We continue the series I Can’t Stay Here.

We continue the series I Can’t Stay Here. Today I want us to look at what can happen when this world (this cosmos) can begin to distort our lives and the truth of our lives. Our verse that goes with our name. You have two choices: John 10:10 (NKJV) “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” We can choose to serve Christ faithfully and find life or we can go down a road of bad choices and end up wondering (like David) how we got here. He prayed Lord, forgive me and take not your Spirit from me.

1. Our spiritual passion is under attack. We are continuously bombarded with advertisements that tell us everything we really want to hear. If you drink a certain beverage you will be cool and everyone around you will be fit and beautiful. MacDonald – “Even though we are not aware of the relentless barrage of messages coming at us, the combined force of them is doing a number on us. They quietly sandblast the soul, the seat of conviction and value, threatening our ability to make and implement priority decisions.” 

2.  The choices made by Lot…he listened to his eyes. Genesis 13:10 (NKJV) “And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.” --It is hard not to think about Lot because his inner life had become so distorted by the realities around him. He was living as a parasite off his uncle Abram and was in no place to make major decisions about his destiny. Lot listened to his eyes…Lot looked with his eyes and saw the beauty of Sodom. He did not look from an inner spirit of values and convictions that would have permitted him to see moral rot and filth. Lot looked with his eyes and Abraham looked with the eyes of his spirit and God blessed him. Lot’s choice would ultimately cost him his family, his dignity, and any sense of credibility he had ever had. 

3. Open the eyes of my heart. Ephesians 1:18 (NIV) I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” I pray that the eyes of our hearts are opened or enlightened. Yes, we are bombarded with all kinds of messages every day but we have a choice. Lot listened to his eyes…not the eyes of his heart but the eyes of his flesh, his desires. I am sure it was good for a while but consider the cost. The sin of Sodom so infected him that he was willing to give up his daughters. We can’t stay here…open the eyes of my heart, Lord!