Focus Pt.5

We are continuing to look at this topic of Focus. The fact of the matter is that we need to keep our eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith in order to be the Church He is building. Here’s something we must get into our spirit so that we will not falter during these trying times. Remember this account in the Gospel of Matthew,

Matthew 16:13–19 AMP

13 Now when Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? 14 And they answered, Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. 15 He said to them, But who do you [yourselves] say that I am? 16 Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 Then Jesus answered him, Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood [men] have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, Petros—a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra—a huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it]. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven.

So let’s focus on Who is building His Church. Jesus. To begin this week, let’s look at this passage.

Colossians 3:1–11 TPT

1 Christ’s resurrection is your resurrection too. This is why we are to yearn for all that is above, for that’s where Christ sits enthroned at the place of all power, honor, and authority! 2 Yes, feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill your thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm. 3 Your crucifixion with Christ has severed the tie to this life, and now your true life is hidden away in God in Christ. 4 And as Christ himself is seen for who he really is, who you really are will also be revealed, for you are now one with him in his glory! 5 Live as one who has died to every form of sexual sin and impurity. Live as one who died to diseases, and desires for forbidden things, including the desire for wealth, which is the essence of idol worship. 6 When you live in these vices you ignite the anger of God against these acts of disobedience. 7 That’s how you once behaved, characterized by your evil deeds. But now it’s time to eliminate them from your lives once and for all—anger, fits of rage, all forms of hatred, cursing, filthy speech, 9 and lying. Lay aside your old Adam-self with its masquerade and disguise. 10 For you have acquired new creation life which is continually being renewed into the likeness of the One who created you; giving you the full revelation of God. 11 In this new creation life, your nationality makes no difference, or your ethnicity, education, or economic status—they matter nothing. For it is Christ that means everything as he lives in every one of us!

1. Jesus has to be our everything!

As we learned last week, the word “focus” means: a center of activity, attraction, or attention; a main purpose or interest; a subject that is being discussed or studied : the subject on which people's attention is focused.

So Jesus has to be our main focus. He is the center of our activity. He is the One we center our attention on. He is the One who captures our main interest and who give us purpose in life.

When we focus on Jesus, we realize we are to live life differently from the world. We are to be set apart from the world. Jesus is the One who conquered sin and death and rose from the dead. He is everything!

Luke 24:1–8 AMP

1 BUT ON the first day of the week, at early dawn, [the women] went to the tomb, taking the spices which they had made ready. 2 And they found the stone rolled back from the tomb, 3 But when they went inside, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And while they were perplexed and wondering what to do about this, behold, two men in dazzling raiment suddenly stood beside them. 5 And as [the women] were frightened and were bowing their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you look for the living among [those who are] dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen! Remember how He told you while He was still in Galilee 7 That the Son of Man must be given over into the hands of sinful men (men whose way or nature is to act in opposition to God) and be crucified and on the third day rise [from death]. 8 And they remembered His words.

2. Why do we seek life’s answers among dead things?

So the women go to the tomb in the morning to anoint the body of Jesus and in Mark’s gospel ask themselves who will roll the stone away that is sealing the tomb. Here we see in Luke’s account that when they got to the tomb the stone had already been rolled away. When they entered the tomb, Jesus wasn’t there. He had risen from the dead. The asks them this question, “Why do you look for the living among [those who are] dead?”

Here’s the same question for us. Why are we looking for the answers to life, the answers to our problems, the answers to the future from “experts” who basically come to their conclusions from past data, things that are really “dead” and not go to the living God for direction. Even the latest news is past news. Only God has the living word that can create and accomplish what it is meant to accomplish.

Doctors, as important as they are, cannot heal. They treat sickness, or disease, with proven techniques but it’s not a guarantee it will work. For instance if you have a broken arm, the doctors can set the break, put your arm in the cast, and see what happens. If it doesn’t mend, surgery might need to be done. But Jesus is the Healer, Jehovah Rapha’s character is to heal. He can take dead things and make them alive. So we need to focus on Jesus because He is everything we need.

Ephesians 1:15–23 NLT

15 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, 16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. 19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.

3. Jesus is the ultimate authority!

Paul prays here that our understanding of just how powerful and great our God is would continue to grow. Unfortunately, some haven’t grown since the day they accepted Jesus. There is so much we “remember” from the old days. I remember how great it used to be. I remember how bad it was.

It’s funny, and I don’t know if this relates to you but, I was looking at one of the scars on my leg and I couldn’t remember when or where I got it. Not sure if it was when I fell off an old homemade skateboard when I was a kid, or if I got it from my bicycle, or well I really don’t remember that particular one. I thought, I can forget that incident that left a physically scar but I remember things that Jesus already paid the price for to set me free. Things that hinder me. So why do I give the “authority” to these past memories to run my world and not give the authority to Jesus to make the changes that will enable me to be effective in the growth of the kingdom. Here’s why. Focus.

Are we focusing on how bad the world is? Or are we focusing on how good and great our God is? Who has all the authority in our lives? It should be that Jesus controls everything in our lives because He is everything!

Ephesians 3:17–21 The Living Bible

17 And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love; 18 and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself. 20 Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes. 21 May he be given glory forever and ever through endless ages because of his master plan of salvation for the Church through Jesus Christ.

4. We focus on God because He loves us!

You and I need to focus in on God and His word. Not the news, not YouTube, not social media, God.

When we do this, it will show in the way we conduct ourselves. We will know more and more of how great His love is to us who believe. When we get that in our spirit, we will be filled with God Himself.

Then the excitement begins. He will do infinitely beyond anything we could ask for or even dare to dream for because after all is said and done, Jesus is everything.