Where is your focus? On yourself or God?

Having recently celebrated the beginning of a new year and a new decade, fresh on my mind are goals and habits.  Something that has been helpful to me is to have larger goals for the year; and smaller focal points twice a month, that I track as habits throughout the week.  

My number one goal for the last two years is to spend my first waking hours meeting with Jesus. It has become a habit at this point; when after breakfast, I head out to my sun porch.

Darilynn Keith in her article, :5 ways to Shift Your Focus in 2020″ supports this by writing:

Carve out time for Him. The only way to really know Jesus (or anyone, for that matter) is to spend time with Him. Talk to Him. Listen to Him. Read His Word. This is crucial to having a relationship with Jesus. Because it’s so important the enemy will work doubly hard to keep us from it. Don’t let him. Time with God will look differently for everyone, but it has to include two things: praying and reading His Word. If it doesn’t, you might as well call it self-reflection. You will never know what God’s plans are for you if you don’t leave room to hear from Him. Spend time with Jesus daily. Let Him dictate how you go about your day instead of telling Him your plans.

Because it is easy to make new year’s resolutions and give up on them when faced with failure, Darilynn cautions:

Real lasting change only happens from the inside out, and that’s the work of Jesus. The change comes when we realize that our puny efforts to change aren’t enough unless they are coupled with the power of an Almighty God. As we focus more on Him, He works in us to bring out the person He so carefully created us to be. Ephesians 2:10 reads, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do” (CSB). What if, instead of focusing so much on ourselves trying to be better people, in 2020, we poured all our efforts into getting to know the Creator who holds the blueprints of our lives in His hands?

Last year my husband and I participated in Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God study and found it very helpful in keeping our focus on God.  

In her last way to shift our focus, Darilynn concludes:

Take advantage of everyday moments to glorify God. These moments come more often than you probably think, and we miss out more than you probably want to know. When you’re walking closely with Jesus, you become so much more aware of what God is doing around you. He puts us in situations every day where we have the opportunity to glorify Him. Stay alert. Be aware of your surroundings and ask Him how you can be a part of what He’s already doing. Henry Blackaby, in his Bible study, Experiencing God, says we should look out for where God is already working and join Him

To read her other 3 ways to shift our focus, read her full article here:

https://blog.lifeway.com/womenallaccess/2020/01/13/in-any-event-5-ways-to-shift-your-focus-in-2020/

Photo By Etolane