest friends, you were always so careful to follow my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away you must be even more careful to put into action God's saving work in your lives, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.

It can seem contradictory when you read the scriptures; we are told to fear God but then told not to fear God. The following two verses are prime examples. Revelation 14:7, 1 John 4:18

7. "Fear God," he shouted. "Give glory to him. For the time has come when he will sit as judge. Worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all the springs of water."

18. Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that his love has not been perfected in us.

So what is it to be, do we fear or not? The simple answer is yes, but in a healthy way. 1 Peter 1:17

17. And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favourites when he judges. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as foreigners here on earth.

Unlike our worldly experiences where it's who you know, not what you know, and we can sometimes get away with a lot through favouritism, unfortunately, as we have just read God doesn't work like that, He treats everyone the same which means you can't ignore Him all your life then hope that in the last minute you can flutter your eyelashes or cross his palm with silver and forgo the final judgement.

Hebrews 9:27.

27 And just as it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment,

If anything should be feared it is the final judgement, especially if you haven't got Christ in you. To have Christ in you and the love of God doesn't mean you have a free pass at the judgement, it doesn't mean God will look on you any different to anyone else. As we read in 1 Peter 1:17 God has no favourites. What we do have is God's promise of eternal life present in our lives and Christ making sure we inherit this promise if we love God and take on board His will for us.

God doesn't want us to be so scared of Him that we distance ourselves from Him, He doesn't want us to be fearful in case we upset Him, He wants us to love Him, and with that love comes respect and reverence for who and what He is. You cant help but fear and respect God when you come close to Him, but the overwhelming feeling is that of love, because of what He's done and is doing in our lives.

1 Peter 2:17

17. Show respect for everyone. Love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God. Show respect for the king.

Respect is the key to a healthy fear, a fear that does not keep us from God but brings us closer. We know God could destroy the world and everything in it with one word, but we also know He won't because He loves us and promised us eternal life. This knowledge of God changes our timid fear into a holy fear, one which builds our character rather than destroys it.

Hebrews 12:28

28. Since we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be destroyed, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.

God wants us to be strong but not a bully, nor someone who is 'fearless', a state which is very dangerous. A healthy fear keeps us on the right path, in our terrestrial life just as much as with our spiritual life.

2 Timothy 1:7

7. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

To lose your fear means you lose your guidelines, your conscience and your boundaries. If you don't fear anything then everything is open to abuse. With a love and healthy fear of God in our hearts we may live a restrained life but it will be a healthy life, a rich and full life and a life which is eternal.

Romans 3:18

18. "They have no fear of God to restrain them."

Remember the two thieves being crucified with Jesus, one turned to the other and asked even at that time, when they were facing certain death, 'don't you fear God'? He didn't and will face God in the final judgement, while the other did and Jesus saw his heart, and in those last minutes of his life the thief found a fear and respect for God which ultimately saved him and he entered eternity with Jesus.

Luke 23:39

39. But the other criminal protested, "Don't you fear God even when you are dying?"

In those closing moments of life one man saw the error of his ways and the other carried on regardless, one had fear and respect and the other had neither. One was saved and the other was lost.

Luke 12:4,5

4 "Dear friends, don't be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill the body; they cannot do any more to you.
5 But I'll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill people and then throw them into hell.

We don't have the imminent threat of death over us like the thief did so it's hard sometimes to see why we should fear and respect God. We live from day to day, and for the most of us, in relative comfort so the thought of eternity seems far away.

This shouldn't stop us having respect for God, especially if we say we love Him, for all He's done, for who He is, for our good life. But we don't. We forget to thank Him on one day, then two, then three, then before we know it we've forgotten for a month. If we truly love God and respect Him and fear Him then how could we forget Him at all?

Conclusion

Living a life for Christ is not a simple once-only decision; it is a daily fight against our old nature. If we would only allow God to help us, to trust Him enough to follow Him then we would find the daily fight a lot easier. God doesn't want us to fight against Satan, He will do that for us if we trust in His Word. Our greatest fight is against ourselves, but even then God wants to give us the power to win that fight as well. On our own we wouldn't win any fight, either against Satan or our old nature. With God 'all things are possible'. Philippians 4:7

7. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

If you want to continue to love, respect and fear God then YOU must actively seek to know more abut Him; when you look for God He will open Himself up to you. James 4:8

8. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

When children get into trouble or get hurt it is generally when they move outside the protection area of their parents, when they get out of sight of their Mother or Father or whoever is looking after the wellbeing of the child. The parents 'know' the dangers and protect the child from those dangers, the child doesn't. But when that child goes on his own way, and tries to protect himself, he finds he doesn't have the strength or knowledge and fall or get hurt in some way.

Your spiritual life is just the same, God wants to protect you, he KNOWS what the dangers are, He sees more than you and is there to pick you up, to move you from harm's way. But when we walk out of His sight, when we 'go it alone', God can't protect us, we move under our own power and this is when we trip up, we fall and hurt ourselves.

Proverbs 8:34-36

34 "Happy are those who listen to me, watching for me daily at my gates, waiting for me outside my home!
35 For whoever finds me finds life and wins approval from the Lord.
36 But those who miss me have injured themselves. All who hate me love death.

We are on earth for a short time, but in eternity for ever. I would rather sacrifice things in this world to spend an eternity with God than have everything in this world and spend an eternity without God.

It is hard living a life for Christ, no one will deny this, but the rewards far outweigh any loss we might suffer on this earth. In life, tomorrow isn't there for everyone, so don't allow your love for God to suffer today. It might mean the difference between heaven and hell for you tomorrow.