Where is your focus?
“I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” (Psalm 16:8-11)
I love how this verse starts: “I keep my eyes always on the Lord.” We must ask why? Why does this verse start with these words? As we read further in the passage we see the result of keeping our eyes on the Lord. Let’s take a look at what happens when we do this.
- He is our strength. “With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” The Word tells us in Psalm 61:3, ” For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.” Also we see his strength in our lives in Psalm 28:7 “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.” When we keep our eyes focused on the Lord, He is always with us. Regardless of the battles we may be facing, He is our strength. With Him by our side, we will not be shaken. We can rest in complete assurance that He is with us in all situations. Even in our thought life.
Have you ever had something come into your mind that gave you fear, frustration, anxiety, or anger? These things are not from the Lord. These are things the enemy uses as a strategy to shake us up. You see, satan knows that if we take our eyes off the things of the Lord, then our eyes will be focused on what he has distracted us to see. The Lord says that we should focus on, “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9) When we focus our eyes and think of Him, we have peace. We have joy. We will not be shaken.
2. He gives us joy and He is faithful. Verse 9 states, “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.” As we just saw in Philippians, we will have joy and peace, and we can rest when our eyes are focused on God. He takes delight in us and views us as His perfect and most beautiful creation. He is faithful to us and is always with us.
We see His goodness in Zephaniah 3:17 ” The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” This beautiful time with the Lord is what the enemy wants to steal from you. How can you stay in this place of perfect peace? A place where you have lasting joy, no matter your situation? The answer is simply by putting your focus on Him always.
3. He gives us direction and all eternal pleasures! “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” What a way to end this passage! By keeping our eyes on the Lord, we can know the path of life, we are filled with joy and His eternal pleasures! No wonder the enemy would love for us to take our eyes off the Lord.
My prayer for you today is that you turn your eyes and your focus to Jesus. That you combat anything that the enemy of this world tries to use to distract you. I pray that you can remember the Lord’s protection and love for you. As you finish reading this blog, I would ask you to focus on the words in this next passage. This is His promise to you today. This is what He will give you when your eyes are on Him.
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’ Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.If you say, ‘The Lord is my refuge,’ and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you,no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. ‘Because heLord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.'” Psalm 91
Have a blessed day!
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