Attitude of Ministry, Part 3: Focus

Bill Blackwell

We've had an awesome time sharing this study. Just to be here and see the blessings of God touching people's hearts has been an awesome thing.

The first week, we introduced the subject topic:

• Having an attitude of ministry helps us make the right choices.
• In the story of the Hebrew children, the focus was on God, not on them.

In the second week, we learned about perspective:

• Perspective can change in an instant.
• God's ways are higher than our ways; his thoughts than our thoughts.

One of the most amazing things to me is that we get to choose. Remember the video about the sparrow? What an instant shift in the son, sitting on the bench with his father, after reading his father's memoirs of his son asking twenty-one times "What is that?" But (as an adult) the son got upset after only three times. The father said, "I answered you patiently, every single time, and gave you a hug."

I heard this in a message from Pastor Paine. He told of a father with his four children on a city bus. He was seated in his row and obviously preoccupied. The kids were out of control, up and down and in different seats. Finally another passenger said to the father, "Sir, you've got to do something to get your kids under control." The man shook himself out of his daze and said, "Please forgive me. I sincerely apologize. We just came from the hospital; we were in a car accident, and the children's mother passed away." So now this gentleman who had expressed his displeasure had an instant shift in perspective.

Tonight, we're going to talk about focus.

Focus

Again, we're talking about choice. There is something special tonight, if you decide to receive it.

Jonathan Santiago

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

We're talking about focus. We can have an attitude; attitude is something that comes with time. As seasoned Christians, we grow into attitude; we grow into charity. Perspective is something that can change in an instant. But if we don't have the right focus, we won't see what God has for us.

We're going to talk about some specific things that God has asked us to focus on.

I want to revisit the three stories we've covered so far:

Caleb And The Scouts

Joshua and Caleb had a good attitude, but where did they get it?

Read Exodus 3:8 and Exodus 15:3-5

God told the Children of Israel they would inherit the land, but he didn't tell them how it would happen. Caleb said, "Let us go up at once and possess it," because he was focused on the promise of God. If he had focused on the giants, he may have rathered to stay in Egypt making bricks.

David and Ziglag

We know that David had a good attitude. Read 1 Samuel 30:8

Put yourself in David's shoes. You have an army at your disposal; you know that everything of value is over there, and you have an opportunity to overtake them. Would you just take your army and go? But David stopped to ask God, "What shall I do?" Say you won a five thousand dollar check in the mail tomorrow. All of us have things we would do immediately if that happened. But how many of us would have the focus to inquire of God what he wants for us to do?

Within the umbrella of attitude, there is something we should focus on immediately.

Three Hebrew Children

At this time, the three children were at the place that was the center of power in the earth at that time. The king of Babylon would take only the best Israelites, the ones with good minds, at a young age. You've heard the phrase "you can't teach an old dog new tricks." He wanted to get them young so he could mold their minds. He made them speak Chaldean instead of their original tongue. Then he made them change their names. He gave them names having to do with the pagan gods of the Babylonians.

I can guarantee you that where they were, the atmosphere was more comfortable than anything they could have in Israel. But they were subject to the prince of the eunuchs. They were living a lifestyle that was unnatural -- they were there to be brainwashed into doing whatever the king wanted. He was trying to change their thoughts, their perspective, their attitude. They had to constantly do something to keep that from happening. How were they able to stand and answer the king without hesitation? They had to focus on something on a daily basis. They fasted from the king's meat. We need to be focused on something, just as they were.

As you watch this video, think of the Hebrew children. We can't use our surroundings and environment as an excuse to break the law of God.

(Video clip from a movie: shows a POW making an American flag from scrap material, and all the prisoners saluting it.)

What morals can we derive from that video?

• The seriousness of their love for their country is like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's love for God.
• The focus on the video was the guy was focused on making the flag, regardless of what tools he had. Even when the one guy took it, he started over again.
• David in Ziglag put all emotion aside because he knew God was in control.
• Like Pastor Paine does the thumb thing. You can still see your thumb, but you focus on the distance and it kind-of fades out.

Let's say a country disregards the Geneva Convention. Do they treat the officer POW's differently?

• They try to demoralize them so that junior people can see that example.
• They want to get information out of them.

They can reprogram their minds. If they get them to focus on something other than their country and their mission, then they win.

This guy focused on making the flag, and then once he did, they had something to focus on.

There are certain things that God gives as Christians to help us maintain our focus:

• Leadership
• The Holy Spirit
• His Word

How do we know what our purpose is?

Activity: there's always something we can do for God.

Last week we talked about God calling us to be that "spiritual punching-bag." When somebody is falsely accusing you of something, sometimes we just need to endure. When Paul was blinded, did Jesus immediately tell him his life's plan? No, he just said "Go and see this guy and he will tell you what to do." If you follow Paul's life, it's a story of being told, step by step, what to do next. He didn't always have the big picture.

Read Ephesians 4:11-16

God gives us plans, but he doesn't always give the whole plan to everybody.

People with purpose

God told the apostles that. What happened next?

So it tells them to teach and baptize. Then in Acts 1, I forgot to mention, it told them to tarry and wait for the Holy Ghost. They tarried, and then people came to them, they spoke to them about Jesus, and wham! Three thousand souls were added to them. Jesus didn't say, "Go out and do whatever random thing you want to in my name." He had specific things for them to do.

Examples of people losing their focus

This good prophet was sent to prophesy against Israel. At this time, Jeroboam was doing bad things. They set up high things and weren't worshiping in the temple. The prophet did his job, and was on his way back. As he explained to the king, God had told him to go straight back, and not tarry to eat or drink.

So the second prophet lied to the first one.

How awkward of a meal do you think that was? This guy was well-intentioned, I think. But as I read this story, I thought this thing was kind-of out-of-balance. But this guy had lost his focus on what God had told him to do.

We may meet people who have good intentions, and try to lead us in a different way than we've been taught.

People with a good attitude about ministry, but not of ministry.

Read Acts 19:11-17

This is the story about the vagabond Jews. What happened? Jesus wasn't emanating from them. They had an attude about the power of Jesus, but it didn't work out for them, and they got overcome by the demon.

Read 2 Samuel 6:1-7

This is when they were bringing the ark back. They were excited, because the ark has power. But something that they were doing was not right. What was it?

• They weren't moving the ark in the prescribed manner. They only ones who were supposed to move the ark were the Levites specifically chosen for the task. But they weren't moving the ark by Levites; they were moving it by oxen.

So someone ended up touching the ark who wasn't supposed to, and it didn't turn out good for him.

So we need to be focused on something. We need to bear fruit.

God calls us to specific aspects of the ministry. If you're a foot, you should be walking. You shouldn't be trying to see and smell. God may change that sometime, but for now, God has given us something specific to focus on.

Values

Integrity

Sound Doctrine

Harmony

Culture

Commitment

Service

Caring

Mission

Evangelize

Educate

Equip

The biggest things that I personally got out of this study was:

• God is the perfect father.

He knows exactly what we need. That visually helps me many times when my attitude just stinks.

• Perspective

God has the whole world in his hands. Everything I touch; everything that physically happens to me, I know God is in control.

I hope you got something out of this study. When your attitude is at that breaking point, it will help you overcome and excel.