Morning Devotional

November  11, 2005
"Focus" (Part 2)      
    by Don Emmitte

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I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven. I hope all of you who are mature Christians will agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. (Philippians 3:12-15 NLT).

Yesterday we saw that it is necessary to have faith in what we conceive and that faith ought to begin with Christ. Today, I want to examine the truth that the greatest vision you can have for your life is to see your life through the lens of God's eyes, seeing situations as he sees them. Too often we see things not as they are, but as we are. Isaiah writes, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV).

There is a richness God offers that no human ingenuity or effort can provide. We may be able to learn from the mistakes or successes of the past, but there is no power in the past that will lift us above the circumstances of the present. Only God can provide this kind of enabling power. So, the second principle is that we ought to focus on God's Grace. The apostle Peter writes, "Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:13 NIV).

The greatest concept one can focus one's heart and mind on is God. Peter writes to troubled Christians encouraging them to keep their minds focused on God's grace. When we focus on God's grace we are forced to focus on God's enabling power for living in the present. We have a choice to focus our lives trusting human potential or to focus our lives on Almighty God. There is no comparison between human potential and God's power. Granted, a person can accomplish unbelievable things while believing in what he or she conceives. But God is the one who set life in motion from the beginning. Our greatest potential lies in conceiving and believing in the plan of God. We should focus our lives on God's grace. Only God deserves the focus your life demands.

This is the impact of Paul’s writings in our reading today. He encourages those early Christians to forget about the past (only through grace can that be done) and focus on what is yet to be (again, only grace can overcome that fear) while living in today. That’s the impact of “pressing on.” Aren’t you ready to press on today?