And life’s a lot like that. . Learn to Be Ruthless With Your Time. But then how do you explain child prodigies who fade into "average" adults? And if you focus on what’s half full, and what God is doing, and what He has done, and what He has given you, and what He is about, it produces a different kind of person, with a different set of emotions. He said, “On March 18th of this year, I was out preaching the Gospel.”  And boy, these house church pastors – I mean, man, they have a heart for lost people. It makes you more efficient. That’s the key word. Eventually, he had to go to the doctor. Your position, legal standing, is, you’re pure. And that’s what it is. “I’m a bondservant of Christ. And when he got done sweeping all the sawdust, there was – you know one of the things that you weld with? But I’ll tell you what, you can choose to start thanking God. In Focus > World Television Day 2020: Understanding the power of visual media amid COVID-19 pandemic ; World Television Day 2020: Understanding the power of visual media amid COVID-19 pandemic. Steve and Barrie have an entire book series dedicated to this topic so it's kind of important! Is this glass half empty, or is it half full? I’ve had some pretty difficult struggles with some of my kids, at times. In the New Testament, a couple basic words for knowledge. And if you focus on what’s half full, and what God is doing, and what He has done, and what He has given you, and what He is about, it produces a different kind of person, with a different set of emotions. Yo, I’m bummed. – “your affection” – the things that are inside your heart that, when it gets squeezed – “what I’m praying is, is that your love and your affection would grow in a direction, and I want it to grow in a direction of a real knowledge of God, instead of for more success, instead of for more comfort, instead of for more ease.”  That’s our human nature. So if you want to improve your focus, you need to develop the skill of paying attention to a particular thought, task, or goal for a specified amount of time – without allowing distractions to break your concentration. Hang in there.”  Where’s Paul’s focus? It’s dark, it’s dirty, it’s damp. “The Tale of Two Fires.”  This is a personal friend; it’s a personal story. What oozes out of him is affection. That way you give your body what it needs, which is proper rest. He says, “And this I pray.”  Notice the forward focus here – upward, outward, now forward. Nothing zaps focus like clutter and disorganization. When God sees you as His son, when God sees me, He sees you as completed in Christ. There’s no room for self-pity when your hearts are full of people. This change in focus can show you just how powerful your consciousness is and can give you the kind of hope that you need, by showing you how to change anything in your life with mere words. I’m waiting to hear about how he went through it and how he nursed his wife back to health, and . Action Item: Right now, as you’re reading this article, straighten your back, pull your shoulders back, and keep your head upright. 9 years ago | 183 views. In his heart. If there have been times where you’ve been hungry, and now, God’s great reward for your faithful service is to stick you in jail, what kind of letter would you write to people that you care about? Can you imagine the joy the sense of accomplishment the gratitude the sense of power worth and confidence that you feel having achieved your goal? No phoniness. Write that down. Maybe God loves you so much, that you’re so busy and moving so fast and don’t have enough time for Him, that He gives you a little biopsy report that’s got you scared spitless. I’m confident that He’s in charge.”  But notice, now, his outward focus, in the next section, here. Feelings are what I live with – get my focus upward and outward, they’ll follow. Out of that, I draw one final principle, and that’s this: Our feelings always follow our focus – we’ve got that one – our focus always follows our affections, but our affections always follow our thinking. And maybe He’ll get your attention in the process. You can clean it, and it looks real clean, and then, the sun comes up, and what’s it do? In this first message, from Philippians, Chapter 1, Chip tells us it begins with focus. Bless those who persecute you.”  And those are parts of the Bible that, you know, we just read over very quickly. It’s a tense of the verb – it’s the perfect tense. “C” – write the word in, circumstances – plus “P” – perspective – equals “E” – experience. This is wrong; this is right, in this decision, in this business deal, with your child, with your time, with your priorities. August 14, 2019. And so, here’s the fundamental question for the next three weeks. Thank You that You love me. The first is this: Difficult circumstances reveal our true affections. Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Les Hewitt.. I wake up days, and you know what? I’m going to teach you four questions to ask, every time you have a difficult circumstance, and I want to give you four keys. Discovering the Bible's answers is the focus of Living on the Edge, the discipleship ministry of Chip Ingram. Jimmy Kimmel on what to expect from virtual Emmys. How to Resist Shiny Object Syndrome and Focus on What’s TRULY Important, 17 Best Essential Oils for Focus and Concentration (Our Selection for 2021), >> Click to Grab the FREE Book: The Morning Routine for Peak Performance<<. Upward. And then, they took her down to the police station, and then, they beat her to a pulp.”  And, you know, I’m waiting for, “And oh, my gosh, you know, I don’t –”  You know I’m waiting for him to say, “I couldn’t make it through it, and . When it comes to focus, my hero is Steve Jobs. And the question is, “Where’s your focus?”. I’m confident of this very thing, that my hard work and my labor for you in the Gospel – you guys are going to keep on going. What’s the most difficult circumstance in your life right now? . It says, “C + P = E.”  We’re going to look at it every week. Plus the simple act of working on these small organizational tasks every day helps to strengthen that old focus “muscle”. Whenever you find yourself attracted to someone else whether at work, at the store, etc. Focus is the power of clear, uninterrupted intention, that arises from our deepest selves and is aligned with our truest nature. It’s a physics equation: I know how to do that equation. Make a game out of completing your daily routine. You choose to be thankful. But you know what you can do? Paul’s _____ Focus 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be Notice how good it feels and do this throughout the day. This is better, but this is best. If you're fatigued and not eating well you won't be able to put your energy intent and focus on the critical task at hand most of us don't eat properly or get enough sleep. Now, I don’t know what your circumstances are; I don’t know what you would write on the whiteboard, but we’re going to hear from someone whose present circumstances, when he wrote Philippians chapter 1, were pretty difficult. and focus on getting your most critical tasks done! So you have to develop the focus habit of thinking about what you want – vividly. You can look at the half full that the job that you do have. And so, that’s what he says, “That’s what I pray.”. “And this I pray, that Your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment.”  Put a box around real knowledge and all discernment. because I have you in my” – circle the word heart. Updated Nov 21, 2020 | 06:00 IST As commissioned by the United Nations, November 21 is celebrated by the entire world as World Television Day every year. There might be affiliate links on this page, which means we get a small commission of anything you buy. And I’d like you to write in the word gratitude. Anubhavi Yadav . And then, because a revival breaks out, they throw him in jail. So, she did that to protect me. We went through it together, and God showed up. Eventually, over time, he started to rebound. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”  And he said, “All my emotions were raging, and what I lost, and my money, and what I’m going to do, and then, all I thought about is how down I got, and where I went before.”  And he said, “I walked around the block. Now this is hard, and most people won’t want to do it, but by placing your attention and thoughts on your spouse, you’re training yourself to avoid distraction and ultimate temptation. You are like a sponge, and I’m like a sponge, and there’s something in your sponge. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Would you write lack of significance? I had a great day. I mean, I don’t know what’s going on in your life, and there may be a lot of reasons to look at the empty part here. In round one, my brother had a fire; things came out. I really hope to make our world more bright, beautiful and kind. The Power of Focus System . By chewing your food slowly, sitting down, and appreciating what you're eating, you will feel more full and more satisfied with your meals. Each time, I’m going to give you a question to ask, and I’m not going to talk about mind games: Okay, I’m going to try and pretend I think it’s half full. And all the equipment to build all of the cabinets. In summary, our focus always follows our affections. It has the idea of something being interwoven or interconnected together. How am I supposed to look at them? Circle the word feel: “It’s only right for me to feel this way about you . If you’re married, use it to build love, gratitude, appreciation, and happiness. And then, you say, Okay, now, what does it mean? Or is it upward? Understanding the Power of Focus. I’m not saying to “punish” yourself. He says, “I’m praying that your love, your desire, your passions, your affections would be cultivated to have a real knowledge of God.”. If, however, we focus on being healthy and fit, we will become healthy and fit through exercise and good eating. I mean, we get this deal: “If God really loves me, how could He have a fire burn up my business?”  Maybe He loves you so much that that business is an idol in your life, and He needed to burn down your business so He could get your heart. Our goal should be to understand the power of focus in order to create the future we want. Understanding the Power of Focus… A Life without focus is robbed of Purpose. I got mine all written: “Dear Philippians, this is Chip. But as Martin Luther said, you cannot let the birds build a nest in your head. You become more aware of your present opportunities. And then, one night, we got to kind of wind down – and his name is Abraham. We’d like to stay off the road so that it makes it kind of nice for you.”. Blessed, happy are you when you are persecuted for My sake. Things, money, status, and pleasure. The best way to do this is to have a to-do list that you actively work on every single day. Lord, make my business go well. Living above my circumstances occurs when my perspective – how I choose to look at things – interprets my circumstances, rather than my circumstances – things that happen to me – determining my perspective. No pretending. In a matter of minutes, everything he owned, again, was in ashes. Understanding the Power of Focus. And if you, over time, will learn to run these four questions and these four keys through any given circumstance, you will experience the power of perspective. It’s like a video tape just went on, and I could just see myself sitting here, and Abraham, and him telling me this story. I’ve gotten good at it. This may seem simplistic, but it’s completely true. GMA - AOL Content. Yeah. Goals expert Gary Ryan Blair discusses the importance of focus in goal setting, including how to get focused, how to stay focused, and how to regain focus. In this article I want to share 11 simple techniques and habits that you can use to build the skill of paying attention and staying focused. But I said I would, so I came. And so, we’re going to talk about, how do you live a life – the power of perspective – how do you live a life where you can train yourself, and by the Spirit of God and the grace of God, not to play mental games, but to recognize that life is filled with ups and downs and difficulties in a fallen world, and you can choose to learn to look at the half full. And based on how I look at them, should I do this, or should I do that?’  I want you to have such a sense of how loved you are and what you possess, that your desire for God and ability, so that you could approve, test, live a life that’s excellent, in your speech and in your behavior and in your relationships.”. See All. Notice, one, circle the word thank – “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.”  Second word, “Always offering” – circle the word prayer. I said, “Why?”  He said, “I’ve got 11 carpenters that have families to feed, and I got a job for all 11 of them.” Was his focus on his little, spiritual naval, whining about, “I wonder how much the insurance is going to pay?”  His energy was trying to figure out, How do I take care of these other people? You get to choose, Am I going to look at what’s half full in my life in this situation, or am I going to focus on the half empty? You’re real. And then we’re going to talk about how that works, and the impact that it makes. Focus on making sure your spine is straight. Action Item: Think of a reward and a consequence that you’ll have if you accomplish your goals – or if you don’t. One is a knowledge that is data or information. This is his prayer. (Side note: Another positive way to improve your life is to read and learn something new every day. When you're thankful and grateful your mind will start seeing opportunities that he did not see before. And when you focus on the half empty, it will produce a set of emotions, and it will spiral relationships, and it will produce the kind of person that you would not want to be around, even if it’s you. Within 24 hours, he had not only come out of his clinical depression that he was headed for, but he actually had a positive attitude. Thank You that Christ died for me.’”, And he said, “For about a half hour or 40 minutes, I did nothing but willfully choose to thank God and to praise God and to thank God and to praise God for what I did have: ‘Thank You that I have a wife that has stood by me. Keeping thinking about the details – where you are, who’s around you, and what you did to achieve this goal. In verse 9, he’s going to say, “I’ve got a request for these people, God.”  In verse 10, he’s going to say, “God, here’s my reason for this request.”  And then, in verse 11, he said, “Here’s the resource I know they already have, so I know You’re going to answer it.”. This is good; this is better. You’re loved. you [can] approve” – or test – “the things that are excellent.”  The word for approve was, they would take metal, and you would drop certain acid on a metal to find out how much gold is in it or the quality of the gold. That’s going to help me. Please do your own research before making any online purchase. . 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