If you're like most shoppers, you want to get the best deal for your money, especially when you make a major purchase. For instance, if you need a car, you probably won't just run out and buy one. You'll stop first, look around to see what's available, and listen to what the different dealers have to offer to make sure you don't get taken advantage of.

Well, that doesn't make just good economic sense; it makes good spiritual sense too. In other words, you can use the same logic - to stop, look, and listen - to keep the devil from taking advantage of you.

You see, a lot of Christians are living as though they're on a spiritual roller coaster. They're up today and down tomorrow. Others always seem to be on a merry-go-round. Nothing ever changes. They go around day in and day out living in defeat, and they stay in defeat.

But God doesn't want you to be an up-and-down Christian, and He certainly doesn't want you going around in circles, making no progress in your Christian walk. He wants you to keep moving forward in Him!

So every once in a while, it's good to just stop and look. Look at what? Look at yourself. Take inventory of your life, and examine your spiritual condition. Check to see if you're headed in the right direction in your walk with the Lord. And the way you do that is by looking at yourself from God's perspective.

It doesn't do you any good to just look at yourself from the natural standpoint. You also have to look at yourself from the Word of God, because the light of His Word causes you to see the areas of your life that need to be changed. Looking at the Word will also help you find real solutions to life's problems.

Have you ever heard someone say that when you walk by faith, you'll never have any more problems or trials? Well, the Bible says that tests and trials are going to come to all of us (John 16:33). But we can always come out of them victoriously by looking at God's Word instead of looking at the problems.

Look at God's Word, and you'll see that He has already forgiven your sins. He's already healed your diseases. He's already provided for all your needs. And He's already made a way for you to triumph in the face of adversity!

But it's not enough just to look at the Word and see your benefits. You have to listen to the Word too! I'm not talking about just hearing the Word with your ears, because you can hear the Word and never do anything about what you hear. I'm talking about really listening to the Word - hearing it, comprehending it, and acting on what it says (James 1:22-25)!

So I just want to encourage you to take time out to examine yourself. See what the Word has to say about you and your situation; then act on what you see. If you'll be a doer of the Word and not just a hearer of it, the Word will direct you and change you.

Don't let the devil talk you into settling for less than God's best. And don't allow yourself to get stuck in a rut, riding spiritual roller coasters and merry-go-rounds all your life. Just remember to stop, look, and listen, and you can experience God's blessings and walk in victory!

Source: From a Pastor's Heart by Kenneth E. Hagin. Jr.
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications