How To Stay Focused When Distractions Come

Welcome to the Lone Start Church Podcast.

Pastors DF and Nicole Ray are here to share the Word of God with you each week, helping you grasp the fullness of God's plan for your life.

We hope you'll be blessed by this week's message.

If you live in Northwest Missouri or southern Iowa, we invite you to join us in person on a Sunday morning.

For more information about us, visit our website at Ostartchurch.org or find us on Facebook, Instagram, or today we're going to talk about distractions.

Anyone ever been distracted?

Right?

They tried to do things to keep you from being distracted driving.

You know, when I was a kid, you weren't really distracted driving.

You didn't have much uh to distract you.

I remember taking uh Olive and I went down to Louisiana to Pastor Mark's camp meeting this summer.

And uh man, we're driving through Arkansas and just beautiful mountains and trees and everything.

I said, Olive, look at this.

She's just like, eh.

I go, Olive, you're missing everything.

In fact, Nicole and I were taking uh Olive to a softball game and we were driving just uh south of Pattonsburg over the river just this summer, and out from the river, over the co right over the hood of my car was a bald eagle with a fish in its talons.

You don't get any more American than that, right?

Someone's some farmers out there shooting off bottle rockets right.

Woo! This thing's blowing up.

I go, Olive, look at that.

She goes, What?

I go just most right over the hood, just the eagle and big fish in its talons.

There weren't those distractions when I was a kid, right?

I I drive with kids.

In fact, uh took some kids down to Champions, and uh we're we're shorter drivers, so I took some kids, and uh when we got there, I did what old men do.

Uh we got there a little early uh ahead of the crowd, and so I'm like, oh, I'll take you through Branson because I went to Branson since I was born, right?

Every year, and and so we're J.

Lee who's there, the car.

And so I'm like, oh, we got some time for everyone.

So we're driving on the strip, and I'm like, oh, this is where this place used to be, and this place's been here this long, and this place, right?

You ever notice you drive with someone of a certain age?

Every billboard they read, like you can't see it, right?

You'll just be driving McDonald's, Sonic.

Hey, two for one at the gas and sit.

Like, I know I'm I'm looking out, I can see it.

And so I'm just telling them all these things.

I'm like, oh, I went.

We went here when I was a kid, went to Presley's family music, and oh, this used to be the end of town, and this used to be here, right?

And today, right, kids are distracted with things.

They they don't see everything.

My mom used to play a game.

We went to Branson.

Uh, the the first kid that saw uh saw the first sign for Silver Dollar City, get a little prize, right?

There was a big deal.

There was a contest, competition.

Who's gonna see the first Silverdollar City billboard?

Right, as soon as you got to Springfield, as soon as you got to Springfield in the South, you're like looking for those.

I I was I was with Olive and we we were driving, and I was telling her about uh uh you ever see the big power lines, right?

And they've got like four or five, and there's the poles, and then they come out and go down.

I said, Well, as a kid, I used to think those are like a man holding up those things.

She goes, I don't see it.

I said, Look, it's like standing like this, and his legs and his head's here, and his holding those things.

I don't see it.

Right?

Phones that right has got rid of imagination.

We had nothing.

Right.

We we we we we we had a uh red LTD station with a wood paneling on the side.

And sometimes if you sit in the back, you you you your view was the car behind you.

Right, right.

Right.

The seats behind you.

So you really had to imagine you're not even seeing the cool stuff if you're in the back.

We were like, ooh, look at that.

You're like, what?

You just see the back assigns and everything.

But but things will distract you.

Amen.

So a distraction is anything that turns your attention away from something you're supposed to be concentrating on.

Right?

My mom, uh man, my mom was a go-getter.

She she would sleep, even into her 70s, she'd sleep like four hours a night, just doing things all the time.

Cooking, cleaning, reading her Bible, praying, doing work, right, for their family business.

And so, my mom, if she was going to have coffee or anything, she had a water filter, and the water filter was, you know, one of those little goosnakes that came up on the side of uh her sink.

And so she lived in the country, so she would run water through that water filter into her coffee maker.

And so she'd put a pitcher under, and you can put it this way to just get a glass, or you flip it up and it just keeps running.

So she'd flip that up, and then she'd get busy doing stuff, and then you'd hear this.

I mean, that's a pretty good mom.

I mean, that if you knew my mom, that was pretty close to what she said, oh, and water be running over the the counter down onto the floor, and she'd clean it up, and then you'd be back a couple weeks and she'd do the same thing, and she'd do the same thing.

Then she got wise and started putting the pitcher in the sink.

She'd still overrun it, but it'd just go into the drain.

Right?

What happened?

She got distracted.

Right?

You ever you ever get distracted when you shouldn't?

I know when you go, you ever you ever been at church in a in a in a meeting and got distracted?

Yeah.

It's easy to get distracted.

I I've said it here, especially at Lone Star.

Right?

Sometimes at Lone Star you'll you'll be here and and I'll be I'll be uh ministering, and a wasp will be flying up over my head.

You ever notice that?

There's one during worship today.

It's just part of being in a church that was built in 1863.

Can't keep map.

And you're just like, I wonder if that wasp gonna land on Pastor's head.

Think it'd sting him if it landed on it.

What's that?

It's a distraction.

All of a sudden, what can happen?

A word comes forth, the Holy Spirit says something that could change your life, and you miss it because you're looking at a wasp.

Or you're just like, praise the Lord.

You're just in praise, you're like, Praise the Lord.

Oh, praise the Lord.

Is that a hangnail?

I I didn't think I had a hangnail on that finger, but I feel it, I feel it right there, right?

And then you're right.

And you just miss it.

Miss what?

You miss the Holy Spirit, you miss the Word of God.

Anyone ever been distracted by a hangnail?

Come on.

Everyone in here, you've been distracted, you've just been with your hands, you're like, oh, wait a second, I think I got one right there.

And then you're like, then you're like, do I have, especially if you're right, if you're a woman, do I have clippers in my purse?

Do I have right and and you're looking and you're doing?

Or you get distracted by a crying baby, you get distracted by someone next to you, right?

And and uh someone walks in, you're like, oh, you you just look over and you're like, oh, I haven't seen them in a long time.

You're like, oh, I wonder if that's a new shirt.

Ladies, right?

Because I'm gonna be honest with you, I've never seen another man and wondered where he bought his shirt.

I've never seen another man.

I may have seen him be like, oh, I like that shirt, but I've never thought, I wonder where he got that.

But right, if you're a lady, you're like, oh, you think she got that target?

You're like, oh in your mind, you're like, oh, that's too nice for Target.

That's too, that's too nice.

Maybe she got it.

Maybe she got like Ross or TJ Maxx.

Maybe it was on sale at Dillard's.

Maybe she got blue light special at Kmart's.

I was telling my kids that's me seeing signs the other day in St.

Joe.

Kmart used to be there.

You said blue light special.

I mean, no, that can distract you, right?

Just anything.

Life distracts you.

You're you're you're just thinking, you're thinking about uh, especially Second Service.

You're you're thinking about what are you gonna have for lunch?

Right there, right?

That's why, honestly, there are certain things you don't mention when you preach.

Food is usually one of them.

But but you get distracted.

We used to have multiple clocks hanging on the walls in here.

I took them all down.

Why?

Because people get distracted.

Even though I know you got a phone, I know you can look at your watch if you have a watch, but people just would be like, one you sang right there, one used to be in the back.

And people just I'd be preaching, and all of a sudden, just everyone's like, you get close to noon, everyone's eyes, right there where that plug is.

Right there where that plug is where it was.

Now, now the the the crazy thing was, I don't know what goes on with On Star, but I took them down and the next week they're back up.

Yeah, we do have those.

We've had we've had mice distract, right?

Nicole and I've been on stage and all of a sudden.

And what happens?

Everyone gets distracted.

I I I have come uh you pastor for I don't know, well, we've been doing this like twenty almost twenty-five years or so.

Uh 20 22, 23 years.

Yeah.

You you you do that, you realize you you've got to avoid distractions.

Someone gets up, someone spills their coffee, someone does anything.

I I just don't do it.

Why?

Because if if if I allow it to distract me, number one, we we get off where we're supposed to go.

Number two, it gets everyone off.

Because maybe only two or three people are distracted with something happening over here.

Right.

But as soon as I start drawing attention to it, now we're all distracted.

But I realize I've got you for an hour on a Sunday morning.

Amen.

And and we need to say what God wants us to say.

And so we see all kinds of distractions.

We're not going to look at all these scriptures just for time's sake.

Um, but we see, right, in Matthew 6, Jesus is talking about what people worry about.

And he talks about clothes, he talks about food, he talks about basically provision.

How many know money can be a distraction?

Too much, not enough.

You ever been distracted because of what you do or don't have?

Right?

So money can be a distraction.

How many know relationships can be distractions?

David Samson?

I know they're both men, and it was ladies that were the problem, but something you couldn't preach on, something you can't preach at a women's conference.

Hey, ladies, you know what the problem is?

You let's talk about Delilah.

Let's talk, right?

I've never been asked to speak at a women's conference.

I wonder why.

He did one.

He told them they were the problem, they ushered him right out.

Right?

But a relationship can be a problem.

Uh Pastor Kylie and Shannon were asking me last night about Nicole and I and our relationship, and I told them, I told myself a little bit that uh when I've really started to think about Nicole as a future spouse that weekend, so so I was uh was I I just turned 24, and all of my college friends, except one, and it took him a while, but if you knew him, if you knew him, you you you wouldn't be surprised.

But all of them and like high school friends, all were getting married.

And I'm 24, and I'm like, I'd like to get married.

I'm getting ready to go to Rhema.

It's the summer right before I went to Rhema.

I'm like, I'd really like to get married.

And so in my mind thinking I'd like to get married, what I did was I called my old college girlfriend from Mizzou, and I thought, well, she was all right, maybe she's the one.

That's what she was very nice.

But right just in my mind, because uh I'd left college and then I'd went and traveled for for work, and and I hadn't dated anyone really since her.

And so that was just right.

How many know sometimes uh where you're comfortable is where you go.

Right true, mom.

And and comfort, comfort isn't always where you need to be.

In fact, God will make you uncomfortable in situations.

And so that weekend I'd I'd flown her uh in and uh we're at my mom's house, and Nicole had just got back from a mission trip in Mexico, and uh my mom had sewn into that trip, and so Nicole's at our house.

She was friends with my little sister, and uh she's telling about her mission trip.

And we're sitting in my mom's living room.

I can close my eyes and see it.

The way her living room set up, that a big screen TV.

There's a chair just to that side, to the right of the big screen TV.

There's a couch here and a recliner here.

Dining room table was here as an open concept.

I was sitting in that chair by the TV.

It's amazing what you can remember in life.

And that girl's sitting on the couch here, and we were kind of talking, but the whole time my attention was drawn to Nicole and her talking about God moving in her mission trip.

Yes, yes, it was.

And I'm like, huh.

I'm like, I want to go into ministry.

She wants to go on ministry.

In fact, she's getting ready to do an internship.

Man, we both like the same thing.

She's prettier than that other girl.

Right?

I'm like, huh.

And all of a sudden, then we went and and uh we didn't date, we wrote letters like we were in the 40s.

Wrote letters to each other and uh right, didn't have cell phones, didn't have email, didn't have any of that stuff.

Wrote letters for a year and then got engaged, got married.

But but I think uh if I had been distracted in that relationship, would I be pastoring here today?

No.

Why?

Because I'm gonna I'm gonna be real honest with you.

There are very few women in this world that that number one would put up with me for 28 years.

Amen.

No, I mean I appreciate it.

There's always one.

I told you, women are the problem.

Right?

But but just right, every everyone knows, right?

If you've been married for for decades, that that you just realize that everyone has their little little little things and everything else that you're like, boy, if I had to start over, it wouldn't work because no one else is gonna put up with I'm I'm in or I'm in my zone, right?

This is what I do, and and so right, just with my little habits and and things, personality, right?

There's only maybe a handful of people in the world that would put up with that.

And then secondly, how many women would want to move, go from Disney World of Jesus in Tulsa and move to a small town, right, in Missouri, and then say, hey, guess what?

We're gonna go pastor church that has six people that's in the middle of nowhere, that doesn't have running water and has uh mice and bugs and lots of other things, and you'll probably hit deer and possums and raccoons on your way to church, and you'll get car sick most weekends uh going to church.

And right, how many women are like I'm in for that.

Right, right.

Oh, and and guess what?

Because we're starting with six people and they're all over the age of 65, um, and no one else is there to serve, I'm gonna need you to lead worship without music, and uh I'm gonna need you to do children's ministry, and I'm gonna need you to be the church secretary and take care of all the things, and then once we start doing some things, you're gonna be doing taking pictures, you're gonna be doing social media, you're gonna be doing this, and you're gonna be doing that.

Plus, I'm gonna need you to do uh teach on prayer and then teach Sunday nights sometimes.

And then if if I'm not able to teach, you're gonna need to preach on Sunday mornings, and uh, we're gonna start doing all that for a hundred dollars a week.

Yep.

Are you in?

Most women would have said no.

Right?

So so guess what?

If if if if I get distracted and don't make the choice that God wanted me to make.

Because even at Rhema, right?

I get to Ramah and Nicole and I had had met, but she's in Texas.

I'm a Rhema, and we're writing letters.

But but even there, I'm like, well, you know, I I thought about her, but there's a whole lot of girls here, too.

I didn't I didn't date it.

I'll give her a mic.

Or not.

Uh right, but but but it but it becomes I didn't date anyone there, but but you see, right, you you just sat down in class and and you could get distracted.

Right, yeah, yeah, right.

Right, David got distracted when he should have been somewhere else.

Number one, you'll get distracted where you're not where God wants you to be.

Yeah, that's true, that's true.

It says that it was the time when kings were out at war and David was at home, got distracted by a pretty girl, got into a whole lot of trouble.

Samson got distracted, right?

The disciples got distracted in the garden.

Why?

Because they were tired.

You ever been tired and got distracted?

Yeah, true.

That's why you shouldn't, right?

People are like, you know, I really like to read my Bible at midnight.

Right before I go to bed is when I always read my Bible.

Hey, that's fine if you can do it.

I like to read my Bible at 4 a.m.

Right.

Right, right.

So many people, what do we do?

We read our Bible when we're distracted.

Or we do it in the middle of the day when we got kids at home.

Right.

When I come to church, when I come to work at church, uh, I bring my laptop and I obviously I have my cell phone.

As soon as I walk in the building, uh I endeavor, I don't always do it, but but 99% of the time, I don't unzip my laptop and take it out.

I take my phone, I turn it over, and I put it on the far side of the desk.

And then I take out the word and I read scripture and I have some prayers and confessions I do, and I do that before I get my computer out.

Why?

Because as soon as I get my computer, I won't be distracted.

You ever been looking for something on Google?

Right?

You Google something, and then there's just something else in there, and you're like, hmm.

I do wonder where Ben Affleck went on vacation this year.

Right?

The five the five best stick vacuums from good housekeeping.

I wonder what we're looking for.

We need a new stick vacuum.

I wonder what that is.

I tried the 10 best double cheeseburgers at all the buttons.

I'm kind of I kind of know what my picks are.

I'm kind of curious what your pics are.

You ever you ever get buzzfeeded, right?

You're just on there, you see all these lists, and you just get distracted.

You're like, what was I looking up again?

You don't you don't remember what happened, you got distracted.

Luke 10.

We're not gonna we're not gonna read it, but in Luke 10, what do we see?

Starting in verse 38, we see two ladies, two sisters, uh Mary and Martha.

And Jesus is in their house teaching.

And Mary is sitting at Jesus' feet, just getting everything she can.

And Martha is cooking and cleaning and serving.

And Martha gets to the point she just tired of it.

She's had it with her sister, and she's like, I'm gonna tell Jesus what you're doing.

I know.

Don't you don't you know?

She thought, I'm on tattle, and Jesus is going.

This is gonna be in the Bible.

Someone's writing this down.

John, get this, Luke, get it.

Because Jesus is about to spank my sister right here in front of everybody.

Jesus, look, I'm doing all this, I'm serving food, I'm cleaning, I'm doing everything.

Look at my sister, and Jesus goes, uh, I see her.

He goes, in fact, how many know what Martha was doing wasn't bad.

Right?

She she she she wasn't doing bad things, she wasn't sinning, she wasn't doing bad things, but but Jesus said, uh right, and to paraphrase, he said, Martha, I want you to see something.

What Mary is receiving is eternal.

What you're doing is temporal.

I know.

The food will wait.

You can sit at my feet, listen to my teaching, and we go eat afterwards.

The mess will wait.

The stuff will wait.

What happened?

Martha got what?

Distracted by what she thought she should have been doing.

I know, just simple tasks can distract you.

Uh Galatians 5.

Let's go over there in Galatians 5.

Oh, there it is.

Thank you, Lord.

Praise the Lord.

Galatians 5, we're gonna look at uh verses 16 and 17.

Yes, Lord.

So so Paul says, he said, I say then, walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh, for the flesh lust against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh.

These are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

In fact, there's a place in Corinthians, Paul, uh, if you ever read it, it's very confusing.

Paul says, I do what I don't want to do.

Talking about your your spirit and your flesh.

Right?

There used to be a little cartoon, don't do what Donnie doesn't does.

Right?

How do you know that that can get a little confusing?

But but what can distract you is your own flesh, your own desires.

Because guess what?

We all have flesh, we all have desires, we all have things, but but don't let those things distract you.

Paul says, look, the Holy Spirit's trying to guide you.

The things of the Spirit are contrary to the things of your flesh.

You've got to mature to the point where you can deny your flesh and the distraction.

Right.

Sleep.

The disciples there in the Garden of Gethsemane were tired.

They'd been with Jesus, they've been walking, they've been doing all these things.

Sleep is important.

You need sleep, you need rest.

But Jesus told him, He goes, I need you guys to wait here and pray with me.

But what happened?

Their flesh got in the way, and he comes out and they're sleeping.

Distractions.

Uh we're we're not going to turn there, but 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8.

1 Peter 5:8

It says, Your enemy goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

You know what prey gets devoured?

Just go ahead and turn on old uh Wild Kingdom, right?

Watch watch some of those old uh shows on Discovery Channel.

You you know the antelope that gets devoured?

The one that gets distracted.

The one who all of a sudden it it's it's in a it's in a flock, right?

And and there's a a uh 500 antelope, and they're all eating, and then all of a sudden it's like, oh, there's some grass over here.

Ooh, this looks good over here.

And then it looks up and goes, Where's everybody else?

Oh, they're way over there.

And then it looks over and it's like, I'm surrounded by lions.

What happened?

Distraction.

You know most uh car accidents are caused by distraction?

People get distracted.

Even before cell phones, I remember I lived in Kans City, I lived up on the North End, uh actually in the Zona Rosa area.

It wasn't there when I lived there, but but right there Barry Road in I-29.

I worked over in Lanexa in Kansas, and I would drive to work every morning and I'd be on uh I-29, I-35, 635, and I'd be driving.

And you know what you you know what I'd see?

I'd see women putting on makeup in their mirror at 70 miles an hour.

I I would see men shaving with an electric razor at 70 miles an hour.

I'd see people reading books.

I'm like, what are you doing?

Distractions.

I don't know, distraction could lead to death.

1 Corinthians chapter 7, verse 35.

1 Corinthians 7:35

Uh let's look at this in the New King James, please.

1 Corinthians 7 35.

So Paul, in in this uh chapter, he's talking about relationships and and uh husbands and wives and and starting a relationship.

If if you've lost a spouse and different things and marriage, and then you look at this in 1 Corinthians 7 35.

I I like what Paul says because he he makes it pretty clear about what he's talking about.

He says, and this I say, right, all these things he's telling them about for your own profit, not that I put a leash on you, but for what is proper that you may serve the Lord without distraction.

So he says, Not that I'm gonna put a leash on you, not that I'm gonna put restrictions on you, but but what he's saying is, look, uh, we we have a dog and we've had her for for I don't know, 10, 11 years.

And when we first got Millie, if if you came to our house and opened the door, she's gone.

She just ran out the door.

I mean, it was literally a prison escape every time.

I mean, she was looking to get out.

I mean, she had it good.

I mean, we had a nice bed, fed her, took care of her.

I think Olive may have been part of the problem.

Because Olive was little and Olive would be like, I got the dog by the tail, pick it up by its ears.

I mean, she was there's a reason that dog doesn't like to sleep in her bed.

But I mean, she's just gone every time.

And if you took her out to go to the bathroom, you had to have her on a leash.

Why?

Because she wasn't mature, she hadn't learned to uh control her own thoughts, her own desires, her own flesh.

If she saw a rabbit or a squirrel, she's gone.

But you had to give a restriction to her.

But now, right, she's she's learned some discipline.

We've taught her some discipline.

She's matured.

You can take her out in the front yard, she'll just go to the bathroom.

Back in.

No leash, no anything.

What's happened?

She's learned to get rid of the distractions.

Before, distractions, right?

It it it's it's like uh squirrel, right?

It it it's that you ever just been been distracted with with with things?

Where wherever you're at in in life, you ever you ever been driving, you've been driving for a while, and you're like, I don't remember the last 20 minutes.

Glad I'm still going.

You don't want God to have put a leash on you.

Amen.

No, learn to put a leash on yourself.

Learn to put a leash on your own mouth, put a leash on your own thoughts.

Right?

I I love uh when Pastor Kylie was here a few years ago, right?

That's not my thought.

Yes.

Right?

The Bible says take thoughts captive.

Don't conform right to the things of this world, have your mind renewed by the word.

What's that do?

It helps you get rid of distraction.

Helps you get rid of distraction.

Uh let's go down to Philippians chapter 3.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

Thank you, Lord.

We'll finish.

We got two more passages.

Philippians 3, verse 14.

Philippians 3:14

Think about this.

You ever watch the Olympics?

Man, I love the Olympics, especially the Summer Olympics.

I like uh track and swimming.

Uh, those are two of my favorite ones.

And uh watch, especially this last year, watching with Lucy because she was doing so well at track.

And uh so we'd watch all the races.

And and let's actually, verse 13, sorry, we'll start in verse 13.

Paul says, Brethren, brothers, believers, I do not count myself to have apprehended.

So, so guess what?

If if the apostle Paul says, I have not yet reached where I need to go, guess what?

None of us have either.

Right?

He says, But one thing I do, don't you think you could learn from someone who says, Hey, if you look at someone, you're like, they're a very successful Christian, they're a very successful believer.

And he's like, hey, there's one thing I do.

You're like, okay, right?

Maybe I can learn this one thing.

He says, This is what I do.

I forget those things which are behind.

And I reach forward to the things that are ahead.

What's he talking about?

I'm getting rid of all the junk in my past, and I'm focusing forward, right?

Focusing forward, not being distracted with my failures.

Uh there was a gentleman, Bob Auton was his name.

And Bob Auton, I think I only met him one time at my mom's house.

He was a missionary, lived in Arizona near where mom and Don had a place in Arizona.

And Bob Auton, one I don't know why, other than it was God.

Bob Aught loved Nicole and I.

And he would send us offerings sometimes, and he would send me little notes sometimes.

And again, I met him just for a few minutes one time.

Uh, mom would send him our messages back when we were on cassette tape, and he would listen, and he would call me sometimes.

And I'll never forget, he is in heaven now.

And he sent me uh a note.

Isn't it good to get a handwritten note sometimes?

He sent me a note and I opened it up and he shared a number of things.

And this one thing I'll always remember, he said, CF, you'll never win today's game with yesterday's home run.

What's that mean?

It's got to be something new.

Yes, right?

So I gotta forget about those things behind.

Whether I struck out yesterday, whether I hit a home run, I'm on forget about that and I'm on focus forward.

Right?

I've I've I've worked with uh Olive and like I have heardly some of these girls that I've coached and different things.

Here's the thing you can't let one mistake turn into the next 10.

You can't let one missed shot turn into the next 10 missed shots.

Every good shooter, every good player believes the next time I come up, I'm hitting a home run.

The next time I come up, I'm making a three-pointer.

The next time, well, I'm forgetting those things that are behind and I'm focusing, right?

I've coached basketball, I've coached a little like t-ball, baseball, stuff.

You've got to focus on what's ahead of you.

You'll never hit the ball, not focused on it.

You'll never make a basket, right?

I had a coach, and and any kid that's ever played for me will tell you, I had a coach, Mr.

Sims, he was an assistant coach, and you say, When you shoot, I want your focus to be where?

The front of the rim.

Other people teach it differently.

Front of the rim is where I want you.

He goes, I want you to see a squirrel sitting on the front of that rim.

He goes, I want you to hit that squirrel in the head and knock that squirrel into the hoop.

Right?

I don't want the ball just to go here.

I don't want the ball to go here or here, here.

I want the ball to come up and go right over the front, knock that squirrel, right?

I've said that.

Knock that squirrel into the hoop.

That's good.

I want you to knock that squirrel.

Well, I've got to have focus, right?

I can't make baskets like this.

I I can't be be paying attention to all these.

I've got to get my focus forward.

And then you go to the next verse, verse 14.

Thank you, Lord.

We're going to wrap it up.

And he says, I press towards, right?

The King James says, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upper call of God in Christ Jesus.

So that that term press on means determined, focused pursuit.

I have a focus pursuit, right?

My eyes are exactly where God has called me.

I'm doing exactly, I'm not distracted by these things.

When the gun goes off, I'm not looking around at different things.

Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 and 2.

Hebrews 12:1

We're going to finish right here.

I'm not distracted.

I'm not easily distracted.

You don't want your teacher to write down your report card.

They're easily distracted.

Amen.

Hebrews 12, verse 1.

Hebrews 12:1

Therefore, we also, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, aren't you glad that you you have people uh in heaven cheering you on?

Amen.

But here's the thing you can't get distracted by that either.

I've seen kids, right?

You're you're teaching young kids to play something, and you're like, hey, I need you to go out there and you're short stop.

I need you to pay attention right here.

And and your shoulders are squared to the plate, and and you're here.

And when that pitcher gets ready to pitch, you're gonna give a little hop and you're ready, right?

And you tell that kid that, and then they're like, Grandma, hi, it's me, Bobby, right here.

Bobby, I'm playing shortstop ball right in between the eyes, right?

No, you you can't get distracted by these things out here either.

Praise God, grandma's there.

Praise God, we have people watching and cheering us on.

But he says, You gotta lay aside every weight, the sin that so easily ensnares and run with endurance, what the race that's set before you.

You you you've got to see the race before you.

Amen.

You've got to see it.

Looking, King James says, fixing your eyes on Jesus, the author and the finisher.

How many know Jesus wrote something about your life, about your faith?

And if you'll fix your eyes on him, he'll finish what he started.

Yes, he will.

Thank you, Father.

But I gotta be fixed on him.

I've I've got to be fixed.

People say, You're you're you're you're singularly minded.

That's right.

My my mind is focused and fixed on Jesus, on the word, on what the Holy Spirit tells me to do, on what God told me to do.

And I don't care about this stuff.

I don't care if the well, how are you gonna do that?

You don't have enough money.

I'm not gonna be caring about that.

I'm not gonna be distracted by whether I have enough money to do it or not.

Right?

We're gonna buy land, we're gonna build a church.

Well, that's gonna cost millions of dollars.

You guys don't have millions of dollars.

I don't care about that.

He's the finisher.

I'm gonna fix my eyes on him.

I'm gonna do what he tells me to do.

Think about this.

Jesus' first miracle.

I promise I will close with this.

Jesus' first miracle was water into wine.

Water into wine was his first miracle.

He's at a he's at a wedding, right?

They were they ran out of wine.

And and Jesus' mother notices this, and she says to the the uh servants, she goes, Whatever he, Jesus tells you to do, do it.

I know Nike did not come up with just do it, Mary came up with just do it.

And what did Jesus, Jesus at first didn't want to do it, but what did Jesus tell me?

He goes, go fill up those those large vessels, fill them up with water.

I know you could get distracted and say, uh, Jesus, they didn't want water.

They wanted wine.

And if we serve water to our master and he wants wine, he may kill us.

Don't get distracted by what your little pea brain can think.

Don't get distracted by all this other stuff.

Don't get distracted by other people telling you it's not gonna work.

Don't get distracted by your own thoughts of failure and your own thoughts of past failures and and and where you failed the past.

No, I'm putting things behind me, I'm putting past failures, I'm putting past success behind me, and I'm focused forward on what's before me.

I'm focused forward.

My eyes are on Jesus.

How many know the the people that win those races?

Sometimes those races in in sprints and in swimming, this is the difference in those races between gold and silver.

Yeah.

I've seen it, right?

The the one of the last swim relays that Michael Phelps ever swam.

Other countries were talking smacks that America's lost it, Michael Phelps has lost it.

And and that group, this was the touch at the end.

America won by like a thousandth of a second.

Why?

Because guess what?

They were focused.

The guy was focused when he started, when he heard the beep, he was right on it.

And the other guy was focused that when his teammate was coming in, that he was going jump and hit the water just as his teammate's hand hit the wall.

And they were focused.

I was I we weren't swimming like this, we were swimming like this.

We were straight.

We were narrow, we were focused, we were fixed.

We were right if if you look at uh swimming pools for competitive swimming, there's a line painted underneath.

What's that there for?

It's there so you don't swim like this.

Why?

Because you'll waste strokes.

Their eyes are down, they're swimming right where they're supposed to go.

They're focused on what?

On the prize, on what's ahead of them.

I'm not distracted.

I'm I'm not listening to the crowd.

I'm not listening to my own thoughts.

I'm not listening to those people around me saying I can't.

I'm not listening to all the outward things.

I'm I'm singly focused on the word of God, on the promises of God, and on my master, on the one who's the finisher of my faith.

My eyes are focused.

And if I'm focused on him, then it's true what he said about me, then I'm more than a conqueror through Christ who strengthened me.

That he always causes me to triumph in Christ Jesus.

I'm not distracted.

What happens if people are distracted?

They lose.

They drop the ball, right?

You'll hear you'll hear guys, NFL guys, that catch a hundred balls in a row, and all of a sudden they're like, Why didn't you catch that big catch?

They're like, I took my eyes off of it.

Took my eyes off the ball.

Why'd you strike out to them?

Why'd you hit a foul ball at him?

Took my eyes off the ball.

I know we don't want to be that person.

We're gonna stay fixed.

We're we're gonna keep our eyes on the ball.

We're gonna keep our eyes on Jesus.

And we are who he says we are.

We are more than conquerors.

Thank you for tuning in to the Lone Star Church Podcast.

We hope this week's message strengthened your faith in God's Word.

Remember, if you live in Northwest Missouri or southern Iowa, we invite you to join us in person on a Sunday morning.

For more information about us, visit our website at Lonestarchurch.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube.