Focus on Faith

Let’s begin by looking at a promise from God’s Word this morning.

Isaiah 40:31 NKJV

31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

Who wouldn’t like their strength renewed?

Life just seems to suck the vitality out of us.

The constant demands of life can wear us down.

This verse is not where we’re going to spend most of our time this morning, but I’d like to unpack a couple of things in this wonderful verse.

First, the word “wait” does not suggest that we sit around and do nothing. It means “to hope,” to look to God for all that we need.

Second, the word “renew” means “to exchange,” as taking off old clothes and putting on new. We exchange our weakness for His power (2 Cor. 12:1–10).

As we wait before Him, God enables us to soar when there is a crisis, to run when the challenges are many, and to walk faithfully in the day-by-day demands of life.

It is much harder to walk in the ordinary pressures of life than to fly like the eagle in a time of crisis.

William Carey, the father of modern missions said, “I can plod. That is my only genius. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.”

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. The greatest heroes of faith are not always those who seem to be soaring; often it is they who are patiently plodding.

As we wait on the Lord, He enables us not only to fly higher and run faster, but also to walk longer. Blessed are the plodders, for they eventually arrive at their destination!

How many times have you heard the phrase Focus on the fundamentals? We hear it almost every day.

In fact, if you Google this exact phrase, you get about 209,000,000 results. This means two hundred and nine million times, someone on the internet has said something about getting Focus on the Fundamentals. That's an indication of how common this phrase is.

This phrase is common because it is based on a principle that we all understand, and it applies to every area of life: when we lose our direction, or lose our focus, it's time to get back to doing that which matters most.

And so we find ourselves, from time to time, in a situation in which it is necessary to say: It's time for me to Focus on the Fundamentals — to re-evaluate my priorities, re-ignite my passion, and reclaim the purpose that God has placed on my life.

In 1960, the Green Bay Packers' season ended on a disappointing note. They were playing the Eagles for the National Championship. They gave up a lead late in the fourth quarter, causing them to lose in the final moments. During the off-season, Coach Vince Lombardi came to the conclusion that his players, though talented, had failed to focus on the fundamentals of the game. Lombardi started the next season by holding up a ball in training camp and saying: "Gentlemen, first things first. This is a football."

That is the approach we are taking.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a Bible”.

Someone once said Bible means Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. This is the start on how we Focus on the Fundamentals:

Our Faith Starts With a Walk

We hear this term often when if comes to our faith. That is why we will start here.

What does the word walk tell us? It tells us that it is a daily process. There's nothing once-in-a-while about it. It's not an on-again off-again experience. It's a day-by-day process.

It is also a day-by-day progress. Just as we can measure the steps we walk every day, we can measure things in our faith life day by day.

How much time did we spend in prayer? How many verses or chapters did we read? What notes or prayers did we journal?

Katharine and I have begun listening to Immerse, the Reading Bible on audio. It breaks the Bible into manageable sections, and gives an in depth explanation of each book before it begins. In book form, it’s printed in the writer’s original format, without chapters and verses. Since the Bible was meant to be read, formatting it in paperback form, you can read it without the distraction of verse and chapter numbers. Believe me, it’s a refreshing reading experience.

If you’re interested in finding out how to get your copy, let me know.

The Christian life is a daily thing. It’s a daily walk.

And as we said earlier, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

Let’s take a look at a verse from God’s Word.

Galatians 5:25 NKJV

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

The focus on the fundamentals principle that we need to remember is that your faith walk is a daily event, that we need to look at and measure daily.

It's a faith walk and is a measurable, growing, ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ.

Micah 6:8 NKJV

8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

This is a primary reason why the early days of your faith walk was so exciting. Things didn’t get in the way. You were on fire. You wanted to learn. And it was a priority.

Somehow, along the way, we lost sight of the fact that...

Our Faith is a Journey

1 Peter 1:17–18 NKJV

17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,

The Message puts it this way:

1 Peter 1:18 M:BCL

18 Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in.

God paid for each of us and there was a price to pay. There is also a price for us to pay personally when it comes to our journey.

The good news is, as a believer we know our destination. That doesn’t take away the fact that along the way there will be hardships. Peter shared that when he wrote:

1 Peter 4:12 NKJV

12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;

There are setbacks, hurts, struggles, discouragements...the list goes on and on...but these can also be looked at as times that we turn into, and lean on God:

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 NKJV

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Doesn’t this remind you of Isaiah 40:31?

It would be so easy to lose heart if we simply looked around and saw only what is here. But God wants to see the things that are not yet.

Faith Bible Church operating by faith, fueled by prayer warriors, evangelizing our community with the Gospel of Jesus, and serving in such a way that if we ceased to exist, the community would miss us terribly.

Do you see it? Don’t fix your eyes on what is seen, but what is unseen, or what we haven’t seen yet.

Paul is sharing that we are on a journey, and it sometimes may lead to hardship, but the final destination is an eternal glory that outweighs any struggle we are going through or will go through.

The focus on the fundamentals principle that we need to remember is that God is in control of our journey, and he already has the destination of the believer in mind.

Finally...

Our Faith is a Race

1 Corinthians 9:24 NKJV

24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

Later in this same passage Paul wrote...

1 Corinthians 9:26 NLT

26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.

In 1912, marathon runner Shizo Kanakuri was chosen to represent Japan in the Summer Olympics at Stockholm.

He began the race with the rest of the runners, but along the way was overcome with heat. He stopped at a garden party for some refreshment, but he stayed a little too long — more than an hour.

Shizo thought it was too late to get back in the race. He took a train to his hotel and caught a boat back home, too ashamed to tell anyone he was leaving.

For more than 50 years Shizo was listed as a missing person in Sweden. He was found by a journalist who had heard this story. Shizo had spent the decades living a quiet life in Japan.

54 years later, in 1966 the Swedish Public Television network called him with an offer: “Would you like to finish the marathon?”

The 85 year old Kanakuri accepted, and he traveled to Stockholm to finish the race he had started so many years before. This time he crossed the finish line; his final time was 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 8 hours, 32 minutes and 20.3 seconds.

Our goal in our faith walk is not to just start the race. Our goal is to finish it. If you've stopped training daily, been taken off track, or feel you have lost your way, then it's time to make the decision to get back to finishing your race.

Paul said it this way:

Acts 20:24 NKJV

24 But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

And ...

2 Timothy 4:6–8 NKJV

6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

The FOCUS ON THE FUNDAMENTALS principle that we need to remember is that you are in this race to winthis race. Who are you competing with every day? Yourself! Your focus is to start the day with God and to grow every day with Him!

CHALLENGE

The best part about YOUR FAITH is there is a biblical promise that goes with it:

But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

They will soar high ... there is an adventure in your faith journey.

They will run and not grow weary ... we run the race to win the race...the race only you can run in your faith.

They will walk and not faint ... this is your daily walk of faith.

How do we get there?

By trusting in the Lord...and finding new strength.

Remember...Focus on the fundamentals...because this is your faith!