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FINE FOCUS!
JESUS FOCUSED ON WHAT HE WAS GOING-TO, NOT ON WHAT HE WAS GOING-THROUGH.
John 12:23-33 (KJV) - And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. [Wait a minute here... I thought the hour was come for him to be crucified! But Jesus is already talking about His glorification! Wow!]. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. [More about glory!]. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. [Here we go again... Instead of Jesus focusing on Himself and His imminent pain, He is focusing here on the RESULT: Satan's defeat over our lives! How unselfish is that!] And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die.
CHAMPIONS FOCUS ON WHAT THEY ARE GOING-TO, NOT ON WHAT THEY ARE GOING-THROUGH. (Mike Murdock)
John 17:1 (KJV) - These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. [Jesus spoke this just minutes before His whole crucifixion ordeal. Jesus saw the whole passion play as an HOUR OF GLORY, not HOUR OF CRUCIFIXION!
FINE FOCUS!
WHO, TELL ME WHO, BUT JESUS COULD STAY FOCUSED ON HIS ULTIMATE GLORIFICATION WHEN HE WAS JUST MINUTES AWAY FROM A MOST HORRIFIC CRUCIFIXION!
Jesus' entire focus was on THE THRONE, not the cross! GAINING A FAMILY, not the cross!
Jesus' AIM for the throne was so intense that the crucifixion almost disappeared in his peripheral vision.
Like Hebrews says about Moses, Jesus' EYE was on the prize, not the pain!
Hebrews 11:24-26 (MSG) - By faith, Moses, when grown, refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house. He chose a hard life with God's people rather than an opportunistic soft life of sin with the oppressors. He valued suffering in the Messiah's camp far greater than Egyptian wealth because he was looking ahead, anticipating the payoff.
Don't LOOK AROUND. LOOK AHEAD!
Hope comes when we look UP THERE, not RIGHT HERE!
UP AHEAD versus RIGHT HERE!
He knew He had to go through the cross to get back to the throne. But He focused on the final exaltation, not the immediate humiliation.
FINE FOCUS!
Jesus focused more on being in the Father's physical presence than he did being in the presence of hateful people at his crucifixion. HE KEPT HIS FOCUS THROUGH IT ALL!
Jesus saw the end result, not the painful passage to get there. He focused on the permanent instead of the temporary.
Jesus kept foreplaying His entrance into the Throneroom with the Father, rather than dreading the upcoming pain of the cross.
Jesus was infatuated with going back to the Father and was therefore able to endure a most excruciating crucifixion nightmare.
I'm glad Jesus considered you and I worth it!
It never ceases to amaze me how Jesus taught some of His best teachings just minutes before His crucifixion. Consider that Jesus spoke what is recorded from John chapter 14 through John chapter 17 just moments before the most excruciating ordeal of his human life! Yet with perfect peace and poise He unveils some of His most precious truths to his disciples... as if nothing horrible was getting ready to happen! He teaches His richest revelations about the Holy Spirit right before He is tortured beyond human recognition! Amazing! O how I love Him! I suppose He was preparing and leaning heavily on the Spirit of God in those moments just before all hell broke loose.
FINE FOCUS!
I MAKE IT MY AIM!
2 Corinthians 5:9 (NLT) - So our aim is to please him always, whether we are here in this body or away from this body.
2 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV) - Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection (Greek: Telios - "completion" or maturity), listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
1 Corinthians 7:34 (NIV) - ...aim... to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit...
To stay out of the ditch, I have to look at where I'm headed, not at the ditch itself!
1 Corinthians 9:25-27 (GW) - Everyone who enters an athletic contest goes into strict training. They do it to win a temporary crown, but we do it to win one that will be permanent. So I run—but not without a clear goal ahead of me. So I box—but not as if I were just shadow boxing. Rather, I toughen my body with punches and make it my slave so that I will not be disqualified after I have spread the Good News to others.
In handgun shooting, they train you to focus on the FRONT SIGHT, not the REAR SIGHTS.
I always shoot better when I'm whispering to myself, "Front sight, you are my friend. Front sight, I love you! Front sight, let's you and I throw a party with a tight group of holes!"
FINE FOCUS!
My daddy taught me that if I look far enough ahead while driving, the car will take a straighter path!
Let's see now... What do they all say? "KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE BALL, SON, KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE BALL!"
As a kid, if I could get my magnifying glass to focus on the piece of paper while in direct sunlight, I could always catch it on fire! Sunlight wasn't enough; focused pinpoint sunlight was required!
Focus starts a fire!
If I focus on the mailbox near the side of the road, instead of on the road up ahead, I might just sideswipe it!
If I focus enough on the FOREGROUND, the BACKGROUND becomes blurred. And vice versa.
If I focus on an object intensely enough, it's surroundings become blurred.
I must focus on THE OBJECT OF MY FAITH not the surrounding DISTRACTIONS!
The only reason men fail is broken focus! (Mike Murdock)
FINE FOCUS!
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