Focus

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that rejects fear and champions faith in God. The Israelites were called to be different and stay focused on Yahweh, but they often forgot and turned away. We must remember to stay focused on God and not let distractions or complacency take over. We need to live by the Spirit and submit to God, staying obedient and humble. Jesus healed through his sinlessness, obedience, and authority given by the Father. We can also walk in authority and dominion through our relationship with Jesus, but we must remain aligned with God's will and constantly renew our minds with His word. God loves us unconditionally and we should declare and remember His love for us each day. Welcome to Fear No Fear. Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embrace you today. This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture. We reject fear in any and all forms. Fear is a spiritual force, the currency of darkness and ignorance. It's what we inherited when Adam gave up his faith and Satan uses it to keep people down. His only weapon is words. If he can get you believing or looking at words of fear, he's got you. Instead, we champion faith as an allegiance to God, as a belief and trust and loyalty to the Lord God Almighty. We accept the evidence of His word as unvarnished truth, as is, just as it's written. We get close to His perfect love through the word, and perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4.18 All scripture is taken from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Visit eBible.org 1 Corinthians 14.32-33 The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets, for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all the assemblies of the saints. God is clear. He wants us to be clear. Why did the law contain so many statutes about appearance? So that from a distance people could see, hey, Israelites. Why so many dietary laws? You know, beyond health reasons. Look, Israelites. They were to be noticeable. They were to conduct their business different. Treat each other different. Run their lives different. I don't think you'll find in other people of that time where women had such standing in how things worked and ran. The rights and privileges they shared with the men. The way they were not chattel or simple property. The influence they wielded in the home. They were true partners with the men in a world where women normally weren't. The Israelites were different from the top down, set apart. As long as they stayed Yahweh-focused, they stayed that way. As long as they stayed Yahweh-focused, they were blessed and full of the peace of God. Fear was far from them. Terror did not come near them. When they lost that focus, they let themselves get vulnerable to everything. How frequently they forgot or simply ignored. Again and again they turned away. They prayed to idols. They sacrificed in high places. They did not walk in His ways. It isn't the idea that they gradually turned away that gets me. It's that their enemies didn't forget. When Israel fought against the Philistines in 1 Samuel 4, they lost the ark. The Philistines exulted in this and kept the ark. It didn't go well for them. They were begging their leaders to get rid of it within seven months. In 1 Samuel 6, the leaders sought out priests and diviners to figure out what to do. In verse 6 they say, Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had worked wonderfully amongst them, didn't they let the people go and they departed? At this point it has been about 350 years since the Israelites had been brought out of Egypt. Three and a half centuries and the peoples around Israel still hadn't forgotten what the Lord had done. Though the Egyptians have always done their level best to ignore it, it's what they did. Defeated? Don't record it. If you don't write it down, it didn't happen. But Israel? Well, they were always doing something. They had no excuse, though. They had inscribed stones, altars that had been set up, heaps dedicated to the Lord and specific works that He had done. The tabernacle and later the temple, laws and lessons and stories about the Lord and His many deliverances of them, and both priests and prophets who regularly shared and proclaimed the words of the Lord. As I said, their enemies paid attention. Their foes watched and remembered. Why was it so hard for Israel to remember? And then I look in the mirror. Do I not have the same stories? The same examples? The same law to refer to? Oh, we don't have a requirement to follow it, but the moral center of that law is based on the nature of the Lord, so it doesn't change. Coveting is still wrong. Charging your brother usury is still wrong. Taking care of widows and orphans is still right. Treating strangers, foreigners and immigrants as you would a brother is still right. Helping those around you and empowering them to prosper is still the best action. I have the same covenants available to me as the ones in the Bible. You'd think it would make a lasting impression. Daily, I find myself falling away. Knowing that I should pray or read the Word, but letting the things of this life chip away at that time. Ten minutes here, half an hour there. I should study, I'll say. I have an extra 20 minutes, but there I will be, doom-scrolling social media, watching shorts to see if there's anything good posted today, and poof, extra time gone. Making a commitment to wake up in the morning and spend some quality time with the Lord. Hitting the snooze button the next day because I stayed up late and am exhausted. Doing what I don't want to do instead of what I do want to do. Romans 7, 15-20. I like to think that I have more hits than misses, but the very process of spending time with the Lord enables the Holy Spirit to correct me, to not let me get away with lazy thinking. To not let me cover up my failures without dealing with them. That is a better covenant. Hebrews 8, 6. And I am grateful and praise the Lord for it. But the struggle is real, and it's a daily one. To keep that focus on the Lord instead of on the things around me. I can say whatever I want to myself if that's what I choose to do. I can let myself be distracted, and then lie to myself and tell myself that this is okay, that this is life, that I deserve the downtime. It is easy to go from day to day and not put any more thought into things than what's on the next meal, or wondering what shenanigans the latest TV show is going to get up to. On a day-to-day level, I don't have to face guns. I don't have to deal with persecution. I'm not working in a soup kitchen. I'm not actively handling in person the needs of anyone other than my family. I can support ministries and charities and social programs all without leaving my living room. I have it easy. And as such, it is easy for me to forget about what is actually happening, what is actually important, what life really is. Right from the beginning, the Lord warned the Israelites about this, and it is a good warning for us as well. It shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you great and goodly cities which you didn't build, and houses full of all good things which you didn't fill, and cisterns dug out which you didn't dig, vineyards and olive trees which you didn't plant, and you shall eat and be full. Then beware, lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Deuteronomy 6, 10-12 In our complacency, in our prosperity, in our rest, we should be doubling down on following the Lord. Verse 15 tells us, You shall fear the Lord your God, and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name. Reverence the Lord, serve him, and believe strongly in the effectiveness of the Lord. Walk by faith, not by flesh. Those who are in the flesh can't please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn't have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if you live after the flesh, you must die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God. For you didn't receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8, 8-17 This is what we are called to, to focus on the things of God and the Spirit of Christ, not to the things of this life, and not to the things of the church. It's easy to do. I've done the church thing. It feels good. You're doing things, taking care of things, participating in things. Not in a holier-than-thou way, but in a look, we're doing it, we're really doing it way. But where was the personal Bible study, the personal prayer, the subjecting to the Spirit? It's easy to lose focus, to be about the procedures of life or the pleasures, to be about the tasks of the church or the ministry. If you're getting caught up in the stuff and not in relationship to Jesus, you're one step away from forgetting about Jesus and just doing the things, which is one step away from abusing the things by doing them your way instead of his, which is one step away from using them for personal gain. Now, don't mock this. Don't tell yourself, not me. It happens. The beginning of the book of Ruth starts by telling us when it happened. In the days that the judges were judged, in the days when they were telling the people, you're doing wrong, and the people said, look in the mirror. It is the scripture of the pot calling the kettle black. Jesus warned us this isn't an ancient attitude. Matthew 7, 3-5. We need to live by the Spirit, to submit to the Spirit, to stay broken and humble, not to let things take over, but to do what things we should do in an act of service, in reverence. It doesn't matter if you're cleaning up the church toilets or leading worship. It doesn't matter if you're sitting on the couch after a 12-after shift or having taken care of a toddler for a day. It doesn't matter if your favorite program is on or if the book you're reading is just getting to the good part. It doesn't matter if the latest video game is out. It doesn't matter if the ski slopes have new powder or the weather is perfect for golf. It doesn't matter if you're leading Wednesday night Bible study, Thursday prayer group, or running a food bank. It doesn't matter if you're a member of the choir, the pastor of the church, or a watcher of the broadcast from home. We need to live by the Spirit. We need to talk to God all the time, to check in with Him to make sure we are doing what He showed us to do and saying what He has told us to say and not what we think, want, or speak. It's all about Jesus, in Him, by Him, and through Him. If Jesus is in us and we are in Him, we're golden. It is the place to be. That is where the perfect will of the Father is, John 5.30. It is our default setting. Righteous because we're abiding in Jesus. Sinless because Jesus paid the price. Obedient because we listen to His voice. Whenever we stop that, whenever we step out and do something on our own, we need to repent. We need to listen to the correction of the Holy Spirit and turn around. He will help us, but we need to submit. Take that to the cross and leave it there. If we truly are repentant, He is faithful and just to forgive us, and we get to go back to our default state in Jesus. 1 John 1.5-10 Don't let the confusion of life get to you. Don't let it get your eyes off Jesus. Focus on Him and what He wants. Submit to God. Stay broken before Him, regardless of failures, successes, weaknesses, or prosperity. Abide in Jesus. Stay obedient. Bring all things in your life that aren't faith to Him and deal with them. Our sufferings are but for a moment. His peace is eternal. When we are abiding in Jesus, we are abiding in the peace that His grace brings us. Thank the Lord for that. It is the peace that will guard our hearts, helping us to stand firm on and in Jesus, in His clarity, seeing how things are, seeing how things will be, walking in His ways, basking in His peace, showering Him with our love. Amen. Our daily affirmation of God's love is Matthew 14.14. Jesus healed these people. All these people who were sick. All of them. How did He do it? He hadn't died for sin yet. His name wasn't lifted up above all others yet. There was no bloodshed to appeal to yet. He was baptized in the Holy Spirit, but He didn't appeal to Him by name. Growing up, Jesus was in the same boat as us. He grew up with the same ability to heal as we have, as the disciples had, which is none. Jesus was sinless, though. He engaged in no sin whatsoever, whether in word or deed or thought. But He had no supernatural abilities. He was in the same boat as us. Then He was baptized in the Holy Spirit. Now He had the whole package pre-crossed. Acts 10.38. He had dominion. He had free will. He was sinless. He was righteous. Completely. And He was indwelt with the Holy Spirit. The Father gave Jesus the authority to move with the Spirit, how the Father showed Him and told Him to speak. Jesus never transgressed that. Jesus was totally and absolutely obedient. In His Father, Jesus had authority to use the Spirit. Jesus had dominion here because He was sinless and obedient. That dominion allowed Him to refute the curse. He denied it. He sent it packing because He, not it, had dominion. That is how Jesus healed. By utilizing the dominion and authority the Father gave Him, by nature of being sinless, righteous in body and mind, and completely, absolutely obedient. Jesus' Spirit wasn't dead because He never transgressed. On Jesus' side, everything was aligned. That's why it was the faith of those He encountered that enabled the healing. They had to believe and give permission for Jesus to do what the Father wanted done. Their faith healed them. Jesus has not changed. He still wants to do what the Father tells Him to and say only what the Father tells Him to say. Jesus still wants to see us healed. He has so much love and compassion for us but we aren't sinless. We haven't always obeyed. We don't have a righteous spirit until we are saved. When we get saved, we are resurrected into Jesus. We have His Spirit. He lets us wield His authority and He gives us back our dominion as outlined by Genesis 1.26. But we have to remain abiding in Jesus. We need to always obey. Remember that when Jesus went to the pool of Bethesda, there were dozens upon dozens of people sick. Jesus healed only one. Perhaps only the one had the faith for it. Maybe only one was willing to put faith in anything except the angel that stirred the waters. I don't know. But I do know that Jesus did it because the Father showed Him to do it. We need to be like Jesus, abiding in Him, walking in His authority, staying in the bounds of our dominion, aligned with the will of the Father, listening to the Holy Spirit, moving when He says move, releasing our own faith in His works at the appropriate time. The only way to do all of that is to be renewed in the Word on a daily, almost constant basis. I say almost because no one studies the Word all the time. Jesus didn't. But we are never to forget it. We are always to be thinking of it, applying it, mulling it over, praying it, and keeping it before our eyes with reading, hearing, and study at every opportunity. The blood was necessary to cleanse our sin. The cross was necessary so that we could be resurrected into Jesus and gain His eternal righteous spirit. Our default at that moment was righteous, sinless, obedient, and able to wield His authority and stand in our dominion. If we truly seek His face and repent of anything we do that is contrary to His will, deeds not in faith, which He is faithful to forgive if we repent, then we will remain there and think of what the Father will be able to do here on earth. He loves us. He is compassionate toward us. And we have an assignment to help Him. Why not start today? Get renewed in the Word and stand on His rock as an obedient child of the Most High God. As we close, remember that you have birth. You are precious and valuable. Declare this. Today, God loves that I... Now you fill in the blank. Was it a meal you made? A smile you gave? Did you get out of bed? Read? Put on socks? There's no wrong answers here. There is no end to God's love and no end to the things about you that He loves each and every day. Pick one. And remember, the Lord loves you just because you're you. 1 John 4 9-10 tells us, By this, God's love was revealed in us that God has sent His only-born Son into the world that we might live through Him. And this is love. Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His perfect love turned away God's wrath because of sin. And it casts out our fear too. See verses 18 and 19. We love because He first loved us. He just loves us. Can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.