I feel challenged in my life to stop seeing God's Word as mere suggestions and to see them as Truth and commands to live by. God said that if we love Him, then we will obey Him. He says that He came that we might have life and to the fullest. He says that the blessed man is the one that does not forget what he has heard, but the one who does it.(James 1:25) And this will require us to seek Him, read His Word, become familiar with the Word and His heart towards us. It will also require us to be led by the Word and not our flesh and when the flesh dies, it can be painful! But what we see and feel is temporary; what is unseen is eternal. God does not lead our lives with only the here and now in His view....He leads our lives knowing that we have an eternity ahead of us and He wants that to be spent with Him. "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
(2 Corinthians 4:17,18)
Fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith~ Hebrews 12:2
Over time I have learned the value of this truth and find myself returning to it over and over again. If we do not fix our eyes on Him, we will live lives of compromise, confusion, and double-mindedness. The majority of the time, I truly know what God is speaking to my heart. I know the direction He is taking me in. I know what He is asking of me. But it's when my eyes begin to wonder that I start to question what I know, what I believe, and what I have heard in my heart; those things that I know God has personally called me to do or not to do. It's when my eyes look at those around me and at the standards and ways of the world that I begin to let human reasoning and logic take its toll on me. This is why we have to fix our eyes on Him. Our hearts may know, our minds may know, but what we see may lead us astray. This is because God works in each of our lives in such a personal way. He alone knows the hearts, thoughts and intentions of man. He meets us all where we are and begins to move us to the place He wants us to be. I find so much comfort in His Word that says, I know the plans that I have for you; they are to bless you and prosper you; to do you good and not harm. This is great news when my flesh is screaming!
Let me be clear about something. God's Word and standards are not up for debate; there are no exceptions to His Word and His heart is the same towards ALL He has made. However, we all have different callings, gifts, talents, and areas of influence. This is why we have to filter what God speaks to our hearts through nothing but the Word of God. I think of what John Bevere wrote in one of his books. Basically, he said that we do not have to wonder what God will use to judge us when we face Him, and we all will. We will be judged on the Word of God. We will be held accountable to the Truths that God speaks to us and our lives. We cannot fix our eyes on the 'sinner' or even the 'awesome Christian family that's not doing what we know God has called us to do and they are doing fine'. Only God knows the beginning from the end for us and our families.
I find it disturbing that to follow the commands of God these days seems almost like we are being fanatics, extreme, or even 'holy rollers'! But we have to know that the opinions of man will not stand forever, only the plans of God will stand through ALL generations. (Psalms 33:11) I find great comfort in knowing that His plans for me are for my good and the good of my children. So I must remind myself to fix my eyes on Him... the Author and the Finisher. He will has given me all that I need to live a life that pleases Him. I must choose it everyday.
