Focus--My Favorite 'F' Word by Jenna Vick Silliman

Worshiping the Lord with the people of God (with singing our hearts out and dancing and flagging) is one of my favorite things to do. However, I worship the Lord as a lifestyle, continually, 24/7/365 simply by focusing on Him. Focus has become my “modus operandi” or as I taught one Sunday morning “Focus is my favorite ‘F’ Word.”

When I awake in the morning I start the conversation and focus on God and say, “Good morning, Lord. I love You.” He is the lover of my soul, my Beloved Papa, and I love to spend my day with Him—close and personal. I delight in His presence and He delights in me. This is eternal life—to KNOW Him. (See John 17:3.)

I try to read at least two pages of the Word every morning. I meditate or think about it and ask the Lord to speak to me and “open my eyes and let me behold wondrous things from Your Word.” (See Psalm 119:18.)  He speaks to me from the Word all the time. “Let the Word dwell in you richly.” (See Col.3:16.)

I keep turning my thoughts and my attention to Him during my day. He helps me, guides me, gives me wisdom, and He encourages me as I go along. I listen for His voice throughout my day and even as I go to sleep. I know I may hear from Him in a spiritual dream.

“Let us boldly draw near to God’s throne of grace that we may find help in our time of need.” (See Hebrews 4:16.) I constantly turn my eyes, my heart, and my thoughts to the Lord Jesus and steadfastly fix them upon Him. The Lord wants to be our “first love”. Consecration and devotion to Him is His love language. He said to seek His kingdom first and He said to love Him with all we've got. Jesus tells us to abide in Him, live in Him, or stay with Him.

It isn’t hard because it is a relationship, not a religious duty. When you are in love, don’t you want to be with your lover? When a person gets the revelation of God’s love for them individually, and “taste and see that the Lord is good” through an encounter with Him and His awesome presence, it changes everything.

I wrote a song I like to sing to Him—it is like my own Psalm. Here it is.

Abiding in Jesus by Jenna Vick Silliman, Fall 2009.

Chorus        I will abide in You, abide in You,

For You are my strength and my song.

I will abide in You, abide in You,

Lord Jesus to You I belong.

Verse 1       I love You each day and this is what I pray,

Like Mary I sit at Your feet.

In Your Word I stay, You show me the way,

To dwell in Your Presence so sweet.

Chorus

Verse 2       It is You we long to know, You satisfy the soul.

                   You give us Your favor and grace

                   May Your Holy Spirit flow and Your bride begin to glow

                   Beholding the beauty of Your face.

                  

                   Chorus

Verse 3       As we walk in Your light, in Your love we unite.

                   We pour out our worship to You.

                   In Your life we delight, may our lives shine so bright,

                   A city on a hill in plain view.

I write lists of Bible verses in the back of my Bible on various topics that are important to me and I have one entitled FOCUS.  Here are 16 Scriptures on the topic of focusing on the Lord.

1.   Abide in Me. (See John 15:4.)
2.   Have the roots of your being firmly and deeply planted in Jesus, fixed and founded in Him…becoming more and more established in the faith and abounding and overflowing in it with Thanksgiving. (See Colossians 2:7.)

3.   If then you have been raised with Christ to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead, aim at and seek the rich eternal treasures that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds and keep them set on what is above, not on the things that are on the earth. (See Colossians 3:1, 2.)

4.   Looking to Jesus, I lay aside everything that hinders. (See Heb. 12:2.)

5.   Don't look to the things that are seen, but to the unseen, for things that are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (See 2Cor.4:18.)

6.  My eyes are ever toward the Lord. (See Psalm 25:15.)

7.  Our hope shall be fixed on Him. (See Heb. 2:13.)

8.  Stand firm in the Lord. (See Phil. 4:1.)

9.  He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable & fixed. (See Psalm 91:1.)
10. I've set the Lord continually before me. (See Psalm 16:8.)
11. The Lord God helps me...therefore I set my face like a flint. (See Isaiah 50:7.)

12. We have fixed our hope on the living God Who is our Savior and Deliverer.

(See 1Timothy 4:10.)
13. I continually behold Your face. (See Psalm 17:15.)

14. My heart is fixed, O Lord God, my heart is steadfast and confident in You. (See Psalm 57:7.)

15. Those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the spirit, the things of the spirit. 

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Holy Spirit is life and peace. (See Romans 8:5-6.)
16.  Be firm, steadfast, immovable. (See 1Cor. 15:58)

I just read the Foreword in the book I'm reading about John G. Lake, 
"What gave my grandfather John G. Lake his power? 
...The reward for his focus was the gift of healing he operated in so strongly." 

Isn't 'focus' the most wonderful ‘F’ word?

At Home in God by Jenna Vick Silliman

We can enjoy the presence of God continually in our hearts and in our homes. Jesus says, “Abide in Me.” Abide means to stay with, or to live or dwell with. He wants to make His home in our lives. He promises to never leave us—it is we who stray. As a child of God, I want to be with my Papa.

Noah walked habitually with God. (See Genesis 6:9 Amplified.) This is how God wants us to dwell/live with Him. This was His original purpose and His purpose today, right now for each one of us—to dwell in His awesome presence, to make our home with Him moment by moment.

God wants to dwell with us wherever we go—including our homes, our dwellings. God is a dwelling God. He desires to dwell with His people on earth.

When John saw his vision he “heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.” (See Revelation 21:3.)

Like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house…pleasing to God. (See 1Peter 2:5.)

The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing—to walk with God and talk with God as we go through our day. In the Old Covenant they built altars to burn a sacrifice to earn the right or to become worthy enough to enter God’s presence. In the new covenant we no longer offer a burnt sacrifices, for Jesus is the lamb that was slain that takes away the sins of us all. We now offer ourselves as a “living sacrifice” to God (See Romans 12:1). Each day we consecrate or devote ourselves and our family to live for God, which is our “reasonable service” to Him.

Jesus said, “Dwell in Me and I will dwell in you.” (See John 15:4.)

King David prayed, “O God, my soul finds shelter in You, yes, in the shadow of Your wings.” (See Psalm 57:1.)

When we live in unbroken fellowship with God, and enjoy His presence 24/7 everywhere we go, we are inseparable with Him and our whole lives are changed. He causes a thankfulness to rise up within us. He compels us to love, to give Him praise, and to worship Him. He gives us eyes to see things the way He does. Our values become like His and more and more we honor and appreciate eternal things more than temporal. The fruit of His Holy Spirit, the love, joy, peace etc., permeate our lives.

Jesus said, “Lo I am with you always.” He is with us in the grocery store, the bank, our laundry rooms, our yards, our cars--how can we NOT have Him in our homes?

I pray, “My dear Lord and King, wherever You are is my home and Your home is with me—how glorious to be together all the time. In You I live and move and have my being. I offer myself to be a place for You to dwell.”

“I am restless till I rest in You, O God.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuhYZrn4flo  Song: Restless by Audrey Assad.