FOCUS ON THE ETERNAL, NOT THE TEMPORARY

FOCUS ON THE ETERNAL, NOT THE TEMPORARY

In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him. —Proverbs 21:1

There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.  —Proverbs 21:30

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. —II Corinthians 4:18

            Where is our focus— on that which is seen or that which is unseen— on that which is temporary or that which is eternal.  Let us focus on those things that are eternal.  Yes, we live in this world, which is temporary— being in it but not of it (John 17:16).  There can be such a focus on the seen and temporal that we can be distracted from that which is unseen and eternal.  Let us focus on the eternal as we live in the temporal.

            Our Lord God Almighty’s plan will go forward.  “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.”  No king or power can stand against Him.  Indeed, it is our Lord who guides the king’s heart as He desires.  Of king Cyrus of Persia our Lord said through Isaiah— “For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me” (Isaiah 45:4).   And what did our Lord do, which He said He would do hundreds of years before He did?  This is what He did—

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’” —Ezra 1:1-4

            Again, no king or power can thwart His plans and purposes.  No indeed, instead, they are part of His purposes of which much is unseen to us.  Brothers and sisters, fellow followers of Jesus— “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).  “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).  Let us be lovingly obedient to do what we know.  Yes, Dear Father, may we be faithful to what You say by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Son Jesus.  Please let me/us not get distracted by the temporary, but focus on the eternal.  So may it be… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2KB-7QzE9s