FOCUS? WHAT DO YOU SEE? WHAT DO YOU WANT?
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
I. WHAT DO YOU SEE? DO YOU WANT TO STAY THIS WAY?
A. FOUR EYES? DIFFERENT VIEW? Differing conclusions?
Years ago I was a representative of Lee County, Virginia to the VEA Convention. (Virginia Education Association) We were staying at a huge motel.
My friend and fellow delegate came to my room and we were discussing the next day’s agenda.
I was on the 14th floor (which was really the 13th floor) and looking out the window. My friend asked me: WHAT DO YOU SEE? What are you looking at?
I replied, Look over there someone threw out a bag of garbage and the wind has carried the garbage all around. I focused on the garbage.
I asked him: WHAT DO YOU SEE?
We were looking out the same window.
He answered: I WAS LOOKING AT THAT HUGE FLOWER BED OVER THERE.
He said just think of all the work, love and sweat in those thousands of flowers?
I never saw the flowers, I was focusing on the garbage.
We were looking out the same window, I saw garbage?
He saw flowers? I ponder: WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE?
Perhaps we would say the FOCUS?
B. FOCUS:
A point at which the rays of heat, light, or sound converge or from which they diverge.
A point from which intersection give rise to an image.
Adjustment for distinct vision.
A condition where permitting clear perception or understanding.
A center of action, activity, attention, or attraction.
To come together on a common or central point.
To concentrate, or pay close attention.
C. DO YOU WANT TO SPEND A LIFE AS A CRITIC?
ONE GIVEN TO HARSH OR CAPTIOUS JUDGEMENT!
CRITIC:
One that finds fault.
One that expresses their opinion.
To analyze, evaluate.
D. I once read of an art critic finding faults with a great MASTERPIECE.
When he finished finding all the faults of the Masterpiece, the Masterpiece was sold for over a million dollars.
The artist asked to see the ART CRITIC’S WORK, he answered, I CAN’T PAINT, I HAVE NEVER TRIED!
It is easier to be CRITICAL THAN TO TRY!
E. I am told great artist paint a visible flaw in every work, so those looking for faults will find the flaw quickly and then quit judging.
II. IS THAT ANGEL STUPID? DOESN’T HE KNOW?
WHAT DID YOU SAY? WHO ARE YOU KIDDING? THAT IS NOT A FUNNY JOKE?
A. Will I allow my limitations to limit God’s plan? Do you ever feel so little that you can’t seem to find a solution?
Angel --- have you been in the wine?
Lord: WHAT DO YOU MEAN CALLING ME A MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR?
Judges 6:12 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
B. JUST CALL ME CHICKEN LITTLE?
I THINK THE SKY IS FALLING IN?
I see the negative: HAVEN’T YOU HEARD THE LORD HAS FORSAKEN US?
Judges 6:13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
C. HOW EASY IS IT FOR A BELIEVER TO FOCUS AND COME UP WITH INVALID CONCLUSIONS?
WE ARE GOD FORSAKEN AND THE MIDIANITES ARE GOD BLESSED?
Judges 6:15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.
D. Gideon says DON’T YOU KNOW HOW LITTLE I AM?
Then to ENLARGE HIS LITTLENESS, Gideon proclaims how little his family really is? He also makes the enemy larger! Then GIDEON DECLARES NOT ONLY ARE WE LITTLE --- WE ARE POOR?
E. POOR: BARREN, UNPRODUCTIVE, NO FRUIT.
Lacking in mental, physical, emotional, political power.
POVERTY!
Less than adequate.
Small in worth.
Inferior. DEPRIVED.
F. The angel might have been the Lord!
Was the angel talking to the WRONG DUDE?
G. WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE FOCUS ON HOW LITTLE THEY ARE, THEY ARE SLAPPING GOD’S WORD IN THE FACE.
FURTHERMORE, THEY ARE MOVING AND SPEAKING GREAT DOUBT.
H. GOD’S WORK HAS NEVER DEPENDED ON THE ABILITY OF THE MAN?
III. GOD: DID YOU FORGET I AM HANDICAPPED? GOD, CAN’T YOU HEAR?
A. Moses knew enough to FOCUS AND MAKE EXCUSES FOR WHY HE COULD NOT DO WHAT GOD HAD COMMANDED.
B. Moses recognized the PRESENCE OF I AM THAT I AM enough to take off his shoes for THIS IS HOLY GROUND.
Exodus 4:10 And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
C. DID GOD NOT NOTICE MOSES’ LIMITATIONS?
Was God caught by surprise that Moses was a slow talker?
D. THE FOCUS IS NOT ABOUT MOSES, THE FOCUS IS ON THE
I AM THAT I AM!
IV. DO YOU HAVE A MOUSE’S HEART?
A. Years ago on a little farm there was a smart little mouse. The mouse lived in great fear. The mouse would walk to the hole and look his door to focus on the cheese. There was plenty of cheese for the mouse to eat.
But as the mouse would lick his lips thinking about the cheese, he would start shaking in great fear.
The mouse said: I don’t know where he is, but there is a BIG cat out there?
I can’t go get the cheese, the BIG cat might come in and eat me?
B. The mouse met a GREAT MAGICIAN. This magician could do many feats of power. The mouse became friends with the magician and said, I am greatly afraid of the cat? Could you please turn me from a mouse to
a cat?
The magician said: NO PROBLEM, AB-BRA-CA-DAB-BRA: YOU ARE A CAT!
C. The mouse really enjoyed being a cat. He was walking over to eat some cheese when he looked through the screen door and saw a huge pit-bull dog and fear struck him. He ran over in the corner and hid from the dog.
D. He called the magician to come over, PLEASE HELP ME, I SAW THAT BIG PIT-BULL DOG and I am afraid. Could you please turn me into a dog?
The magician said: NO PROBLEM! AB-BRA-CA-DAB-BRA, You are a dog.
The mouse was so happy to be a dog, he ran and played outside.
The sun went down and the dog heard a lion ROAR, ROAR.
The dog ran and hid in great fear. WHAT IF THE LION CAUGHT ME AND ATE ME?
E. At sun up the next morning the mouse that was now a dog called the magician. The mouse explained how loud the lion’s roar was, and how fast the lion could run.
Please, Mr. Magician make me into a LION!
So the dog stood still in fear as the magician said:
AB-BRA-CA-DAB-BRA, dog, you are now a LION, KING OF THE JUNGLE.
F. The lion paced back and forth, he would ROAR just to hear his power?
Up in the evening the LION was pacing and he heard the blast of a hunters powerful rifle echo across the plain. The LION started shaking in GREAT FEAR. That human will come out here and kill me?
The lion ran and hid in a group of trees. All night, the lion was nervous and afraid. WHAT IF THE HUMAN COMES AFTER ME?
G. The LION again called his friend the Magician, please rush out here I NEED YOU MORE THAN EVER. So the magician met the lion.
The Lion explained of how loud that human’s gun sounded.
The LION begged, PLEASE, JUST ONE MORE TIME TURN ME INTO A HUMAN, I PROMISE TO NEVER BOTHER YOU AGAIN!
H. The MAGICIAN stepped up and said: AB-BRA-CA-DAB-BRA, I TURN YOU INTO A MOUSE! All you have is fear and a mouse’s heart.
As a cat it was fear, as a dog it was fear, as a lion it was fear, as a human you would walk in fear --- AB-BRA-CA-DAB-BRA:
YOU ARE A MOUSE! All you have is a mouse’s heart!
I. The MOUSE QUIETLY IN FEAR WALKED BACK INTO THE FARM HOUSE.
His stomach was always growling looking at the cheese, fearing the cat. The mouse was angry and bitter at the magician for turning him back into a mouse.
J. I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT A MOUSE? CAT? DOG? LION?
I AM TALKING ABOUT FEAR!
2 Tim. 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
K. Are we walking in fear? Doubt? Self-doubt?
Is our focus on: GLOOM, DESPAIR, AGAONY ON END?
DEEP DARK DEPRESSION, EXCESSIVE MISERY?
V. YOU ARE TALKING AS ONE OF THE FOOLISH.
A. SOMETIMES LIFE HAS HURT YOU SO BAD.
The pain and disappointments have flooded you? Does anyone care?
B. Have you ever seen someone you love suffer? Why?
C. I bought THE BOOK: WHY DO GOOD PEOPLE SUFFER?
I read the book, and I still don’t understand.
D. If life has been cruel, learn to close your mouth?
HUSBAND, THIS FAMILY HAS EVERY PHYSICAL RIGHT TO BE ANGRY AND BITTER. With this focus we might as well quit?
Job 2:9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
E. A focus that can’t see MERCY AND GRACE IS HOPELESS.
Job 2:10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
F. JOB NEVER CALLED HIS WIFE FOOLISH.
JOB SAID: HONEY YOU ARE TALKING LIKE A FOOLISH WOMAN!
G. Don’t ever tell a child he/she is stupid!
Tell them what they did was stupid, but that does not make them stupid.
H. STUPID IS WHEN YOU QUIT!
Why not quit quitting?
I. SISTER JOB WAS JUDGING AND CRITICAL.
SHE WAS DOUBTING SELF AND GOD.
Job felt trapped in misery and pain. On top of all the lost, he was suffering great physical pain and even more self-doubt.
J. God had a plan of deliverance. The water from a deep well is cooler and purer than a water bucket of stagnant water!
Job 42:10 And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
K. It honors God to stand behind His word and LET GOD!
Jeremiah 1:12 Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.
Psalm 68:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of David.
Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.
VI. WHAT IS YOUR EAR TRAINED TO HEAR?
Matthew 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
A. A mechanic was riding with me in my pick-up truck. After a few minutes the mechanic said, Preacher, you need to change your fuel filter!
He heard something I didn’t hear?
I changed my fuel filter and the old truck ran so much smoother! The mechanic’s ear was trained!
B. I was playing with several men playing their guitars. One man stepped over to another man’s guitar, tuned his third string and kept on playing.
With four guitars playing, the expert guitarist stepped over to tune the one string that was out. 6 strings per guitar, 4 guitars and this man could
hear one string out of tune? Wow, what a trained ear?
C. There was a group of small children in the nursery. One mom heard her baby’s cry. She jumped up and ran to the nursery. She knew her baby’s cry immediately.
John 10:4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
D. We must train our hearts and emotions to not stand on the plane and look HOW BIG THE MOUNTAIN IS! We need men and women of God to look at the mountain and tell the mountain HOW BIG OUR GOD IS.
E. Some Christians are near-sighted? Some far-sighted? Some have tunnel vision? God needs you to have telescopic vision and see beyond today!
CONCLUSION:
We need to see--- not how things are --- but how things could be! God loves you! God’s plan is to HELP you grow and increase.
Exercise your faith! Listen to the word! It is time to MOVE IN GOD!
Will you make an offering of your hands and heart?
Jude 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
Help me? Pass this on to another.
