Setting my mind. What is your mind set on? Fascination is the key to keeping your mind engaged on something. Fascination is the state of feeling an intense interest in something, when you are fascinated by something even those things that you are doing do not hold the power to distract your thoughts (3 You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. - Isa 26:3 NKJV). Yet many of us find ourselves spiritually bored, easily distracted or attracted by other things outside of Jesus.
We all have routines that we follow. You get up at a certain time, you leave the house at a certain time, you go to lunch at a certain time, you come home at a certain time, you put the kids to bed at a certain time, and then you go to bed at a certain time. Everything has a certain time to be done. Even actions and seasons have their time and place (Ecc 3:1). Then everyone looks forward to the weekends and holidays and vacations so we can break out of our routines and schedules. This is probably the cause of many generational issues, teen and early twenties generally have no patience for any schedule or routine while the older crowd tends to become enslaved to them, but no one is fascinated by routine. The one produces disorganization and the inability to achieve certain dreams and goals while the other produces bitterness and judgment toward any who try to live outside of their model. Yet if you can couple routine with fascination you have a powerful tool, a powerful and effective life. The younger generations can certainly do well to learn from the fathers, but likewise the older would do well if they could remember the fascination of youth and turn to the children (6 And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." - Mal 4:6 NKJK).
Let’s take a closer look at how fascination controls everything. Who can remember the very first time they fell in love? I was in the 5th grade. My heart would race and skip at the thought of this one girl. I could not pay attention in class because I only wanted to look at her, she was the one. I was captivated, overcome and fascinated. The problem was I was shy and we had never spoken, there was just some mystical connection awakened in my heart and I wanted to spend the rest of my life making her happy. My shyness was more powerful than my fascination, and I never did speak to her, but I used to cry myself to sleep looking at her picture in our yearbook at night, wishing that I could just speak to her. Somehow this feeling eventually just faded away. My fascination died because I did nothing to cultivate it. It could have blossomed into something, but with no direction and no plan that fascination did nothing but produce frustration. Sadly this is what happens too many who fall in love with Jesus.
Now, the question I pose is this; what fascinates you today? We are in a religious gathering right now so the temptation would be to say “God” or “Jesus” or something Christian because of course that is the right thing to be fascinated with. It would be of no value to any of us to lie to ourselves. If God is not your fascination the best thing you could do is tell yourself the truth. I guess we may need a few tools to help identify fascination. Probably the quickest way to identify your fascination would be to ask yourself “if I could be anywhere right now, where would it be?” Don’t be embarrassed by the answer, but I would be willing to say that most of you pictured somewhere other than here, somewhere other than a church type service, and doing something other than listening to someone else speak. Many people adhere to their religions as a type of duty that must be performed in order to be right with God, and it becomes just another part of that boring routine of getting up at a certain time and doing life. Truly, most church goers probably look forward to their lunch plans more than the message.
Remember the first time you fell in love again. Does your life with God have at least an equal level of fascination over you? Do you stay up late thinking about Him, miss meals because you were spending time with Jesus and just forgot to eat, stay distracted while doing other things because you just can’t take your mind off of Him? You cannot wait to break your routine in order to get to the One who fascinates you. We don’t put time limits or schedules on our fascination but try to squeeze the maximum amount of time into our fascination, forsaking many other duties in order to sate our desire. Has intimacy with Jesus become our primary desire?
If He has then people will begin to question your sanity, your zeal for God, and begin to make you an outcast, labeling you as a religious fanatic. You find yourself being avoided by even those who you call brother and sisters in the Lord. Family members shun you, and you hear people begin to tell you about balance. All things in moderation, you don’t want to go too far with this Jesus thing, while you’re thinking I want to forsake all to follow Jesus. Your life begins to be surrounded by pressure to compromise your zeal. Your faith is not producing peace but instead a sword, as your enemies becomes those of your own household and some of your closest friends turn on you. All those years you spent trying to fit in, all the social progress you have made, that good deal at work that just requires a little finagling are all on the line.
Through all this, life happens. Cares of this world begin to creep in; you start thinking about what you “need” to get done. Paying the bills, mowing the grass, and getting the oil changed. Though you hate the routine, though you despise that which pulls you away from Him, your sense of responsibility may cause you to begin to keep God at arm’s length and He becomes the thing that you get to if you can. After a short honeymoon with Jesus, many believers find themselves wondering “where am I” and “How did I get so far away”. All of this tends to be rooted in being more concerned with what people think about you, instead of pleasing God. Our preoccupation is this age instead of the age to come. Our minds become distracted and dull to the things of God because we have set our affection on the earth and this present age, forgetting our first love. We may continue to tip God at the end of a meal but scarcely remember Him once we get up from the table. Soon our lives barely resemble what we first experienced. (Parable of the sower) No root in ourselves, rocky soil, persecution; thorns, cares of this life, deceitfulness of wealth, choke out the word.
If we even remain concerned with Jesus, we become like one with an eating disorder. Trying to gorge ourselves on good meetings but vomiting it all out as soon as we are finished eating. Our spirits become thin and once heavyweight hopefuls become sick and weak and are dying. This is most likely the state of our mainstream American Christianity, except in our craftiness we have developed doctrines to help us remain comfortable in our destitution. We can continue in sin while being eternally secure hoping in the pre-trib rapture because after all Jesus did it all so I don’t have to. We then surround ourselves with teachers that scratch our itching ears to make us “feel” like everything is OK. We cast aside every form of routine as legalism and justify our fly by the seat of our pants Christianity as being led by the Spirit. We refuse to allow our hearts to be convicted, because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, all the while living like the world. We watch the same shows, listen to the same music, play the same games, and give in to the same pleasures, all the while calling ourselves “set-apart”. We have become like those Isaiah spoke of that honor God with their lips but our hearts are far from Him. We have homosexuality, sex before marriage, porn addiction, divorce, rebellious children, obsession with the occult, drunkenness, and much more at virtually the same levels as the “non-believing” world. Our righteousness is barely existent and we claim to be filled with the Spirit, while Buddhists, Muslims, Mormons and others are showing themselves to be morally superior. Oh, but don’t become legalistic. All things are permissible. Why is it the Spirit of God is leading more Christians into justified sin than those of more intolerant or stricter religions? We pray lead us not into temptation and yet chase after temptation, who are we being led by?
What am I getting at? The church is not fascinated with Jesus, but is in an adulterous relationship with the world, and at the end of the age no less!! We are truly ripe for a great falling away in the US, and if we don’t become fascinated with Jesus, we will be swept away by the seductive strong delusion of the Antichrist’s regime. It is time we fall in love with Jesus again. Remember the admonishment Jesus spoke to the church of Ephesus? Return to your first love. Remember the warning? Repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly (suddenly) and remove your lamp stand from its place-unless you repent. What is this first works? Love the Lord your God with all your mind and soul and strength.
What does this mean to us? Getting saved when you were 10 does not secure your place in the Kingdom of God! Saying the sinner’s prayer and then continuing in the same lifestyles is not salvation. Walk out your salvation with fear and trembling. We have reduced God to the really nice old guy who lets you do whatever you want. You know he doesn’t approve of what you are doing but he doesn’t want any trouble so he lets everything slide. God loves us too much to let everything slide. When Kirk Bennet was here he told us that the Holy Spirit is not here to kind of work with you, He has not come to work with you but to kill you.
At the beginning of this message I mentioned the way we all hate routine, but that a routine that is fueled by fascination is a very powerful tool. We fall away because we do not make time with Jesus our priority, and the spirit of the age is crouching at the door. We don’t make time for Jesus because we are not fascinated with Him or by Him. Both God and the devil want to kill us; the devil to destroy, but God to resurrect and make new. We must become willing to die since it is appointed to man (Heb 9:27). This is really a message about laying down your life, it is the only way for the life of Jesus to become manifest through you. But you will never lay down your life for someone you are not enamored with. We have forgotten the cross, that it is how we know love: He first laid down His life for us.
It is time to rekindle the relationship, He is waiting. Whatever level you are walking at, there is more. Ask Jesus to fascinate your heart, to open the eyes of your understanding. It is this fascination that will cause you to change your routine to spend time with the One you love. A life ordered by our love for Jesus is an effective life. Without a revelation of His love we will not be fascinated by Him, and for this we must long and ask and believe.
God is calling out a people that do not call themselves holy but are holy, a people that rend their hearts and not just their garments. A church that walks in righteousness not just talks about righteousness. We need an awakening to forsaking the world and the things in the world (16 For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. - 1Jo 2:16 NKJV). We need to prepare ourselves for the wedding like an expectant bride. Business as usual will only produce results as usual. Come out from among her my people (17 Therefore "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you." - 2Cr 6:17 NKJV).
We must begin to fight for our imagination and the imagination of a generation to be set on what is unseen, the coming age of Jesus. Set your mind on things above, and become fascinated. We are living in the camp of the enemy, and it is only going to become exceedingly more difficult as the transition from this age to the next manifests. A onetime fascination is not enough to sustain you. Puppy love, albeit extremely strong and all consuming, will fade. Marriages can begin on love at first site, but are only maintained by commitment. The enemy of your soul does not rest in his attempt to turn your fascination to other lovers; we must not relent in intentionally encountering Jesus with our time.
Your thoughts become consumed by the things you are fascinated with. Whatever consistently runs through your mind is what is in your heart. I’m not simply speaking of temptations or random thoughts, but the manifestation of consuming behaviors as consuming thoughts and vice versa. Ever gone to bed not being able to get your work off of your mind? Still trying to solve the problems of the day, you wrestle with your thoughts unable to become still and fix yourself on the Lord. This is where being intentional comes in. Just like you would schedule time with your girlfriend or set a date night with your wife, break-up your day with Jesus time. As you become fascinated with Him and by Him this will become the greatest time of your day. No one is ever accused of legalism when they schedule time to spend alone with someone they love, and yet when we become intentional about our time with Jesus, even the church, the bride of Christ, cries “legalism”. Let’s settle the issue now: lovers make time for the ones they love! You will never come to Jesus with a sincere heart and find out that He is busy right now because all of His time is set apart for you, how much of your time is set apart for Him.
A time is coming in the Earth when all other lover’s will be taken away, and if we are not fascinated with the God of creation we will be left empty and searching and the devil will be ready to snatch away your affections. Do not be mistaken, you will not stand when it gets tough if you refuse to stand while it is easy. Right now there are true lovers of God giving their very lives because they refuse to deny Jesus, and many of us will not even give a few hours but deny Him daily. Consumed by our fascination with movies and video games, clamoring for that very sacred “me” time that never satisfies; we are guilty of putting Jesus on hold while we get in bed with every other passion. Then when He makes a move, allowing a disturbance in our pleasure seeking, we accuse Him of wickedness, saying "how could this happen to me I’m a Christian". Woe to you, if you do not repent. The church is busy treating Jesus like something to add to their life, He is life!!
