My devotion this morning started a wonderful train of thought for me today.
"Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said 'Brother Saul, the Lord - Jesus, who appeard to you on the road as you were coming here - has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Acts 9:17
When Paul received his sight, he also received insight.
From this devotion, God put the desire into my heart to look into Jesus' face, into His eyes and keep my focus there. So many times, when friends have described how they made it through a trial or a really hard time in their lives, I've heard them say that they kept their focus on Jesus and not on themselves. Our Sunday School class is studying the book Facing Your Giants by Max Lucado where we've been discussing the fact that when David met Goliath, he kept his focus on God and not on Goliath. We are encouraged to keep our focus on God as well, during the hard times as well as the easy times.
Why is it so difficult to focus on God when we have so much to worry about? Is it because we think we can handle things ourselves? We wake up thinking about the problems or the burdens and we go to sleep thinking about them as well.
I just have several things that are on my mind right now, not the least of which is wishing some lab results would hurry up and come back to me. There are other things of course - we all have lots on our prayer list. I'm not depressed and I'm not down. But I do find myself focused on every single issue if I'm not careful.
Today, God asked me to focus on Him. To look into Jesus' eyes and give Him my full attention.
I was immediately reminded of that song "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus". I admit that I prefer praise and worship songs - but this hymn really had some truth that was perfect for me today.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face -
And the things on earth will grow strangely dim,
in the Light of His glory and grace!
Today, this has been my focus. When I look into Jesus' eyes, when I am solidly looking at Him, the other things are very dim. I can see how much He loves me and cares for me - and how nothing else is more important than being with Him.
2 comments:
Love your thoughts for today. I know I spend too much time worrying about what I can't control. It's good to look towards Jesus. It makes our lives a lot nicer!
I was just journaling this morning about what I've been learning lately - living for Jesus (not myself), trusting God (not myself), and being desperate for the Holy Spirit (not just half-wishing for inspiration). It's amazingly simple, yet so hard to live out. But what great reward when we do!!
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