{"id":23651,"date":"2014-12-29T00:20:56","date_gmt":"2014-12-29T05:20:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=23651"},"modified":"2014-12-29T07:31:16","modified_gmt":"2014-12-29T12:31:16","slug":"mindful-distractions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/12\/29\/mindful-distractions\/","title":{"rendered":"2014 – Be Mindful of Distractions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SeekingHimLogo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This year has been for me a year of understanding what lack of focus and distractions can do in your life. \u00a0Friends, family, laziness, entertainment, illness, work, emotions, and doubt (to name a few) are all things that can be distractions! \u00a0The thing about a distraction—it only has power once it has your focus.<\/p>\n

However, I have learned that there are things we can do to help prevent ourselves from being trapped by distractions.\u00a0\u00a0Colossians 3:1-2 gives the best advice in regards to distraction.<\/p>\n

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ,
\nset your sights on the realities of heaven,
\nwhere Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
\nThink about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.<\/p>\n

Simply put, the best cure for distraction is to stay focused on God. \u00a0Sounds simple enough, right?!? \u00a0If only….<\/p>\n

Another way to make sure we don’t flirt with distraction is to make sure that we are doing the things that we already know we are supposed to be doing. \u00a0Here\u2019s an example:<\/p>\n

In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war,
\nDavid sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites.
\nThey destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah.
\nHowever, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.
\nLate one afternoon, after his midday rest,
\nDavid got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace.
\nAs he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath.
\n2 Samuel 11:1-2<\/p>\n

This passage is the opening to the familiar story of David and Bathsheba. \u00a0One thing that I have always noticed in this record is that David wasn’t even supposed to be home during this time. \u00a0David, being the king, should have gone to war (verse 1), but instead he sent Joab and the army…kingless. \u00a0And with single choice, one of David’s most infamous sins was committed.<\/p>\n

We are humans. \u00a0We will sin. \u00a0If the possibly existed for us to not sin, then the sacrifice of Jesus would not have been necessary. \u00a0And we will get distracted…whether it be by something someone said or did, or by things we intend to be good. \u00a0Distraction is something that pulls you away from the path of God and the purpose He has called you to<\/em>. \u00a0Be mindful of all that you choose to endeavor in because some things may just be a distraction.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 * <\/span><\/p>\n

Lord, in the year to come, help us to remain focused on You, and to not waste valuable energy on things that You would not have us to do. \u00a0Let us purposefully engage in each activity and choice we make, with guidance from You showing us what is and what is not worth the limited amount of time we have here on Earth. \u00a0Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year has been for me a year of understanding what lack of focus and distractions can do in your life. \u00a0Friends, family, laziness, entertainment, illness, work, emotions, and doubt (to name a few) are all things that can be distractions! \u00a0The thing about a distraction—it only has power once it has your focus. However, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":13840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[8125,3146,8128,240,3367,321,8126,7548,1287,425,3174,8127],"class_list":["post-23651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-2-samuel-111-2","tag-ahmee-bronaugh","tag-be-mindful-of-distractions","tag-colossians-31-2","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-distractions","tag-final-week-of-the-year","tag-following-god","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-seeking-him-devotional","tag-year-end-thoughts","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-69t","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23651"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23675,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23651\/revisions\/23675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}