Church Notes from the Past: Recognize the Signs of Drifting

“So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift

away from it.” (Hebrews 2:1)

Slip: to let carelessly pass by

Response to Drifting From the Lord:

1. When we begin to drift from God, our conscience is silent in our lives


a. “Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from what we believe; they will follow lying spirits and teachings that come from demons. These teachers are hypocrites and liars. They pretend to be religious, but their consciences are dead.” (1Timothy 4:1-2)

b. “Their closed minds are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds and hardened their hearts against Him. They don’t care anymore about right and wrong, and they have given themselves over to immoral ways. Their lives are filled with all kinds of impurity and greed.” (Ephesians 4:18-19)

2. We step out of the will of God

a. “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will accept. When you think of what He has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is.” (Romans 12:1-2)

b. Please read the entire book of Hebrews 12. I will list a partial quotation from it below:

i. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy He knew would be His afterward. Now He is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven. Think about all He endured when sinful people did such terrible things to him, so that you don’t become weary and give up. After all , you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin…” (Hebrews 12:1-4)

3. Denial of wrong in our life

a. People can’t understand they are wrong

b. We make justification reasons to “feel good” about our decisions

4. Begin to shriek away from spiritual things

a. Become an “ex” (Sunday School attendee, prayer warrior, etc)

b. Stop reading God’s word

c. Begin making bad decisions

5. Lose ability to hear from God

a. You lie to yourself

b. You begin believing your own lies

6. Your heart becomes hard

a. Become insensitive

b. Nothing moves you to pray (unless you find yourself in a crisis)

Results of Drifting

• Affects you mentally: You are no longer thinking on good, Godly things

• Affects you physically: When you are drifting, you have no conviction because you have no conscience

• Affects you spiritually: Grieve the Spirit of God; You begin missing God’s best for your life.

• Affects you emotionally: You lose a sense of where you are/purpose

• You begin to Experience God’s Chastening: God will come after you

“My child, don’t ignore it when the Lord disciplines you, and don’t be discouraged

when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes

those he accepts as his children.” (Hebrews 12:5-6)

• You make a shipwreck of your Life

Remedy for Drifting

1. Get back to God’s Word

2. Remain faithful to Church

3. Stay in love with God

4. Be involved in the Work of God

"Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my laws and failed to obey them.  Now return to me, and I will return to You," says the LORD almighty.  (Malachi 3:7)

The notes above were taken from the sermon preached by Dale Faulkenbury titled "Recognize the Signs of Drifting" on 05/20/2007