Are You Focused On Jesus?

Written by:  Ben Clark

Do you feel that your walk with God isn't going anywhere, or maybe it's even going backwards? One of many reasons is because of not looking at Jesus with both of your eyes. One eye is looking at Jesus and the other is looking at the world. It doesn't stop there. You could be focusing too hard on other things.

Sin is probably the biggest role in why peoples walk with God is going no-where. You may be unaware of sin in your life. Just because you don't remember or didn't realize you had sinned is not an excuse for doing it. Ask the Lord to search your heart and to reveal the things inside your life that shouldn't be there. Not only to show them to you, but to get rid of them and give you strength to resist the temptation to do it again. If you are willing, GOD IS ABLE.

Work is a big factor. Has someone ever told you that you're too busy for God? And maybe they even asked you "Do you feel that your job takes too much time from God?" And if your reply was "my work and what I do is between me and Jesus!" Then you need to pay careful attention to what you just said. You just told us that IT IS between you and Jesus. So what you need to do is get it out from between you and God.

Not only that, but you need to get the desires of your heart out of the way of you and God. This can be anything from TV, Video games, men or women, or anything else that people desire. The desires of your heart are not always right and are not always what God wants for you. Matthew 15:19, "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:"

Separate yourself from the world. By doing this you will most likely lose something. It could be money, a great job, cable TV, a "friend", popularity, and a whole bunch of other things. That is just a small list of the MANY, MANY things of the world. ANYTHING that is between you and Jesus is something that does not belong there. When something is between you and the Lord, you can tell because you spend more time with it and you focus on it more than you do Jesus.

Problems in your life are also things that can get between you and God. Some of the things that you think are harmless can be the BIGGEST things between you and God. Even YOU can get between your walk with God. How can that be? If you are not willing to get rid of sin, wrong desires, or other things, then you are hindering your walk with God.

You may even be too sad, too tired, too angry, or too discouraged to continue your walk with God. Those are all things that you need to ask God to help you with and to replace them with peace and joy.

Matthew 14:25-30

(V. 25) "And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea."

(V. 26) "And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear."

(V. 27) "And straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid."

(V. 28) "And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water."

(V. 29) "And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus."

(V. 30) "But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me."

(V. 31) "And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"

Pay careful attention to verses 30-31. What happened? Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus, but when he took his eyes off the Lord and focused on the wind, he began to sink. Then Peter cried for help and Jesus saved him.

Are you like Peter in verses 30-31? On your Christian walk, did you take your eyes off Jesus? Did you begin to sink? Did you ask Jesus to save you? You most likely have taken your eyes off of Jesus at one time or another and then started to "spiritually sink". And you might even be sinking right now. But you need to ask Jesus to help you and He will just like He saved Peter. Peter was walking on the water without sinking until he took his eyes off of the Lord and starting looking at the things around him. He started focusing other things besides Jesus. These things could be your job, money, problems, friends, games, TV, hobbies, and other things as well. What you need to do is get your eyes off of these things and get your eyes onto Jesus. But you can't do that until Jesus helps you get away from these things. Ask God for help and He will help you; He will save you from "sinking". Then you can get back up and start walking towards Jesus.

Other obstructions in your walk with the Lord could be focusing on what others have. You could be focused on other pastors' churches. You could be focused on your financial problems. You could be focused on your neighbor's car. You could be focused on men, or women. It doesn't matter ...if you aren't focused on Jesus then you cannot go anywhere in your walk with the Lord. Well actually you can go somewhere. You can go backwards or to the left or right. But if you're not going straight towards Jesus, then you are not going to Him at all.

You should also try to escape temptation. How could I know when I'll be tempted? Well if you are fasting and you are thinking about going to the bakery ...you shouldn't go because you would be tempted to eat something.

When you are thinking about going to a bar …don't go because you will be tempted to drink alcohol and possibly become drunk which is sin. Whenever you know there will be a great chance of temptation, try to escape it if possible. And always ask the Lord for strength to overcome temptation because it comes even when we don't expect it and when it comes.

If problems are on your mind all the time - then it is something between you and Jesus. What ever is taking up space in your mind and starting to take over, it is something that you are focused on and need to get rid of or at least get it out of the way.

If you are always thinking of how you are going to get money to do this or to do that, then it is hindering you and you need to ask God for help. No matter what the problem is or what the obstruction that is between you and God, it can be resolved if you are willing and you ask God to help.

Here is a great verse on people who follow after their own desires.

2 Timothy 4:3-4

(V. 3) "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;"

(V. 4) "And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."

This is happening RIGHT NOW. As we all know, there are people out there that just will not listen to the truth. They have "itching ears" and need a storyteller to preach them a good message. All they want to hear is that they can live in sin, do whatever they want, and they will still be rich and have a glorious place waiting for them in heaven. All they want is a "feel-good" kind of message. They don't want the truth and so if they aren't listening to the truth, then they are listening to lies. They got too caught up in their lusts and desires that they can't get away from them. They can't handle the truth anymore.

But with lots of things, it can start out as a small seed. You might even start out by saying to yourself "I think I'm going to go to the bar today. I won't drink any alcohol ...I'm just going to hang out." Then you get to the bar and start saying to your self again "I know I said I won't drink any alcohol, but I'm just going to have a glass and I'll be done". Finally you keep telling yourself these things until you've had about 5-6 glasses of alcohol and now you are drunk. And it doesn't stop there, you start going to the bar and getting drunk more often. Soon you're addicted to alcohol and you can't stop spending your money and time at the bar.

You see it all started out as a thought... just like a tree starts out as a small seed. Trees can become VERY big just like a small thought can become a HUGE problem. Don't even allow anything so much as small as a thought between your walk with God. It starts out small and becomes too big for you to handle. Most of you understand what I am talking about. But it's not just me; it says it in the Bible.

James 1:14-15

(V. 14) "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed."

(V. 15) "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."

It all started out with lust. What is lust? Lust is your desires and wants. It went from you being drawn away of your own lust… to death. Don't allow anything, no matter how small, to get into your mind and be something you think about because it starts out small.

1 Timothy 6:9-11

(V. 9) "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition."

(V. 10) "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which wile some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

(V. 11) "But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness."

2 Timothy 2:22

"Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart."

It is very easy to take your eyes off of Jesus and look at the things around you. But when your eyes are on the world then they aren't on Jesus. It's also easy to take one eye off of Jesus. You may try to serve Jesus and serve your desires. It's not possible because when you completely serve Jesus than you cannot serve your own desires. You can't serve two masters. You might think it's possible. It isn't and here is why. Serving Jesus means - letting worldly things go. This includes your desires.

Matthew 6:24

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

Surrender your all to Jesus just like He gave His all for you. He didn't have to die for your sins. He didn't have to sacrifice Himself for your sins. We did nothing to deserve it but He loved us so much and had mercy on us. He did it because He loves us. His unfailing mercy and grace saved us. Jesus saved you.

Titus 3:3-7

(V. 3) "For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another."

(V. 4) "But after that the KINDNESS and LOVE OF GOD OUR SAVIOUR toward man appeared,"

(V. 5) "NOT BY WORKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS which we have done, but ACCORDING TO HIS MERCY he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;"

(V. 6) "Which he shed on us abundantly through JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR;

(V. 7) "That being justified by HIS GRACE, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."