One of the best things I have learned from the Holy Spirit has been to change the focus.  You see I have spent the majority of my Christian life focused on not sinning and while doing that my journey has been a rough one.  It has been hard to be obedient to God because I would continually put myself first in “my” battle.  As I have been reading and studying these past few days, I have learned I need to become a captive of Hope.  I need to place my faith and hope in that God will release me from my thoughts, and while he is working on me, my focus needs to be on him and not on how can I serve him better by not sinning.  Not sinning is not the answer, it goes back to the old saying of don’t touch the stove or it will burn you!!  Well I know many people including myself who didn’t learn not to touch the stove until they actually touched it and got burned.  If we keep telling our selves not to sin guess what, that is exactly what is going to be on our mind pretty much all the time.  Then the blessings and interactions God sets for us can be missed.  I want to focus on his love for me, the fact that Jesus says he is a redeemer and a re-warder, I want my works to come because I want to serve him and not because I have too.  I want to be the kind of servant who chooses to wash people’s feet because I know the journey they have taken to come to that point in their life.  I want to be the kind of servant who knows without a shadow of a doubt, I can sit at the table like Psalms 23 says while my enemies are waging war.  To know that God is the kind of God that wants to love me should be enough to change my focus.  My thoughts should be in line with His and when they run astray I need to hold them captive and give them over to the Holy Spirit.  We have access to the most powerful weapon/tool/protector with us in the Holy Spirit.  Let us stop reminding our selves that we are sinners, rather let us remind one another that we are His Beloved, his chosen ones.

Now, I have tremendous discipline and aptitude for sin, but if I switch that effort into my love affair with the Almighty, how much more will I be able to shine to those who need him.  My heart needs to be broken for those who are lost and hurt, for those who need healing or an encouraging word.  If I continue on a path of just being obedient then eventually I will be disobedient.  However, It is in Christ’s sacrifice that we receive Grace.  I will and have changed my Focus from myself to Christ in me.  That is what happened the day I accepted him, he became a part of me and the Holy Spirit is with me as well.  I can call on the angels for refuge and know that Christ is my fortress.  This world has many pains and evils that we will experience, but as Jesus says he has come so that we may have life and live it abundantly.  That abundance he is speaking of is Him, he can and will guide our life once we learn how to change our focus.  This is like a great photographer, they know in order to capture the moment of their art it must be in focus or it loses its influence.  The same goes for us and how we chose to follow Christ.  We can either Choose to follow him out of focus and continually look at our self and our brokenness first or we can choose to follow him in focus which allows us to gain the influence, grace, power, mercy and love of our Holy and Mighty Papa! I am choosing the latter.

One Love, One King, All Christ!