“What’re you lookin’ at?”
I have noticed how much of a difference our point of focus makes in our lives. What are you focusing on?
It’s extremely easy to focus on the things that we don’t like and forget about the things we do like. The things that bother us can take over our minds to the point where we essentially serve them. Depression is the byproduct of such a thing. Some people worship what they fear. The devil wants us to fear him so we will worship him. That’s why he tries so hard to intimidate us and he even uses the fear of what people think (fear of man) to corral us into his goat pen.
The things that bother us can become the proverbial “mountain out of a molehill” and can cause us to feel intimidated. In simply thinking about what a gargantuan task it would be to slay the giant standing before us, we empower that giant to the point where he feels invincible while we end up feeling like grasshoppers in his sight. When we focus on our problems and not on the One who will help us solve them, we lose sight of what really matters.
I’ve heard it said, “That team was beaten before they got off the bus.” That is typically said when a team gets blown out and didn’t put up a fight. The Bottom Line is this: if you don’t fight, you automatically lose, which is exactly what the devil (Satan) wants. He’s not looking for a fight, he’s prowling around looking for someone to devour — that’s you. He’s looking to take you out. What do you think about that, dear Christian?
Please do not fear for the life of this bear cub. Simply watch and enjoy a wonderful analogy of God’s love for us.
There are situations in our lives and in the world at large that can cause us to constantly be fearful and intimidated to the point where we feel completely incapable of competing, let alone gaining victory. However, that is proof of a lack of proper focus than a lack of ability, power, or strategy.
In and of ourselves, we lack the power and authority to affect the kinds of change we want to see in the world. That’s why we talk about the power of prayer — God gets involved in our problems only when we ask Him to. He’s a complete gentleman who must be invited into any given situation. Remember: Jesus was going to walk right past the disciples as they struggled in the midst of the squall on the Sea of Galilee! They had to call out to Him before He would get involved. It wasn’t because Jesus didn’t care, but He couldn’t do anything for them until they asked Him to. He makes no assumptions and will wait for us to request His Presence.
Another thing I have noticed is how certain people focus on the mess and not the success. The mess is the chaos made while a person strives to find success. You can get angry with the child when they get flour and egg all over the counter and the floor and miss the fact that they were trying to make you some cupcakes. It’s easy to focus on the paint drips and splatters as an artist creates a masterpiece, but then you will miss the invaluable, original work of art because you’ve focused on the mess and not the success.
In the spiritual, this equates to focusing on sin and not righteousness. We must transition from being sin-focused into righteousness-focused. We see in the world’s system where people’s sins are brought up — even after decades have transpired — as if they have not changed over the past twenty or thirty years. Don’t we all need some grace? “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” seems to get lost in the shuffle … until the perpetrators need some grace, that is.
Photo by Nathan Lemon on Unsplash
Why are some people so quick to want to judge and condemn others for things they did a long time ago? They also refuse to give them the chance to prove that they are not the same person anymore. Why? It’s because our enemy’s trying to keep humanity sin-focused and not righteousness-focused. If he can get Christians to forget what Jesus has done for us and give our attention back to trying to pay for our sins out of our hard work/religious activities to placate our guilty consciences, we would leave the Lord’s sheep pen and waltz into the devil’s goat pen! But we have the Truth that tells us …
“20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
As Christians, our sins have been atoned for with the blood of Jesus. He suffered greatly on our behalf and it would be an unconscionable, masochistic mind crime to continue to live sin-focused and not righteousness-focused. Hallelujah!
So, let’s shift our focus from sin and onto our righteousness — from the mess and onto the success — the success, the righteousness, that comes through faith in Jesus!
Prayer
Father God, I wish I could give You a big hug. I can’t gather the words to express my deep appreciation and love for You and all You have done for me! You are righteousness and You are love. I am nothing without You and I readily acknowledge that I need You every hour of my life. You are my Sustainer and Provider and my All-In-All.
I come before You now to address a problem with how I see my life and things that have transpired around me. I am in need of a re-focus as I have been stressing out over the things in my life I have no control over. I choose, today, to hand them over to You. Here you go (Name them).
I have been busy thinking about my life as if I have not been saved from the penalty of my past sins. I know Your grace is sufficient for everything I will ever go through in my life and I come to You to repent of, renounce, and reject trying to deal with the guilt and shame of the past. I declare I am a new creation in Jesus! Your Word is true and I am free from condemnation because I am in Christ! Thank You, Lord God, for Your unspeakably awesome and potent gift of salvation! Help me to lay down every last bit of my old life and take off the grave clothes once and for all! In Jesus’ name, amen!
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Photo by Nathan Lemon on Unsplash