FOCUS ON THE GOAL!
Looking at an event that happened 62 years ago along the California coast which was shrouded in fog, on the
Fourth of July.
Twenty-one miles to the west on Catalina Island, a 34-year-oid woman waded into the water and began
swimming toward the California coast line, determined to be the first woman to do so. Her name was Florence
Chadwick. She had already been the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions.
The water was numbing cold that July morning and the fog was so thick she could hardly see the boats that
were in her own party. The news reported millions were listening on the radio and watching on national television.
They also said several times sharks had gotten too close to her, so they had to be driven away with rifles shots, to
protect her lone figure in the water. As the hours ticked off she swam on. Fatigue had never been her big problem
in these challenging swims, it was the bone-chilling cold of the water.
More than fifteen hours later, numbed with the cold, she asked to be taken out, because she just could not go
on. Her mother and her trainer along side in a boat urged her not to quit because they felt they were near land. But
when she looked toward the California coast, all she could see was the dense fog. A few minutes later at fifteen hours
and fifty-five minutes she was taken out of the water.
It was not until hours later, when her body began to thaw, that she felt the shock of failure. To a reporter she
blurted out, "look I'm not excusing myself, but if I could have seen land, I might have made it." She was pulled out
of the water a half mile away from the California coast — that was her goal!
Later she was to reflect that she had been defeated, not by fatigue or even the cold but the fog alone had
overcame her, because it obscured her goal. It had blinded her thinking, her eyes, and her heart. It was the only time
Florence Chadwick had ever quit her challenging goal. Two months later she swam that same channel, and again fog
obscured her view, but this time she swam with her faith intact.
Somewhere in her minds eye concealed behind that fog was land. In her minds-eye, vision and endurance
brought her to accomplish her goal. Not only was she the first woman to swim the Catalina channel, but she beat the
men's record by some two hours.
Giving thought to that story, do we see in our minds eye God's eternal promised Kingdom He has assures us
of receiving? Another question? Do we honestly see God and His active kingdom here on earth?
We have heard many times what is said in the Proverbs, "With out vision the people will parish"(Pro 29:18).
Missouri is known to be “the show me state.” And God's word is the show me truth. In a recent news article called,
"The truth about the Historical Jesus" was a question. Did a man called Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk the earth? The
article went on to discuss whether the figure known as the historical Jesus actually existed? That statement should
tell us, that that person has not yet been called nor has been given God's Holy Spirit. If he had, he would believe John
1:14, that reveals to us, " And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." People in history saw Jesus Christ, but it didn't change
their perspective. His own race of people, the Jews saw Him, and that did not change them, nor did they receive Him.
How many lives were changed in the 3 1/2 years of Jesus Christ ministry, with all of it's miracles, all the
healing's, the loaves of bread multiplied, the water made into wine, and the dead raised to life? Seeing is not always
believing! Seeing is not believing in the biblical sense unless God calls you and opens your mind to see and
understand.
In the book of John, we find the people saw Jesus the Christ as a foe, and their anger prohibited them from
seeing. "After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for He would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill
Him. For neither did His brothers believe in Him" (John 7:1,5). His brothers couldn't really see Him in spite of all
the miracles they witnessed seeing Him perform, their vision remained foggy, just as Florence Chadwick’s vision did.
We are told, that “faith comes by hearing.”(Rom.10:17). In the world just ahead people will hear, millions
hear now, but don't respond, because they are not called. John 7:12 speaks of, all the gossip about Him cause mixed
thoughts. Verse 20. People said, “You have a demon,” it's pretty clear what the Jews attitude was, they hated Him.
The trouble with the Jews was: that they judged things according to the outward appearance and not
according to the inward appearance. All of us have a reservoir of traditional thinking through which we filter what
we read and hear. So the question still remains, do we focus on seeing God? "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise
being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel
preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that
heard it"(Heb 4:1-2). Some of these people had been in the church 20-30 - 40 or more years, and drifted away from
it.
When reading about those original families going to the promised land only two families made it, before the
door of opportunity closed. They had seen all the miracles, Red Sea crossing, water coming out of rock, the plagues,
and God's protection, and still only two families made it. Again ask yourself? Do I see God involved in everything?
Church, family, job, etc.? Or has God just become convenient to me?
God did not give them a spirit to help them see, but He give us His Holy Spirit to see. When God gave you
freedom from Satan and Satan's thinking, He broke Satan's grip on our mind! For the first time we have been given
the opportunity to make right decisions.
It is our time to do things in responding to God in the right way, not in the way David describes in Psalms
14:1, "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, there is
none that does good." Let's hope none of us are this blind. But knowing human nature, seeing and hearing it in action
we know it is possible. The fool's problem is not with his brain, but with his heart. A fool is capable of grasping the
things of God, but there is no real fear or reverence for God and the things of God. What this results in is nothing less
than "Down to earth atheism. A fool will readily admit that God is creator, but he lives his life as though God is not
around. God says that person is a fool and he in reality saying in his heart "there is no God." That's sobering because
any one of us can fall into that use of the word.
Do we focus on God in His activities? Do we see God in His work? In the manifestation that Jesus spoke of
? "This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent"(John 6:29).
I ask again, do we clearly see God in His work? And do we see God in the physical creation? Romans 1:20,
tells us very clearly that God's very power authority and His Deity is shown by His creation. All of this is nothing
more than a type to help us understand, that by the physical works we can identify with God and know that He is at
work, within His spiritual creation as well. All who have been called goes through this educational process. It is
designed to help us to focus on what is important and what is of lesser value. To know what is reality and what is
vanity.
We, you and I, are responsible for admitting that evidence into our minds and humbly submitting to it or
rejecting it. The Corinthians were unskilled in godly matters, so it was necessary for Paul to instruct them in the
basics of the gospel. "However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature [fully grown], yet not the wisdom
of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages. For our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for
had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Cor 2:6-7). If mankind had seen Christ, if they
had clearly identified with Him, the history of the world would be exceedingly different. But they did not see because,
as Paul writes here, they were not mature [not fully developed], in the context meaning fully "converted."
There is a contrast between those who are able to focus and see and those who are not able to. Those who are
able to see God are in this context of, those who are maturing. This is the way it has always been with God's servants.
There are those who see and focus on God's work and there are those who do not see, nor understand God's instruction
book. "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the
spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, But in the power of God. But we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory" (1
Cor 2:4-5,7).
Paul testifies here, this "mystery" is not a puzzle that is difficult to solve.
The mystery is a New Testament truth not
previously revealed, but now made known to His called apostles and prophets of the early church age. The world not
yet called, does not understand. It accepts its own thinking and rejects the truths of God. Focusing and seeing God
is absolutely necessary! Paul says, "But as it is written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him" (1 Cor. 2:9).
The general idea in much of the world is that the things of God are too great for you and me to comprehend.
We really don't get it because we can't see. But, actually, it is so simple, to those whose eyes are open that a
youngster can understand.
Getting back to the carnal mind again, the natural minds are so blinded by traditions and habits of thinking
that we have a very powerful tendency to reject the things of God even though God has called and converted us. The
world is able to perceive bits and pieces of truth but they aren't able to put the whole thing together and focus on and
see the glory of God in its whole.
To see God's part in the life of a man that's absolutely necessary! And to see that the spiritual needed is the
missing dimension in a person's life. If it is seen and if it is understood then life begins to make sense. We begin to
be able to see for ourselves the awesome plan and purpose that God is working out, then being able to see God giving
spiritual direction to our life. "So your eye has seen and your ear has heard, and it has entered into your heart "the
things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them unto us by His spirit: For the
spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God.. For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man
which is in him? Even so the things of God knows no man, but the spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit
of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (1 Cor
2: 9,11-12).
These verses prove that we are predisposed by God's calling to see Him. Not only to know His truth, but to
know who His servants are as well. What we know is a great source of comfort, security, hope and direction.
We need always see things from God's perspective! Paul cintinues to say in verses 13-15, "Which things also
we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches; comparing spiritual things
with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him:
Nither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judges all things, yet he
himself is judged of no man."
True wisdom, is the result of human reason coupled with revelation. But even true wisdom will result only
if a person believes what God says. Then, you see, the person has the opportunity to focus on seeing God and it is
hidden from those who put their faith in human wisdom. In the context of verses 13-15, does not mean "evil." It
simply refers to a person whose bounded by the things of every day life. Such a person is not equipped to discern the
activities of God. But a person with the Holy Spirit of God can examine that area and scrutinize so as to judge
righteousness from unrighteousness. Therefore, you see in judgment God comes into the picture. And, when the spirit
of God comes into a person's life, the basis of his judgment should change. It's not because the person is any greater
or better, but because the spirit of God equips that person to see and to use the wisdom of God, because now he can
judge all things from God's perspective. That's our responsibility! Brethren, we've been given this calling, we
should focus on God so clearly and know His greatness so intimately that we can live in the expectation that
something great can happen at any moment to those who are receptive. Our God who raised up Jesus the Christ, are
equal to any occasion or any possibility! There is not anything that is too great for Him? He throws that challenge
out to man, that is, those who see Him. For example, Shadrach, Meshach, and bed-nego. A story in Daniel that you
are familiar with. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, were three Jewish companions of Daniel, that were taken
captive, to the land of Babylon, where they were educated and used by the Babylonian government.
King nebuchadnezzar, in his vanity, made a golden image to his god. He erected it out in the plain of Dura.
Then he commanded that everybody was to bow down to it when hearing the sound of the music and horns blast,
everyone was to prostrate themselves before king Nebuchadnezzar's golden image. Everybody did except for Daniel,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. They must have stood out like a sore thumb! Everybody was down on their
knees or down on their belly, groveling in the dirt. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed - nego remained standing, knowing
they were going to be facing a penalty. Its possible Nebuchadnezzar did not see them standing, but there were plenty
witnesses that came to him and testified of what they had done—or not done. So Nebuchadnezzar ordered the
command to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- nego, saying in his mind, let's see how brave and courageous you are
when you have to do it right before me, with a roaring fire going in their sight. not choose to do that, their mind was
made up their still not going to bow down to the kings golden image."
Evaluating this story, Why don't we see more miracles occur to us? Maybe because we spend so little time
fellow-shipping with God. As a result of that we are overwhelmed by the physical, and not focusing on the spiritual,
which is a vitally important part of our lives.
Now, a question? In spite of all the evidence that (Nebuchadnezzar, his guards and the accusers saw, along
with watching the noisy thundering fire), did these three men see God? Yes, they saw God! Though not with their
physical eyes, but with their spiritual eyes. Read Daniel 3: where Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego refuse to
worship the king "Now if ye be ready that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery,
and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if you
worship not, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall
deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king,
0 Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter [no need to answer you].” It's clear
they were not going into any long, detailed explanation. Dan 3: verses 17 thru 19 reads, "If it be so, our God whom
we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand,O King. But
if not, be it known unto you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have
set up. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abed-nego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it
was usually heated.”
These three companions of Daniel looked at the hot furnace but they had faith and they saw God and believed
His promises. God is the God who is always the same."There has no temptation taken you but such as is common
to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation
also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it"(1 Corinthians 10:13). This applied to them just as it
applies to you and me. God knew what they were able to endure and they knew that He would provide a "way of
escape. "And if He does There are so many example in the Bible, God's word, of people who saw God, in
seemingly impossible situations, just like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Their faith in seeing God in
their life should be the same with us. Each one of us who has been called are to include God in his thinking, and his
perspective. We are to see and focus on Him in every aspect of life. Then, through out our life, from the time God's
called us until the end. We are slowly but surely building in strength, in confidence and in faith in God.
We are to focus and see Him in everything! We need to see God like David did! Out of all the fighting men,
he only saw God. Everybody else saw the Philistine army and Goliath. Did that kind of faith, that kind of sight or
vision come because David spent long hours out with the sheep, meditating on the creation of God, seeing God's
power, His very Godhead in it? Or did it come about as the result of David knowing the scriptures and knowing what
had happened in former times, knowing that God had been working with the people of Israel, knowing that God had
demonstrated His interest, His concern, and His purpose for Israel? David believed all those things, and when push
came to shove, David saw God!
Notice now the book of Job where he has his eyes opened and he said, "Now my eye sees You." "Then Job
answered the Lord, and said, I know that You can do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from You.
Who is he that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful
for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech you, and I will speak: I will demand of You, and declare You unto me.
I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye sees You. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in
dust and ashes" (Job 42:1-6).
This is the conclusion, the climax, of this long and detailed story. Now Job can focus and see God from the
context, properly. Focusing on God involves getting "the self' out of the way! As long as the self was in his line of
vision, Job judged God from his own perspective.
We focus on what we want to see. We see what we are educated to see. So Job saw his own wisdom, his own
works, before he could see God in His greatness. This is because the carnal mind is trained to see and focus only on
the self. It takes determination and it takes discipline in study, prayer and meditation. We have to understand that our
vision of God still has to be constantly replenished, day by day, and upgraded, exercised, in God's truth.
Remembering, that God's counsel stands! We find that said in Isaiah 46: 8-10, "Remember this, and show yourselves
men; recall to mind, O you transgressors, remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I
am God, and there is none like Me. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from Ancient times things that are not
yet done, saying, "My Counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure." What we have in these three verses is a
general principle in which God challenges us to consider, to compare, all of the material idols, which are so easily
seen, by Him.
Remember is a very important word to a true, spiritual Christian. Remember that God's counsel stands. When
He says something, it is so, it happens. God gives plenty of evidence to demonstrate that He can be trusted. Being
able to focus and see God is the result of seeing the evidence by which God demonstrated both Himself and His
purpose in "the former things." Remember, Isaiah 46: 9 said, "remember the former things." That's what David did.
That's what Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego did. They remembered "The former things."
God demonstrated Himself in "the former things," not only Himself, but also His purpose. We must
remember obedience to God's counsel in the present and seeing from one's own experience of life, focusing does truly
stand and then, one can see God in His creation! ☜
James Russell