“What’s got your Attention”
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
OPENING: - I have been teaching lately on prophecy and how the things that are happening in the world today are fulfilling many prophecies seemingly bringing the End-Times to fruition. My desire is to make people aware of how rapidly things are happening and prayerfully cause you to do has Jesus said in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 and that is to watch and pray always, let no man deceive you, and to decern what is happening. Matthew 16:3 says, “When it is evening ye say it will be fair weather, for the sky is red. And in the morning it will be foul weather today for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites you can discern the face of the sky but can ye not discern the signs of the times”. Unfortunately, many people are seeing things happening right before their eyes and are unable to discern what is going on and how they are the signs of the times Jesus mentioned.
Understand, prophecy isn’t given to scare us but to prepare us. God doesn’t want us to fear the end-times and the things that are happening but discern them and be ready. Because we are in the world but not of the world, we need to be aware of what is happening, actively doing our part in any way we can, focusing on Jesus, watching and praying. We must not be afraid of what is happening around us because fear paralyzes you, makes you reactive, and clouds your judgment. Preparedness will ground you in truth, enhance your discernment, and cause you to live in confidence despite what is going on all around.
Therefore, we must be clear and concise, realizing what truly has our attention making sure we are not deceived.
PRAYER
SCRIPTURES: - 2 Timothy 2:4 “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier”.
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things”.
QUESTION: - What is more dangerous trying to focus on and identify who we think the Anti-Christ could be and the things that are going on in the world or loosing your focus and being deceived because we are so entangled in the affairs of this world?
A great tragedy is when the children of God, start to lose sight of God, His Word, and His plan for our lives, because we have allowed our attention to lose its focus, we have been drawn away our attention has shifted and unless it is corrected can lead us in the wrong direction towards sin, missed opportunities, and missed blessings from God. When your attention has shifted it causes losing sight of God and propels us to live in fear, anger, worry, frustration, and doubt. I can personally say as I have been getting drawn in by the news and all the negative attention-grabbing menagerie of pollution, corruption, asinine antics, and utter buffoonery that was coming across the airways. The killings in Minnesota, the protest, the idiotic distractions of the asinine attempt to purchase Greenland, the kidnapping of the Venezuelan President, the bombing of fishing boats in the Caribbean and the things that Jared Kushner has been able to do and involved in that I found myself getting angry, frustrated, and doubting and wondering how we were going to make it and wishing certain things would take place and I even felt a sense of righteous indignation and prayed like David in Psalms 143:12 “And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant”. Not so much that I personally was being wronged but my attention was now focused on what was happening instead of who is in control. I was becoming so entangled in what was happening, upset with the corruption, aggravated with the administration, and fearful of how I would be prepared if they entered my house. 2 Timothy 2:4 “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier”.
God had to remind me and it is something when God reminds you, that we are in a battle, a battle for our souls and the battlefield is fought in our minds. If control of our mind is won, then control of our soul is the prize. As soldiers in the Army of the Lord, we are to live a life of discipline, endurance, and commitment. One that is naturally and spiritually prepared dedicated to the mission of serving Christ and does not entangle themselves, loses focus or is distracted with the affairs of the world. The concept of refraining from entanglement is a deliberate choice to stay focused and keep your attention on that which is important.
In the military, soldiers are expected to focus solely on their military duties, avoiding civilian occupations or concerns that could hinder their effectiveness. Hebrews 12:1 says, “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us”. This is putting off anything that would get or fight for your attention, any worldly pursuits and concerns that can divert attention from spiritual growth and service. Stop anything that would divert your attention from your duties, change your focus from your purpose but maintain the desired aim Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you”. Yes, we are in the world, but we are not of the world, and we cannot allow our attention to be consumed with the things that are going on in the world when we have a mission to uphold. We must keep our attention on the right path which requires the motivation to push through hard times that try our faith, patience, and most of all our mind. When our attention is pulled in another direction causing us to take our focus off that which we should be paying attention to we are not effective and that is dangerous because we can lose our life as well as cost others their life spiritually and/or naturally.
Daniel prophesied over 2500 years ago and John prophesied over 1930 years ago of things that will happen in the End-Times. Jesus warns us to watch and pray and to have discernment, but he never told us to pay so much attention to it that we lose focus of Him. Sure, we should understand and recognize the signs, but we are not to get so focused on them that we lose focus of Jesus and truth. We are to guard our hearts with all diligence Proverbs 4:23.
I found myself being drawn in with all the mess that is going on in the world. Minnesota and the senseless atrocities happening there were shifting my attention from reading and praying, and I was finding myself operating in flesh and getting upset. I had to understand Trump is the hammer that is used for God purpose and plan, and he is only able to do what God has allowed for him to do. He is under the authority of God rather he realizes it or not and the things that are going on is only because God is allowing it to happen. God is using Trump to bring America’s atrocities, sins, and what they have done to His Chosen. Trump is the hammer because to crush stone you need a hammer and Trump is going to be the hammer that God uses to crush the stone of Babylon the Great - America. Therefore, make sure not to lose focus, make sure He has my and your undivided attention and watch and pray.
God let me know I was paying too much attention to Trump and Jared Kushner yes; they are interesting to watch and tying in prophecy to what they are doing. However, we must be deceived, we must not fall into complacency, we can’t settle for mediocrity. Jesus warned us that there are things that must come to pass but the end is not yet Matthew 24:6.
Jesus said for there must be wars and rumors of wars – since 2003 according to Wikipedia there has been 161 wars throughout the world. Fulfilling Matthew 24:7 that nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be earthquakes in diverse places. In the last five years the intensity, frequency, and magnitude of the earthquakes around the world have increased killing hundreds of thousands. There will be pestilences. We are seeing the rise in pestilences such as polio, measles, mumps, Bird Flu or Avian Flu becoming more and more out of control. Famines - People are starving and famine is running rampant not in some 3rd world countries, but right here in America because of the corrupt governmental system. People are unable to buy food in many cases because the price is astronomical, snap benefits are being cut, health care has become unattainable people cannot afford to get simple vaccines, many people are having to decide rather they eat or purchase their life saving medications. There is a famine of compassion, caring, empathy and understanding for the love of many has waxed cold.
There is the falling away of those that call themselves the children of God. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 the church falling farther and farther away from Sound Doctrine, Truth, Praying and every diabolical thing happening in the church. We have Churches full of compromised preachers selling out for prosperity and popularity. Churches arguing over a dress where one of these compromised preachers bought for his wife that simply was a ploy to grab personal attention, self-edification, and to turn the pulpit into a stage of ridicule and division which is nothing more than something to grab your attention causing you to lose focus on God. Then there are other compromised preachers who have literally been turned over to a reprobate mind marrying the same sex and calling themselves apostles, prophets, Bishops, Evangelist, teachers and pastors trying to bring the unadulterated Word of God but are nothing more than false prophets who say they are coming in the name of the Lord fulfilling what Jesus told us must and would happen with false prophets. Worship is being replaced with entertainment, the Holy Spirit replaced with fog machines, the unadulterated Word of God is replaced with gimmicks and theatrical displays that amuse people but have nothing to do with deliverance and salvation but is then spun trying to convince those standing for truth and sound doctrine that these are just tools that are used to draw people in neglecting the fact that the consequences are serious only appeasing those that have itching ears. They dilute the gospel changing the focus from Christ causing the heart to be exposed and repentance taking place to conformity and acceptance of the world. Repentance is replaced with Relevance the message of sin, salvation, righteousness, grace, and judgment is now offensive, outdated, irrelevant, and considered hate speech. Churches marketing Jesus as a life coach instead of the crucified savior. Sure, the attendance swells but the people are spiritually malnourished and being entertained into Hell because their attention is out of alignment with Yeshua HaMashiach Jesus and the Word of God.
The world doesn’t need a Christianized Hollywood production it needs soul searching, life transforming, Holy Ghost filling sermons of Jesus Christ and Him crucified for our sins, His death, burial, resurrection, and definite return which could be at any time now.
Unfortunately, too many other things have grabbed the attention of the people of God. As children of God, we are called to live out our faith continually, day by day, in a world that constantly pulls us in different directions and is always striving for our attention and the church needs to be the place where the attention is in alignment, not diverted by gimmicks, smoke machines, and every other distraction. The Bible provides clear instructions for how we should focus on our relationship with God and His work, but attention grabbers can easily lead us away from this calling. We are so often robbed by attention seekers who steal our peace and joy. The news and the events happening in the world was doing just that for me, robbing me of peace and joy.
We must focus our attention and learn to say no to things that do not honor God.
Colossians 3:2 says, “set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” The news knows how to get our attention. They give you an exciting headline and you just must see the story they are going to tell then they wait for nearly an hour filling you with a lot of superfluous information that you can do without, but they have your attention.
By intentionally focusing our thoughts on God’s kingdom and His eternal purposes, we can keep our attention focused on what really matters. Sure we must be informed as to what is going on it helps us to know what to pray for, but we can’t get so caught up in that having our attention stolen by these things that we fail to pray.
Philippians 4:6-7 says, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Trusting in God’s provision and control can help alleviate worry and fear, which takes our attention from God’s work. Yes, we can still be involved, we can still be concerned with the things that are taking place. Yes, we can protest and I believe we should, my wife and I do. However, in everything thing that we do and everything that is happening we cannot become anxious and run into something because it grabbed our attention regardless of how passionate we may fill or how right it may seem without praying and making our request known unto God. Because, like Renee Green and Alex Pretti I am sure they were extremely passionate about what they were doing and ended up losing their lives for. Yes, we have our NO KINGS protest signs, but we cannot be anxious. The protest we were involved in not long ago, the NO KINGS, ICE was there, the agitators were trying to get people riled up, so you better pray and not be so anxious to run in. Pray Lord, keep my attention on you and your will be done and not mine.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing.” A life of continual prayer keeps us connected to God and aligned with His will. There is an old saying that says if you pray you will stay and that is never truer than now. We must pray without ceasing when things grab our attention pray, when the news says something that lines up with prophecy pray, when ICE detains another five year old, pulls another woman out of her car, makes a man walk out of his house half naked in the freezing cold we must pray, when another person is killed in the streets and it is seen on national T.V. and the government continues to lie pray, when the doctor report isn’t what you expected pray, when the job suddenly ends pray - without ceasing.
Hebrews 3:13 “encourage one another every day,” We need to encourage one another by helping each other remain steadfast in faith. We are not in this by ourselves, we are many members fitly joined together, and we must make sure we encourage each other in the faith.
Aa children of God, we are called to live out our faith continually, day by day, in a world that often pulls us in different directions and is constantly striving for our attention. At one point or another, we may get distracted, but I know a God that says that if we keep our minds stayed on Him, He will keep us in perfect peace.
The things we are seeing right before our eyes are the beginning of sorrows the end is not yet. Therefore, we must make sure our attention is directed to the only wise God our Savior. Giving God our attention is intentionally turning our focus from everyday distractions, hindrances, circumstances, and situations and meditating, focusing on Him.
We must set aside and dedicate specific times to commune with God through prayer and reading His Word and stop letting what is going on overshadow our life because our spiritual life depends on it.
We must focus and actively pay attention to His voice not just request His presence but STAND STILL and HEAR what He is saying.
We can keep our attention on Him by starting to make every aspect of life a part of worship whatever you are doing give God the glory that’s worship.
When our attention remains on God our ability to hear His voice will be enhanced, guidance and wisdom will flow, peace, calmness, and stability will replace anxiety and stress. Our spiritual relationship will level up from just asking to pure and true communion.
CLOSING
The signs Jesus spoke about are happening now unlike any time before simultaneously and quickly. Earthquakes are being felt in places that never felt them before, famines are happening and not just famines of food, but of love, joy, peace, compassion, economically simultaneously. People are having to choose do I have heat or do we eat.
We must make sure we pay close attention because there will be more governmental overthrows, more natural disasters, and economic collapse is going to happen. This is not to scare you but to prepare you, to cause you to focus on Covenant Promises and Biblical Prophecies that are coming to fruition.
We must not focus on compromised preachers that have sold out for prosperity and popularity, we can’t be lauded into mediocrity and complacency by superfluous gimmicks and smoke machines trying to substitute the spirit. God’s judgment is taking place beginning to destroy Babylon and the systematic foundations while simultaneously loosening the shackles of oppression on His people emotionally, spiritually, and mentally.
We must pay attention to what is happening and effectively navigate through the 3 levels of prophecy which are: 1). Comprehend Prophecy - understanding that the things that are happening is prophecy being fulfilled right before our eyes. 2). Believe Prophecy that this is not a Republican or Democratic agenda or some tyrant that is just running amuck but is the perfect will of God. 3). Moving and Acting upon the Prophecies that are being played out coming out of her the system, mindset, and misinterpreted ways of thinking and start walking in the true unadulterated Word of God understanding we are His people.
What has your attention. Are you overly focused on the affairs of this world or is your attention Heavenly ward Psalm 121:1 says, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help”.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
