Spent as he sees fit

Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed. Hate evil and love what is good; turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on the remnant of his people. (Amos 5:14-15)

We all face the enemy, but he doesn't always use the same attack for each of us. His attacks are all aimed at the same thing - getting us to turn our backs on righteousness. James 4:7 reminds us to "...humble ourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from us." Amos tells us to actually run from evil - either way, we are supposed to put some distance between us and our enemy! It is this 'distance' that can give us the time to regain right perspective in the midst of the battle. Without the 'distance', we could be overcome by the chaos of the attack!

How do we 'create distance' in our lives? If we are always living so close to the edge of making the right choices God desires of us and choosing to go our own way, we haven't created enough 'distance'. We need 'room' to think what our actions should be, but thinking through actions isn't going to work well if we do all our thinking 'in the moment'. This is why it is good to have time apart with Jesus each day. To give him our best and first. Then when we need time to 'think through' some decision to pursue one course over another, we have already had some groundwork prepared for that 'battle decision'. 

Hate evil and love what is good. The only way to develop the proper perspective about what is 'evil' and what is 'good' is to ask Jesus for that clarity - not just in the moment of temptation, but in those quiet times we set aside to learn from him. Does Jesus get your attention more than just during church service? If we aren't getting into the Word daily, we won't have the ammunition to fight the battle at hand during the week. Satan doesn't just attack on Sundays - he is right there with all of his 'evil intent' every day! We need to prepare for battle on a daily basis.

When I first tried to spend time each day with Jesus, there were lots of distractions that stole my attentiveness. I found myself giving into those distractions too often - the phone, the TV, the computer, the reminders on my calendar. I found that those distractions had to be 'managed' if I was to actually take even five minutes with him. My time with Jesus started as just that - five minutes in the morning. For those of you getting all 'judgy' on that one, don't! Five soon led to seven, and seven to fifteen. Now I don't even watch the clock. God manages my time - I just spend it as he sees fit. How about you? Just askin!