Looked in a Mirror Lately?

My Utmost For His Highest

 

Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters . . . , so our eyes look to the Lord our God . . . —Psalm 123:2

This verse is a description of total reliance on God. Just as the eyes of a servant are riveted on his master, our eyes should be directed to and focused on God. This is how knowledge of His countenance is gained and how God reveals Himself to us (see Isaiah 53:1). Our spiritual strength begins to be drained when we stop lifting our eyes to Him. Our stamina is sapped, not so much through external troubles surrounding us but through problems in our thinking. […]  your reliance on God is gone, and you are now relying on worldly opinion. The danger comes when, no longer relying on God, you neglect to focus your eyes on Him. Only when God brings you to a sudden stop will you realize that you have been the loser. Whenever there is a spiritual drain in your life, correct it immediately. Realize that something has been coming between you and God, and change or remove it at once.

Have you ever been talking to your children, giving them instructions .. and they say “I understand.”? When I hear that the question that comes to my mind almost immediately is “But will you do it?” The Bible is our guide … our operator’s manual … but … reading or hearing the Word is only half of the formula …

 

Matthew 7:24-27 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

 

Jesus said that we are fools if we merely listen to the Word .. and don’t heed it …

 

James 1:21-24 “ But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”

 

James said we are deceiving ourselves in thinking that hearing (or reading) is enough.  Going to the pool every day and sitting in the water does not make you a swimmer any more than just going to church faithfully every Sunday and sitting in a pew and not going to sleep makes you a better Christian …

 

It is a simple truth .. but for something being so simple .. why is it so difficult … because it is the nature of our flesh to seek its own way …. A disciple must be disciplined … “Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the One I love.  Take my heart, Lord, take and seal it .. seal it for Thy courts above …”

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)