Home

Current Edition

Archives

Contact Us

Links

Our Lifeline

Our Mission

Guestbook

Copyright

By now you've noticed that the title of the web site you're on is Focus On Jesus. Focusing on Jesus is a very important concept, you know. But I believe that it's much more than just a concept.

The ability to focus on Jesus, the Son of God, is a gift, given by God, as the result of prayer and dedication. God and Satan are at war with each other. You and I are the spoils of that battle. They're fighting over you and me. If Satan wins, it's all over for those lost to him. If God wins, then this is just the beginning of an eternity of blessings it's impossible to imagine. In this eternal struggle, God has made the rules. Satan will take only those who are willing. All of us who cling to God will be on the winning side. However, Satan can use each of us from time to time, even though we don't give our lives over to him. That's the part we need to beware of. For Satan to win me from God, then destroy us, I don't have to give myself over to sin. I don't have to be "possessed" by Satan nor his demons. I don't have to murder, steal, commit adultery, lie, nor covet. All I have to do is to let Satan take my eyes off of Jesus.

That's a lot easier for him than you might think. Let's give it some thought. In Matthew 3:17 (NASB), we read:

and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well- pleased."

At the immersion of Jesus, Matthew records:

Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?" But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted Him. And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (Matthew 3:13-4:1)

Then when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up onto the mountain where he was transfigured to a spirit body before their eyes:

While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!" And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were much afraid. (Matthew 7:5-6)

When Peter retells the story in his second letter, he said:

For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased" and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. (2 Peter 1:16 - 19)

The point of all this is that Jesus indeed is the Messiah the Jews looked for, the Christ, our Redeemer, our Savior. The life he lived and the death he died pleased his Father, who said at least three times from heaven: This is my Son listen to Him! If we do listen to Jesus, what would he be saying to us?

Then Jesus said to His disciples,

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds." (24 - 27)

In John 15, just before Jesus was arrested, he was telling his disciples some things of life and death importance. He said:

"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends, if you do what I command you." (John 15:12 - 14) Jesus told them to love one another so much that they would lay down their lives for each other. He gave us the example of laying down his own life for us.

It was only recently that I began to understand what Jesus was teaching them. What I had always thought was that I ought to love my brothers and sisters in the Lord so much that I would be willing to die for them. Yet, when I looked deep down inside myself, I felt sure that I was not capable of doing that. Oh, I had read Fox's Book Of Martyrs, and other books of our history. I had seen where God-loving men and women had gone to their deaths praising God, refusing to renounce Him. I wasn't sure I could do that. I didn't think I had it in me. But I asked God to help me understand that and to be willing to die for others.

What I came to understand was that Jesus was not talking exclusively about dying for someone else. He was talking about living for someone else.

Whoa! That's a whole 'nother idea, isn't it?
I asked myself, "Self, how could I die for someone else, if I'm not willing to live totally for them?"

After all, Jesus taught the principle in more than one place. Consider Matthew 25:

"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'" (Matthew 25:31 - 40)

Those people on the right hand were surprised at what the Son of Man told them when he divided them from the others. The Son of Man told them that they had served him.

They didn't know that. Notice their surprise. They didn't even know that they had seen their Lord hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, or in prison. They had been too busy using up their lives for others. Indeed, they had seen others in need and had given their time, energies, money, clothing, food, shelter, or whatever someone else needed. They considered it not to be their own, but it belonged to the Lord. Thus, when they shared what they had with others, that was also serving their Lord.

Jesus taught us to live not for our own selves but to live exclusively for others. That's they way we give up our lives. We spend them for other people not for ourselves. It's because of this principle that Jesus said:

"For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.

Only those of us who will give up our own lives for others will find the eternal life that Jesus promised to those who love Him.

On the other hand (the left hand, actually) a group of people stood, no doubt with puzzlement on their faces. What had they just seen?

These are our brothers and sisters in the Lord, by the way. Let's pray that we are not among them. These are the Christians who are willing to serve their Lord. They're just waiting for him to show up before they do it. The Son of Man turned to his left and spoke to them . . .

"Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me." (Matthew 25:41 - 43)

Were they surprised! They didn't remember ever seeing their Lord in such dire need. They were sure that if they had, they certainly wouldn't have turned their backs on him. So he explained to them what they should have been doing . . .

"Then they themselves also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' "Then He will answer them, saying, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:44 - 46)

What a shame! They didn't realize that only by serving each other can we serve our Lord. Do you and I realize that? What Jesus wants us to do is to be like him. Paul said it this way to the Philippian Christians . . .

If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:1 - 11)

Paul understood the concept Jesus taught his followers. Don't do anything motivated by selfishness or conceit. Be genuinely humble by considering all others better or more important than yourself. Don't look after your own interests alone, but for the interests of others. Then, he sums it all up by saying, have Jesus' attitude in you. Although he was somebody he was God himself, but he gave it up for you a nobody. He even became your slave (bond-slave). He humbled himself to the extent that he not only died for you he lived his entire life for you. He didn't live for himself, did he? Can you think of anything Jesus did exclusively for himself? Everything he did was for others. That's the most important thing for us to remember. Watch Jesus. Never take your eyes off him. Be like he is. Live for others, not for yourself. That's what Jesus teaches us. That's the kind of people he wants us to be. Not a bunch of rule-keepers and lawmakers. He wants us to lay down our lives for others. Don't live for yourself, but live for others. Satan wants it to be the other way. All Satan needs to do to move you from the Lord's right hand to his left hand is just to divert your attention from others, onto yourself. Think about it.

How does he do that?

Have you ever thought: I should've been given that promotion. I'm better than that inexperienced younger person that got it. He's probably kin to the boss. (Or, he [or she] is just "sleeping" his/her way to the top!) How about this one: I've worked hard for my money, why should I give it to some undeserving stranger standing on the street corner, smelly, dirty probably drunk or they wouldn't be in this condition. They don't deserve my hard-earned money. What'd they ever do for me, anyway?

Another one: You dummy! How could you be so stupid? I was in this lane first. You cut in front of me. Don't you know I'm in a hurry. I have important business to take care of. Here, how do you like the sound of my horn and my bright lights in your rear view mirror.

One more: Oh, no. Who could that be on the phone this late at night. It's probably old what's-'is- name wanting to talk again about the troubles he's having with his wife and his kids. We've all got troubles. Why can't he leave me alone and call someone else. I just won't answer. He'll think I'm not at home.

Of course, I've never thought or said anything like that, have you?

Of course I have. I'm sorry. I have asked God to forgive me. Those things and many others are simple indications of the kind of a heart you and I have. Paul said to have the mind of Christ in me. To humble myself and become the bondslave of others.

But Satan is so good at what he does. He doesn't have to turn me into a murderer, a liar, thief, adulterer, or any other those other things, when we fall into idolatry so easily. And we do it over and over. Anything that I place above serving Jesus by serving you, including my own desires, is my idol.