Tag: focus

Producing the Things That Have Real Value in God’s Kingdom

John 18:36
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”

Ok, where is that “To Do” list? It’s time to get on to today’s tasks. I have to dive into the challenges of this day. Does this sound or feel familiar?

The world is all about results. Everything we are taught by the world directs us toward endless expenditures of our energy and our activities in an effort to produce something deemed valuable by the world itself. We are constantly in motion taking on the demands of the world. In our haste, we are focusing on the wrong kingdom.

Jesus’ royal power and authority have no origin in this world. His standing with the Father is in no way furnished by earthly force, fleshly ordinances, physical energies, material wealth or imperial armies. The dominion of Christ the King springs directly from the throne of Almighty God. Every good thing that comes to us and flows through us is a result of our relationship with One who sits at the right hand of the Father.

The Lord is all about process, not results. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to a process of building an intimacy with Our Savior. From the depths of the relationship that we develop with Jesus, we will produce every good thing that we engage in under His dominion.

Let us adjust our focus now. Let us turn away from focusing on the production of things that our flesh demands and move on to producing for the kingdom of Our Lord while here on earth. Let us become true disciples of Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for this day. We thank You for every day that You have given us. We rejoice in knowing that we will serve You here on earth and in heaven for all eternity. We ask for the daily grace to focus on and bear the desired fruit on earth that has value in Your kingdom. We pray that through our relationship with Your Son that our every activity will give You the praise and glory that is Yours alone. We ask all these things in the name of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ.

Focusing on God is Critical to Releasing the Fruit of Our Vision

Exodus 2:11
One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.

Moses had a calling on his life and he knew it. He just did not know how to handle it. Although he was tuned in to his calling, he was not spiritually prepared yet to handle the assignment. God took Moses through 40 years in the wilderness to prepare him for his God-appointed place among the Israelites.

We are all called to lead our families spiritually. We are all called to lead others spiritually in some manner. When the fullness of the calling hits, we soon realize how ill equipped we are for the work and how ill prepared those around us are to receive us. We have the vision and a limited understanding of what needs to be done. But like Moses, we feel like we have been left out in the wilderness. It seems as if God is ignoring us.

In actuality, the opposite is true. God is fully and perfectly engaged in our lives. His plan is to discipline us so that we are focused on Him and not on our vision. When our focus is corrected, the fruit of the vision is released for the harvest.

Let us tune into the vision that God has for our lives. Let us surrender to His work as He prepares us for our work. Let us confidently wait on the perfect time in which He will release the fullness of His blessing into our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfectly patient hand in our lives. We thank You for taking us through our wilderness experiences in order to draw us closer to You. We bless the name of Jesus who carries us through our discouragement. We praise His Holy Name as He releases the fruit of our lives when we are mature enough in our relationship with Him to handle the harvest. We ask all these things in the name of the Lord Over All, Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the Essence of Everything Good…He is the Truth

2 Corinthians 11:3
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

The truth leaves no room for tolerance. There is no room for variance. Something is true or it is not.

Satan’s fingerprints are all over the complexity of issues that we deal with daily in this world. His tactics are simple. Satan builds in layers of grey around the truth. His minions, especially the media, work hard to confuse us. They attempt to build layers of grey around good and evil. They try to make us see elements of evil as good and elements of good as evil.

When our focus is on Jesus Christ, our lives become much simpler. He that dwells within us is the essence of everything good and the absence of evil. He is Truth. Living in Truth is very cut and dry. Simplicity in life is found by living in the light of Christ. From this standpoint, we can see, believe in and adhere to the crystal clear choices offered by the teachings of Jesus.

Let us seek the Truth in all matters. Let us avoid being swayed into believing that the truth lies anywhere in the shades of grey that the world offers. Let us seek the Light of the World to reveal any darkness in our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for revealing the way, the truth and the life that is Your Son, Jesus. We praise the name of Jesus for modeling the good and perfect life that we should strive for. We rejoice in knowing that our choices in life are easy when we abide in Our Savior. We pray, Father, that the Holy Spirit will provide the wisdom that we need to discern the proper choices that we need to make in life for ourselves and our families. May we learn to live in the light and shut the door on the darkness that the world offers. We ask all these things in the name of the True Light, Jesus Christ.

When You Feel Like Your Sinking

Matthew 14:30
But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”

When Peter first stepped out of the boat, all He saw was Jesus. He saw nothing but the one he desired to be with. His focus was on His Lord and His Lord alone. With His focus only on His Lord, he walked on water. But then Peter let his focus shift to his surroundings and down he went.

It is a bit difficult for us to relate to walking on water, but we can all relate to finding ourselves in a place in life where we feel like we are sinking. In these times, we are weak in faith and our doubts are overwhelming to us. Too often we get to this place because we are seeking a way out through our own strengths. Our focus is on our problems and not on the promises of Our Savior.

Peter was rebuked for his lack of faith. We should know that we share in Peter’s weakness. As disciples of Jesus Christ, there is no valid reason why we should be of doubtful mind. Even on the stormiest of days, He is always with us as our ever present help.

Let us put all of our focus on Jesus. Let us learn to follow the life path that He has prepared for us. Let us walk that path boldly even when the world tries to distract us and the enemy tries to deter us. Let us be confidently yoked by faith to Jesus all the way to our eternal resting place with Almighty God.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for creating each of us with a unique purpose through which we serve You and bring honor and glory to Your Name. We rejoice in knowing that we are destined to fulfill our purposes here on earth as well as in Your eternal kingdom. We exalt the name of Our Savior, Jesus, who walks along side us to insure that we have the strength to overcome the torments of our flesh and the attacks of the enemy. May we keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus so we are not distracted or hindered by the things which are trying to pull us away from our purposes. May we stand before You one day and hear the words, “Well done, My good and faithful servant.” We ask all these things in the name of Our Redeemer, Our King, Our Priest and Our Prophet, Jesus Christ.

Considering God’s Perspective on What We are Doing

1 Corinthians 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

We are too often focused on getting everything we can out of life from a physical and material standpoint. In fact, we are so focused on the material things that we often do not take a moment to consider God’s perspective of what we are doing, how we are doing it, or why we are doing it. Even in our ministries, we often get caught up in the numbers. Our focus turns toward man’s measurement of what we are doing and not God’s.

In God’s eyes, it is not about how much or how many. God takes full responsibility for the bottom line. What He is concerned about it is the “how” and “why” behind our efforts. Are we leaning on Him for our accomplishments and not on our own abilities or the capabilities of the world? Are we doing what we are doing for our own personal gain and recognition or are we doing it for the gain of God’s kingdom and for His glory?

Our model for life is Our Savior. Through His obedience, His suffering and His death, He lived to make intercession for us. He lived in accordance with the will of His Father. He lived to bring glory to His Father in heaven.

Let us repent of seeking what the world has to offer ahead of what God is offering us. Let us get off the fence. Let us focus completely on Almighty God in all things, big or small. Let us bring honor to Our Heavenly Father with our every action.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us living proof of Your ways through Your Son, Jesus. We bless His name for the way, the truth and the life that He revealed to us through His time on earth. We pray, Lord, that You will prepare us to walk this earth in the same manner as Our Savior. May we love You above all things. May we seek You in all things. May we love our neighbors unconditionally as we love ourselves. May it all be for Your glory. We ask all these things in the name of the Son of the Most High God, Jesus Christ.

The World Has Little to Offer in Comparison to Our Savior

Hosea 14:8
O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit.

The choice to focus on and follow Jesus rather than the world becomes a very practical one. Hosea clearly differentiates for us what our choices are. He instructs that the Lord has no ties to the idols of the world. He then points out that it is through Our Lord that that we gain the fruit of our lives.

As we go through life, we deal with ordinary human stuff. For most of us, the greater part of our days are filled with the labors that provide for us. For all of us, the remainder of our days are portioned out for time with our families and loved ones, time for ourselves and perhaps time for service in our community. All these things make up the fabric of our daily lives.

It is so natural to put all of our focus on the problems, the challenges and the opportunities that the world presents to us each day. It is so easy to reach out to what we think we know and what the world has to offer in order to address the issues of the day. Jesus asks us to take nothing from the world. He asks us to draw on Him and His indwelling Holy Spirit for our strength and our guidance. Where we should differ from the world as disciples of Jesus Christ is in our approach to our daily tasks. Everything that we do each day should be dominated by our devotion to Jesus under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Jesus should be our focus in all things. What the world has to offer has to be considered of little value in comparison. It is very likely that if we choose what the world has to offer that we will find ourselves fighting our way upstream with failure and sorrow as our destiny.

Let us choose to focus on what Our Savior has to offer. Let us rejoice as we benefit from the natural outpouring of His Spirit within us. Let us give God the glory as the world comes to recognize us by our fruit.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for revealing Your ways to us to through Your Son, Jesus. We praise the name of Jesus for being the way, the truth and the life…for being all that we need in our lives. We pray, Lord, that You will set us free from leaning on our own ways and the ways of the world. We pray that You provide us the grace and the wisdom to walk in Your ways under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. May we bear much fruit in the name of Your Son. We ask all these things the Wonderful Name of Jesus Christ.

The Power of Focusing on the Lord Alone

Matthew 14:30
But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”

When Peter first stepped out of the boat, all He saw was Jesus. He saw nothing but the one he desired to be with. His focus was on His Lord and His Lord alone. With His focus only on His Lord, he walked on water. But then Peter let his focus shift to his surroundings and down he went.

It is a bit difficult for us to relate to walking on water, but we can all relate to finding ourselves in a place in life where we feel like we are sinking. In these times, we are weak in faith and our doubts are overwhelming to us. Too often we get to this place because we are seeking a way out through our own strengths. Our focus is on our problems and not on the promises of Our Savior.

Peter was rebuked for his lack of faith. We should know that we share in Peter’s weakness. As disciples of Jesus Christ, there is no valid reason why we should be of doubtful mind. Even on the stormiest of days, He is always with us as our ever present help.

Let us put all of our focus on Jesus. Let us learn to follow the life path that He has prepared for us. Let us walk that path boldly even when the world tries to distract us and the enemy tries to deter us. Let us be confidently yoked by faith to Jesus all the way to our eternal resting place with Almighty God.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for creating each of us with a unique purpose through which we serve You and bring honor and glory to Your Name. We rejoice in knowing that we are destined to fulfill our purposes here on earth as well as in Your eternal kingdom. We exalt the name of Our Savior, Jesus, who walks along side us to insure that we have the strength to overcome the torments of our flesh and the attacks of the enemy. May we keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus so we are not distracted or hindered by the things which are trying to pull us away from our purposes. May we stand before You one day and hear the words, “Well done, My good and faithful servant.” We ask all these things in the name of Our Redeemer, Our King, Our Priest and Our Prophet, Jesus Christ.