BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.....

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace...

5:45 AM…my alarm goes off this morning and clear as if someone was singing in my ear, that song came to my mind…

The weight of everyday life; we all experience it from day to day in differing situations and in differing intensities. Whether it’s financial, kids, work, household environment, spouse or just simply feeling like you’re being pulled in 20 different directions at once. Over time the weight, the pressure, the expectations (either self-imposed or external)…bogs you down, distracts you from the things that are truly important and steals your joy. And as you continue to focus on these distractions, you can pull those closest to you down as well and before you know it, you’ve created an environment of defeat and depression.

Lately I’ve been guilty of this very thing, allowing the ‘road bumps’ of life to accumulate and distract me. I focus on the minute and lose focus of the big picture. Daily, I walk through my life, putting the cares and burdens I come across on my back. Each day that I don’t go to the cross of grace, they stay piled on my back and the next day, I pile more on…they get heavier and they slow me down. I worry over the insignificant, momentary troubles and forget the blessings that God has so richly showered on me…can you say, ‘Loss of Perspective?’ This DEFINITELY isn’t the way God wants us to live life! In John 10:10b Jesus says, ‘…I have come that you may have life and have it to the full!’

Once we grasp the fact that God's power literally resides in us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can see the weight, the distraction and sin that would otherwise ensnare us, and say "Wow! Why is that such a struggle; it’s such a ridiculous little thing keeping me from getting close to God and the joyous life He intends for me." Colossians 3:2 tells us to ‘Set your mind on things above, and not on Earthly things.’ So, daily I need to remind myself and pray for God to change my mindset. Basically it has to do with setting my mind on things above, and not thinking about all the struggles around me, which is what I found myself doing. Reading the Word and prayer are essential in accomplishing this. 2 Corinthians 10: 4-5 says ‘The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.’ But what is the practicality of this? How do we do this? Philippians 4:8 tells us, ‘Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.’
The pattern of this world is to say that we need to take care of our own issues…that we need to help ourselves because no one else will. Christ says in Matthew 11:28 ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest.’ We need to break our concern with horizontal Earthly issues and re-establish our vertical Heavenly relationship. Once we turn our eyes and focus back to Jesus, the weight of this world and the cares of our present time will fade like smoke in a breeze.

Hebrews 12:1-2 ‘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.’

It's about time that I cast off these weights and run my Christian race with endurance...
It’s time for me to stop allowing Satan to entangle me in his lies and hampering my effectiveness for Christ...
It’s time that I turn and fix my eyes on Jesus...

He is waiting - won't you join me?

~ V