Psalms 121:1–3: I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the One who watches over you will not slumber.

The Word of God declares, “Greater is He who is in you than he that is in the world.” The Holy Spirit who dwells in you is far superior to the forces of darkness in the world that war against you. Therefore, you must see yourself as the victor in any given situation and not the victim. Even though Satan may attack you and inflict pain or suffering in your life, he can’t turn you against God or God against you. The adversary may try to separate us or make us “feel” separated from God’s love, but he will fail every time.

The One who watches over us does not sleep or slumber. He won’t allow our foot to be moved so that we should fall away from His love and faithfulness. Since Satan can’t separate us from the love of God, he will use other methods against us to get us to give up on God. The Bible tells us that Satan loves to wear down the saints of the Most High God. He does this through attacks and distractions. Satan came to Eve in the garden with a plan to distract her from God and His Word that he might draw her away from her source of strength.

When he drew her attention to the forbidden fruit, it caused her to lose heart for the commands and will of God. The longer she gazed at the fruit, the greater the distraction grew, so that she finally succumbed to the pressure of desire and sinned against the Lord. Satan attacks us in the same way, with the hope that the attack will become a deterrent that will cause us to take our eyes off of the Lord as our sole source of strength and help. Once we begin to look at people because of the pain that they might be causing us or we look at our job because of concerns of being fired or laid-off, we will begin to grow weary.

The human eye is a gate to our soul. Our eyes allow us to take in light and images, which affect our mind, will, and emotions. As we keep our eyes or focus on the Lord, we will continually draw strength from Him. Therefore, we must guard our hearts from the distractions of the Devil. He knows that he can’t touch us as long as our attention is on the beauty of the Lord, so he tries to divert our attention elsewhere. He will use pain, discouragement, or desire as a lure.

Where’s your attention today? What’s been the attention of your heart? Is it on the Lord and dwelling on Him, or is it focused on temporal things? Who has the focus of your heart? If you focus on the Lord, then you’ll pull strength from Him. If your attention is on the world, however, and you’re feeling weary or drained, it’s because the world can’t supply your strength. Our attention and our eyes will become fixed on the object to which we direct our sight. The writer of Hebrews tells us to look unto the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the suffering of the cross. Look to Jesus until you begin to feel the strength of the Lord fill your soul today. Then keep your attention on Him so that He might continue to fill you with His strength.  —submitted by Pastor Asa Dockery, US