Focus with a Clean Lens

December 6

Attending an Apple Mac Computer training last week I listened as a gifted instructor was explaining to a customer about a video camera lens. Using the explanation of how a fighter pilot with outstanding eyesight can still be easily impaired by fog, he explained you can have the best camera but if dirt gets on the lens it will not produce a quality product. This made me think about how the even the most steadfast in their faith can lose focus and fall into temptation.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss has a radio show today called Food, Beauty and Control: Three Snares Woman Face by Bob Lepine. Rushing along in "Must Do Holiday Mode" I must admit I fell into temptation and didn't listen. Let me adjust my priorities and go read on her site Revive Our Hearts....I bet there is a tidbit to tie in with today's "Boojoyful".

(Who needs to bake another cookie or hang more tinsel anyway!)

Bingo...there it is. Lepine says: "I want you to see that all of us are in danger when we become dissatisfied with what God has provided for us."

I agree. When the the focus shifts from Christ to "self" and dissatisfaction begins to grow we need to nip it in the bud and dig our roots deep into the Word. We need to remember whose we are and the purpose for which He created us. During this holiday season the sin of coveting can so easily creep in. Just in case we have an aversion to the Old Testament and might be tempted not to travel there, God arranged to have a reminder of some of The Ten Commandments in the New Testament:

"Do not commit adultery." "Do not murder." "Do not steal." "Do not covet." Romans :9

WOW. Stopping to pray over what God is trying to teach me today I was shocked to see the word control (which was in the title of Lepine's message) surface. Let's think about it...all the sins in the Ten Commandments result from us trying to control a situation. Whew wee and whew, we! Focus in on that reality. What bits of dirt are on the lenses of our lives keeping us from seeing a clear picture of what God has planned.

Yesterday in Michael Youssef's message he said, "We need to hate the things which caused Jesus to go to the cross. May we mourn and grieve over the things that grieve God." If we want to control something, then let's, through the power of the Holy Spirit, control the sin which wants to creep into our lives. Let's wipe the spots off of our life lens; let's live lives which are satisfied because of what Christ has done for us and has waiting for us; and let's focus on God's plan and purpose for our lives while we are on this earth.

Let's Pray: Father, You are good and, and do good; teach us Your statutes. (Psalm 119:68).

We surrender control to You today and say as David did "Our times are in Your hands." (Psalm 31:15). In Jesus' Name, Amen