As we have been discussing the importance of our attention and how it directly influences and affects our ability to love Jesus and love Him well, I wanted to go a little farther in the conversation with this thought: Depending on where you set your attention will determine how you can set your expectation. 

It is important that you are able to see the Lord for yourself. We are living in days and times where walking deeply with the Lord, intimately knowing Him, being sensitive to His presence, and having His voice alive in your life are no longer just luxuries—they are absolutely necessary. They should always be necessary, but many times because of our supposed comfort, luxuries, material stability, it becomes easy to rely upon our own strengths and not have to feel the beautiful tension of desperately needing Jesus moment by moment every day. 

However, as we have already stated, depending on where you set your attention will determine how you can set your expectation. As we anchor our lives deeply in Jesus there are wonderful promises that directly affect the quality of life that we should expect. When we belong to Him there are certain things that He has said should belong to us. The list is very long so I wouldn’t dare think to include every single thing. But there are some very real and very beautiful things that can be and should be, ours as believers. Let’s look at a few…

Help (Psalm 63:7)

Fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11)

Overflowing joy (John 15:11)

Joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8)

Protection from stumbling/wandering (John 16:1)

Courage during times of painful trial (John 16:33)

Peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7)

Rest when weary/heavy burdened (Matthew 11:28)

Spirit of power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7)

We will stop here. Again, the list is extraordinarily long. But that is exactly the point that we are after here; when we set our attention on Jesus there are a lot of amazing promises for us. Jesus must be our focus; He must become central. We are not promised any of these things if we set our attention in other directions. For example, you may think that your bank account provides you with peace and rest. That is until it gets shaken. You might find joy in your career, job title, responsibilities at work. But again, that is, until it gets shaken. Your social circle, network, doors of relational opportunity? All of these things seem wonderful and they attempt to promise that they will provide, but at the end of the day ALL of these things have an expiration date attached to them. Why? Because they can be shaken, disrupted, changed at any given moment. 

If the days that we are living in currently have taught you anything, it should be this—nothing in life is a guarantee. That is why we should allow the Holy Spirit to search our hearts to see if there is anyone, anything, or anywhere that we have set our attention that is outside of the person of Jesus. Why? Why would that be such a big deal? Because of the hope that you have to create an expectation. 

You can attempt to secure these promises yourself through worldly or material means. The problem with this approach is that then the sustaining of such things all falls back onto your own ability to keep them alive. This is where things are vastly different with Jesus. You don’t have to worry about keeping the promises in Him alive because they are all found and realized in Him. He sustains them all because they are an actual part of His makeup, they are a byproduct of anchoring your life deeply into Him. He cannot deny Himself or not be who He is.

The only place that we can set our attention that comes with guarantees is Jesus. He promises that even if all of these other material things in the world seem to be shaking, our quality of life in Him does not have to. He is steadfast. He is secure. He is a firm foundation. He is faithful until the end. 

It is important that we are looking in the right place. If you feel like your heart is lacking in any of the promises that we laid out above it is time to reestablish your gaze. You must find Him. You must re-set your sights upon Him. All of these wonderful promises don’t become a reality by trying to chase them down on their own. They become real in our hearts and lives as we look to Him. He makes all of these things real in us as we learn to really set our attention on Him. The point is not even these other things—as if to think of Jesus as a mere means to an end—the point is Him, and then in Him, we are able to partake of all of these other things. 

You may be able to temporarily restore your sense of these promises by attempting to have them come through the material things of this life, but in the end, it will never satisfy the way that Jesus does. He satisfies you by freeing you from the constant feeling that these other “things” are necessary. At the end of the day, there is only one thing that is needed.

Until next time…