Eye Contact

The Fear No Fear series focuses on rejecting fear and embracing faith in God. Fear is seen as a spiritual force used by Satan to keep people down. By championing faith and focusing on God's word, fear can be overcome. The speaker shares their personal experience during the pandemic, economic upheaval, and other challenges, stating that their trust in the Lord kept them free from fear. The importance of focus on the Lord is emphasized, highlighting the benefits of peace, deliverance, and answers to prayer. The speaker acknowledges that humans are easily distracted but encourages staying focused on God and seeking Him with all our hearts. The idea of spiritual focus is contrasted with attention deficit disorders and the need for different individuals to find their own ways of focusing on God. The speaker assures that Jesus can help with focus and interaction with Him can happen in various ways. The Lord promises to meet those who seek Him with their whole hearts. Welcome to Fear No Fear. Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embrace you today. This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture. We reject fear in any and all forms. Fear is a spiritual force, the currency of darkness and ignorance. It's what we inherited when Adam gave up his faith and Satan uses it to keep people down. His only weapon is words. If he can get you believing or looking at words of fear, he's got you. Instead, we champion faith as an allegiance to God, as a belief and trust and loyalty to the Lord God Almighty. We accept the evidence of his word as unvarnished truth, as is, just as it's written. We get close to his perfect love through the word, and perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4.18 All scripture is taken from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Visit eBible.org Job 11.17-19 Life will be clearer than the noonday. Though there is darkness, it will be as the morning. You will be secure because there is hope. Yes, you will search, and you will take your rest in safety. Also, you will lie down, and no one will make you afraid. Yes, many will court your favor. This is a basic promise of the word that we see again and again. If you focus on God, you won't notice what is happening around you the same way. We've just gone through several years of lockdown in a worldwide pandemic. We're facing food inflation, a continuation of this virus. We're facing economic upheaval. We're facing supply chain disruption. And I tell you the truth. If you visited my house and hung out for a day or a week in the background, you won't notice. You wouldn't have noticed then. Not really. I mean, we didn't ignore what was happening, but there was no fear attached to it. Fear rose up, but the word kicked it out. It wasn't instant. There was a process. But it was a process of trust in the Lord. He directed us. He guided us. He counseled us. He corrected us. Through His guidance, this whole thing was a blip like any other year. No depression. No trauma. No loss. No, I wish that. None of that. It was easy and simple because He had us focused on Him, drew us always back to Him, and kept us standing on Him. He didn't change in all that. He wasn't shaken. Since He wasn't shaking, we weren't shaking. I read the experiences of other people, and I have to ask the Lord to explain to me their attitudes and experiences and emotions. Because I just don't get it. Their experience is totally foreign to me. Is it because of me? No, no, no, no, no, no. Is it a feather on my cap or a pat on my back? No. It was the Lord, 100%. He did it all. And the conclusion is easy. It's a question. Why is this not my life all the time? Why is this not the life of all believers all the time? And if it comes right down to it, why were there any blips at all during that time? I mean, why wasn't this instant? Why wasn't this automatic? Why isn't it always automatic? Why aren't we just living at this level of total trust? Well, because we're human. We're creatures of habit and creatures of trust. Habit and trust. Habit is flesh. Trust is spirit. Our minds, personalities, and emotions sit in the middle, the edge of that coin. Which way that coin falls in any and every circumstance is not chance, fate, or karma. It isn't the leaving of the universe. It isn't the manifestation of our desire. And it isn't a stack of coins in the bank. It falls one way or another because of focus. Focus is the force that acts on that coin to produce a result on one side or the other. It is also the means by which we can, at any time, flip that coin. You shall seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29.13 You will keep whoever's mind is steadfast in perfect peace because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26.3 He will not be afraid of evil news. His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. Psalm 112.7 Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high because he has known my name. He will call on me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him. I will satisfy him with long life and show him my salvation. Psalm 91.14-16 Focus on the Lord has distinct benefits. There's perfect peace, deliverance, honor, salvation, long life, and answers when we call. That sounds pretty good to me, especially perfect peace because that is love. And that drives out fear. Now we get all that by focusing on the Lord. Seeking him with all our heart. Setting our love on him. Knowing his name as in a real person to person relationship. Is it because the Lord is demanding, an egotist? No. We worship him because he deserves our worship, psalmate. This, this is all about us and not about him. Humans are movers. We rarely stay in one place for any length of time. We spread out. We're unfocused. We see shiny things and run over there to check them out. If you think I'm exaggerating, go visit any preschool and watch them for a few hours. If it wasn't for the dedication and incredible efforts of the adults, nothing would get accomplished and the place would be destroyed in under two hours. A human being is a little tornado of chaotic impulse and energy. We were created to have dominion. To subdue the entire earth and to work for the Lord. Not toil, work. Genesis 128. We threw that away. So these core impulses have no guided outlet. We have a driving need to work. But we have no idea what to do. So we make up our own work. We're made in the image of God, Genesis 1, 26 to 27. What is one of the first things we're told about God in Genesis 1, 1? God's spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. God is a God of movement. So we are beings of movement. The problem is that we were created to focus on the Lord. For our movement to have a purpose. And we lost that when we rebelled against Him. That's freedom of choice, free will. So we have to choose to focus. Repeatedly. If not, we wander off. We wander out of His yard. We step out from where He can bless us. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted amongst the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46.10 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above. Where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above. Not on the things that are on the earth. Colossians 3.1-2 Brothers, I don't regard myself as yet having taken hold. But one thing I do. Forgetting the things which are behind. And stretching forward to the things which are before. I press on towards the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, think this way. If in anything you think otherwise, God will also reveal that to you. Philippians 3.13-15 We move, but we need to train ourselves to stay. To be still. It doesn't come naturally to us. But we can do it. We do it in school to varying degrees of success. It's important, though. It's important that we learn this skill. It's important that we do it. Not in that, oh, I'm in school, I need to learn something way. But just that still and focused way. The way we can hyper-focus on a partner. On a moment with our children. On a moment of friendship. Just that quiet listening relationship moment. That is the important thing. And that's what we need to work on. Now, isn't it interesting that as we get closer and closer to the end of things. Whether that's within this century or a millennia from now. That we are seeing more and more people being diagnosed with attention deficit disorders. That at a time where focus is extremely important, there's an attack on it. Now, I'm not saying all mental conditions are just attacks of the enemy. But it's interesting that it's more and more common, isn't it? God, of course, can work with all of us. No matter where we find ourselves or what we're dealing with. Our particular conditions, habits, circumstances and situations are no impediment to him. He meets us where we are and he works with us. He loves us all and he knows us all. And he blesses us all. For example, we often see the stereotype that those with ADHD are unable to pay attention to anything. And they're just bouncing around aimlessly. But anyone with ADHD is capable of a laser focus that escapes the rest of us many, many times. We see the thing as a handicap, but they're often incredibly accomplished individuals. They just don't follow the traditional model to accomplish it. Now, luckily, spiritual focus is a matter of the spirit and not of the flesh. None of us need to worry about being unable to do it. None of us need to worry about any of that. Yahweh God is an infinite being. And as such, has infinite ways to meet us, work with us and accomplish his ends. There is no traditional model. We are, however, required to focus on him. In our way and as he leads us. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4.13 You struggle with focus? Jesus in you can focus. You struggle with reading? Jesus in you can speak words to you. You struggle with sitting still? Jesus in you can interact with you no matter what you're doing. It isn't about sitting motionless in a pew with a hyper focus on the speaker. It's about turning our thoughts to Jesus all the time in every way we can. That is going to look differently for all of us because we all have a different mental landscape. The Lord does not leave us hanging. If we seek to meet him, he will meet us. For I will set my eyes on them for good. And I will bring them again to this land. I will build them and not pull them down. I will plant them and not pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people and I will be their God. For they will return to me with their whole heart. Jeremiah 24.6-7 I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to him and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame. Psalm 34.4-5 We are to focus on the Lord, but the Lord is also focusing on us. He sets his eyes on us. That's an incredible promise. He will bring us to where he wants us. He will build us up. He will cultivate us and help us to grow. We will be answered by God. That's right. If we seek him, he answers us. None of this maybe he will or maybe he won't stuff. An answer every time. That is not a ticket to getting whatever we want. If we ask according to his word, we get what we ask for. 1 John 5.14 And we don't get when we ask for things for our own selfish pleasures and desires. James 4.3 That is the only time that the answer is no. When we ask according to his will, his word, and with the right motives, we will only ever get a yes. 2 Corinthians 1.10 Sometimes the yes is a yes now, here you go. And sometimes the yes is a yes. Let's get you grown into the place where you can handle it. With our shepherd, we never want. Psalm 23. The best way to maintain our focus, to retrain our minds, to handle the revelations of the Lord, to align ourselves with his will so that we're working the way he wants, so that we're speaking the way he wants, and so that we're asking the way he wants, and to make sure that we are cultivating the right motives is to get into the word, to read it, to listen to it, to consume it in any way that we are able. In as large of a dose as we can handle. Looking to it with intent to see Jesus revealed, and to think about it when we aren't actively consuming it. To wonder about the wording, the point of the verse, mulling it over and asking the Holy Spirit about it. To keep spiritual eye contact with Yahweh God. The word is the watchdog of our souls. The keeper of our health. The guideposts along the path of our lives. The word is more than a book. The word is Jesus, and Jesus is the word. John 1, 1-14. It keeps us from fear. It keeps us from folly. It keeps us from failure in the things of the kingdom. But only when we are focused on it. When we are applying it. When we are using it to correct our steps, thoughts, words, and deeds. When we do, the Lord opens the heavens. And we are right there standing in His yard where He can bless us abundantly with the things of the kingdom. Spirit, soul, and body blessing. 3 John 1-2 and Matthew 6-33. My son, let them not depart from your eyes. Keep sound wisdom and discretion, so they will be life to your soul and grace for your neck. Then you shall walk in your way securely. Your foot won't stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid. Yes, you will lie down, and your sleep will be sweet. Don't be afraid of sudden fear. Neither of the desolation of the wicked when it comes. For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being taken. Proverbs 3, 21-26. Believe it. Receive it. Know it. Walk in it. Focus on it. And be blessed upon blessing in the arms of Jesus. Our day of the affirmation of God's love is Mark 10, 21. Jesus looked at this young man and loved him. What a beautiful verse. Jesus looks at all of us in that same way. He looks on us, and He loves us. He loves us. That's incredible. He loved us from the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1-4. He gave Himself for us, John 3-16. But He looks at us face to face, seeing us, all of us, all of who we are, hidden and revealed, secret selves in our quietest parts. And He loves us. All that He asks in return is to put Him first. And this verse isn't anti-money. It isn't anti-stuff. It is anti-stuff and money before God. I'm sure you've heard it said that if you can't give up anything He asks you to, you don't have it. It has you. Well, think about this as well. When things of God come up, going to church, reading the Word, praying, etc., do you do them, or do you have an excuse not to? When one of those things comes to mind, do you tamp it down with the not now or I'm busy? When excuses rise up keeping you from the Word, from the Lord, from the things of the Lord, that is your red flag warning that something is very, very wrong. Nothing but nothing should keep you from the Lord. If anything at any time keeps you from the Lord, it is a stumbling block to you. The Lord loves you. The Lord looks at you and loves you. Love Him back. Take the time to love Him, to talk to Him, to look back. It's a good thing to do, Hebrews 12 too. And it always rewards, always. Look on Him today. Put your gaze on Him and don't take it off. Watch Him smile at you because He loves you. Catch His eye today. As we close, remember that you have earth. You are precious and valuable. Declare this. Today God loves that I, now you, fill in the blank. Was it a meal you made? A smile you gave? Did you get out of bed? Read? Put on socks? There's no wrong answers here. There is no end to God's love and no end to the things about you that He loves each and every day. Pick one. And remember, the Lord loves you, just because you're you. 1 John 4, 9-10 tells us, By this, God's love was revealed in us, that God has sent His only-born Son into the world, that we might live through Him. And this is love. Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His perfect love turned away God's wrath because of sin, and it casts out our fear too. See verses 18 and 19. We love because He first loved us. He just loves us. Can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.