Stay Alert!

Focus is always important in the Christian walk. It is almost certain that you will go absolutely nowhere if you don't keep your focus on Christ. A perfect example of this is Peter when he attempted to walk on water. The minute he took his eyes off Christ, he began to sink.

It is easy in our present day life to take our eyes off Christ and begin to sink. It's a very dangerous thing for us nowadays because half the time, we don't even realise that we are sinking. It has become incredibly easy for us Christians to rationalise a lot of things and that is the most dangerous part.


Recently, I had an experience. Somebody said something to me that made me lose my focus. All of a sudden, I began to look at my leadership with a magnifying glass. I found everything that could possibly be wrong with their style. I didn't criticise them outwardly, but I did it inwardly and my heart grew bitter. I got to the point where my desire for the things of God dropped to dangerously low levels. In my head, I rationalised that "church" was the problem. To me, if only things were different with my leadership I wouldn't be feeling so spiritually dry. Oh really?

What actually happened to me was that I lost my focus. My eyes came off of Christ and onto man. A place where they should never be. Whilst leadership must always lead lives that won't be a stumbling block to others, we must remember that leaders are humans and they WILL make mistakes. If you keep your eyes on them and not on Christ, you WILL stumble and fall, or sink. In my case, I sank like a stone in a pond; a dark, murky pond. I was so scared that I told a friend I was afraid that I was backsliding in my heart. It was so filled with bitterness and resentment.

All that came from just one conversation. Well, really it was just one line from the conversation. It sank deep in my spirit and took root there. It nearly destroyed me. Luckily for me, I still had my desire for God and because of that desire, He was able to get through the noise of bitterness and resentment and pull me out from the bottom of the pond.

Ladies and gentlemen, I tell you my story so that you DO NOT, make the same mistake I did. After fifteen years of Christianity, I took my eyes from Christ for only just a few seconds and it took two months for me to recover. Yes, two months. The devil knows exactly what season of our lives we're going through and he knows when we are ripe for certain types of attacks. Because of my current circumstances, I fell easily for my "friend's" comments.

So friends, please "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)

Have a focused Day!

Joana James - Author of From Redemption to Maturity, Trusting God with your Future,   Nightmare at Emerald High & Alana and Alyssa's Secret & Finding Romeo