“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Stay Focused
We become conformed to this world by focusing on the things of the world. If we think about the same things the world thinks about, we are going to get the same results they do. If we keep our focus stayed on God, through studying His word and having fellowship with Him, then we’ll have perfect peace as it says in Isaiah 26:3. This scripture clearly links our peace to keeping our minds stayed on and trusting in God. This reveals that our emotions follow our thoughts. Or we could say our focus follows our thoughts. Making our thinking line up with GOD will affect this complete transformation/focus in our lives, as stated in Romans 12:2.
As I was in my prayer time the other day the Lord led me to read 2 Corinthians 4:18. “while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
After reading that scripture, this is what I wrote in my journal:
Don’t look at circumstances in your life that may seem hard, difficult or with no end in sight. Take your focus off the circumstance and look to Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 4:17, Paul states that our light afflictions are for a moment. His afflictions were not considered light because they were few or they were not very severe. He gave a partial list of his afflictions in 2 Corinthians 11:23-30. Paul shrunk his problems down to a manageable size. He wasn’t ignorant of his problems nor was he in denial of them. He recognized that there were rewards awaiting him for enduring hardship in his life. He was focusing his attention away from, carnal thinking and turning it towards spiritual thinking. Paul was not moved by what he saw in the natural world (Acts 20:24).
See the Eternal
We may not be able to clear every problem out of our path, but we can keep the problem on the outside. We do this by not centering our attention on what we see in this natural physical realm. Everything you see is temporal and subject to change. So, put your faith in the unseen eternal realm. Those are the things which are not subject to change.
When we focus our attention on the problem it gets magnified out of proportion. But if we neglect our focus on problems, and think on God’s provision, the answer gets magnified and the problem shrinks.
The battle is in our mind and it affects what comes out of our mouth. If we think about depressing things, we’ll be depressed and speak depressing words. If we think about uplifting things, we’ll be uplifted and speak about such things.
Do you know that God’s Word is eternal? The Bible is a book full of promises to cover any circumstance we’ll ever face. And no matter what happens in this shifting, changing world that we live in, those promises will forever be the same. Grab ahold of what the Bible says you have.
Each day I set my focus on the AWESOMENESS of God, His promises and who He is to me. When we read Psalm 139:13-18 we see how precious we are to our Abba Father. I encourage you, fix your gaze on the things that cannot be seen. There is no need to focus on the troubles and problems we can see. After all, they are subject to change.
Looking for more? Check out my related blog posts, Trust in God – Don’t Be Afraid and Fear Not, For I Am With You.
