What is Your Focus?
Focus = mind set
What you focus on gets bigger. The Bible tells us “looking to Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Remember when Peter was walking on the
water, he was looking at Jesus, then he took his eyes off Jesus and began to see
the storm and he began to sink (Matthew 14:28-31). The spies that spied out the
land came back with two different views, God told the Israelites that the promised
land was rich and fertile and He promised that this bountiful land would be theirs.
When the spies reported back to Moses, they gave plenty of good reasons for
entering the land, but they couldn’t stop focusing on their fears. Talk of giants and
fortified cities made it easy to forget about God’s promise to help. But Caleb and
Joshua came back with a positive view, and Caleb tried to encourage the people as
they stood before Moses, saying “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said, “We
can certainly conquer it” (Numbers 13:30). When facing a tough decision, don’t let
the negatives cause you to lose sight of the positives. Weigh both sides carefully.
Don’t let potential difficulties blind you to God’s power to help and His promise to
guide. The Israelites let fear shift the focus from God.
See yourself with it. The Bible says “set your affection on things above, not on
things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2), “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” (II Corinthians 4:18). Look
through faith, at what God has promised you. Trust in the Lord and lean not to your
own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-8, 4;20-23). God told Joshua to meditate, day
and night (Joshua 1:8). We are told to keep our mind focused on God, that means
His Word (Isaiah 26:3-4). Paul said “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14). The Bible tells us to cast down vain
imaginations, II Corinthians 10:5 says “casting down imaginations and every high
thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ”. In Ephesians 3:20 we see that God is able to
do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that
works in us. So it is very important that we fix our mind for godly things. As we view
God in our lives, we will began to live positive lives. When problems arrive, seek the
Word on it, and proclaim the Word even when you don’t see it, and watch things
change.
Keeping Christ first in our life can be very difficult when we have so many
distractions threatening to sidetrack our faith. Just as Eve lost her focus by listening
to the serpent, we too can lose our focus by letting our life become overcrowded
and confused. Is there anything that weakens your commitment to keep Christ first
in your life? Sometimes even good things can be a distraction, making it impossible
to stay focused on what God has set for us to do.
Search the Bible and check whenever you hear someone, don’t put his or her
teachings above God’s Word. The Bible should be your authoritative guide. Don’t
listen to any “authoritative preacher” who contradicts God’s Word. Jesus warns us
in Matthew 24;4-14 when the end would come.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: May 26, 2006