Isn’t it hard to keep focused on God? I have tried so hard throughout my life to stay focused on Him. I so often say “this time I won’t fail”, but at one point or another, something always clips me from behind, and keeps me from exceeding!! Why?!

Well, I think it has to do with what we allow into our lives that can distract us from God. Not all of these things are “bad” in their nature…in fact, a lot aren’t, but they become a problem when we allow them to distract us from looking at, and to God. You know those things I’m talking about; they can be anything from a job, car, or movie, to fantasy football, Xbox Live, a magazine, or even church. There are so many things in this world that fight for our time…and when we allow them to take too much…well…we lose our focus. The answer is not necessarily to cut these distractions out entirely (in some cases it is), but to realize that they can distract us…and we need to keep them in check.

In the following paragraphs, I have listed 10 common things that can interfere with our walk with God.

1. Money

Money. I’m sure you all could have guessed this one would be on this list. We all need it to live in this world, but we must not be owned by it if we are to be not of this world. Money itself is not an interferance in our walk with God…the love of money is. I think the following passage sums this up quite nicely (its long, I know…but when I read it, I felt all of it applies to this topic): Matthew 6:19-34

¹⁹“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 ²²“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. ²³But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

 ²⁴“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

 ²⁵“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[b]?

 ²⁸“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

So in a nut shell, if we trust God, He will take care of us. That doesn’t mean we should quit our jobs, or not earn money…we just need to realize that God is more important, and is far more capable of taking care of us than we are. Money might be the blood flow of the world, but it is not the blood flow of those who are in Jesus…faith is.

2. Media

 Another big one; the media. This is probably one of the biggest distractions for me personally right now….I mean, just the other nighit, I realized I haven’t spent that much time praying this week…but instead of going and praying, I said to myself I’ll do it later because the Lakers are playing and Lost comes on in an hour.

It is so easy to get caught up in the media. And when I say media, I’m referring to the Internet, TV, movies, music, video games, newspapers, magazines…all of it (broad, I know…but hey, I’m only making a list of 10 things to here, so I can be a bit broad, right?). Like I said before, the media is so dangerous because it is so easy to get consumed in. Everywhere we turn, some sort of media is right in our face. And the worst part; it’s littered with filth. Almost every commercial on TV, and every advertisement on the Internet is trying to convice us that we are missing something, and they are the ones that can fill the need. Our young girls and women are bombard by the media with how they should look, feel, and act…movies, music, TV shows…they all are horrible influences on us because they can subliminally tell us how to live, whats right and wrong, etc. And video games…ah, video games….give me the right one on the right week, and I won’t spend a free second with God (sad….but true). I could literally go on and on about the media, and how distracting it is. The key to overcoming the media is to be wise in what we watch, read, play, etc, and in how much time we spend with it. We should always be willing to give it up, and quite honestly, some of the things we indulge in (in the media), we need to give up. If a something is pure filth, we shouldn’t be giving it any time to influence us, no matter how funny, sexy, or “cool”, it is.

3. Church/Religion

 Church, or religion. Believe it or not, these can be HUGE interferences in our walk with God. Church does not do this intentionally, but we can easily let it hinder our relationship with God. Why? The main reason I see is that it can be so easy to pursue church, and beliefs about God, but forget to pursue God Himself. It is so easy to go to church to…well…go to church, when the real reason we should be going church is to refuel for our week by coming together with fellow believers to worship and meditate on God.

Also, somewhere along the way, at so many churches, people have gotten the idea that we need to pretend to be perfect at church. That if we show our weaknesses and struggles, we’ll become outcasts…and since so many people parade around in this stained glass masquerade, if one person does reveal their weaknesses, they’re so easily looked down upon. This is opposite of what church is supposed to be. Church is really the body of believers. We are supposed to help each other, hold each other accountable, pray for each other, and love one another!

To keep church from becoming a distraction from God, make sure you are pursuing God before pursuing “beliefs” about Him, or church/religion. We need to get past religion and into a relationship. It starts with you! Love your brothers and sisters, be open to people, and DO NOT CONDEMN others when they fail!!

4. Relationships

 Relationships. I’m sure you knew this one would be here. Every kind of relati0nship falls into this category; friends, parents, siblings, spouses, girl/boy friends, children, co-workers, bosses, etc. We can allow any of these relationships to distract us from God. It is our relationships that are our connection with the world, and it is our human nature to have them, but when we allow any one of these relationships threaten to become more important to us than God…well, they become a distraction. Remember, God calls us to love one another (1 John 3:11), so when we do, it is an act of obedience to God. But don’t forget about God in the process. We need to make sure we are giving God ample time everyday.

I would have to say the relationship with the most danger of becoming a distraction from our walk with God would be that of a boy-friend, girl-friend, or spouse. These relationships in their nature, demand the most time, and that is why it is extremely important that they are centered around God. If they aren’t, you will see your walk with God spiraling downward. In a dating relationship, don’t compromise your morals.

In a nut shell, relationships are extremely important, but our relationship with God is of the utmost importance. Remember that!

5. Routine

 Routine. This is a common thing I allow myself to get distracted by all the time. The most important thing is that spending time with God should be in your routine! Far too often do we just squeeze God in when we have down time (I am extremely guilty of this). Its so easy to get caught up in all the things we have to do, like work, eat, sleep, etc. I often find sleep getting in the way! I mean, if I didn’t spend that extra hour sleeping in, I would have a whole hour with nothing to do but seek God!

So make sure spending time with God is a part of our routine. And also, make sure you are willing to abort your routine, and let God have complete control.

6. Our Work

 Work, work, work. What a distraction this can be! And I’m not just referring to a job, I mean everything from a job, to leading worship, a bible study, or anything! I personally have often allowed this site to become a distraction from God. I want it to bless people, I want it to look good, I want it…I…I..I…but all that I should really be worrying about is that I am doing it as God wants me to, if I do that, He’ll take care of the rest. I love this following scripture:

³⁸As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” ⁴¹“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴²but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”   -Luke 10:38-42

It is so easy to get caught up on our duties, but the most important thing is that we do it entirely for the Lord. They are to glorify God, not ourselves. That being said, sometimes the duty we have is not as important as doing something else. We always need to be flexible! This falls in line with routines as well. We can have great motives behind our work, but sometimes we let the work become more important then “listening to Jesus”. Listen and be flexible!

7. Our Hobbies

 Hobbies. I love hobbies! I have a huge rang of them; from playing guitar, and singing, to video games, sports, andnumerous others. The dangerous thing about them is that they can consume a lot of our time. A great way to keep them in check is to do them with God in mind! Like worshipping God with music. Also, we can play video games or sports, etc. with people to develop relationships. Having hobbies is a great way to get yourself into the world to be an influence…so keep that in mind.

8. Desiring a blessing from God, more than God Himself.

 Desiring a blessing from God, more than desiring God Himself. I have to be honest, this is easy to fall into, at least for myself. It can be so easy to pray for a specific thing over and over again, but forget about spending time with God. This would be like a husband wanting that special  “perk” he gets from wife, without wanting to give any time to other parts of their relationship. Remember, its ”seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33), its not “first seek all these other things”.

9. Our Pastor

 Our Pastors! What!? Whats this doing on the list!?…Well, to your relief, I don’t mean your pastor exactly (at least I hope not). What I’m referring to is becoming dependent uponyour pastor. This can be a really deadly interference in our walk with God. It is not our pastors responsibility to feed us all we need to be spiritually healthy…it is our responsibility. A lot of people fall into the habit of only giving God Sunday morning. This would be like only eating once a week! If we did this, we would be horribly malnourished! And sadly, this is the case for many spiritually. Our pastor is a, or should be, great leader, but he/she should only be that…nothing more.

10. Ourselves

 Ourselves. Us. The last one on the list of distractions, and possibly the most likely todistract us. We are, by nature, sinful, and if we live by our nature, we will not get close to God. That is why we need to die to ourselves, and live in Christ (Romans 6:11). But no matter what we do, there will be a constant battle within ourselves between spirit and flesh (Romans 7:15-21). That is why we need to constantly allow God to search our hearts, and purify it (Psalm 139:23-24). The first step to overcoming ourselves is being aware.

So there we have it. A list of 10 common things that can distract us from God. It is a constant struggle to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, and to not become distracted by the passing concerns and things of this world. But if we are aware of what can, and does, interfere with our walks with God, we can begin to take the necessary actions to prevent them. Remember, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).

Have you ever wondered what God thinks about what we do for Him? How does it make Him feel when we truly follow His plan for us?

Well, when I was worshiping the Lord today,  He showed me this story, or vision. It just unrolled before me.

There was this ordinary, Christian man. This man was busy living life day by day, a life of normalcy one could say. Then, one day, a stranger came up to the man, and asked him if he could show him something that would change his (the christian man’s) life. Well at first the man resisted the stranger…but as the stranger kept insisting, he finally gave in and followed the stranger. The Stranger brought him to an art gallery. The building was huge…but the walls were pretty much bare, a few pictures scattered in places, but otherwise empty.  After walking around the disappointing gallery for a while, the man finally had to ask, “Why are we here?”…..the stranger looked around at the empty building for a few moments, then responded, “can’t you see?…. this is the gallery of the life you’ve lived for Christ”……

You see, this man had lived a few moments of his life for Christ, but not near enough to make any sort of significance in this gallery….but this is the gallery in which the Lord longs to see filled. Each moment we truly live for Him he posts in this gallery. He cherishes every piece of work He hangs in there, just as a parent charishes the art work of their little children. To begin to fill this gallery up, we need to daily live our life for Him. We need to learn to push our desires aside, and chase after His desires for us. Dying to our flesh, and living in the Lord is key in this proccess. We also should have Him check our motives constantly: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” -Psalm 139:23-24. As when we begin to live life this way, we will begin to notice that the building, or gallery, of our life lived for Christ cannot contain the amount of things the Lord has to put on display from us.

So let us not leave our galleries empty. But let us begin to live life as to fill them up. Lets begin to truly live our lives for Jesus.

If you have been in the church any length of time, I’m sure you have heard the parable of the sower. Jesus speaks of this farmer who goes out to plant his seed, and the seeds fall in one of four places:

1. The Path, where it was trampled on and birds snatched it up.
2. On rocks, but when the plant came up it withered because it had no roots.
3. Among thorns, which grew up with the plants and choked them.
4. Good soil, where it came up and produced a crop a hundred times more than was sown.

 Then Jesus explains to the disciples the meaning of the parable:

 This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.   –Luke 8:11-15

 I myself have heard, and read this parable many times over the course of my life, but when I read it the other day, something really stood out to me: The condition of the soil (where the seed fell) represents the condition of our hearts.

 The path would be the heart that is so in tune with the world that it wouldn’t even stop to allow the word of God to do anything in their hearts.

• The rocks would be hearts that have no roots…they just hear the word and like the perks/benefits of what it says, but when things start to get difficult, they turn away from Him.
• Then there is the soil with thorns…I must sadly add that most “Christians” fall into this category…this is the heart that desires to live for Jesus…but they allow the enemy to plant thorns in their heart as well. These thorns never allow God to fully have His way with the heart/person. This heart will let things like life’s many worries,  pleasures and riches compete with God for their time. It is the heart that desires God…but cannot let go of the world.
• Then lastly, the good soil. This is the heart that is noble and good (as it says in the scripture). This heart takes the time to get to know God, and allow Him to remove everything that is impure out of their hearts. This heart perseveres through the trials, and retains the Lords word. It is the heart that considers all else a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing their Savior, Jesus Christ.

 If your heart is in the condition of the path, the rocks, or the soil with thorns, I want to encourage you by strongly expressing that there is hope. You see, the condition of your heart is not a onetime thing. It is a process. We can still allow God, the farmer, to work with the soil of our hearts, no matter what condition it is in. We can allow him to remove those rocks and those thorns from our heart…we just need to be ready and willing for Him to do it. And a huge part of this is coming to terms with the fact that our heart is not in the condition it should be…because God won’t be able to change the heart of one who thinks they are fine just the way they are. The enemy will continually try to plant thorns in the heart of anyone, even those with good soil, but to maintain a heart that seeks after God we must keep our eyes fixed on the Lord, and allow Him to remove any impure thing.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
       test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,
       and lead me in the way everlasting.

-Psalm 139:23-24

This is the attitude we need to have, one that is willing to allow God to examine the condition of our heart daily.

Allow God to begin a purification process in your heart. And I promise, this process will not end until we are a pure reflection of Jesus…which will never happen….so each one of us needs to be in the process of being purified. So let me close on this note; Jesus desires to produce a crop in you that will produce hundreds times more than what was sown…so let Him. 

Laminin….it is an amazing molecule. The following is the definition of Laminin, as found on wikipedia:

Laminin is a protein found in the extracellular matrix, the sheets of protein that form the substrate of all internal organs also called the basement membrane. It is the major non-collagenous component of the basal lamina, such as those on which cells of an epithelium sit.^[1] It has four arms that can bind to four other molecules. The three shorter arms are particularly good at bindingto other laminin molecules, which is what makes it so great at forming sheets. The long arm is capable of binding to cells, which helps anchor the actual organs to the membrane.

Structurally, the laminin protein is made up of three polypeptide chains – α, β and γ, giving it a total of six “ends”, accounting for a lot of its flexibility in connecting various molecules.

They are a family of glycoproteinsthat are an integral part of the structural scaffolding in almost every animal tissue. Laminins are secreted and incorporated into cell-associated extracellular matrices.

Laminin is vital to making sure overall body structures hold together. Improper production of laminin can cause muscles to form improperly, leading to a form of muscular dystrophy.

Now it is amazing what the function of this little molecule is…laminin is responsible for holding all of our body structures together…basically, it is the rebar of our body’s….

But what is most amazing is actually what laminin looks like, or the sight of it. So I guess I should show you a picture of laminin…..

That’s right, laminin is in the shape of a cross. Wow. Laminin, the very thing that holds our bodies together, is in the shape of a cross.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God!” -1 Corinthians 1:18

And that is exactly what the cross is; the Power and Love of God…who did not withhold his Son (Jesus) from us, but gave Jesus to be crucified in exchange for us to be able to have life with Him. Jesus is the mediator between us and God. He is the way the truth and the life. No one can reach God except through Jesus, who holds all things together. Many will say this is just a coincidence, but ask yourself what you think; the very molecule that holds our body’s together is in the shape of a cross, the very place Jesus did the very deed that truly holds us together.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. -Colossians 1:15-17

Here is the clip from the “How Great Is Our God” video that revealed this marvelous wonder to me by Louie Giglio:

We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Know that God cares for you so much! God sent Jesus to pay your ransom, your debt. He will hold you together in any and every circumstance you will be in. So learn to trust Him. You can purchase the whole video “How Great Is Our God” on the amazon link to the right (it is REALLY amazing!)

I hope you got a lot out of this post. I know that the first time I encountered laminin God broke down some big walls in my life. If you did get a lot out of this post, be sure to share it with your friends on Twitter or Facebook via the “Tweet” and “Share” boxes at the top of the page (or any other way you can). It is through readers like you that this site gets exposed. Thank You : )

In God’s Love and Grace,