Many believers have made brokenness their identity. These individuals focus on the past rather than the present or the future; on what God has not yet done for them rather than what he has done for them; on their lack of resources rather than the resources they have in Christ; on their weakness rather than on his strength, and; on their view of themselves rather than on his view of them. A significant part of transformation in the Kingdom of God is based on choosing a kingdom mind-set. The gospel of the kingdom points us to power rather than weakness, abundance rather than poverty, and significance rather than insignificance. The reality of the Kingdom of God on earth enables us to choose a heavenly focus, as we become what we behold.
Paul knew about extreme “personal makeovers.” He wrote, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:17-18).
Notice that this kingdom mind-set is directly related to our freedom and our freedom is directly related to our focus. The Apostle Paul did not miss this point: “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things” (Phil. 4:8). “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen” (2 Cor. 4:18). “Fix your thoughts on Jesus” (Heb. 3:1). “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus..” (Heb. 12:2).
In the natural, whenever you have five loaves and two fish to feed a crowd, you send everyone home. In the kingdom, you pray for the abundance of heaven to be manifested and feed every person in the crowd with food to spare. In the verses above, Paul tells us to fix our eyes and our thoughts on Jesus. To fix is to establish a permanent position that does not waiver. Our focus determines our view of reality. For those in the Kingdom of God, reality is not what is seen with the natural eyes but what is seen with the eyes of faith and the eyes of our heart. The focus we choose in our seeing, listening, speaking, and thinking will determine the lenses through which we view life. (Excerpt from Born to Be Free by Tom Vermillion, Morgan & James Publishers, page 30)
