Issue #725 ~ July 11, 2022
Dear Friends,

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Christ is All and in All,
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Pay Attention!
"For this reason we must be paying much closer attention to things which we have heard, lest we should drift away from them."
Hebrews 2:1
One of the basic essentials to making process toward spiritual maturity is to recognize that every day is a brand-new opportunity to grow and develop spiritually.

The process of an ever deepening relationship with our Lord Jesus involves: (1) feeding daily upon His Word; (2) communion with Him in prayer; and (3) seeking His face.

These Christians are tempted to stop short rather than go on to grow and reflect His holiness, to bear fruit, to keep serving and to wearing out their spiritual gift.

The question we face this morning is: Are you serious about growth? None of us has arrived.

Because of who He is and what He has done, "For this reason we must be paying much closer attention."

Are we serious about what God is trying to say to us this morning?

2 Timothy 1:13: "Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus" (NASB).

William Barclay said:
There is a vivid picture there - the picture of a ship drifting to
destruction because the pilot sleeps while the insidious current sweeps
the ship past the harbour until it is wrecked. For most of us the threat
of life is not so much that we should plunge into disaster, but that we
should drift into sin. (The Book of Hebrews, 13)

"We must be paying much closer attention." The word "must" or "ought" could be translated "required," "goes with the course."

The Lord Jesus says to the church at Ephesus: "But I have this against you, that you have left your first love" (Rev. 2:4 NASB).

The revelation is anchored. It is we who are drifting. We are manifesting spiritual immaturity when we say we don't make long-term commitments. We talk a good game, we make a lot of promises. When it comes right down to it, we are not passionate about being totally and completely involved in what the Lord wants to do in our lives this day.

1 Timothy 1:19: "Keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith" (NASB).

The rough seas were tearing the anchor from the seabed.

How easy it is in life to get off schedule, to have botched-up priorities, to become tired and bored of the mundane sameness of everything.

We become reactive rather than proactive.

The picture here is of Christians being carried downstream past a landing place, thus missing the goal or destination.

Notice the text says: "we must be paying much closer attention to things which we have heard."

The big question that is asked at this point is, are you drifting?

Maybe you are involved devotionally this morning and you have drifted from His Word. You've lost your fellowship with Him and you no longer have power in prayer.

Drifting is dangerous, doom is pending, and disaster is certain.

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Praises & Prayer Requests

1.  Pray: O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. Psalm 63:1 (NASB)
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2.  Praise: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 (NASB)
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3.  Pray: Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." Exodus 34:27 (NIV)
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4.  Praise: But He answered and said, "It is written, 'man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'" Matthew 4:4 (NASB)
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I find myself singing Robert Robinson's great hymn, "Come, Thou Fount." As a composer of this hymn, he came to know Christ and then drifted from the Lord. On one of his travels he met a young woman who shared the message of this hymn and it was his own hymn. As we sing these verses, please listen as one who experienced the wandering and drifting away from the Lord and make your own personal commitment to join me in telling the Lord we're ready to go anywhere, to do anything at any price to glorify and honor His name. "Come, Thou Fount":

Come, Thou fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace.
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it Mount of God's unchanging love.

Oh, to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy grace, Lord, like a fetter, Bind my wand'ring heart to Thee:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) 

Bible Teaching Resources
by Donald Anderson Ministries
PO Box 6611
Tyler, TX 75711-6611
903-939-1201 (office)