So how do we maintain our focus?
When we look at what God said to Joshua, we can see that the first thing that God told him to do was to get focused and to get obstinate about keeping focused. Then God told him where to focus. In Joshua 1:8 God told him “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.”
Pay close attention to the details here. Here we can see the key to renewing our mind as scripture instructs us in Romans 12:1 & 2. Here God’s promise is that we can make our way prosperous and have good success. There (Rom 12:2) the promise is that we can PROVE the good, acceptable & perfect will of God.
We really need to notice here that God is not just instructing him to read it continually. Joshua was instructed to SAY IT continually. “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth…” Rev. Mark Hankins said in quoting Kenneth E. Hagin that confession opens the door to the supernatural. Very often people will hear the truth and say “I believe that”. Mark Hankins said “it’s not enough to believe it! You’ve got to declare it if you want circumstances in your life to change”.
Remember in a previous post I talked about Deuteronomy 6:6-9 where the Lord commanded the Children of Israel.
(ISV)”Let these words that I’m commanding you today be always on your heart. 7 Teach them repeatedly to your children. Talk about them while sitting in your house or walking on the road, and as you lie down or get up. 8 Tie them as reminders on your forearm, bind them on your forehead, 9 and write them on the door frames of your house and on your gates.”
The truth that I keep driving at with this passage is it has to be in our mouth and it has to be repeatedly. It is the constant exposure to the Word of God that brings faith in God, and specific exposure brings faith in God for specific things. A good personal example would be that I thank God every day for bringing Col 1:9-11 to pass in my life and in the lives of my family.
Col 1:9 For this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God’s will with respect to all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you might live in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to him as you bear fruit while doing all kinds of good things and growing in the full knowledge of God. 11 You are being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you might patiently endure everything with joy. (ISV).
We can actually pray this for the entire church and I sometimes do, but I pray this in first person, over myself continually, thanking God for making it true concerning me. Very specific promise for very specific faith. When we intentionally expose ourselves to the promises in God’s Word, we are allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us into all the truth (Jn 16:13) and to make the Word real to us.
In Matthew 16 Jesus asked His disciples who people were saying he was. They gave various answers but He then asked them who they (the disciples) say He was. Simon said “You are the Christ. Son of the living God”. Jesus said “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (ASV).
I left this in the American Standard Version because it says something specific that many of the paraphrase versions change. Jesus said that Simon was made firm and solid (Petros – [piece of] rock) by the understanding of the revelation from God that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God. Then Jesus goes on to say that on the (Petra – [mass of] rock), the revelation that He was the Christ, the son of the living God, He was going to build His church. He then says that the Gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Against what? Against that revelation. Jesus then says that he was giving the church the keys to the kingdom of Heaven and the right to bind and loose that would affect both earth and Heaven. He gave His church the power to lock and unlock gates!
So lets put last week and this week together and summarize –
When your dream is being challenged, you are discouraged and close to giving up:
- Be strong and of a good courage. Remember, the Hebrew word translated Be Strong is “To fasten, fortify, strengthen”, and the definition of the word used here for Courage means “To be alert, steadfastly minded, obstinate”. Again, we can see that God was encouraging Joshua to become laser focused on the promise and to protect that focus.
- Meditate on the promises of God’s Word. Meditate is not just something you do with your mind. Meditate according to scripture is something you do with your mouth. It’s outlined in Deuteronomy 6:6-9 and in Joshua 1:8. This is where we learn what our focus should be.
- Stay in the Word until the Holy Spirit turns the light on. It’s when He brings light that real faith comes. Allow Him to make it real to you. It’s when this happens that you become solid and immovable concerning your focus. This is also where the keys come into play. When The Lord reveals your answer to what you’ve been praying for from the Word, then you now have a key that unlocks the gates of Hades. A locked gate can’t prevail against the key. You now have the God given power and wisdom to remove the bars that have been holding you back. Now is the time to open your mouth! Remember, Jesus said in Mark 11:23 “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it” (ASV). While believing is important, it needs to be mixed with saying.
Lets take a minute and put this into practice. Make this something you declare everyday for yourself.
Lord, I am your workmanship. I was created in Christ Jesus for a good work and you planned this work before the world was formed (Eph 2:10). I stand on your promise that you will guide me into all the truth, and so I know that you are leading me today. I thank you for it. I am so glad that you have created me with divine purpose and I have significance in the earth and my life has meaning. I commit myself to be available to be used to the utmost today and everyday. I will accomplish great things as I obey your plan for me. Thank you Lord for your love for me, your care for me and for the blood of Jesus that was shed so that I can enjoy this relationship with you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
