Have you ever made a vow to yourself that you'd never do something only to do that very thing? In Mark 14, we see this happen to Peter. When you live life on autopilot you do things you never thought you would. We need spiritual disciplines to keep us combat complacency and the desires of the flesh. Spiritual disciplines like prayer and fasting help us focus our attention so that we can be alert to and aware of God.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus invited the disciples to, "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41). It's all too easy to live life on autopilot, but what if you're missing something important because you're not fully awake?

Whether it's busyness, distraction, discouragement, or selfishness, there's always something vying for your attention and priority. Jesus invites you to wake up and pay attention. Through obedience, repentance, and communion with God in prayer, let's enter into a season of awareness.

There are two kingdoms: the Church and the world. The tension of being in Christ and also a citizen of the world is a tension God's people have always had to wrestle with. If you're going to win the war against the world, you're going to have to set some "unreasonable" boundaries. Saying "no" to the world means saying "yes" to the church. When God calls you out of the kingdom of darkens, He plants you into a kingdom of believers - His Church.

There's a cost to following Jesus. You have to deny your flesh. But you'll never succeed in your own strength. Living by the Spirit is the only way to win the war against fleshly desires. The Spirit of God gives us power for new life, and if you're a child of God, you have everything you need to be led by the Holy Spirit. Be still, create space, and invite Him in.

In Ephesian 2, Paul reveals our three enemies: the flesh, the world, and the devil. This week, Pastor Whit details how you can combat Satan: the father of lies. Before you can defeat the devil, you have to understand that he is real, his goal is destruction, and his weapons are lies. How do you fight lies? You fight them with the truth: the truth that God speaks in His word.

There is a struggle within you. Paul understood what this felt like: "For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out" (Romans 7:18). Paul would tell you this war isn't just physical; there is a spiritual battle happening both inside you and around you. And this war of wills can leave you wondering, Have I changed at all? But take heart: this war is winnable. Galatians 5:16 says, "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." Will you decide to fight?

In John 9, Jesus heals the man born blind. Faith gives us new eyes. By faith, we receive the work of Jesus, see the work of Jesus, and join the work of Jesus. God is always working and moving, and we have to train our eyes to see Him. Our world is intentionally designed to numb us from the awareness of God. So we must be counter-formed through spiritual practices to train our spiritual eyes. "…we prayerfully reflect on the thoughts, feelings, and actions of our day to see how God has been at work among us and how we responded." - Richard Foster

Jesus wants to meet you where you're at - just like He did with the woman at the well in John 4. Have you read the story? When we have a real encounter with God, as she did, things don't stay the same. In the same way that God has approached us, we must respond by approaching Him in return. We have to learn to face ourselves and learn to align our desires with what He wants for us. Lastly, through an encounter with Jesus, we learn how to move toward others in love. This is what it looks like to love and be loved by Jesus.

The conversation between Jesus and His disciples in John 1 is a pattern for how we all come to Jesus and follow Him. Jesus asks a simple question, "What are you seeking?" But the answer to this question isn't simple at all. Your desires are driving your decisions, but your desires might not even be obvious to you. Jesus didn't ask you to have all the answers, he asked for your obedience. Action precedes understanding. If you want the life of Jesus, you have to live the life He lived. The best thing you could ask of Jesus is, "Where are you going to be?" His invitation to you is, "Come and see."