"Focus"

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As I have looked around me lately, I have noticed more and more people who are suffering different afflictions and I am one of them. I won't go into the different seemingly problems I have had, but it occurred to me that many of the ones who face these difficulties are children of God. Well, the Lord has put it upon my heart to write this little article and it is my prayer that He will use it as a source of comfort to those who are or have been suffering in one way or another and also that He will use it to make it clear to those who do not know Him that the Christian life is not one of misery.

I heard a story awhile back of a man who was proud of the fact that he didn't believe in God. He was so proud of this fact that he moved to a town that was known for it's faith in God. And after being there for awhile he called the editor of the local news paper and informed him that he had a front page story for him. He went on to say, "I bought this parcel of land on a Sunday, I plowed this land on a Sunday, I fertilized this land on a Sunday, I planted my crops on a Sunday and this September I had the biggest crop in the county." The newspaper editor quickly and calmly informed the man by saying, "Isn't it wonderful that God doesn't always settle up in September?" Well, first of all, I don't know where the man found such a town, but the point made here is that when the world seems to be rejoicing in their apparent prosperity, there is a God and He is still on the throne. And all this stuff the world seems to be getting away with is being recorded.

Now, there are a whole host of so called preachers who will tell you that if you have been saved and that suffering comes upon you, it's because there is some sin in your life and that you are being punished for that sin. I don't know about you, but I personally would be scared to death to go against a true man of God. But I am not one bit afraid to say that these so called preachers are no less than a false profit. Also, these false profits have some near kinsmen known as so called faith healers, who go around saying that when you suffer some kind of illness or affliction and you pray and pray and the Lord doesn't heal you, it's because you don't have enough faith. These too my friends are no less than false profits.

It is true that the Lord whips His children when they do wrong. And it is true that all healing comes from Him and Him alone. But these so called preachers who spread these false doctrines always pick them a few verses of scripture that sounds like what they are saying is the bottom line. They don't want to hear the rest of the Word of God that speaks of suffering for Christ. These so called preachers are just as dangerous, if not more so, than those like the man in the first story who so proudly boasted in his unbelief in a God at all.

What each of these types of people are actually doing is serving Satan by not only discouraging the Christian who has not yet grown to the point of truly knowing God and His wonder, but they are also discouraging those poor lost souls who the Lord may be dealing with. Now, some may say, "Why would God allow things like this to happen?" Well, I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I know why God does everything He does, because if God was small enough for me to fully understand, He wouldn't be big enough for me to worship Him. Folks, He is indeed that big. I in my little mind cannot even fathom Him and that is why I can fully trust Him to be in charge of everything. He has and does show us all that we need to know of Himself that we may truly trust Him for the rest and that is the reason for this little article.

I said that those false profits and the atheist are working for Satan in the discouragement of God's children and also those who God is dealing with, but the sad fact is that so often we as God's children join forces with them. Now, I don't believe for one minute that a true child of God would willingly join forces with Satan and his crowd, but what I am saying is that when we allow this bunch to discourage us, we are giving a very poor testimony to those who may be seeking the Lord and who might be saved. It would truly be a shame to know that we were in the presence of some man, woman, boy, or girl who the Lord was dealing with and that we may be having some little problem in our own life and when that person saw us having such difficulty and claiming the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, they listened to the devil and the message we were sending them and decided they wanted no part of this Christianity.

Friends, there are many reasons that we suffer as God's children and every one of them are in His control and every one of them are both perfect and pure. There is absolutely no suffering that He allows to come upon us that His grace is not sufficient to sustain us. I mean that, because it's true. Those of you who know me know how I am about words in that I believe that words, all words, either mean everything or they mean absolutely nothing. There is a key word here that will determine what signal we send to Satan and his bunch and to that poor lost soul that sees our affliction. That key word is Focus. We all know what it means to focus, but we must grasp the entire meaning of that word as we focus not on any circumstance or any affliction that we face.

We must determine to focus upon the God who is in charge of that circumstance or affliction and all that He has done for our wretched souls. Now, I realize that it could sometimes be difficult to maintain that focus in the midst of such suffering, but that is only because Satan is hard at work with his discouragement. Keep this thought in mind. Write it down and put it in your pocket or pocketbook if necessary. God does not discourage. I don't care what comes upon you or me, but if we become discouraged by it, that discouragement is of Satan. And if we choose to focus upon that discouragement, we choose to become an ally with Satan.

First of all, we must consider just who we are. We are God's masterpiece. Whereever you are, just look around you. Look at all the splendor of God's creation. Just look at that great sky and all the stars He put in it and the Sun and the Moon. And look at all those trees and the mountains and the lakes and the oceans and all the creatures. God created all that. Now, He completed all that and then He topped it off by creating His masterpiece. Friends, that was man. That was me and you. He had a purpose for that and He has a purpose for me and you and He has a purpose for everything that happens. Knowing this and knowing that He Does Not Discourage, how could we but focus upon Him?

I would like to share with you a little story that actually happened to me since my most recent affliction where the Lord so graciously used me to brighten the path of another who I didn't even realize needed brightening. For those of you who don't know me, I suffered a knee injury back in November of last year, which I am still dealing with today. Well, the doctor I was seeing at the time sent me back to work on light duty and I was placed in an office where there were two ladies working. I don't remember what the subject was, but I was talking about the Lord to these two ladies and after awhile one of them said, "I just love listening to you talk about the Lord." Well, as soon as she said that, I grabbed me a chair and pulled it up near her and said, "Good, because I just love to talk about Him."

We talked alot, and I told them how that the Lord had saved my soul back on November the 13th of 1992 and how that He had been so good to me ever since. I also shared with her that I didn't fully understand why the Lord had allowed me to suffer my knee injury, but that I knew for certain that He did allow it and that His reason or reasons for allowing it were far more important than any reason or reasons I could come up with for Him not to have allowed it.

I then shared with her a little "enormous" thought that a dear man of God, (Dr. david Jeremiah) had shared with me and the rest of his radio audience when after learning he had cancer he said, "Whatever befalls you, take a letter from God and the letter reads, This thing is from me."

Friends, I had no idea that this lady had been experiencing difficulties, but my Lord knew and He was in charge when I hurt my knee. And He was in charge when that doctor sent me back to work on light duty. And He was in charge when I was placed in that office with that lady. That lady commented many times throughout my stay in that office how that I had been a real inspiration and help to her. Once she asked me to pray for her and I told her that I already had and would continue to do so.

Now friends, this is nothing praiseworthy of me, but God does deserve and is worthy of much praise for all of it, including the knee injury. This is but one of the instances where He has opened doors through this knee injury for me to witness to others of His grace and mercy. It is my prayer that this little article will prove to be yet another of those opportunities. The point here is that I could have chosen to focus upon the knee injury and gone into that office and sat around saying, "Woe is me" and my knee injury wouldn't have been any better. But that lady who I was able to help would have been worse off for it. Can you see how that the word focus can mean everything?

Not only can we be of a help to others through our own afflictions, but we can serve as an encouragement to those we see having difficulties. You know Satan is going to be there on the job trying to discourage them. And when we see someone having problems it's our duty to God to offer encouragement to them. Most often just a few words of encouragement is all they need. One day I was at work and my assistant and I were having a particularly hard day. I noticed my assistant becoming discouraged over all this trouble we were having and I asked him, "Do you feel that?". He looked at me with a confused look on his face and said, "Feel what?". I said, "That chisel". Then I said, "That's God's chisel and one day we're going to be a masterpiece." I went on to explain to him that God is in charge of everything and that our bad day was no exception and whatever He decides to allow us to undergo, He will use it for His glory. Well, those few words of encouragement just washed out all the discouragement the devil had been offering him. Not only that, but all the others who were working with us got the privilege of seeing two of God's children basking in His great grace.

Are you a child of the King who may be suffering some kind of difficulty? If so, please don't let the devil and/or his servants discourage you. Focus upon Christ and not on the circumstance. Not only will you feel better for it, but you may just be able to brighten someone else's day or even their life. Do you know anyone who is experiencing some sort of difficulty? If you don't, it's a sure bet that you're in some cave somewhere alone. When you see someone suffering, please offer them encouragement. When you do this, you are not only serving the Lord, but you are taking a stand against the devil. Think about the opposite to that if you don't.

Are you a dear lost person? If so, I pray that this little article has helped you to see that God does love His children and also that He loves you too. If you see someone claiming to be a Christian who is suffering and that person hasn't fully grasped the love of God to the point of being able to focus on His love rather than their circumstance, I beg of you not to judge the pure joy of being a child of God by what you see in His children. Please be assured that there is no other who loves like God and consider this next fact carefully.

If you die and go to hell, it won't be because God sent you there. If you die and go to hell, it will be all your doing. You are a sinner, but the sin in your life is not what will send your soul crashing into hell. What will send you to hell is your rejection of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ paid for your sins and my sins and the sins of the whole world when He laid down His life on the cross.

Friend, there is but one reason I am still here in this old world and that is to tell of the wonderful free gift of Salvation that God in His mercy and grace offers to all who will receive it. Right now you have a choice to make. You can either accept that free gift or you can reject it. Please accept it. If you will just realize that you are a lost sinner and if you will just believe that, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.

All you have to do is to get down on your knees right now and pray, "God be merciful to me a sinner." Ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart and life and you will be saved. That's it. That's all there is to it. Jesus Christ plus absolutely nothing is all that will save a man.

If you have done this and you truly believe, you are saved and don't let the devil or anyone else discourage you. Now you need to find a Bible believing, Bible preaching, Bible teaching church and go there and tell the pastor there what God has done for you and ask to join the church and be baptized. I would suggest that the very first verse of scripture that you learn after you are saved would be Romans 1:16, which says, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the Greek." Then go out and tell everyone you can about this great salvation. God bless you!