Monday Morning Devotion-February 3, 2014
A Gaze, A Glance
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. Hebrews 12:2
Here's
the difference between a gaze and a glance.
If you gaze upon someone or something you look intently and steadily in
that direction. To gaze is to stare.
Now to glance instead is to take a quick look. It's sudden and brief.
These are important distinctions especially when it comes
to solving problems. Here's why. Jesus instructs us to "gaze at me, glance at
problems ---this is the secret of living victoriously." (Jesus Today,
pg58)
But we often do the opposite. When we have a problem it often consumes most
of our attention. We gaze at the problem
for a long period of time. Can't get it
out of our minds. Dwell on it. Our mindset is usually that we want to get
past it as quickly as possible.
Sometimes we are so entrapped by this difficulty that it
hinders our performance in other areas.
Might not spend enough time on our work.
Could detract from quality family time.
Hinders or eliminates our assisting others.
Reading further Jesus Today says…"I have called you to
live supernaturally, and I have empowered you to do so. The Holy Spirit, who lives in all My
followers, enables you to live beyond yourself ---to transcend your natural
tendencies."
Let's look at that statement a little further or more
specifically study that one word "supernaturally" because it could be
misunderstood.
Many people may associate the word "supernatural" with
ghosts or spooks. Too much comic book
reading or scary movies will contribute to that. But Webster's Dictionary also lists among the
definitions for supernatural as: "not
explainable by the known forces or laws of nature; specifically of, involving
or attributed to God…"
This could get a
little tricky but the way I see it is that we live in the natural world. But, as believers we become aware of and
function in the spiritual world also.
The reason that Jesus calls us to "live supernaturally' is that through
His power we are able to do more good than we could ever do alone.
Makes sense because the word supernatural suggests that
we live above the natural. It is higher
in quality. The Super Bowl was just
played in New Jersey. It is considered
the ultimate goal of all those who play the game of football to play in the
Super Bowl. Most of the participants say
it is what they have dreamed about since they were youngsters. This game is
called Super because you have win many others and tread a grueling path to get
there. Many sacrifices must be made.
The sacrifice that enables us live a Super Bowl kind of a
life everyday has already been made for us.
When Jesus died on the cross he paid the price for us to be able to live
supernaturally. It doesn't mean that we
are empowered to do bad things and get away with it like you might see some of
the spooks/ghostly creatures in fiction do.
Being led by the Holy Spirit in a supernatural realm is
not fiction. In John 14 Jesus says to
His disciples. "If you love me, you will
obey what I command. And I will ask the
Father and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever---the Spirit
of Truth. The world cannot accept him,
because it neither sees him nor knows him.
But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you."
So Jesus has basically promised that when we accept him
we will have the same helper/counselor that the Father gave to the
disciples. This Holy Spirit who dwells
with in us enables us to live supernaturally which elevates our standard of
living in the natural world. This occurs
because we no longer depend on ourselves alone for solutions to these worldly
problems.
Christian writer, Tim Smith (Breakthrough House
Ministries) puts it this way;
"Supernatural people are people who live beyond their personal
limitations, bearing fruit beyond their abilities, because they are empowered
by the Holy Spirit. The Bible word for
this power is grace. We are created for
this, and I believe we all hunger for this as well. 'I can do all things through Him who
strengthens me.' The result then is, I
live in this natural world with spiritual power."
Doing these things and gaining this strength requires
more than a glance in the Lord's direction.
It requires spending time there.
Reading His Word. Praying. Developing a relationship with Him and
others. Being a part of a Christian
community of believers is important.
Richard J. Foster in his book on prayer says: "Christian community is a gift of God created
by the power of the Spirit and based upon our forgiveness in Jesus Christ. We all live under the gracious shadow of the
cross, forgiving and being forgiving."
But I may be making it sound easier than it is. There are some forces out there that would
like to distract you and knock you off course in your Spirit-led, Supernatural
life. So we need to be determined in our
efforts toward supernatural living.
"Ask my Spirit to help you fix your gaze on Me. Invite Him to alert you whenever you get
overly focused on problems so you can redirect your attention to Me. This is hard work, because it is not only
unnatural but also countercultural.
Mover the evil one and his demons seek to distract you from My
presence. All these influences working
togeth er put massive pressure on you to
pay attention to your problems---or else!
So you need the assistance of My Spirit continually. Ask Him to help you deal with difficulties as
needed, while reserving the bulk of your attention for me---your constant
Companion."
You can live in the dual worlds of normality and
supernaturally together. The
supernatural part is what will enable you to excel.
But, it requires more than a glance. You must gaze upon the Lord so he can direct
you.
Monday Prayer: The song
says for us to "turn our eyes upon Jesus and look full in His wonderful
face." When we gaze upon Him that's when
our lives are wonderfully changed.
Amen!
***Author's
note: Gaze in the right direction this
week and see how your life changes.