Steady our gaze on You, O Lord.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28, NIV)

  We must steady my gaze upon our Lord. Faith doesn’t automatically just rise up on the situations and occasions we face as we live out our days.   Our faith must always and continually be fixed on God.  We must gaze upon Him and care, guidance and power, He brings to our days.  Abraham’s gaze was fixed upon God and His provision enabling Abraham to walk in faith. Joshua’s gaze was fixed upon the mighty strength of Almighty God because he had faith in the God he knew and trusted.  This faith empowered him to lead a vast nation into the Promised Land.  David’s gaze was upon the hand of God and he did not see the giant before him but only the victory through the power of his God.  Peter could walk on the water as long as his gaze was upon his Lord and he took each step in faith. Our gaze must be fixed on God as well.  With our gaze fixed, our faith remains fixed in the struggle, in the bleakness, in the danger and fear, in the waiting, in the daunting, in the impossible and in the sustaining through everything we encounter and face.

      In bleakness, we look for God’s provision and sufficiency.  In struggle, we look for God’s support.  In fear and danger, we look for God’s strength and rescue.  In the daunting, we look for God’s mighty hand. In the impossible, we look for the possibilities of God’s presence. In the waiting, we look for God’s wisdom.  In the unknowing, we look for God’s knowledge. In the bitter, we look for God’s grace.  In the broken, we look to God’s remaking.  In the shattering, we look for God’s mending. In the busy, we look for God’s calming. In the noisy, we look for God’s quieting. We fix our gaze on God because we know His love is steadfastly fixed on us and His love endures forever. We must even steady our gaze in the abundance, because if we see only abundance than all you have is abundance. Our abundance is a gift from God and we must remember to fix our gaze on Him in thankfulness.

     If you glance at God while gazing at what is around you, you will over whelmed and consumed with what is around you. You have only yourself for strength. If you glance at what is around you, while fixing your gaze upon God, what is around you will not overwhelm you, as God is with you. God becomes your strength.  If you see only fear, disappointment and discouragement than all you have is fear, disappointment and discouragement. If your gaze is fixed upon God in the midst of fear, disappointment and discouragement you will see and find God and all that He is.

Our gaze must be upon our Lord.  We should not look to the right or the left, but follow trusting and obeying in all things and in all ways.  By trusting and obeying, we will come by faith into the land of promises fulfilled.  Our true strength is in God alone because His provision will always be more than we need or imagine.  His grace is always sufficient because His love is so extravagantly wrapped around all of our days. 

Oh Lord, steady our gaze in the bleakness, steady our gaze in danger and fear, steady our gaze in disappointment, steady our gaze in heartache and doubt, steady our gaze in everything I face including abundance, that we may see only Your love, care, guidance, will and provision.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-12, NIV)

Finding something new in the old Story of David and Goliath.

“And the Philistine said, ‘I defy the armies of Israel this day! Give me a man, that we may fight together!’  When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.”  ( 1 Samuel 17:10, KJ21)

  The Bible story of David and Goliath is a story almost everyone everywhere knows quite well.  Some people may nothing of the Bible or Christianity but they probably know this story.  They may know the story because the theme or moral of the story. In fact the story  has become a cliché even in our secular society, as people refer to someone championing against all odds as a, “David versus Goliath” type of battle.  Many people delight in seeing the underdog win against a mighty foe which is the essence of what happened in this story.

     Many Christians view this story as a faith story, with David being the example of a true hero of the faith. David indeed stands as a hero in this story, as someone who believes in the power of God when no one else believes and stands up to fight when everyone else is running away or cowering in their tents.  David had dealt with fear many times as a shepherd in the open country on dark and lonely nights. He had learned to trust in God and be brave knowing God was with him.  David was not a big man but a rather small young man with a tremendous faith in a living God.

     David tries to encourage the men of Saul’s army to take up the challenge and destroy this physical giant of a man. None of them … would even consider fighting Goliath, even as they tell of the great reward to be given anyone who defeats this giant.  David refuses the armor of Saul and the logical weaponry of the soldier.  Instead he chooses stones and a sling. David wins the battle against all odds and Goliath the mighty undefeated giant is killed.

     Have you ever considered what really motivated David to fight this giant and was really so offensive, to David, that he would be willing to risk his life over this situation? We know that he was the bravest of all the men in the army of Israel and that his faith was stronger than anyone else.  We know David believed God would deliver him from this giant, just as He had delivered him from the wild animals when he was shepherding.

     This fight was not a contest of superior strength and fighting skill to David. It was question of standing for the mighty God whom he knew so well. Goliath the arrogant giant was mocking David’s living God. David could not allow this offence to continue. Today our God is discounted and pushed aside by giants in power as they arrogantly declare their superiority before us.  We are not called to engage in hand to hand combat for our God in a literal way, but we should be willing to stand in faith to declare His honor. The giants in our land most likely are not named Goliath, but we are still called to follow David’s example and through faith, stand in the power of the living God against them.

“Then said David to the Philistine, ‘Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand. And I will smite thee and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”(1 Samuel 17:43-47, KJ21)

Suggested Reading … 1 Samuel 17

Looking again, to see as God sees …

“It says,” … “that you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind. And you must love your neighbor just as much as you love yourself.” (Luke 10:27, TLB)

     There is an aspect of seeing that we can miss at times, even if we have eyes to see everything around us.  We can in our casualness become unseeing and dismissive of people around us. It happens when we are consumed with our own busy lives, schedules and the thoughts.  We see others but then again, we don’t see them somehow. We were headed somewhere or had something to do and we couldn’t be bothered. Sometimes we even see them and we avoid them for whatever reason.  In the latter sense we border on sin because we are choosing who we care about and who we are interested in. As Christians we allow this unseeing to happen to us and it really shouldn’t if we are being sensitive to the Holy Spirit. If we have the love of Christ in us as, we should allow the love of God to flow through us without determining who is worthy to be loved.  God loves the world and everyone in it and He loves us each one of us without partiality (Romans 2:11).  Each one of us, are to be imitators and givers of that great love. 

Jesus gives us a powerful parable and completely relevant faith lesson in the story of The Good Samaritan. In this parable, He teaches us about real love in action. He leaves us with this powerful directive, “Yes, now go and do the same” (Luke 10:37, TLB).  He also gives witness to the selective treatment of others and its affects.  What we fail at times to remember in the story we call The Good Samaritan; is our treatment of others does reflect our relationship with God.  Christ’s list of characters includes the very religious, the very busy and an unexpected righteous and benevolent benefactor.  He also deals with the power of prejudice as He gives us an antihero as the one who truly is kind and loving. The Good Samaritan is the true neighbor who loves with the love of God because he sees need and loves by providing without hesitation or conditions.  It is a parable; that is both cautionary and directive as it reminds us to see others in need and to be attentive in our awareness and treatment of any persons we find around us.  This includes loving any non-Christians and our treatment of Christian brothers and sisters as well.  Our love should be sincere and must not be in “in word and in tongue but in deed and truth” (1 John 4:18). We must see as Savior sees. 

God is aware of the hairs on our head, loving us with a love that runs that deeper than we can imagine.  May we all love others and see others in manner that is representative of how God sees us.  Maybe the challenge is to slow down enough in what we are thinking about; to see everyone we pass by each day. We need to care about people more than ourselves and our schedule.  The love of God in us should cast aside any inconvenience as it responds in loving action to others. His love in us must be without partiality to those we hardly know, to those different then ourselves and to those no one expects us to love.  If we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, we must love others in the way that God has loved us. The love of The Good Samaritan exhibited came from knowing God’s love as love without measure or limits. He loved as God loves because he loved God with all of his heart, soul and strength.  He allowed his eyes to see as God sees.   Helen Keller addressing the physical act of not being able to see, said this, “The lack of sight forbids our hands to engage in many of the noblest human acts, but love is open to us and love teaches us the highest of arts – the art of living.”  Lord, help us to truly see others as you see them and love them as you love us. 

“Do this and you shall live” (TLB, Luke 10:28).

Suggested Reading ... Luke 10

Letting go of what, we cannot really hold on to …

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose." — Jim Elliot

  We all have heard and most likely repeated this quotation as so vitally important in our walk of true and living faith. It may be a thought that we would probably publicly state that we agree with.  Still the reality is that it is a bit easier to agree with than the truthful idea contained in the thought, than to actually live out the reality in our lives. 

      In a greater sense, most of us know and most likely would say that we are followers of Jesus Christ. Yet Jesus puts it a different way, “Then he said to the crowd, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me’’ (Luke 9:23 NLT). We know of His words regarding the giving up of our lives to follow Him, but do we live that way.

     There are millions of people that would say they are Christians, there are millions of people that wear a cross around their neck and there are millions of people that give up some things for their Lord but there are few that really give up all as true followers. It is easy to speak of being a Christian or wear a cross but it considerably more difficult to turn from our selfish ways, pick up the cross daily and follow Christ. Yet, here is the interesting and powerful reality in being a true follower and disciple of Jesus Christ … as we give up our selfish ways and desires, we gain what we cannot lose.  Of course we gain our salvation but beyond our salvation through the sanctification of Jesus Christ, we gain the eternal transformation which comes as the Holy Spirit changes our hearts, actions and our very person-hood.  We are made new and become a new person as the old is left behind and transformed into the new creation by and in the saving and sanctifying grace of our Lord Jesus Christ ((2 Corinthians 5:17).

     Most Christians rejoice in their salvation from their sins and may share about being “born again” but in reality most are hesitant and even resistant in their giving up in their lives or even specific parts of their lives. Some people retain  parts of our personalities that they won’t let God transform because they cannot give them up. They Some people grasp tightly their material possessions hardly acknowledging that all things we have are a gift from God.  Some people live their Christian lives without the slightest giving up of anything. Thus faith, for many people is something like an insurance card they carry in the car … they have the assurance of what faith covers and they might need it from time to time but their faith is not vital alive in all that they do. 

      Become a true follower of Jesus Christ. Abandon yourself to Him. Follow Him in all that you do. Live out, all of your days, your seasons and in every way by releasing them to Jesus Christ as your Lord.  In word and deed look to Him not only as Savior but as your Lord. You will have to give up some things along the way but you will be transformed in their release and you definitely will gain what you cannot lose.

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Colossians 3:17 KJV).  

Suggested Reading … Colossians 3

Why me, I am among the least …

“But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel?” My clan is the weakest … and I am the least in my family” (Judges 6:15, NIV).

  Being the least among men and women, opens the door to God doing mighty things through you.  Was not Gideon just a farmer; David, a humble shepherd boy; Matthew, an  average tax collector;  Andrew – Peter –James and John, simple fishermen;  Joseph, a carpenter and Mary a humble young maiden?   The Almighty God and our precious Lord and Savior were not as much interested in the great faith of these people, as they were in their willingness to believe and follow.  It was not something innate in their faith that God and Jesus Christ intimately knew and chose but the depth of their soft and humble hearts to believe and follow.  God saw in the fertile spiritual substance of these humble hearts, a faith which could grow in capacity for His mighty works to be accomplished in their lives. 

      When Almighty God, Jesus the Christ and the Holy Spirit speak, guide and ask anything of anyone; there is in the initial beckoning, call and desire - a starting place. The starting place is not found in a lofty name, a prestigious position, a staggering heritage or even in a commanding sense of spiritual expression and faith.  The starting place for the mighty work of God to begin in the life of anyone; requires the overwhelming sense of a humble and honest assessment of one’s position in the needing of the amazing grace of Almighty God to save, bless and use us.   

     This prerequisite humble and honest foundational place might be best exemplified in the simple statement, “Why me, Lord, I am the least among my family and the faith?”  We must begin each encounter in our walk of faith with this statement or our Lord will have to stop us midst our innate prideful living to humble us to such a place.  This our Lord did with the Apostle Paul on the Damascus road and He will do again with any lofty evaluations of self-importance on any journey of faith. The mighty acts and works of God in our lives always require the position and acknowledgement of ourselves,  being in the least of places.

     If we want to grow in our faith and see God do mighty things in our lives we must let go of the any pretensions, arrogance and falseness and humble ourselves before God. Almighty God must be lifted up to His rightful place as Creator God and Lord of Lords.  In reality, our true place before God is a humble place and it is from that place, He begins His mighty works.  Let us be joyous in our position as to be noted among the least of men and women.  It is a great place to be and a wonderful place to see God do mighty things as we walk along with Him in faith.

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7, KJ21). 

Suggested Reading ... Judges 6 & 7