FROM: Banbury, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
ABOUT ME: Living the highs and lows of life in the adventurous pursuit of God Himself and of who I'm meant to be as the Bride of Christ.
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Monday, October 27, 2008,7:53 p.m.
FIXING THE EYES AGAIN (AND AGAIN)
I've been continuing to receive teaching from the Lord about perspective - fixing our eyes on Him and Him alone. I suppose it's all the SAME teaching, I just keep getting it. (I think the Lord is hoping one day I will get it.)
Here are some little thoughts on the matter:
We must fix our eyes on Jesus – have HIM be the One that we are constantly looking at in every situation and for everything we need.
We must not see God or know Him in relation to who we are or what we’re going through. We must see ourselves and know ourselves in relation to who God is and what He is saying or doing. For example, God is not a God of healing because I am broken and I needed healing. God is a God of healing – PERIOD. I can be healed because this is who He is.
Here are some little thoughts on the matter:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
We must fix our eyes on Jesus – have HIM be the One that we are constantly looking at in every situation and for everything we need.
We must not see God or know Him in relation to who we are or what we’re going through. We must see ourselves and know ourselves in relation to who God is and what He is saying or doing. For example, God is not a God of healing because I am broken and I needed healing. God is a God of healing – PERIOD. I can be healed because this is who He is.
From the one perspective – where our eyes are fixed on ourselves – we box God into our own circumstances, whatever they may be. We see Him relative to who we are or what we need or say or believe or love. This is still a perspective of looking at ourselves instead of fixing our eyes on Him.
From the other perspective – where our eyes are fixed on God – we allow the magnitude of who He is to be as unlimited as it actually is. We can then see ourselves relative to this large picture. If I fix my eyes on myself, I would come up with this: I am a worshipper, and God is the object of my worship. This defines ME. But with my eyes fixed on God, I see that God is worthy of all worship, and so I become a worshipper. This defines GOD (and incidentally I also am defined in terms of God – I find my identity in God).
From the other perspective – where our eyes are fixed on God – we allow the magnitude of who He is to be as unlimited as it actually is. We can then see ourselves relative to this large picture. If I fix my eyes on myself, I would come up with this: I am a worshipper, and God is the object of my worship. This defines ME. But with my eyes fixed on God, I see that God is worthy of all worship, and so I become a worshipper. This defines GOD (and incidentally I also am defined in terms of God – I find my identity in God).
They seem such simple little "point of view" changes, but the truth is that we are conditioned to look at ourselves, both by our sin nature and by the culture that has raised us. I have been awed and humbled by the difference in my whole life - peace, wisdom, joy, my entire perspective on every situation, be it good or difficult - as I raise my head and fix my eyes on Jesus.
