Over the past few weeks, I keep hearing the words, "fix your eyes on Me." I've noticed during my walk with the Lord that when He lays something on your heart, you can rest assured you will hear it more than once and usually from various sources. Such has been the case with this phrase. So, naturally, I am sharing this with you. This topic could actually make up an entire page rather than just a few paragraphs, but I can tell you for me, there are two very real reasons we should fix our eyes on Jesus: 1) To avoid temptations and 2) To resist doubt
You know, in life, we are bombarded with so many distractions and temptations. Things come at us to entice and to allure us. Most often, we don't even realize we have lost our focus until we wake up one morning saying, "God, what is wrong with me?" or "How did I end up here, again? What was I thinking?" Matthew 6:22-24 (NIV) is recorded as, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness..." Oh, be careful little eyes what you see, LITERALLY!
I believe I shared this story in a previous post, but it is so awesome I don't mind telling you again! During a worship service at my church, the Pastor made reference to Hebrews 4:15 which NIV translates as, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin." With what I thought would be an inner monologue, I questioned, "Lord, how did you do that?" Before I could finish my thought, He answered, "I kept my eyes on the Father." I love it when He does that!
If we will keep our eyes on Jesus, we will not lose heart. We can keep pressing toward the mark. I've just finished The Power of Simple Prayer: How to Talk with God about Everything by Joyce Meyer. This is an awesome book and very timely, I believe. Meyer writes, "In order to resist doubt and stay in faith, we need to stare at Him, at His goodness, at His ability to help us, at His love for us, and merely glance at our problems." Just as Peter was unable to complete his walk on the water, we too will sink into the vast sea of despair, hopelessness, worry, and doubt if we take our eyes off of Jesus.
Ponder this: It is written in Lamentations 5:16 that "Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim." I have come so close to death naturally and spiritually. For the purpose of this post, I would like to focus on spiritual death. I can truly say, when your eyes grow dim, your heart does become faint. Life happens, indeed! The thing to remember is "all things work together for the good." Life happens, but it doesn't just happen. It is purposeful--God has a plan as is confirmed in Jeremiah 29:11. Don't let the "lamp of your body" become dim. 1 Peter 5:8 warns us to "stay alert and pay attention. There's an enemy out there."
I encourage you to fix your eyes on Jesus. You will not regret it. You will walk in power and in love and in VICTORY!
Proverbs 4:25-27
"Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.
Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path.
Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil."
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