Pay Attention

Sharon JaynesGeneral Inspiration, Renewing your mind with the Truth 11 Comments

 

Today’s Truth  “Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say” (Isaiah 28:23 NIV).

 Friend to Friend  Every weekday morning my husband’s alarm clock goes off at 5:30.  He gets up, showers, shaves, brushes his teeth, gets dressed, and places his jingling keys in his pocket.  He clears his throat, blows his nose, and well, other noisy things. When he opens and closes the door leading to the garage, the alarm in the bedroom beeps three times… loudly.  This happens every day and I don’t hear a thing.  I sleep right through it.  My body has grown so accustomed to his routine that I don’t even hear the noise.

We can grow so accustomed to lies, we don’t even realize the noise is there.  Our alarm may beep, but we ignore the alert.  Our senses grow dim.

David talked to himself regularly. In one Psalm he wrote, “Awake, my soul!” (Psalm 57:8)  The Hebrew word translated “awake” is used 80 times in the Old Testament.  It means to rouse oneself or stir up.  It could be translated, “Pay attention! Open your eyes!”

We can get used to the lies and not even realize that they are there.  So now it’s time to wake up!  Pay attention! Be on the alert! Watch out! Don’t be lulled into the hum of Satan’s lies about who you are, what you have, and where you are.  “Awake, O my soul!”  To win the war, we must wake up to the battle and become un-desensitized to the lies.

 Let me give you another example.  Come sit with me in an airplane just before take off…

Here we go again, I mused as the flight attendant began her routine instructions.  I grabbed the latest copy of Sky Mall magazine tucked in the seat pocket in front of me and began flipping through the pages.  The man to my right continued reading the headlines in the day’s paper.  The woman to my left was a first time flyer and paid close attention.

I glanced around the plane and noticed very few people listening to the flight attendant’s life saving instructions.  And then it hit me.  The frequent flyers paid little attention, not because we were being rude, but because we had heard it all before.  The safety procedures were routine information.  The hum of the flight attendant’s voice merged with the roar of the engine.  So we ignored her.

But you better believe that if the pilot announced in mid-flight that a crash landing was imminent, all of us “been there done that” passengers who did not pay attention to the emergency procedures would all be reviewing those safety instruction cards in the seat pocked in front of us quicker than you could say “buckle your seat belts.”

Friend, sometimes in our Girlfriends in God devotions, we review safety instructions that you most likely have heard before.  But I want you to read these truths from the Bible as if you are in danger of a crash landing.  We never know when life will hit turbulence. Scrambling for the life jacket and fumbling with the oxygen mask on the way down is not the answer.  We can be prepared so that when the storms of life hit, when the engines fail, when the machine runs out of gas, we’ll be ready to land safely on the ground.

As you begin detecting lies in your thought life, look objectively at any thoughts and attitudes that do not line up with Christ’s teachings.   When you recognize and expose the lie, you disarm its destructive potential in your life.  Our power depends on believing the truth and I pray that God will open our eyes to the power available to each and every one of us (Ephesians 1:18, 19).

Buckle up!  Let’s get ready to fly!

 Let’s Pray  Father God, open the eyes of my heart that I might know you better.  Help me hear Your voice and see Your handiwork in my life more clearly.  Help me to never get lulled into the rhythm of life and become immune to Your gentle nudges.  I pray Your words will be fresh and new every time I read them. I cry out with the psalmist, David, “Awake my soul!”  I pray that I will be alert to the spiritual workings around me and on guard with the Sword of the Spirit ready to meet whatever comes. In Jesus’ Name,  Amen

Now It’s Your Turn
Pick a familiar passage in the Bible -perhaps Psalm 100, Psalm 23, or any number of your favorite chapters.  Then pray that God will show you something that you have never seen before in the verses.

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Comments 11

  1. Sharon,

    So glad to have found your blog…not sure what took me so long – I have been receiving the Girlfriends devotionals for awhile and what a blessing they always are to me! My girlfriend (who moved to another state) recently finished one of your books that we did as a Bible study together – to help keep us close! I loved it!

    Thanks for sharing your heart – and your life through great stories…such a blessing! Have a beautiful week!

  2. Thanks for the great devotional. You write in such an easy to read and relatable way. Thanks for letting God use you in this format! From one writer to another your writings are a blessing!

    Sincerely,

    Cori Thompson
    Romans 8:28

  3. Sharon,
    Your devotionals are wonderful. this has touched me today. Am praying for awakening.

    Thank you God bless you

  4. Thank you so much for your devotions. I am just on the edge of looking at truth and a lot of lies I have believed. I so want to change this pattern in my life. I have ordered your book and anxiously await the arrival so I can begin to work on seeing AND believing truth. You are a blessing to many people. Thank you for sharing your life and wisdom.

  5. Girlfriends in God, u are great! Ur writing is so fluid and conversational, it makes serving God simpler… Thank you and keep it up!

  6. As I read the Girlfriends in God devotional on July 2, the song, Voice of Truth, by Casting Crowns was playing: “The Voice of Truth tells me a different story, and the Voice of Truth says do not be afraid. The Voice of Truth says this is for my Glory. Out of all the voices calling out to me, I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth.”
    Then I visited your blog and again, more on listening to His voice! You think God is trying to tell me something?? Ha!!
    I love it!!!!! Thanks so much for your writing and praise be to our awesome God who speaks to us and wants us to listen!!!

  7. I just finished reading today’s daily devotion. It has made me realized that I am so much more than what people label me, especially what I label myself. My mother has the habit of telling me all the wrongs things I do. This, in effect, has lowered my self-esteemed. I see myself as worthless and a bothersome to others. This devotion, though, has made me see that I am worthy and loved by God, my Father who always will love me for me. I hope others are touched by this as much as I am. Thank you for writing these inspiring little sermons. 🙂

  8. Thank you Sharon for the great reminder to pay close attention to God’s word. We seem to get comfortable with the same passages that we read and miss the point that God was trying to help us “see”. It is nice to be reminded and intently watchful, you never know what God will do 🙂

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