Our Focus
There is a song which says “turn your eyes upon Jesus, look right at His wonderful
face, and the things of life will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glorious grace”.
Songs that speak the word of God can change your life, because when you sing
them, you are saying what God says.
What you magnify or focus on gets bigger and comes to you. Job focused on the
fact that his children would curse God and die, and he continued to sacrifice for them
to make an covering for them; his focus was on fear, and he said in (Job 3:25) “for
the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is
come to me”.
Remember Peter stepped out of the boat on the word “come” and he walked on the
water to go to Jesus, until he began to look at the natural. Peter started out walking
on the water, but turned his focus on the circumstances and began to sink (Matthew
14:28-31) “and Peter answered Him, and said, Lord, if it be You, bid me come to You
on the water. And He said, Come, and when Peter was come down out of the ship,
he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was
afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately
Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said to him, O you of little faith,
wherefore did you doubt”?
Do not allow fear to shift the focus from God to the natural. We are told in Colossians
3:1-2) “if you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on
things on the earth”. And in II Corinthians 4:18 “while we look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are
temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal”. James says “but be you
doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a
hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like to a man beholding his natural face in a
glass. For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and immediately forgets what
manner of man he was. But whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues
therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be
blessed in his deed” (James 1:22-25).
When God calls you to do anything, it is not something one can do in the natural; and
you have to know that the devil is going to try to get you to doubt it. James gives us
good advice “if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men
liberally, and upbraids not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing
wavering, for he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and
tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A
double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5-8). Remember that doubt
weakens your faith.
Many people hear from God and they begin to try to bring it to pass, but in the
natural it can’t be done. As long as we try to help it come to pass, God won’t do it.
We have to come to the end of our self, when it looks impossible; our example is
Abram, when God told him he was going to be the father of many nations, “and
Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward
of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus”? Then Sarai his wife, told him to take her
maid and go into her, they were still focused on the impossibility of God bringing this
to pass; and they trying to help God, had Ishmael. When Abram was 99 years old,
God came to him and told him he was going to have a son by Sarah his wife (Genesis
17), God changed his name from Abram to Abraham, and when he began to say
what God said, it happened.
We have to let go and let God. Our job is to believe and then speak what God says
(I Corinthians 4:13).
Proverbs 4:10-15,25-27 says “hear, O my son, and receive my sayings, and the
years of your life shall be many. I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led
you in right paths. When you go, your steps shall not be hampered, and when you
run you shall not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction, let her not go; keep her for
she is your life. Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil
men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. Let your eyes look right
on, and let your eyelids look straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and
let all your ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor the life, remove your
foot from evil”.
We are to be “looking to Jesus the Author and the Finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:
2). Jesus taught about the kingdom and says “so is the kingdom of God, as if a man
should cast seed into the ground. And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the
seed should spring and grow up, he knows not how. For the earth brings forth fruit of
itself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit
is brought forth, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest is come”.
Many will come to you and ask how you are going to do what God told you, but you
see here if we trust God, He will bring it to pass.
Look at what Jesus says in Matthew 6:25-33 “therefore I say to you, take no thought
for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what
you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat; and the body than raiment? Behold
the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet
your heavenly Father feds them; are you not much better than they? Which of you
by taking though can add one cubit to his stature? And why take you thought for
raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toll not, neither do they
spin. And yet I say to you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one
of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and
tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O you of little
faith? Therefore take no thought saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink?
Or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek,
for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek you
first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added
to you”.
Keep your focus on what the word says, because if we began to say what the word
says from our heart, it will come to pass. Isaiah 55:11 says “so shall My word be that
goes forth out of My mouth, it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish that
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it”. it should not be
hard to trust God because He does not lie “if He said it, it comes to pass”, look at
Genesis chapter 1 “and God said and God saw”. Study others in the Bible, Abraham,
Gideon and then read Romans 15:4 which says “for whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the
scriptures might have hope”.
Once you establish a word for you, you have to stand on it (Ephesians 6:13-14)
“wherefore take to you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in
the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt
about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness”. You have to stand
and do not turn to the left or right, but focus on what God said. Keep your eyes on
the prize, and don’t lose heart.
Mark 11:22-24 says “and Jesus answering said to them, have faith in God. For
verily, I say to you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain, be you removed, and
be you cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those
things which he says shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he says.
Therefore I say to you, what things so ever you desire, when you pray, believe that
you receive them, and you shall have them”. The first thing He said was “have faith
in God”; we have to know that the battle is not ours. Just remember that God is not a
respecter of persons, and if He did it for one, He will do it for another.
We have to examine what we are focusing on, or thinking about because (Ephesians
3:20) says “now to Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask,
or think, according to the power that works in us”. Remember we are told to “set your
mind on things above”, we have to set our mind, Isaiah 26:3 says “You (God) will
keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You because he trust in You”.
Philippians tells us what we should think on “whatever is true, honest, just, pure,
lovely, and of good report” all of these describe the word of God.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: February 5, 2010
There is a song which says “turn your eyes upon Jesus, look right at His wonderful
face, and the things of life will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glorious grace”.
Songs that speak the word of God can change your life, because when you sing
them, you are saying what God says.
What you magnify or focus on gets bigger and comes to you. Job focused on the
fact that his children would curse God and die, and he continued to sacrifice for them
to make an covering for them; his focus was on fear, and he said in (Job 3:25) “for
the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is
come to me”.
Remember Peter stepped out of the boat on the word “come” and he walked on the
water to go to Jesus, until he began to look at the natural. Peter started out walking
on the water, but turned his focus on the circumstances and began to sink (Matthew
14:28-31) “and Peter answered Him, and said, Lord, if it be You, bid me come to You
on the water. And He said, Come, and when Peter was come down out of the ship,
he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was
afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately
Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said to him, O you of little faith,
wherefore did you doubt”?
Do not allow fear to shift the focus from God to the natural. We are told in Colossians
3:1-2) “if you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on
things on the earth”. And in II Corinthians 4:18 “while we look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are
temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal”. James says “but be you
doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a
hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like to a man beholding his natural face in a
glass. For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and immediately forgets what
manner of man he was. But whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues
therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be
blessed in his deed” (James 1:22-25).
When God calls you to do anything, it is not something one can do in the natural; and
you have to know that the devil is going to try to get you to doubt it. James gives us
good advice “if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men
liberally, and upbraids not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing
wavering, for he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and
tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A
double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5-8). Remember that doubt
weakens your faith.
Many people hear from God and they begin to try to bring it to pass, but in the
natural it can’t be done. As long as we try to help it come to pass, God won’t do it.
We have to come to the end of our self, when it looks impossible; our example is
Abram, when God told him he was going to be the father of many nations, “and
Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward
of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus”? Then Sarai his wife, told him to take her
maid and go into her, they were still focused on the impossibility of God bringing this
to pass; and they trying to help God, had Ishmael. When Abram was 99 years old,
God came to him and told him he was going to have a son by Sarah his wife (Genesis
17), God changed his name from Abram to Abraham, and when he began to say
what God said, it happened.
We have to let go and let God. Our job is to believe and then speak what God says
(I Corinthians 4:13).
Proverbs 4:10-15,25-27 says “hear, O my son, and receive my sayings, and the
years of your life shall be many. I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led
you in right paths. When you go, your steps shall not be hampered, and when you
run you shall not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction, let her not go; keep her for
she is your life. Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil
men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. Let your eyes look right
on, and let your eyelids look straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and
let all your ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor the life, remove your
foot from evil”.
We are to be “looking to Jesus the Author and the Finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:
2). Jesus taught about the kingdom and says “so is the kingdom of God, as if a man
should cast seed into the ground. And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the
seed should spring and grow up, he knows not how. For the earth brings forth fruit of
itself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit
is brought forth, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest is come”.
Many will come to you and ask how you are going to do what God told you, but you
see here if we trust God, He will bring it to pass.
Look at what Jesus says in Matthew 6:25-33 “therefore I say to you, take no thought
for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what
you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat; and the body than raiment? Behold
the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet
your heavenly Father feds them; are you not much better than they? Which of you
by taking though can add one cubit to his stature? And why take you thought for
raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toll not, neither do they
spin. And yet I say to you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one
of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and
tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O you of little
faith? Therefore take no thought saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink?
Or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek,
for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek you
first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added
to you”.
Keep your focus on what the word says, because if we began to say what the word
says from our heart, it will come to pass. Isaiah 55:11 says “so shall My word be that
goes forth out of My mouth, it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish that
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it”. it should not be
hard to trust God because He does not lie “if He said it, it comes to pass”, look at
Genesis chapter 1 “and God said and God saw”. Study others in the Bible, Abraham,
Gideon and then read Romans 15:4 which says “for whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the
scriptures might have hope”.
Once you establish a word for you, you have to stand on it (Ephesians 6:13-14)
“wherefore take to you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in
the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt
about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness”. You have to stand
and do not turn to the left or right, but focus on what God said. Keep your eyes on
the prize, and don’t lose heart.
Mark 11:22-24 says “and Jesus answering said to them, have faith in God. For
verily, I say to you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain, be you removed, and
be you cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those
things which he says shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he says.
Therefore I say to you, what things so ever you desire, when you pray, believe that
you receive them, and you shall have them”. The first thing He said was “have faith
in God”; we have to know that the battle is not ours. Just remember that God is not a
respecter of persons, and if He did it for one, He will do it for another.
We have to examine what we are focusing on, or thinking about because (Ephesians
3:20) says “now to Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask,
or think, according to the power that works in us”. Remember we are told to “set your
mind on things above”, we have to set our mind, Isaiah 26:3 says “You (God) will
keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You because he trust in You”.
Philippians tells us what we should think on “whatever is true, honest, just, pure,
lovely, and of good report” all of these describe the word of God.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: February 5, 2010
