The Power of Focus (Looking Unto Jesus)

Hebrews 12:1-2 

…let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher (properly ‘perfecter’) 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.

In the previous message that is linked to this, titled ‘Power of Focus (Weights and Sin),’ I shared on how weights (cares of this world, deceitfulness of riches) and sin cause us to lose focus in life. As verse 1 of Hebrews is not divorced from verse 2, it behooves us to carry on to the truths that are revealed in verse 2 that will help us keep our focus where it is supposed to be.

God exhorts us to run the race with PATIENCE, looking unto Jesus… Selah! (Pause for a moment and think about this) What does ‘looking unto Jesus’ mean? The Greek word translated ‘unto’ is the word ‘eis’ which is a primary preposition, meaning ‘to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etc.)’ HELPS Word-studies say the word literally mean “motion into (which)” implying penetration (“unto,” “union”) to a particular purpose or result.” What is the purpose of this word study? Jesus is a place we are supposed to be looking ‘into.’ He is the ‘purpose’ we are running this race, so that we may spread His glory and the Good News (Gospel) in all the earth. Looking unto Jesus is the ‘result’ that is going to give us the patience to run this race.  When you are looking elsewhere, your focus is shifted from Jesus, and your faith is not going to be perfected. Without ‘faith’ it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), and without faith and patience we can not inherit the promises of God (Hebrews 6:12).

One thing I love about my God is that He never tells us to do something and not show us how to do it. If we look at the second half of verse 2, God gave us an example of how Jesus ran His race with focus and patience. Jesus looked at the ‘joy’ that was set before Him, not the pain of the cross that He was going to suffer. This is what gave Him the strength to endure the pains of God’s righteous judgment falling on Him for the sins of the whole world falling on Him (1 John 2:2).

There was shame that was associated with the cross. Imagine a person who claimed to be the Son of God killed just like ordinary humans, more worse the death of the cross. He was spit on, mocked, slapped, made to wear a crown of thorns. They did all kinds of things to Him, but He kept on focused on His goal – to save you and me through His death. The Bible says He was numbered with the transgressors (Isaiah 53:9). But Jesus chose not to put value on all that He was going to go through. He looked beyond the cross, and He saw you and me being delivered from the kingdom of darkness, translated into the kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13).

We need to be focused in life. The Bible tells us that all who live godly SHALL (it is guaranteed) suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). Jesus, in John 16:33, said, “…In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” There is hope for the believer,only if we are focused. Let us put our eyes on Jesus, focus on Him only, and everything will fall in its proper place.

The Power of Focus (Part 1)

Matthew 6:22

The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

Light is an interesting phenomena. In the chronology of events in the creation of the world, light was made on the first day before there was even a sun to make it shine from. We all agree that we need light to carry out our day today activities. We notice the importance of light when the sun goes down – we switch on our earthly lights. In the opening verse here, Jesus is saying that the eye is the light of the body. Then He introduces a conditional statement, “…if therefore your eye be single…” Here Jesus is not talking about a literal single eye, but a metaphor. A single eye simply means focus.

You can get this revelation easily by reading in context. This discourse starts in verse 19 where Jesus starts to talk about laying treasures in heaven, instead of earth. Here Jesus is not preventing people from getting to work or to accumulate wealth here on earth. What this means is that do not make getting riches your number one priority. See, it is talking about your focus. This is an amazing quote, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:21) The world has this in reverse, “For where their heart is, there is where their treasure is.” The world’s heart is on the worldly things. Their focus is on earthly stuff.

He goes on to say that ‘no man serve two masters…’ (Matthew 6:24) Contrary to popular belief, no one can have divided focus and expect to prosper. Did you know that money is a god? Not just money, but riches in general. And here Jesus is comparing these two masters – named God and mammon. This Aramaic guy transliterated mammon is mammōnás which means ‘the treasure a person trusts in, or what is trusted in.’ God gave us a choice, to either choose Him or the things of the world. This is an age old battle, and it is won or lost in your mind or in your focus.

Did you know that we do not see with our eyes? You can test this with a picture. You can show the same picture to 5 different people and they will see totally different things. We see with our minds – our perception, the way we have been programmed by the stuff around us. This simply means that focusing is a mind thing, it is a decision that one makes consciously and then set themselves out to do. Focus is such an important thing in a believers.

Hearing From God (Through The Word)

Hebrews 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

I like the introduction of Genesis, the book of John and that of Hebrews. It always starts with God as the subject. He is the author of all things. John 1:1 says in the beginning was the Word. This is the beginning before the beginning of Genesis 1. It goes on to say that the Word was with God and the Word was God. I wonder which Bible the Jehovah’s witnesses read because they deny that Jesus is God. They says He is an angel, or the only direct creation of God. John 1:14 says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. This is Jesus who is being referred to as the Word and as God. And Hebrews 1 tells us that God now speaks to us through His Son, the Word.

Now, the Bible we have is the written word, which is a 100% accurate representation of the Living Word. What we need is the Living Word, and that life that is contained there in, but we access that life through the written word. Jesus said it is the Spirit who gives life. We need the Holy Spirit to quicken the written word that we have stored in our hearts through meditation so that it becomes alive. The words that Jesus spoke are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63).

As the opening verse is suggesting, the primary way that God is speaking to us now is through His Word. This is not different from the message I shared about the Holy Spirit being the number one way through which God speaks to us as believers. Jesus said the Holy Spirit will bring to remembrance everything that He taught us (John 14:26). This is saying that the Holy Spirit will always quicken, or make alive the word we would have read from the Bible.

Has it ever happened to you that when you are studying your Bible there is just one verse that seems to jump out of the page and become alive to you?  Or, there is a verse or passage of scripture that just keeps lingering in the back of your mind. That is God speaking to you by means of His Word through the Holy Spirit. Many times we shrug this off, or kick the thought out as something that is distracting us from our work. Or, when it happens during our Bible study we quickly go on to the next verse because we want to meet our quota of Bible reading for that day. If you do that, you have just missed God. You switched off the channel and God is no longer getting to you what He is broadcasting. That is why we need to be turned on, tuned in, to hear from God.

This makes meditation important when we want to hear from God. The Holy Spirit is going to have nothing to bring to our remembrance when we have no word stored in our hearts. Our hearts are like a bank where the Word of God is stored, and meditation is the process of depositing valuable treasure into that bank. The Holy Spirit now goes to that bank and withdraws what is sufficient to meet the need for that time.

My encouragement to you is that it is better to know a few scriptures by heart than to know the Bible by your head. There is nothing wrong with having Bible Reading plans where you read through the Bible in a year or two. But I have met so many people who know “about” the Bible and do not have a clue of what the Word really says.

Hearing From God (The Holy Spirit)

Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Who are the sons of God? As many as believed and received Him [Jesus], to them He gave power to become the sons of God (John 1:12). We, Believers, are sons of God by virtue of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. And here the opening verse is saying that sons of God are led by the Spirit of God. This means God speaks to us by the Holy Spirit indwelling us. Sad to say, many Christians are still led by their flesh, by their carnal desires.

There is a lot that our Lord Jesus wanted to tell us when He was still here on earth, but couldn’t. He was limited by time and space. He had a physical body like ours, so He couldn’t be everywhere at all times. That is why He said it was advantageous for us that He goes away that the Holy Spirit may come (John 16:7). Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit will lead and guide us into the knowledge of all truth (John 16:13), teach us all things and bring to our remembrance all things that the Lord taught us (John 14:26). If you read Acts 13, it says that as they were praying the Holy Spirit told them to separate Saul and Barnabas for the work He had called them for. 1 Corinthians 2:9 says, “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him.” But these things God has revealed them to us through the Holy Spirit (v. 10). Jesus also testified that the Holy Spirit will show us things to come (John 16:13-15).

This is the primary way that God has put in place for every born again Believer to be led through. This is the best way to hear from God. In the Old Testament God used prophets, angels, some times animals because not every one had the Holy Spirit in them. He would on come on a few people and leave when sin take over. But now Jesus has taken care of the sin issue, everyone can now receive the Holy Spirit to be in them, instead of being with them. Everyone can now hear directly from God.

One has to have a desire to be led by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not going to force His way on us. He is gentle, He works with our faith. Therefore we have to believe that God is willing to speak to us through His Spirit. One thing to note is that the Holy Spirit does not operate outside the bounds of the Word of God. Jesus said the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth, and God’s Word is the truth (John 17:17). When you hear someone say “the Holy Spirit said this and this…” and it is not in line with the Word of God, that person is lying. And according to 1 Corinthians 2:10 quoted earlier, the Holy Spirit reveals the heart of God to us, not man’s will.

We need to keep our spiritual antennas setup so that we can continue to hear from God. Hearing from God should not be for a select few, the super-saints, but for every born-again believer. The Holy Spirit is willing to speak to anyone who will hear.

“Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” Hebrews 4:7. 

Hearing from God (Visions and Dreams)

Job 33:14-16

For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,

 

Some history changing events in our world happened because someone paid attention to a vision or a dream they received from God. The opening verse is speaking on a negative side, that God speaks  but men are not perceiving it. It is our duty as believers to be attentive as God speaks in this way as well.

The difference between a vision and a dream is that the former takes place in a conscious state, where you will be fully awake and all your faculties active, while the later takes place when you are in a subconscious state. Most of the prophesies in the Old Testament were brought to the Prophets in the form of a vision. God opened up their spiritual eyes and they were able to see things in the spirit and in the future.

A good example of a vision that can apply to all of us (not just Prophets) is in 2 Kings 6. In this story, Elisha’s servant woke up early in the morning only to find out they were surrounded by an army of Syrians. Elisha told his servant not to panic, and he then prayed to God for the servant’s eyes to opened (v. 17).  Elisha’s words were, “Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see.” Was this servant blind? Of course not! He saw the Syrians surrounding them. His eyesight was perfect. But this shows us that we have two pairs of eyes, one physical and one spiritual. In response to Elisha’s prayer, God pulled the curtain from the servant’s eyes and he began to see into the spiritual realm. This was an open vision.

We also have a New Testament example that can help us believe that this is still happening. In Acts 10, we see Peter falling into a trance while he was on the rooftop praying (v. 9-11). He saw heaven open, and a sheet filled with all kinds of animals descending towards him. Peter was having a vision, a vision that changed the relationship between the Jews and the Gentiles.

A dream, as explained earlier, happens when we are asleep. When Abimelech took Abraham’s wife, thinking that it was his sister, God visited him in a dream and revealed the truth to him (Genesis 20:3). God protected Abraham, and preserved the future generation that was to come out of Sarah. The Messiah, the Savoir of all men came through Sarah, and God used a dream to speak to someone so that His plan will not be derailed.

Joseph, the “Dreamer,” as his brothers called him, managed to preserve the seed of Abraham because he acted on God’s word that came to him in a dream. At a young age he had a dream where all his brothers and his father bowed down to him (see Genesis 37). His father, Jacob, even rebuked him over this dream, not knowing that God was communicating a message to all of them through Joseph’s dream. This was the beginning of life changing events that started out as a dream. His brothers hated him and sold him into slavery, not knowing they were fulfilling God’s plan. While in slavery in Egypt, Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, and this saw him getting promoted to second in command. Through him, God managed to save an entire Jewish nation from a famine that ruled the world for seven consecutive years (see Genesis 41 and 42).

God still speaks this way. He gives us direction, warning, exhortation and encouragement through dreams and visions. Let us not despise dreams and visions, especially dreams from little children. Let us pay attention to them, God might be speaking to us through them. And when you hear His Voice, do not harden your heart (Hebrews 4:7).

Hearing From God (Through Prophets)

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

This is Apostle Paul speaking in reference to what Jesus did through His death, burial, resurrection and ascension to heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the Father of Glory. In verse 8 of the same chapter, he referred to the 5-fold ministry as gifts given to men (the Church). One of these gifts is the ministry of a Prophet, which is one of the ways that God speaks to His people.

We can see the prophetic ministry operating in the first Church, in the time of Paul. A prophet named Agabus came to Paul with the Word of the Lord for him. He told Paul what was going to befall him when he goes to Jerusalem (Acts 21:10, 11). These things came to pass. If you look at it, Paul was a man who heard from God directly, but this time God used a Prophet to bring His Word to him. The same prophet gave a prophesy in Acts 11:28, and this came to pass in the time of Claudius Caesar, where many believers died as he had prophesied. This was God speaking to His people through a Prophet.

In the Old Testament, the Prophet was the mouthpiece of God. When David sinned with Bathsheba, God sent the Prophet Nathan to reveal his sin and pronounce God’s judgement on him (2 Samuel 12). God sent the prophet Isaiah to inform King Hezekiah that he was going to die, and gave him instruction to set his house in order (Isaiah 38:1). There is a plethora of testimonies in the Old Testament where God spoke to men through prophets.

Now, concerning the times we live in, Jesus warned us that in the last days many FALSE prophets will come (Matthew 7:15, Matthew 24:11, Matthew 24:24). He said that they will even perform great signs and wonders. We are seeing these things happening in our time. I read of a prophet here in South Africa who had his followers eat a snake, and to my surprise they testified it tasted like chocolate. Some were made to drink petrol, some to eat rats. Lord help us.  Jesus did not only warn us about their coming, but He also told us how to identify them. He said we will know them by fruits (Matthew 7:16-20). What fruits are those?  Galatians 5:22 &23 gives us a list of 9 fruits of the Spirit, which should be manifest in a Believer’s life through their spirit. When these are missing in a prophet’s life, you need to consider that person and dig deep into their life. We need to prove all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and test all spirits (1 John 4:1), because not all spirits that are in the world are of God. But we should not be quick to call anyone a false Prophet.

Moses, who was a Prophet of God, also told us of another way on how to identify prophets who are not speaking under God’s authority. This is so simple you have to have somebody help you to misunderstand it. He said, “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:22) And in the time of Moses the instruction was that anyone who presumptuously says a word in the name of the Lord, which He did not command, was supposed to be put to death. It is not so these days, we no longer put men to death. However, many are saying words that God did not say, and they are deceiving many.

We need to aware of these things. When God sends a prophet your way, He is not going to give you a word that will leave you hanging. God is specific. When He told Noah to build an Ark, He gave him the exact measurements and the type of wood he was to use (Genesis 6:14-16). He also gave Moses specific details of the dimensions of the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 26).

In our lives as believers, we should not have our entire Christian life anchored on the word of the prophet. God will use them speak to us, but not all of us are going to have a prophetic word given to us. Therefore, it is not a Christian’s duty to seek after prophesies as the basis of God’s direction for their life. That is not living by faith. God wants us all to hear from Him directly. But we should not throw away the baby with the bath water. Real Prophets of God are still there, and God is using them to speak to His people.

Hearing From God (Through Angels – God’s Messengers)

Luke 1:26‭-‬28;

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin…, whose name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one,  the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” NKJV

The Angel Gabriel appears in the Bible as God’s messenger. In Daniel chapter 9 it is Gabriel who brought revelation to Daniel when he was seeking God concerning the prophesy given to the Israelites in exile through the Prophet Jeremiah. He is only mentioned by name in the book of Daniel and in the Gospel according to Luke (Daniel 8:16; Daniel 9:21; Luke 1:19; Luke 1:26).  In other instances, the Bible only mentions that an angel appeared to so and so and gave them a message. For example, an angel appeared to Samson’s mother and gave her a message that she was going to have a baby boy (Judges 13). The Bible called him “an angel of the LORD”

This is another way that God put in place to speak to men, since the fall of Adam. God did not turn His back completely on mankind. Circular accounts of Enoch, the grandfather of Noah, says that his children believed he had fellowship with angels, and the book of Hebrews tells that he walked with God. Angles were involved in his walk and fellowship with God (Genesis 5:24,Hebrews 11:5). In the book of Galatians, the Word tells us that the Law was given to Moses through angels (Galatians 3:19), meaning Moses talked with the angles as they were giving him the law.

Even today, under the new covenant, God is still speaking to us through angels. In Acts 8:26, an angel spoke to Philip, giving him instructions that led to the salvation and baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch. Mind you, Philip was a born again believer, filled with the Holy Ghost, and God spoke to him through an angel. In Acts 10 we also see Cornelius getting instructions from an angel in a vision, with regards to what he was to do to receive salvation. A third testimony is John in the book of Revelation. Angels are mentioned more than the Lord Jesus Himself.

Warning should be given to believers, especially those who are still “new” to the faith,  that it is not our duty to seek God to speak to us through this way. The Word of God warns us that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). This way, he deceives many that are not fully grounded in the Word of Grace and Truth (the Gospel). Just like hearing an audible voice from God, let it be God who initiates the conversation through that channel, not you. For many of us, the only angels we will ever see on this side of heaven are the ones in books, sculpture or on television.

If God does speak to you through an angel, then praise God. But these occasions are going to be few and far between, rare as hen’s teeth! Blessed are they who believe without seeing or hearing an angel speak the word of God to them (John 20:29).

Hearing From God (Audible Voice)

Matthew 3:17;

And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

This was an extraordinary event. God was really excited to have His Son baptised in the Holy Spirit and couldn’t wait to have the whole world know that this was His boy. He shouted from heaven, “this is My Boy (my own translation) and those that were around heard it. This was not the only time God spoke about His Son this way.

The same thing happened on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:5). Again, God couldn’t keep His excitement in and He let out His delight of His Son. Peter, James and John heard this voice, Elijah and Moses also heard it. He did not say hear them, to include Moses and Elijah, but hear Him (only).

In another occasion, the same voice was heard by those present after Jesus had prayed saying ” Father glorify Your Name…” (John 12:28). This was God speaking from heaven, in all three instances, in an audible voice that can be heard. Sad to say, some of those who were present did not recognise the voice of God. They explained it away, saying it was thunder, and some who had some degree of spirituality said it was an angel that spoke to Him. This shows the degree of spiritual insensitivity that results from walking in the flesh for so long. They were so acquainted with their natural environment to the exclusion of any supernatural occurrences of the manifestation of God.

This is not to say every time we hear thunder immediately we say God spoke. I believe this was given as an example to us to know one of the ways how God speaks. Notice Jesus’ commentary concerning this voice from heaven. He said that it did not come for His sake, but for the sake of those who were present, to help them believe that He was sent from God.

The Old Testament also has records of God speaking to men in an audible voice. Every day He would meet with Adam in the cool of the evening and have a chat with Him (Genesis 3:8). He spoke to Abraham when He was on His way to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:16-33). He spoke to Moses like a man speaks to his friend (Exodus 33:11). He spoke to Elijah in a still small voice when he was in the cave, running away from Jezebel (1 Kings 19:12).

However, here is a word of caution. Even though God still speaks to men in an audible voice, this is not the primary way that God speaks to us believers. Many believers have heard testimonies of people who heard audible voices from God and they began to seek after the same. Some opened up themselves to demonic attacks. Devils started speaking to them because that is what they wanted to hear.

Never pressure God to speak to you in an audible voice. It show lack of faith on your part, and that does not please Him (Hebrews 11:6). We are not supposed to walk by sight (to be let by our physical senses),  but by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7). Let it be God’s decision to speak to you that way, when He sees fit.

God’s Answer is Always Yes!

Matthew 7:7
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

Many have discounted this verse because they asked before and they did not receive what they asked for. A doctrine has come up which says that God sometimes answers our prayers with maybe, no, or later. The verse which follows after this says, “Everyone that asks receives…” How many people are included in everyone? In the Greek, everyone means everyone! So, was Jesus lying, seeing that there are those who asked and did not receive? God forbid. Let God be true and every man a liar. God’s Word stands true and it stands forever. Check on your side, not on God’s side.

The Armor of God (Part 7a)

Ephesians 6:18
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Never underestimate the power of prayer. Muslims pray. Buddhist, Monks, Hindus, Satanist and every other religion pray. So, what makes the prayer of a Christian any different? We pray to a Living God in the name of Jesus! Any prayer that is outside this boundary does not even go above the nose. Jesus said He is THE only way to the Father.

The opening verse says ‘praying always…’ What counts as always? Every minute of everyday? Three times a day? There is another place in the Bible which talks about praying “without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV). From the mouth of our Lord Jesus, He also said that “men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1). This certainly does not mean every minute of every day, that would wear you out. It simply means continue in the spirit of prayer, adopt a prayerful attitude.

There is nothing wrong with having set or appointed times of prayer. Like Daniel, some choose to pray three times a day. Some twice a day, when they wake up in the morning and at night when they go to sleep. Some use every opportunity they get to pray, which is awesome. God values discipline, not religion. So whatever prayer time one chooses, it should be out of their love for God, not as a burden. Therefore, there is no need to go around asking other people how much time they pray and how many times they pray, that is personal.

I understand prayer more in terms of relationship, and this is supported by the Bible. Jesus Christ reconciled us back to the Father so that we can have a relation with Him (Romans 5:11, 2 Corinthians 5:19). Just like earthly relationships, our relationship with the Father has prayer as the communication channel. Prayer is communion with God, communicating with God.

If you notice, verse 17 and 18 are not separated by a full stop. I like the punctuation in the KJV, it uses a colon. In rules of punctuation and grammar, a colon is used to separate an explanation from the preceding statement. The statement previously made is that the Spirit is the Sword of God, and the Word of God is the Sword of God. Verse 18 now is explaining how we wield the power of the Sword – through prayer.

We have so many examples in the Word of God where people reminded God of His Word/Promises. A good example is Jehoshaphat. When he was faced with a battle from the Moabites, Ammonites and the Meunites, the Bible says he set himself to seek the Lord. This is prayer. In the account in 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat opened hiss mouth with what seems to be a question. He said in verse 6, “O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven?” This is not a question, but a statement of fact. He quoted Deuteronomy 4:39. In verse 7 and 8 he started quoting the covenant that God had made with his fathers. Verse 9 is a quotation of Solomon’s prayer made on the dedication of the Temple of God (2 Chronicles 6:28-30). He then went on to inform God of what was happening (which God already knows) and then he threw in his prayer request, which is only one verse (2 Chronicles 20:12).

This is how victory is obtain in a Christian’s life. I am telling you, prayer is that powerful. No one can argue with the result that Jehoshaphat got after praying such a prayer. Let us pray without ceasing and victory will always be ours. The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power] (James 5:16 AMP)