This morning we continue our series entitled, “Refined Focus”. For the past couple of days we looked at the rejection and affliction Biblical characters had to endure in order to become the men God called them to be. We specifically looked at David, Joseph, Moses, Paul and Jesus. While Jesus is the obvious exception, God used these men in spite of their fears, flaws and failures. God chooses to use us by His unearned and amazing grace. But grace notwithstanding, God still requires us to be to be processed to the point where we are able to carry the weight of the assignment to which we are called. This is where focus comes in. While you are being processed and prepared, you must remain focused. In the Body of Christ people don’t become failures because they fail, they become failures because they remain that way. Those who are focused on God, His grace, and their divine assignment, are able to ‘get back up’ after every failure, dust themselves off, and continue the race.
Today’s message comes in the form of a question: Will you remain focused? Opposition will come because of your divine assignment, attacks will come when you receive a Word from God that is critical to your life’s purpose, distractions will come designed to steal your attention, but through it all you must remain focused if you are going to fulfill your life’s purpose.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things as we close out the week.
1. The battle is for your mind.
a) Satan knows he cannot negatively impact a believer whose mind is fixed and focused on Jesus and on their divine assignment. This person is “locked in” to God by faith, their faith is accessing God’s grace, and the grace of God will win over the attacks of satan every time.
b) If satan can get you distracted, if he can get your mind focused on something other than God and your divine assignment, then he does not have to defeat you because you have basically defeated yourself.
c) Satan could not overtake Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were walking with God and God was walking with them. Satan had no power to overtake them. However, satan injected a simple “thought” in Eve’s mind. It was a thought about how good the forbidden fruit was. Eve was not distracted by sin. She was not drawn away by evil. Eve was deceived because satan got her to simply think about how GOOD the forbidden fruit was. When Eve saw that the fruit was “good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it” (Gen 3:6). That’s how easy it is to be deceived. Satan comes in with a single thought. The battle is in the mind. You must remain focused.
2. You must resist condemnation.
a) As soon as Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit they attempted to cover their nakedness with human effort, they hid from God, and guilt overtook them. When you make a mistake or commit a sin, satan will come immediately to cause you to feel condemned. When you feel condemned you run away from God and you feel as though you cannot approach him.
b) You will make mistakes. You will even sin. There will be times when you fail to operate in the Spirit and succumb to the flaws of the flesh. During those times the Holy Spirit will come to convict you; not of your sin, but of your righteousness. Satan comes to condemn, the Holy Spirit comes to convict. The Holy Spirit will remind you of the righteousness Christ Jesus provided you. He will cause you to lift up your head, so you can keep going!
3. No matter what happens, KEEP GOING!
a) Successful believers are not the ones who never fail, because those folks don’t exist. Successful believers are the ones who refuse to remain in failure.
b) No matter what happens — good or bad, success or failure, victory or defeat — you must resolve in your heart and in your mind that you will remain focused every day of your life. If you keep your focus on God, His grace and His purpose for your life, you won’t allow neither the sting of failure nor the bliss victory to keep you captured in the moment. If you fail, satan wants you to wallow in your failure. If you succeed, satan wants you so caught up in that victory that you don’t pursue the next. Either way, you must remain focused and always moving forward if you are going to maximize your purpose and potential while you are in the land of the living!
Closing Confession: Father, this is a season of refined focus for me. I bring my life into focus in 2016 by taking control of my thought life. I bring into captivity every thought. I discipline my mind to remain fixed and focused on Jesus, on Your grace Father, and on Your divine assignment for my life. I resist condemnation. I refuse to feel condemned when I make a mistake. I accept the conviction of the Holy Spirit and I receive the righteousness Jesus provided for me. I am righteous, but I am only righteous because of Jesus and what He did for me. This focus helps me to KEEP GOING no matter what happens in my life. I won’t get stuck in any failure and I won’t get caught up in any victory. I will always remain focused on my life’s assignment and I will complete it before I die — not my by power, but only by Your unearned and amazing grace! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
