Beloved Brothers and Sisters
I heard someone say recently that the world is on the brink of World War III, but everyone seems more concerned with the mystery of a missing jet, and the president of the supposed most powerful country on earth is spending his time filling out his bracket for the NCAA tournament. The point was that it seems that everyone, including our president, is so distracted by the intrigue of a mystery or by base entertainment that they are missing the world shaping events taking place before their very eyes.
I don’t know if the recent actions by Russia, or the unrest with China, North Korea, and Iran will result in the kind of major military conflict that will be looked back on as a world war. I don’t know if anything real will come of the recent world political events. What I do know, however, is that this illustrates just how easily we have our vision and focus kept from what ultimately is more important, simply because other things entertain us or peak our curiosity.
Our vision, what our eye (figurative / spiritual) is focused on, sets the theme for how we see everything, how we think about everything, and how we act toward everything in our lives. Jesus had a lot to say about what the vision, the focus, of our lives ought to be. Take a look at Matthew 6:19-34:
Jesus admonished us to store up treasures where they will last. He warned us about the devastating effects of having divided vision (an unhealthy / bad eye). He told us that we cannot serve both God and wealth. We cannot pursue both the “American Dream” and the Kingdom of Heaven. We will love one and hate the other; we cannot love one and like the other; we cannot love one and be neutral to the other.
We cannot waste our lives obsessing over the things (especially the necessary ones) the world obsesses over. Jesus told us to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” He knows what we need; He cares about our need; He is able to meet our every need.
What is it that steals your vision from being solely on Christ and His Kingdom? Join me in repenting of divided vision, and pray that God would draw our eyes ever more fully on Him.
In Case You Missed It
This past Sunday we heard the third part (of three) of Maximizing the Glory of the Triune God and His People Through Suffering: Man (Heb 2:11-15), from our series walking through the book of Hebrews.
Remember that all of our sermons are available to stream or download online. If you have to miss a week, you do not need to fall behind in our study of the book of Hebrews.
Scripture Reading and Prayer
In order to promote unity of heart and mind among us, we are encouraging as many as are willing to join with us in reading through the entire Bible this year together, as well as devoting specific Scriptures to prayer each day. It is our prayer that as we meditate and pray over the same Scriptures each day, that God will work in our midst to bind us to one another, and to give us a common vision for the ministry here in Maynardville. Prayerfully consider joining with us in this endeavor, and we will see how God will work in our midst.
Our Scriptures to pray over this week are:
- Thur (3/20):Luk 17:5; Mk 9:24b
- Fri (3/21): Ps 51:1-11
- Sat (3/22): Lk 18:13
- Sun (3/23): Ps 66:18
- Mon (3/24): Rom 10:1; 2 Cor 10:3-5
- Tue (3/25): 1 Tim 1:1-2
- Wed (3/26): Jas 4:6
- Thur (3/27): Jn 17:1-25
Our Scripture reading schedule for the week is:
- Thur (3/20): Num 30:1-31:54; Lk 4:1-30; Ps 63:1-11; Pr 11:20-21
- Fri (3/21): Num 32:1-33:39; Lk 4:31-5:11; Ps 64:1-10; Pr 11:22
- Sat (3/22): Num 33:40-35:34; Lk 5:12-28; Ps 65:1-13; Pr 11:23
- Sun (3/23): Num 36:1-Deut 1:46; Lk 5:29-6:11; Ps 88:1-20; Pr 11:24-26
- Mon (3/24): Deut 2:1-3:29; Lk 6:12-38; Ps 67:1-7; Pr 11:27
- Tue (3/25): Deut 4:1-49; Lk 6:39-7:10; Ps 68:1-18; Pr 11:26
- Wed (3/26): Deut 5:1-6:25; Lk 7:11-35; Ps 68:19-35; Pr 11:29-31
- Thur (3/27) Deut 7:1-8:20; Lk 7:36-8:3; Ps 69:1-18; Pr 12:1
With Love and Affection in Christ,
Caleb
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