Scripture Reading:

Matthew 6

Please comment below with your conversation with God and/or insights from today’s Scriptures.

You can answer the following:

1. What’s your first impressions about this chapter?

2. What happened in this chapter?

3. What’s a verse or passage that stuck out to you?

4. What is your prayer to God brought on by this chapter?

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Eyes On | Lemuel Ayudtud

Chapter Notables:

1. The attitude to our religiosity - verses 1-4

2. “The Lord’s Prayer” | The prayer pattern - verses 5-15

3. How to “look” when fasting - verses 16-18

4. How to treat earthly treasures - verses 19-24

5. How to treat life stresses - verses 25-34

Where we keep our eyes on is what we will move towards. Focus is key to elevation, motivations, and attitudes. Our ‘eyes” being set on something has so much value that we need to make sure they are intentional. We will end up where are eyes are set.

Jesus spends a good portion of this part of His sermon (started on chapter 5) on how and to what/where His disciples should be focusing.

Regarding:

1. Giving - keep your eyes on God that will reward. Do not seek for attention and/or return from those you’re giving to.

2. Prayer - it’s about God’s Kingdom and Will. Most of us think that prayer is about our needs and our desires, but prayer is about God’s will and purpose for us in the world.

3. Religiosity - your fasting, consecration, it’s about God and what He wants to fulfill in your life

4. Investing - place your heart on God’s eternal returns than the earthly gains and/or losses that you may experience with your temporal investments. Keep your eyes on serving God even as you’re working to make money or gains.

5. Life Issues - keep your eyes on God’s sovereignty over our day to day. AND keep your focus on today and not be bogged down by compiling tomorrow’s concerns with today’s “to-do’s”.

6. The Main Focus - seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and every other “focus points” will be met.

Driving a car is a very generalized yet globally understood example for focus. When driving all other things that distract you from getting to your destination must be put aside. Any other non-essentials for driving towards that destination is not only integral for arrival but it can become a safety issue for those in the car and the roadways. Keeping your eyes on the road is the main thing (when driving a reliable car), what maybe appearing important at the time can be a distraction that may lead to something terrible.

Sure, you may make it out 100 times out of 101 but it’s that one time that that distraction becomes a mistake that you realize that your focus must be maintained at all times. Of course there will be times when you get out of alignment because of other people’s lack of focus, but if all things can be done on your end to keep on going forward, keep your eyes on it.

The thing about driving is that the car has a million parts that turn and run every time. Like that, there are many things that God is doing behind the scenes that happen when God is leading us. And as long as we pour our hearts into what God is doing in our lives and world, then we don’t have to worry or be concerned over everything. Ultimately, the main focus is the Kingdom of God. Why? Because if our focus is on God’s purpose and will for us, then we will keep moving forward.

Sideway distractions will be present and issues of life will pop up, finances and other concerns can be burdensome and make us stall or slow down; but if we keep our eyes open to what God is doing in our world and in our lives, then we will keep driving ahead to our destination.

The Scriptures shared that we have to keep our eyes on the price. To the Philippians church, Paul wrote that we should press toward the mark. In Hebrews, the writer admonishes us to look unto Jesus and gives us the history of faithful men and women who kept their focus through their faith experiences, in spite of distractions even death. Our eyes on what God is doing will keep us straight forward going.

Lord, help me to keep my focus on You, point blank, periodt. Help me to know that when I do that, then everything else will align with my destination, purpose and potential. Lord, teach me to not try to align the rest of my life with Your Will but for me to surrender my will to Yours. Thank you, Lord. I pray this in Your Name, Jesus, amen.