"If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things
which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is
hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also
will appear with Him in glory." Col. 3:1-2 (NKJV)
"...looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of
God." Heb. 12:2 (NKJV)
"But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears
for they hear." Matt. 13:16 (NKJV)
There are so many things in our lives that take our eyes off
from Jesus aren't there? Just when the Lord has shown us some victory in our
lives and our "eyes see" and we are able to draw close to the Lord,
something again draws our attention away. How do we keep our focus? What does
it mean to "keep our eyes on Jesus?" This is a question my son
recently asked me, who came to the Lord just last summer.
"The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye
is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your
whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is
darkness, how great is that darkness!" Matt.
6:22-23 (NKJV)
(Notes from NKJV personal study Bible © 1990, 1995 by Thomas
Nelson, Inc.) "The lamp and the eye stand for our intentions and
choices. The person with a good eye focuses on God alone and is totally loyal
to His kingdom. His life is full of God's light. The person with a bad eye
makes other things the goal of his life. Because he has purposefully turned
from God, his darkness is great."
It's Jesus Himself that has given us eyes to see and given
us that light. It's He who is the author and finisher of our faith. He started
that faith in us.....and He alone can bring it to completion and perfection.
Notice how He continually draws your eyes back to Him every time you somehow
become distracted?
We keep our eyes on Him by hoping in Him when all hope is
gone. We keep our eyes on Him by trusting Him instead of our own ways or the
ways of the ungodly. We keep our eyes on Him by going to His Word for our
instruction, our comfort, our guidance, our spiritual life, and wisdom. We keep
our eyes on Him through the daily communion of prayer, and praise, and worship.
God gives us that....He woos us, draws us, speaks to our
heart about Himself, about our need for Him. Make sure when you feel His Spirit
stir your heart that you do not turn Him away. Make sure you answer that call!
Won't it be wonderful when we are with Him in constant
communion...always, always in His presence? But even now He has given you a
wonderful gift.....a gift of unbroken fellowship with Him! He has given every child of God His
Spirit to indwell them. He never leaves you but has given you unbroken access
to His throne! He is just as close to you as your own heart. If we walk daily
in that faith and knowledge, it will have an incredible impact on all we do.
You know I've found that when I suddenly realize my eyes
have been focused on the problem around me or the situation in my life, if I
begin to think of God's attributes and worship Him for who He is and thank Him
and just begin to praise and adore Him, that soon my focus is back where it
belongs, my heart is yielded to Him, I can look into His Word and trust Him and
cling to His Word and know that I know that He is working all things together
for my good.
Going back to Heb. 12....we see the thing that we need to do
in order to look unto Jesus....verse 1 says..."Therefore we also, since
we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily
ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before
us.."
What is the weight in your life that weighs you down or the
besetting sin that seems to always ensnare you and get your eyes on yourself
instead of Jesus and His promises and His way? I found in my own life that it
was self pity. Oh it feels so good to feel sorry for yourself. Even feels
better if you can get a few others to feel sorry for you too! But guess who the
focus is? Me, myself, and I. Hard to recognize some of our besetting sins. We
think of the obvious, lust, covetousness, greed....whatever...but anything in your life that causes your focus
to always turn to you instead of God is a weight or sin that ensnares and traps
you and holds you so that you cannot see Jesus and the plan He has for you and
the victory He has in store for you. It may even be your own introspection.
Your eyes are on you instead of Jesus...the one who took all your sin to His
cross and made you clean, if you trust Him. It is a weight that needs to be
thrown aside. And you can do that by surrender and faith.
Surrender it to the Lord. He accepts your
weakest surrender. And then trust Him to take it upon Himself to give the power for that
surrender and to make it complete. It is not a matter of feeling but of choice.
If we waited to "feel" like it....we would never do it! You may feel
like a failure because you can't feel the surrender you need to make. If you are not sure you are going to Heaven, and want to be sure, the Bible says you can know that you have eternal life. To read more about salvation visit this page
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