God has made a way for you to cut off wrong attachments. In doing so you will be able to identify and focus on godly attachments that will bring true fulfillment to your life.
Wrong attachments will push and pull you in the wrong directions. Right attachments will ead you toward peace and presence of God in every area of your life every time you make them.
Before you can attach yourself to a godly attachment, you must detach from that which is not of God. How exactly do you make sure that you pursue only God-ordained attachments?
First, locate all of your attachments. Sit down and spend an hour or so locating what you are attached to. You'll probably be amazed at how many things and even people you're attached to that you never recognized. All of these attachments have a right to make a demand on your time, finances, and most importantly, your faith and your relationship with your heavenly Father.
Second, pray about which attachments to keep. There are some things you won't have to pray about. You'll just know that you need to cut them off. There will be other things you might have to ask God about to see if they should be a part of your life.
Third, detach from everything that is not God-ordained. Become willing to detach from your plans and ideas. Be ready to detach from things, habits, places, and even relationships if God directs you that way.
The completed goal of a fully God-ordained life may not be something you reach tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year. As you set your goal to begin detaching from those things that are not God-ordained, you will begin to move toward a new life that is centered on God's perfect will.
Fourth, establish your God-ordained attachments. After you have detached, ask God to help you locate the godly attachments He desires you to have. Once you've discovered these attachments, begin to esteem, honor, and promote them. When you do this, it can be compared to the roots of a tree burrowing through the soil. As the tree grows, its roots travel deeper into the soil and become established. Likewise, as you become established, you are firmly planted and will bear much fruit.
Jesus said, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples" (John 15:7, 8).
When God's word is attached to you, you are attached to His Word. When you are attached to God through His Word, you have a right to place a demand on your attachment to God.
This is where you want to live. When you're attached to God, you are qualified to ask and receive from Him.
It's easy to see this is not about religion. It is about relationship. It is about exchanges between our heavenly Father and His children. Once you've attached yourself to God through relationship, He will guard and keep you from making wrong attachments in the future.
God-ordained attachments position you to walk closely with God. As an intimate relationship with God develops, you are more than willing to detach from everything that would put a wedge between the two of you. After all, He is the souce of your life and the center of yor peace. He is your joy, you happiness, and your security. He is your all in all.
When you live a lifestyle of God-ordained attachments, the words that Jesus spoke in Luke 6:38 have more meaning to them: "Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."
Notice that the same way you measured something is the same way that it is measured bac to you. You cal also say that the degree to which God can place a demand on your life through attachment is the same degree to which you can place a demand on god. Therefore, when you esteem the Word of God, you are saying to Him, "Lord, this Word can place a demand on my life."
God responds, "The degree to which I can count on you is the degree to which you can count on Me."
What an exchange of trust and faith!
Attachments are about measures and capacity. God watches and gauges how we measure and to what we attach ourselves. He's saying to us in a sense, "It's up to you. You measure your attachment. You decided how deep your roots will grow. You choose how much fruit you will bear. I want you to bear fruit, butyou determine the measurement. Whatever standard of measurement you use will be the same standard I'll use for your life."
We are all familiar with the scripture found in Ephesians 5:20: "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."
In this verse we could substitute the word "capacity" for the word "power." We could say that we are all created with a certain amount of "capacity."
God can only work in our lives according to the degree of capacity we have, or to our ability to receive or absorb. Wrong attachments rob us of our maximum capacity to receive.
Romans 12:3 reveals even more about this: "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."
Everyone has been given a measure of faith. That means that everyone walks in a certain level of capacity and that each person has the potential to develop more faith. Many times the capacity that we were given and the measure of faith God has supplied to us becomes drained because of wrong decisions and attachments that were made. then, when a serious situation arises and we need to stand on our faith, we're "tapped out" because we've expended so much of our energy in other areas.
When you know it or not, you're constantly using your faith. It's at work when you're driving to work, taking the kids to their soccer practice, or volunteering in the community. Faith, like attachments, is always working. It's always being applied either in a positive or negative way.
Mark 4 clearly explains to us that wrong attachments choke the Word of God out of our lives, which is the very think that increases our capacity and our faith. (Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God). The Word is what produces more "life" in our everyday lives.
Mark 4:19 depicts an excellent picture of this: "And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful."
Many believers have made wrong attachments. They have allowed life's experiences to drive them away from God-ordained attachments and have attached themselves to places and people that were never in God's plan for their lives.
Always remember that you and I have a certain capacity on the inside of us. It is, therefore, critical that we carefully guard the degree of capacity in our hearts and lives so that we will remain devoted to the things of God and to building His kingdom on the earth.
Evaluate where you are now. How much of your capacity is devoted to God and His interests? Yes, that is a tough question. One that will make you check yourself, especially in the world you live. many commitments and obligations constantly vie for our time and attantion. The solution to having a better life is simple. Allow God to increase His demand upon your life.
Make a commitment from this day forward, to ask God to show you how to detach from whatever is not producing His best for your life. Then abide in His word and allow yourself to become attached to Him. Let obedience to His demands become a joy for you always. See Him as the life-giver. Establish yourself in your God-ordained attachments and be unwilling to sever the attachments He tells you to establish.
