Last week, we started a new series which explores the meaning of our name, Revolution Church. You can take a look at part one here:
And now for Part 2: Acting with Focus. This sounds similar, but it's really a different thing.
Pastor Dan is really into time-wasters. Video games like Nintendo, Bejeweled, Tetris and Quake. He's also into projects, like building his own guitar pedal. He spent hours late at night working with the soldering iron, burning himself, making the pedal just right. He also likes to read. Pastor Dan can read a lot, for extended periods of time.
Now, these things are not necessarily time wasters per se, they can be useful. But Pastor Dan has a tendency to lose balance. He'll give up eating and sleeping in order to continue to work on the project, read the book or beat the game.
He doesn't see the forest for the trees. He gets so out of focus that he misses the goal – he focuses on one small part and misses the whole point.
How much of our lives are spent on purpose? How often are we living for a purpose? How often are we living on purpose instead of accidentally?
Last week we discussed some revolutionaries from history and how they changed the world. They didn't have superhero powers, but they had vision. They thought beyond tomorrow or next week. We looked at Isaiah 9:6-7. That verse basically says that he reason Christ came and died was to overthrow the government of the earth. Not the political one, but the government of sin and death inherited from Adam and Eve. That war is still in process today and we are all soldiers in it; God has called us to changed the world!
Just seeing the problem doesn't make you a revolutionary. It's a start, but it doesn't get you there. Being passionate about the problem doesn't get you there either. Even having vision doesn't make you a revolutionary. Revolutionaries become revolutionaries when they take action; when they fight. When you take action, you become a revolutionary. How much of your time is spent moving toward a goal? Do you do things for a reason? Do you think about why you are doing something; is there a point?
Look at 1 Corinthians 10:23-30. What's all that about? It's talking about not doing things mindlessly. There was an argument among Christians of the time over whether or not to eat meat sacrificed to idols. Paul was saying that no matter what you decide to do, do it with a goal and with purpose.
Sometimes that means changing your actions because your actions don't line up with your goal. If you want to be a professional athlete, sleeping til noon and eating a steady diet of Twinkies doesn't line up with that goal. It simply won't help you get there.
Whatever your goal is, make every action line up with it. Sometimes acting with purpose means changing your actions to line up with your goal. Most of us understand this principle. But sometimes it also means doing the same action, but with a new purpose. That is what the above scripture is about. Doing the same action but with a new purpose can change everything. It means knowing why you are taking action. Ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?” Take sleeping for instance. It's OK to have down time to relax and recharge – in fact it is needed sometimes. But taking a nap to escape from real life is not beneficial.
When you know why you are doing something, it gives it purpose and gives you focus in that action. Knowing why is huge.
Let's look at Gideon's life in Judges 6:-14 and 6:24-35. Gideon is sitting in the wine press thinking only about surviving the immediate future. He had a vision; he saw the need, but he wasn't doing anything about it at the time. Yet from the moment the angel left him, he had a purpose. Everything he did from that point was for the purpose of attacking the Midianites. He wasn't just wasting time, pulling down idols for no reason.
Your life becomes powerful when you focus it. Like light – when it's spread out over the whole room, it gives a nice soft illumination. When it is focused it is a powerful laser. Your life is the same!
So, you may be asking where to focus your life. Here are two questions to ask yourself to help you figure out what you should do:
1. What bothers you? Where do you see injustice and you can't let it go, you can't sleep at night. The injustice that upsets you is the injustice that you're supposed to do something about.
2. What can you be the best in the world at? What is the thing that you are better at than anything else? Because God made you passionate about that for a reason, he gifted you for a reason.
God has a plan and a goal for you. When you focus your life on that vision your life has power! When God's people act with focus mountains are moved, victories are won and kingdoms are established. The kingdom of darkness is defeated, God's kingdom is established on the earth.
Act with purpose! Have a purpose and a goal for your life, and let your actions line up with that goal!
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This is awesome!! Thanks!! Kristi S.
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