Improve your spiritual life by choosing a focus verse to guide your goals and help you achieve your divine purpose.
What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. – Michelangelo Buonarroti, Renaissance artist
Research scientists over the years have proven that goals are valuable to change behavior and improve your life.
In fact, people who make new year’s goals are over 10 times as likely to succeed, as compared to those who do not make goals or resolutions.
The New Year (or anytime really) is an excellent time to reevaluate your physical, economic, and relationship goals.
But yet, to reevaluate your spiritual life goals is of greater eternal value.
As Jesus advised the Pharisees, “Yes, you ought to do these things, but don’t leave the most important things undone either” (paraphrase, Luke 11:42).
Now is the time to make new goals and find a life verse or focus verse!
How do you see yourself today, spiritually?
Do you feel far away from God? Disconnected?
Like you want to be closer, but don’t know how?
Do you want to feel closer and more excited about God than you are feeling right now?
Then decide right now to pursue a life of God’s presence that holds rewards in this life and also the life to come (1 Tim. 4:8).
One thing I find helpful is to find a new focus verse for this particular season in my life.
You may have heard of a selecting a life verse? Well, this is similar.
A focus verse is an inspirational Bible verse that speaks to you in this current season in your life, and it can change over time.
It is helpful to find one verse (or Scripture setting) to focus on for a season of time—maybe a month, maybe three months, maybe a year.
To find a focus verse for this season, simply prayerfully select a bible verse that resonates with you in some way.
It may remind you of an important truth you want to incorporate into your life; it may encourage you to trust God through this season; or
it may be a promise for health, provision, or salvation for your family.
This verse gives you strength and encouragement to trust God in this specific season.
So, choosing a focus verse is a small, easy, and achievable step toward the goal of improving your life.
The Power of a Memorized Focus Verse
We were created by the power of God’s word, and our personal being was made to be sustained by His Word (Matt 4:4).
In the Garden of Eden, life was simple because Adam and Eve continually walked in His presence and partook of His words.
Their spirit being was sustained by the Father of Spirits, and their body sustained by the Tree of Life.
As a result of their sin, they were separated from the splendor of perfect provision–the energizing Word.
However, we are not without hope today because we are reconciled to our Creator Father.
Today He has given us His written Word and His Spirit to sustain us.
We have the same choice Adam and Eve had in the Garden:
we can choose to eat the food God has provided, or we can eat fruit from other sources.
(Read more about this in my upcoming book, Return to Eden. Signup for the waitlist is here.)
We can choose to cling to Him for our sustenance or choose other voices in the world.
The Word of God is supernaturally powerful.
It washes and renews our soul.
It cleanses us from the contamination of rebellious attitudes, angry voices, and impure images we face daily, simply because we live in a corrupt and ungodly world.
The Word refreshes our spirit and washes our mind.
It is the spiritual bread that sustains us.
Feeding regularly on the Word of God causes us to grow strong in spirit, soul, and even body (3 John 2; Prov 3:1-2, 8).
How to Find Your Focus Verse
There are over 31,000 verses in the Bible, so you will want to ask God to direct you to one specifically to motivate and sustain you where you are at in your Christian journey at this moment.
I have listed 40 inspirational Bible verses below for you to read through as possible choices for a life verse or a focus verse.
Ask the Lord to direct you.
Of course, you can not make a mistake with any verse you choose to study and apply to your life!
However, once you find your verse, you will want to experience the verse and incorporate it into your life. Here is how with a simple exercise.
Experience the Living Word In Your Life Verse
Choose the focus verse that resonates with you in some way and holds your interest. Write it on a sticky note, note card, or put it in your phone reminder app.
- Focus on the verse you have chosen. Come to the Lord quietly and read a small portion or phrase. This is not the time to read rapidly or superficially. The purpose is to take each phrase in, and taste it, and digest it as you read.
- Ask the Lord to show you what the verse means for you. Ask for wisdom and revelation of His Word.
- Memorize your verse and think about it daily.
- You may want to take your focus verse and turn it into a prayer. You may want to journal and write out all the thoughts that come to mind.
This type of reading is like the bee that penetrates into the depths of the flower to remove its deepest nectar.
The purpose is to extract a deeper sense of its meaning. This is a good way to exercise your spiritual senses.
The goal is to experience the Lord in the words themselves. It is to experience the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (Eph 1:17).
As your focus verse becomes rooted deep in your being, it will act as a filter for all of life’s situations.
The Word will become your worldview and a part of your person. It will govern your responses to life’s situations. It will be the peace that governs and sustains your life.
This little exercise offers a deep experience with the written Word, Himself—which is better than any other goal you could make.
So, you may want to save or print out or bookmark these steps until this little exercise becomes a habit.
Thank you for reading dear child of God, and I bless you on your journey to an improved and more fulfilled life in the presence of our Lord!
Are you confident you know how to grow in your relationship with God?
Get unstuck and awaken to more of God’s presence with proven keys to spiritual growth in my new guided journaling devotional book.
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