PRESERVED BY FOCUS

MEMORY VERSE: Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrew 12:2

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Haggai

Vision (the ability to see) is very important. Why? The man who cannot see will inevitably end up in a ditch. Matthew 15:14 says, “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” What a man sees can either make him or break him. For instance, Isaiah “saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple” and that changed him (Isaiah 6). Isaiah, like many of us, used his environment as a yardstick to measure his holiness. Whenever a man uses his environment or people fornicating and committing adultery around him as a yardstick to measure his holiness, he will always come out very holy. On that faithful day, he saw his holiness and God’s holiness and cried “woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5). That singular event turned him into a broken man for the Lord. What John, a very hard man, very violent, nicked named son of thunder by Jesus (Mark 3:17), saw in Revelations 1 broke him completely. Revelations 1: 17 says “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last.”

However, what David saw in 2 Samuel 11 almost destroyed him. When David was meant to be at war fighting the Lord’s battle, he tarried back at home and slept. When he woke up, he saw a naked woman bathing and that was it. He committed adultery with her and killed the husband to hide the truth. What you see is important, but more important is what you focus on. Two people can see the same thing but focus on two different things. The twelve spies Moses sent to Canaan saw the same thing - the land of Canaan, the big fruits of Canaan, the men of Canaan, etc- but focused on different things (Numbers 13&14). Ten of them focused on the size of the men of Canaan and the other two focused on the word of God and God Himself. What the ten focused on informed their confession. Numbers 13:33 says, “And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” What the ten focused on informed their decision and actions. Numbers 14:4 says, “And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.” All these led to their destruction. Numbers 14:30-30 says, “Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.” Do you know that what you focus on, at times, informs your dreams when you sleep? If you spend the whole day watching horror movies and all that, don’t be surprised if you sleep and find strange creatures chasing after you in your dreams. Or if you indulge in pornography, don’t be surprised if you sleep and find yourself making love to strange people in your dream. Ecclesiastes 5:3 says, “For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.” Your focus will preserve you. What kept Jesus going despite the rejections He received was His focus. Luke 23:18 says, "And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas." The bible records “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrew 12:2). What made Jesus say “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42), was His focus. If you focus on your present situation you will be discouraged, and if care is not taken you may fall into sin. Focus on the promises of God for your life, as recorded in the bible, and you will be greatly encouraged. What will keep you going during times of trial is your focus.

NOTE: If you focus on the work to be done to achieve something you will be discouraged, but if you focus on the rewards on completion of that task, you will be strengthened.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

BE FOCUSED

MEMORY VERSE: For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. Isaiah 50:7 

 

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalms 128-130

The importance of having a godly vision cannot be overemphasized. There are visions and there are visions. Any vision that does not line up with the scriptures is not a godly vision. For instance, the vision to create a super race that would rule the world for a thousand years is not a godly vision. Why is having a vision so important? Firstly, everything starts with a vision. The planet we live in started with a vision. God had a vision of this world in His mind and He spoke it out. He spoke the vision in His mind into existence. The house you live in is a product of someone’s vision. Someone conceived the design in his mind and passed it on to an architect who put it on paper. Secondly, without vision you will seize to exist. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” The first thing a man needs to succeed in life, after giving his life to Christ, is a vision. Not just an ordinary vision but a clear one – a vision that can be described to the smallest details. And this vision must come from God and must be in line with the scriptures. Without vision, success in any endeavour is impossible. Without a God-given vision, one will spend his time doing secondary things while the primary things are left undone. Someone said her vision is to marry a rich tall handsome black guy. Is there any bible verse to support such a vision? Someone said his vision is to marry the daughter of a rich politician. Is that a biblical vision?  

 Another important ingredient for success is “focus”. One of the reasons why many of us are not where we ought to be, despite the fact that we have a vision, is because we lack focus.  Today, you want to be a chartered accountant so you study and prepare for ACCA exams. Tomorrow, you change your mind and go into Networking. You start preparing for CCNA & CCNP. You even buy books and all that. The day after tomorrow, you change your mind again and go into project management. You book for Prince 2 training and all that. What do you really want? Or you decide to go into business. Today, you sell clothes. Tomorrow, you branch out and go into spare parts business. After a while, you change your mind and start selling phone accessories. A focused person does not change career every other day or does not jump from one business into another.  A focused person does not do things because everyone is doing them. He does things because he was led by the Spirit of the Lord to do them. A focused person does not attempt too many projects at the same time. If you want a degree, face your studies and forget about relationship. One of the reasons why many of our youths graduate with very low grades is because of lack of focus. They want to party and study at the same time which is impossible. You have to choose one – it is either you party hard or study hard. Recently, a man of God, whist preaching shared with us how he had turned down so many speaking engagements abroad because of his vision to build his young church and secure a church building. That is focus. A man of focus is consistent. His messages are consistent. If he is into marriage counselling and discipleship he will stick to it. A man who is not focused is into marriage counselling and discipleship today; tomorrow he is into deliverance and healing; day after tomorrow he is into leadership training and youth development. A man of focus does one thing at a time. Isaiah 50:7 says, “For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.” A man who is focused will never be put to shame. Whilst a man who is not focused tries his hands at so many things, at the same time, thereby wasting his resources, a man of focus tries one thing at a time. 

Note:  Asides from focusing on one thing at a time, focus on the right things. Your focus determines your reality. What you focus on, you move towards. 

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world