When Your Busy Hands Become the Devil’s Workshop

 

Thank you so much for tuning in and Welcome everyone – Hope you’re well!  I’m your host, Ben Lively, and you’re listening to “Shaken Awake” – Episode #25!  

 

I just want to thank you for tuning in, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing right this very moment. 

 

And, as always, I promise you another great show – But, more than anything, my HOPE for you today, and always, is that you have an actual encounter with the Lord - He’s is always right there beside you.  

 

So, let’s get ready to invite Him in with us, right here, right now and allow Him to speak directly to your heart and minds.   

 

So here goes, here is today’s topic: “When Your Busy Hands Become the Devil’s Workshop”

 

Issue/problem:

You’ve all heard the saying, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” right?  That was where he deceived and led me astray many of decades.  Thankfully, God saved me from him and from idle hands – one, being this podcast.  

 

There’s also another truth and an accompanying saying that I don’t think many people realize, which may be even MORE powerful and damning and dangerous than idle hands….that is, “if the devil won’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.”  You see, he will distract you and cause you to focus on all the things that don’t matter instead of what really matters.  Distractions are the enemy of greatness.  Why do we focus not on what matters most, which is God?

 

If we claim to believe in Him, and we know that the two greatest commandments of all, according to Jesus is to love God with all you heart, your mind, and your soul, and the next greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself – Why then, do we know more about worldly things than we do God’s Word, or in doing the things that faith produces, which is works according to the Bible.  Why are we so worries about the weather, our careers, our wealth, our trajectory in life, our past, our present, our missed opportunities, our favorite sports teams, our hobbies and interests, our weekend fun, our technology and tech gear, our stocks and bonds, our crypto currency, our fears, our worries, our doubts, our music, our heritage, our favorite foods, our _________ = you fill in the blank….I just about left out another few thousand topics and categories.  To put it plainly, there are the things that fill up our time, our space, our devotion, our attention, our attitude, our money, and our energy…..but, it’s not God.  And THAT, my friends, is one of the greatest deceptions of the enemy.  Yes, it’s that God doesn’t exist for non-believers, yes, it’s that you have all the time in the world to get right with God and also idle hands being his workshop for the lukewarm Christians, but then for all of the rest of us – you, me, and just about everyone else…there’s the noise we spend our life on that is meaningless to God and His Kingdom.  In my humble opinion, this is one of the most alarming and deceiving blinders the enemy uses on us – and again, it’s mostly on Christians.  After all, we (we being true Christians) are most conscious about our walk with Christ and living a life for God, running the race.  Yet, how can we continue to run a race that the devil sets for us?  You better BELIEVE he wants you off the race that God has set before you and onto the beaten path that the devil leads many astray with.  He doesn’t come with horns and anger, he comes disguised as the most beautiful, treasured, and desired things in your life.

 

Having a hard time coming to grips with this?  So did I until The Holy Spirit convicted me of this as I was dwelling in God’s Word and after He shook me awake in April 2019 (check out episode 1 for more if you haven’t yet).  The more I sought to know God and what He wanted from me, the more I had to hold my mirror, known to me as my Bible, to see who I really was and who I was in relation to what God wanted me to be.  And I dreaded the reflection I saw.  It wasn’t that of Christ, it was one of the devil.  For 41 years I had been deceived.  For 41 years, my god was me.  For 41 years, I and everything I did and had was my idol.  God was just a name known to me, believed in Him, and had him set aside in reserves in case something really bad came in my life, and then I’d pray to Him to help.  That was about my extent of a relationship with Him.   

 

So when The Holy Spirit convicted me, He showed me in between the lines, so to speak – I read and dwelled in the Word as what I was supposed to do for God in the race set before me, I understood that “Well done, My good and faithful servant,” meant something more than just believing in him….He showed me all the things that were consuming my attention, my heart, my time, and my focus.   It wasn’t on God, but of the things of this world.  It was one of those heart-stopping moments that left my jaw on the floor for weeks.  It completely transformed my way of living and reset the course and track I was running.  I had to bet back on God’s race that He had set before me…to live out His purpose for my life, not MY purpose for MY life.  I had it backwards.  

 

Here was the greatest shaken awake moment He gave me as a conviction – when I broke down what I did for Him on a day-to-day basis, it amounted to maybe 5 minutes of my attention per day, IF THAT!!!!  No, really.  Maybe 5 minutes MAX!  It came in the form of a prayer, as I lay down to sleep but it wasn’t even every night – sometimes, I was just too tired to even pray to my GOD!!!!  Never reading the Bible, other than verses here or there that were posted or parts of a sermon or two I listened to.  Guys, 5 minutes is equal to less than 1 percent of your day!!!  I could’ve tripled or quadrupled that and it was like dropping pennies in an offering plate, not 10%. It was worse than giving a waiter or waitress a penny for a tip – yet that’s the equivalent I was giving to God!  

 

I was filling my day with non-life-producing, non-God worshipping, non-Kingdom growing, and non-Christian activities.  How was I living the life God asks us to live?  I WASN’T – and this is the message for you all today – what are you busy doing for God?  And if YOU don’t know, or you know and it convicts you – then God has your full attention right now!

What does God’s Word say we should be doing with our life?  Remember, salvation is not given by works, but by grace.  Works are a result of your faith.  Faith without works is dead.

 

Galatians 2:20   

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Ephesians 4:29-32   

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Colossians 1:10 

So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Romans 12:1-2 

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Micah 6:8   

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Romans 12:1   

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Proverbs 3:5 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Jeremiah 29:11 

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Colossians 3:12-17   

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ...

Matthew 6:33   

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Romans 12:2 

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Ephesians 4:25 

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

Philippians 2:14-15 

Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

Hebrews 13:5 

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Ephesians 4:32 

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Proverbs 16:1-20:30 

The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished. ...

1 Corinthians 10:31 

drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

 

Mark 12:30-31 

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Psalm 139:23 

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!

Ephesians 4:29 

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Matthew 19:21 

Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

1 John 3:1-10   

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. ...

Hebrews 12:12-16   

Therefore, lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

Psalm 119:1-176   

Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! ...

John 15:5   

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

2 Corinthians 5:17   

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

 

Luke 9:23   

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

1 Corinthians 11:1 

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Matthew 4:4 

But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Colossians 3:1-25   

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ...

Romans 8:13   

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

 

So, if you’re now asking, “Well, how can I apply this to my life starting today?” this is what I would say – first, get into God’s Word. You’ve most likely been told this your whole life, to some degree, or at the very least heard it, but if you HAVEN’T, that’s like asking why can you figure out how to work something or put it together properly when you’ve ignored the instruction manual?  God’s Word is Living, and He will absolutely speak to you through it.  It’s your life’s manual – it’s the how-to and how-not-to for EVERYTHING you’ll ever encounter, and THEN SOME!!!  Follow the examples of Jesus, then His disciples (with the exception of Judas, of course).  Read one of the many books from Paul – see how he lived his life and taught others how to live theirs for Christ.  Everyone wants to find the meaning of life and the instruction booklet for life – you actually possess it – it’s called the Bible and it’ll never steer your wrong.  Spend time with your Creator.  Talk to Him and He’ll talk to you.   Dwell in His Word daily, not weekly or never.  Don’t just worship and praise and thank Him on Sundays – do this EVERY DAY.  Go to Him with questions, seek His approval for things, follow His guidance, go love on your neighbors, create time to do what He’s asking you to do.  Help the needy, help the lost, help the poor, work with orphans and widows, join or start a small group, let your light shine before all the world so that they see Him in you!  

 

Today, the world won’t read the Bible, because it’s busy reading YOU (the Christian).  It is by your example that they will become thirsty for what you have, which is Jesus.  And it’s not talk – it’s action.  Faith without works is DEAD.  Don’t let the devil place importance on worldly things and what you spend your time on over and above what God would have your spend your time and devotion on.  Two different paths, two different outcomes.

 

So, my final question to you is then this:  God is worth what percent of your day?  What percent are you willing to give to the One who died for you, rose again, defeated sin and death, and offers free salvation and grace to everyone who will love and obey Him?

My final statement is this:   Take it from one who was one for 41 years of his life – Being a lukewarm Christian is so dangerous, because you blend in with everybody and impact nobody.

 

So, before we end today’s show, I just want to thank you all again for tuning in and I HOPE you were touched by God through today’s message and scripture.  I’d like to ask you a favor only IF you received any value out of today’s show – would you tell at least one person you know – call them, text them, email them, talk to them – tell them to give this show a listen. 

 

Check out the show at shaken-awkae.com, email me at ben@shaken-awake.com or call or text me directly for any reason at (407)-493-3208 (repeat).  If you have ideas for the show – LET ME KNOW!

Next weeks episode is another powerful and DO-NOT-MISS episode – thanks for joining!  

Until next week, take great care of yourself and each other, and God Bless You all.  

 

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