Focusing On Jesus

""Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"" (Heb. 12:1-2, emphasis added).

No one can successfully run a race without focusing on a goal, for they will be too shortsighted to complete the training and work necessary to reach an unfocused goal. Living with Jesus is our goal, and focusing on Him will help us to endure whatever this life has to attack us. With heaven as our aim, we can withstand Satan's fiery darts, knowing that a life with Jesus is far better than all the pleasures Satan and sin can offer us. With our eyes focused on Jesus, we can overcome even our own lusts, realizing that our goal is not immediate pleasure but long-term joy in a life with our Creator.

But Jesus is far more than just our goal, for He is also the help we need to reach that goal. Focusing on Jesus will cause us to grow in faith and to have the strength to live for Him when the ""going gets rough."" It will also give us the wisdom to turn to Him when we need real help to survive the battle for our souls (Heb. 4:14-16).

In this issue, we are concerned with focusing on Jesus. How do we do it? When can we do it? What steps do we take to make sure that our focus is on Jesus?

We offer, in these articles, Bible truths about what it means to truly focus on Jesus, recognizing Him as our Lord and King, but also as our help in time of need. We look at the necessity of understanding He is real, and omnipresent in our lives.

It will do you no good to simply read these articles, other than gaining a cursory understanding of who Jesus is. What is necessary here is to make careful, studied self-examination, each of us determining where our own, individual focus may be. Practically everyone who reads this paper would affirm that heaven is their goal, but are we really striving to get there? That is what these articles are designed to make us think about.

It is our hope that in this issue you will find important, faith-building helps, so that you might be better armed in the war against Satan. Be assured, that war is an individual one. Christ will win, but that will be of no help to the one who fails to live for Christ, with Him as their focus and guide. Turn to the scriptures, study with us, as we strive to make Christ the focus in all that we say and do.