Jeremiah 12:1 – “Righteous are You, O Lord, that I would plead my case with You; Indeed, I would discuss matters of justice with You: Why has the way of the wicked prospered? Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, several life realities flooded my mind.

It is easy to fall into the pit of despair when we struggle and look around at those who are making no attempt to do right, have ease, and prosper. That involves a shift in focus from God to self.   Even Jeremiah fell prey to that trap.

(Jeremiah 12:1).  My paraphrase: “Hey God, what’s up with this? People are pursuing selfishness, living wickedly, and all is rosy. I’m serving you, and there is no end to my problems. WHY?”

God answered him in (v 5). “Son, you are focused wrong. If this (foot soldiers, little foxes, minor issues) is defeating you, how will you face the big stuff?”   The answer was: “Focus on God, not man. Don’t Compare and Despair!”

In Jeremiah 17:7-10, we have the same phraseology as Psalm 1. Those who focus on God and live faithfully, obedient lives anchored in God and His truth, flourish.  No matter what is happening around them and even to them, inside they are strong, confident, and provided for.  God is IN them, living through them, and His life produces the fruit of life!

Paul addressed that in 2 Thessalonians 3:10-15.   In (vv 10 & 13), we have declarations we make standalone but are inseparable in context.  Never reward laziness, and don’t let the pervasiveness of entitled, lazy living around you cause you to grow weary of doing what is right. Remember Psalm 1, Psalm 23, Psalm 91, and Jeremiah 17.

Hold the reality of Galatians 6:9 near as a reminder that the devil cannot win unless we quit. God won’t let go, especially if we don’t let go.

Focus is the key!  That’s why Paul frequently encouraged and commanded us to fill our consciousness with God!  What we fill our hearts and minds with defines who we become. Don’t Compare and Despair!

“Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way.”    Keep looking up; our help is coming from heaven!

Isaiah 57:2 – “He enters into peace; they rest in their beds, each one who walked in His upright way.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, God’s desire captured my thoughts.  We often focus directly or indirectly on our desires, not on God’s. But what about God’s desires?

Isaiah 56 begins with the expressed desire of God’s heart: “This is what the LORD says, Promote justice! Do what is right!”   Simple, clear, and concise, or is it?

In Isaiah 57:2, we encounter the picture of the person who pursues justice and does what is right. “Those who live uprightly enter a place of peace; they rest on their beds.”  Are turmoil, stress, and pressure the earmarks of your life?  Contemplate your focus!  Is it your desires or His that you are truly focused on?

In Isaiah 58, we have a rebuke and rejection of religious ritual and faux pious acts, and then a description of God’s desire!  God’s desire produces.

• Light and revelation (v 8).
• Answered prayers (v 9).
• Guidance (v 11).
• Overflowing Joy and great prosperity (v 14).
• Isaiah 59:1-2 shows the opposite of that if we allow sin to dominate.

In Isaiah 61:1-4, we see what we could call the Jesus anointing and its fruit.    Think about this: Jesus, although fully God, did all as fully man. He is our example (pattern).   Colossians 2:9-10 informs us that if we are (born again), we are filled with the fullness of Jesus.  That means that living IN us and THROUGH us is the Christ Life!

Because of the Cross, the Finished Work of Jesus – He lives in us and lives His life through us.   THEN, the desire of God is fulfilled in us, and we are able to follow the directive of Paul in Colossians 3.   We “put off” the things of flesh and “put on” the things of God, transforming us from being dominated by our desires to being consumed with His!

Let’s make it our desire to desire the desire of God! Christ IN you is your Hope of Glory! Christ THROUGH you is the Hope of the lost.

Lord, help our desire to be Your desire!

Isaiah 48:10 – “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the Furnace of Affliction.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was drawn to the Life of Christ and Life in Christ.  The totality of Jesus’ involvement and investment in us is almost impossible to fully grasp.   Most have Jesus as an accessory, not in totality.   

We add Jesus to our lives rather than Jesus being our lives.  We walk with Him rather than walk in Him.  We live as me, and Jesus rather than Jesus is me.   Christ IN us, Christ THROUGH us is the Christian life.  We try to live for God rather than having God live His life in and through us.

Total surrender is never achieved because we envision ourselves and Jesus as two separate entities.  We fail to grasp that we are cells in the Body of Christ, members of it.  To operate or live separately from Him, thinking that is living for Him, is to dethrone God and enthrone self.

Total surrender is to die to self.  It is to experience His life in our lives.  It is to be transformed.  That is interesting (transformed).  Made different.  Not modified but transformed into something else.  We seek to reform and modify our lives, thoughts, and behavior to be a bit more like Him. Transformation removes the self and replaces it with HIM!

Isaiah 48:10 makes a troubling declaration.  Troubling but wonderful if we can look through the momentary to the eternal.  “I have purified you in the furnace of misery.”  Couple that with Paul’s desire in Philippians 3:10, “My aim (goal or desire) is to know (become inseparably intimate with) Him, to experience the power of His Resurrection, to share in His sufferings, and to be like Him in His death, AND SO, somehow, to attain to the Resurrection from the dead.”

Total surrender.  Total transformation.  Total life!  When we truly see the Life of Christ and Life in Christ as being the same, we are FREE!   At that point, we become more than conquerors through Jesus.   We turn our world upside down for God and live FREE!  Until then, we struggle with two steps forward and one step back.

I surrender all.

2 Corinthians 8:11 – “But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also be the completion of it by your ability.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, I heard this simple directive – “Finish What You Start.” (2 Corinthians 8:11).  That caused me to remember the words of Paul in Galatians 6:9 – “Be not weary in well doing, for you will reap if you faint not.”   Simple but powerful life advice!

How we start has immeasurable value, and unless we start, we can’t finish, so the start is not unimportant.   I’ve heard people say, “How you start is not important, but how you finish.”   That is right, and it is wrong.   No start, no finish. 

We can’t become Christlike until we receive Jesus.   The key is FINISH.  Persevere!   Never quit!   The devil can’t win unless we quit.  

I think of Paul’s lament about the ‘Thorn in the flesh.’   God’s preemptive and preventative action helped Paul to persevere and learn His true source of strength.   He shifted his focus from the tool of the devil to God’s purpose.  He learned his true source of strength.   He learned that attacks do not indicate disfavor or defeat but open the door to a higher ledge upon which we can live!

In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, there are some life-saving and sustaining realities to help us persevere and FINISH!   Paul saw the War, the Weapons, the Warriors, and the Way!

If we focus on what we do not have, we will never live in what we do have!  If we focus on loss, we never see the gain.   In loss we learn provision and the power of contentment.   There is no price on inner peace!   Inner peace can only be realized when we yield everything to God, and no matter what, trust Him with determination to FINISH!

What is it that we are leaving UNFINISHED?    If anything, it’s time to repent and resume our focus and commitment!   Lord, make me a Finisher!   Help me remember that I am an overcomer, and overcomers are not overcome; they overcome!

Father, help us to be finishers, not just starters!