Daily Huddle - Mon Apr 6, 2020 Stay Or Stray

Love you all, praying for you.
 
Some words are kinda funny, not laughable, but intriguing, perilous, heavily consequential.  Stray.  This word is not rebellion - it's more distraction.  Not disobedience - it's more distracted interest.  It does not mean to go the opposite way – just a slightly different way.  Not reject, but wander off, look at something else.  Unfocused attention can in an instant become mis-directed attention.  Like the little kid in right field.  “Everybody ready, here comes the pitch!”  But he saw a butterfly that caught his attention.  That’s what happens when your eye is not on the ball.  You stray.  The opposite of stray is stay.  Fixed, focused, locked in. The first time you notice something else – you either turn back immediately – to keep your eye on the ball, telling your mind and body, your eyes and attention to stay where it belongs!  Or.. you entertain the thing you noticed, and see what it will do next, where it might go, and pretty soon, you’re looking around the corner after it – while the ball has just gone past you – and the batter is rounding the bases.  Psalms 119:110 – The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts (from your principles, from your Word...) I’ve not taken the my eye off the ball.  Like a runner on a long race – you can enjoy the journey and appreciate the beauty, but it’s not time to stop and site-see.  Paul in Philippians 3:13 – …but I focus on this one thing:  Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize in heaven for which God, through Jesus Christ is calling us.  There are perhaps three times in life you are most susceptible to straying.  Times when you’re idle, (you have down time on your hands.)  You become a target for straying.  Times when you are super-busy, and you are drawn to some distraction – please.  And times when you are in full and normal rhythm, and the devil will plant that lie-seed that faithfulness is boring.  Completely untrue – rhythm is where progress is found, steady plodding brings prosperity.  The funny thing about snares – they never attack you – they bite your ankle.  You rarely face a snare head-on, you step in it.  You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.  That's one of those perpetual motion truths.  Trust Him, you'll keep your mind stayed on Him, and the more you keep your mind stayed on Him, the more you'll trust Him.  This peace is not just a feeling, it’s a relational condition.  When you are at peace with someone – nothing is impacting that relationship in any way negatively.  The first part of stayed – is mind stayed.  Mind first, feet next.  Because if you stray – your mind will always stray before your feet do.  Whether it’s in right field, or your marriage, or your purpose, calling, or vision, or that goal that God has put in your heart to become.  Stray always starts with your mind – and Stay always starts with your mind.  Praying for you that your mind will be stayed on Him.  His Word is how you do it.  PRISM will stay your mind, it’s how you don’t stray, it's how you don’t step in anything.  Snares are off the path – at the edge.  PiVAT will keep you in the center of the road that He has told you to travel.  He knows the destination – He knows the joy of it!  He knows the Good that He has or you – and the joy of the journey.  Praying that you will PiVAT before dinner every single day!  So you keep your eyes on His path.  It’s how you watch the ball – not the butterflies.  And that His PRISM for you – reveals exactly what you need – to move forward on the path He has chosen for you – the best path for you! which leads far away from the snares.  If you let your mind get distracted, and start looking around, you will be wandering, soon disillusioned, wondering if baseball is even worth it…  This season isn’t forever - just be faithful in this season!  Don't miss your Daily Call - it's God's command for you to "stray-proof" your life.  Don't miss your Team Call - that PiVAT Small  Group every week with your team - where The Holy Spirit helps you every week to keep your eye on the ball - to run in the path that He has chosen for you!  Praying that you will stay your mind on God’s Word, God’s Will, and God’s Way for you - so you will always stay in the center of his Good, and never stray or delay from the Good that He has for you. 
 
Love you all,
dad