Where is Your Focus (Part 2)

The apostle Paul reveals to us where our focus should be and what things our minds should dwell on.

“Finally, brethren, 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” (Philippians 4:8).

The phrase, “think on these things” means to “dwell on” or “to meditate.” Whatever you dwell or meditate on, you will eventually see internally. That will become your focus. Whatever you see or imagine in your heart is what you will have or what you will become. Ten of the men Moses sent into the Promised Land to spy out the land, along with the majority of the children of Israel who believed their evil report, saw themselves as grasshoppers in their own eyes. Two of the twelve spies, Joshua and Caleb, saw themselves as being well able to possess the land because they were focused on the Lord and His promise to them (Numbers 13:25-33).

The ten spies and all the adults over forty years of age who believed their evil report died in the wilderness without possessing their promised land of inheritance. Joshua and Caleb possessed their promised land! Paul told us the kind of thoughts and things to meditate, focus, and dwell upon.

My question to you is, “Where is your focus?” Whatever you are dwelling on you will see or imagine in your heart. And what you see you will eventually say. And what you say and believe you will eventually have! (Mark 11:23).

“…and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way” (Numbers 21:4).

In this passage of scripture, God’s people were discouraged because of wrong focus. They were looking at the way, the path, and the journey instead of what God had spoken to them. They allowed the circumstances of their journey to distort their attitude as they took their eyes off God and put them on the path they were traveling.

The first three verses of this chapter describe how God had just delivered them from the hand of their enemies, freed some of them who had been taken prisoner, and gave them a great victory in battle. Yet in the very next verse it is obvious by their attitude they had forgotten the miracle the Lord had very recently accomplished for them. Why was that the case? Their focus was on the way instead of the Maker of the way!

You cannot afford to allow the barometer of your soul to rise and fall based on the condition of the way. There may be financial obstacles in your path. Perhaps you are dealing with a rebellious child or a carnal mate. Challenges in your job or symptoms of sickness and pain in your body may be vying for your focus. Whatever the condition of the way may be in your life, you cannot afford to make that your focus. Is it true (in line with the truth of God’s Word), honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy? If it is not any of those things, then stop meditating on it! You must change your focus from the condition of the way to the Maker of the way if you want your soul to prosper.

In this story from Numbers chapter 21, the children of Israel failed to do that. They got their eyes off God, forgot the miracles He had done for them, and focused on the problems and challenges in their journey. This led them into a downward spiral of discouragement, murmuring, complaining, rebellion, and unbelief. Their souls were not prospering.

The result was their health being jeopardized. Fiery serpents bit the people and many of them died. Moses’ remedy for the situation was to pray for them. Then he heard the following words from the Lord:

“And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live” (Numbers 21:7-8).

God said everyone who looked on the fiery serpent on the pole would live. The Hebrew definition of the word, “look” in this verse means “to behold, inspect, perceive, and consider.” All who looked, beheld, inspected, and made this serpent on the pole (who was a type and shadow of Jesus) their focus lived.

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” ( John 3:14).

All these who looked at the type and shadow were healed. How much more will those who look and set their focus on the reality, Jesus and the finished work of the cross, be healed today!

When His finished work at Calvary becomes your primary focus, rather than the present condition of your body, healing will flow unhindered from your spirit through your soul to your physical body.

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

A primary application of this verse in Proverbs chapter 4 is to be diligent to keep the focus of your soul in the right place. Then the resurrection life and healing power that resides in your spirit will flow unhindered to impact your body with health and freedom from sickness and pain. That is what happened to the children of Israel in the wilderness in this story in Numbers 21. It will happen for you, too, as you magnify the Lord and make the finished work of the cross your primary focus.

When your focus changes from the condition of the way to the Maker of the way, healing and health are inevitable. Your soul will prosper and you will walk in health and prosperity!

Adapted from Greg Mohr’s book, A Prosperous Soul.