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A lot of what we accomplish in life depends upon our focus…

The story is told of the golfer Arnold Palmer, who, in the 1961 Master’s finals was approached by a friend and congratulated on his victory a few shots prior to his finish. Palmer is on record as saying that in that moment he lost his focus and he ended up losing by a point. It happens time and again; there is the football player who looks toward the goal line and drops the ball; the ice skater who falls and simply can’t recover to conclude the performance; the politician who misspeaks and ruins his political career all for a lack of focus.

Out of all of the kings of Israel, David was arguably the greatest; he had his problems, but he always ultimately sought to put his trust in the Lord. Nevertheless, because David was a man of war, his greatest desire, to build the Lord a house, could not be accomplished by him. David, however, purposed to do all that he could toward the construction of the temple prior to his death. He made agreements with nations for materials; he collected materials; he assembled workers. Before his death, David commanded the princes of Israel to help Solomon build the temple (1 Chronicles 22:17). He exhorted them, “Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD” (1 Chronicles 22:19). Do we see the focus in the words, “Set your heart and soul to seek the Lord your God”? Because they focused upon seeking God, they were able to accomplish the task at hand.

Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the following lyrics in 1928:

Give me some men who are Stouthearted Men
Who will fight for the right they adore.

Start me with ten, who are Stouthearted Men
And I’ll soon give you ten thousand more, Oh!

Shoulder to shoulder and bolder and bolder
They grow as they go to the fore!

Then there’s nothing in the world can halt or mar a plan,
When Stouthearted Men can stick together man to man!

Where is our focus? Is it upon God or upon the world? John wrote, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him” (1 John 5:14-15). It is so often the case that we don’t accomplish the things that we desire to accomplish because we have not adequately focused upon God and His word in our lives. However, intensifying our focus upon God will bring us further along than any other thing.

So, do we find ourselves at our wits end because of the countless tasks that are before us? Focus on God. Do we fail to get anything accomplished due to the many distractions that come our way in life? Focus on God. Do we have godly goals and aspirations that we seek to accomplish? Focus on God. Whatever our situation is, we can improve it by focusing upon God and refocusing our life upon His priorities. Kevin Cauley

“GOD LOVES YOU AND I LOVE YOU AND THAT’S THE WAY IT’S GONNA BE!” – MIKE

THE SKIES WERE clear. It was just another quiet Sunday morning on Oahu.  Most businesses were closed because it was the first day of the week, and local folks were preparing to attend on as well as off-base worship assemblies…

The Japanese were aware of all of this—because they had been receiving intelligence reports from an insider living in the Hawaiian Islands.  They therefore crafted a plan to strike Pearl Harbor on that particular day, Sunday December 7^th, 1941—when they knew that the US Naval Base would be understaffed, largely undefended and vulnerable to attack.

At around 8 a.m. swarms of Japanese fighter planes descended on the base wreaking havoc upon civilian and military personnel, as well as military targets.  Minutes later, one aircraft dropped an 1,800-pound bomb on the deck of the battleship Arizona.  The explosive smashed through the ship and landed in her forward ammunition magazine.  The detonation sank the craft and trapped more than 1,000 sailors and marines inside.

In a little less than two hours, the Japanese had either destroyed or damaged twenty ships and three hundred aircraft.  They had decimated harbor dry docks and airfields around Ford Island.  Worst of all, they had mercilessly killed 2,403 Americans in their surprise assault.

December 7^th may seem like just another day on your calendar, but to many American citizens, that day—79 years ago this week—is almost sacred.  It was the day our nation lost her innocence; it was the day our nation found her outrage.  It was the day our nation lost many of her sons and daughters; it was the day our nation found her moral resolve.

I’ve never been to Hawaii, and I’ve therefore obviously never been to the USS Arizona Memorial, but I can go back in my mind’s eye and remember that awful occasion—at least through historical archives.  I can read books (and I do), I can watch documentaries and true-to-life movies, and I can listen to the voices of those who actually survived and lived through that Sunday—and I can not only remember, but I can honor the memory those who perished and sacrificed themselves for our union.

Each Lord’s Day, each Sunday—I also go back in my memory of the Word (cf. 1 Cor. 11:23ff) to a far more terrible (and yet wonderful) tragedy.  I remember the murderous plot against the Son of God (Mat. 26:3-4), and then reflect upon how my sins had a part in putting Him under the scourge and on the cross.  I remember my Lord’s internal struggle as He pondered His impending death (Mat. 26:37ff) and grieve my part in that crimson episode.  I remember His disciple’s cowardice and how they fled for their lives when He needed them the most (Mat. 26:56) and then I think about how I’ve deserted Him too—when I should have stayed and stood up with Him.  I remember the voices of the angry mob as it called for Jesus’ death—and I realize that my voice could be heard in that cacophony too (Mark 15:13-14). 

Sunday, December 7^th, 1941 was certainly “a date in infamy,” and as an American citizen, I must not forget those whose blood stained the shores back at Pearl nearly eighty-years-ago.  But every Sunday—every Lord’s Day (Rev. 1:10; cf. 1 Cor. 11, 16), I must also not forget my attacks on the sinless life of the precious Son of God (Acts 2:22), and how that He, nearly two thousand years ago, rose from the grave on that Sunday never to die again (Mat. 28:1; Mk. 16:1-2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). 

THAT Sunday—I can never forget.

“God loves you and I love you and that’s the way it’s gonna be!” – Mike