Part 3 - Letting Go of Distractions

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A distraction is anything or anyone that deters you from following
after the perfect will of God for your life.

1. Mary and Joseph led a life of

Mary and Joseph didn’t allow the increasing

and even

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deter them from doing what God had called them to do.

Luke 1:38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her. (NLT)

Matthew 2:13a After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. (NLT)

The cost of following God’s plan is

it
for the prize of

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near to God.

2. The Wise Men led a life of

and

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Matthew 2:1-2 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” (NLT)

How many people

the star and didn’t follow?

Not being distracted in life comes from making sure
you

on the right

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Matthew 2:11a They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. (NLT)

Philippians 3:7-8 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ (NLT)

3. The Shepherds led a life of saying

Luke 2:15-16 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. (NLT)

1. Practice saying “Yes” to God’s

What are you saying yes to in your

? What do you value?

2. Practice saying “No” to the Devil’s

3. Practice replacing the “good” with the “

”

“Daily I live with [one] fear — a healthy fear — that I will miss something God has for me in this life. And it is mind-expanding to contemplate all that He wants me to have. I don’t want to be robbed of even one of God’s riches by not taking time to let Him invade my life. By not listening to what He is telling me. By allowing the routine, pressing matters of my minutes to bankrupt me of time for the most exciting, most fulfilling relationship in life.” – Carole Mayhall

Sometimes it’s saying no to the

to receive the

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“I played my

for him” and “He

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at me.”