Based on “Living or Dying - We WIN!” by Pastor Mark Balmer; 7/17-18/10,
Message #6055; Daily Devotional #3 - “Focus”
Preparing the Soil (Introduction): Keep Christ in focus. Focus. When I was a kid riding my bicycle with my brother, we would play around like we were in a huge race. As we would race through the parking lot, we would pretend the parking lines were cars we had to go around. It was much like slalom skiing, going back and forth, from side to side. Sometimes things would get out of control. It would start off small, yet with each turn back it got worse until you just could not ride the line any more. The reason things got out of control was not the speed we were going. It was our focus. If we concentrated on the end of the lane we could weave back and forth like Mario Andretti. However, when we focused on just the next turn, slowly but surely each turn would get harder and a little sharper until either we would lose our line or wreck.
Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): Our lives are much the same. When to live = Christ in our lives, our focus will be on the end goal: life with Christ forever. Anything that takes our eyes off Him will eventually lead to our lives being off course and out of control. Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. (Matthew 19:16, 21-22) This man let something else in life become his focus. Now for him it was great wealth, but money is not the only thing that can take your eyes off the Lord. There are an enumerable amount of things in life that can take our focus off of Jesus.
Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): Where is your focus today? Can you say "to live = Christ"? Or have you let some person, thing, or situation in life take your eyes off Christ? Maybe you have become focused on a medical condition and have taken your eyes off Christ. Maybe your children have taken first place in life before God. Maybe your focus is feeding your 401k. There are so many things that can make us stray. Yet God will direct us back if we quit fighting and focus on Him. Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness. (Psalm 119:33-40) To stay on the course and win the race our focus needs to be on the end goal. If you have something in your life causing you to not be able to say "to live = Christ" give it to your God. It is not worth running off the track. Focus; strive to win.
Cultivating (Additional Reading): Psalm 119:65-80
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Calvary Chapel of Melbourne; 2955 Minton Road; W. Melbourne, FL 32904; 321-952-9673
All Bible references are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise noted.