Consumed
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| source http://unbrokenbygrace.tumblr.com/post/43531606596 |
CEV "But if you keep attacking each other like wild animals, you had better watch out or you will destroy yourselves."
consumed verb:
eaten, drank, used up or destroyed.
Think of all of the things in life that nibble away at your peace. Things that drink up your time. What uses up your energy? Your thoughts? What's the one thing you cling to that is destroying you?
Facebook. Addictions. Pride. Bad relationships. Electronics. Obsessing. Worrying. What is eating away at your soul?
The Bible says that bickering and strife will destroy you and those around you. If you are constantly nagging your husband it is going to consume your marriage. (ummm...guilty). If you are constantly looking at your phone it will consume your precious time with your children. (And believe me, they grow up fast.) If you are constantly looking at people and wanting what they have or cutting them down because of your jealousy, it will consume your joy (also guilty).
The one word here is "constantly".
1 Peter 5:8 "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."
You have an enemy that constantly wants you to be consumed. Destroyed. Knocked out of the picture. He wants your heart and your attention and your thoughts and your time and your marriage and your children. Be on guard. Put the phone down. Look up from that tablet. Look people in the eye when you speak to them. Confess your worries to God. Grab your kids and tell them you are sorry and that you love them. And hang on! Hang on because your whole life is in the balance here.
Satan does not take breaks. He doesn't give second chances. He pounces for the kill.
But there is One whom you can run to. Hide in the shelter of His wings. Read His Word and learn that none of us are without sin. None of us are perfect. But we are all loved. He can give you the strength to put down the phone, turn off those anxious thoughts, and tune in to the world around you.
You are right where you are meant to be. So start living.
2 Corinthians 5:17-20The Message (MSG)16-20 Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.
Be not consumed, my friend.
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