Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

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

I grew up singing this song, but not until recently have the words become so meaningful to me.  I was at a women's Bible study that I attend each Monday night about a month ago and we sang this hymn.  I hadn't sung it in probably a few years or at least I hadn't sung it with my whole heart in that amount of time.  Since that night I have had the opportunity to sing this song three different times at three different places and each time it speaks as a gentle reminder to my heart.  

Turn your eyes upon Jesus!  Look FULL in His wonderful face!  And the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace!  SO TRUE!  When we turn our eyes to our sweet Savior the things that this world tells us are important start to disappear.  

I find myself so often getting caught up in the THINGS of this world.  They are just that, they are things, and when I stand before my God one day soon I don't want to try to explain why I thought those THINGS were important.  I catch myself almost daily desiring things of this world.  I want new clothes, I want new shoes, I want new dishes, I want new furniture, I want this, and I want that.  But as I think about these things I am reminded that I have an over abundance.  I am reminded that I have brothers and sisters who have no shoes, only one set of clothes, and don't even have food to go on the new dishes that I desire.  And I am humbled that my God has blessed me with so many things.  Why me?  Why did I get born into a family of an incredible man and woman who not only could meet every need I ever had, but covered me with unconditional love?  All I can conclude is that He gave me much, so that I could give much.

When I look at the face of my sweet Jesus and am reminded of His glory and grace, the things of this world lose appeal.  They can't even compare to seeing the face of my savior.  Sure I still have earthly desires, but what I desire more than anything else is to see my Jesus' face.  I desire to dwell in His presence.  I desire to know Him more.  And the more and more that I get to know Him the less and less I desire this world and the more and more I desire heaven.   

Why would I live for this world when I can live for eternity?  Why would I store up treasures here on earth when I can store up treasures in heaven that will last for eternity?

There are so many things that this world tells me are important.  It's important for me to drive a nice car.  It's important for me to have a nice house.  It's important for me to wear nice clothes.  It's important for me to be popular.  It's important for me to have a good job.  It's important for me to have this and to do that.  

This world tells me it's important to go to college, then to graduate school, and then if that wasn't enough that I need a PhD.  All for what?  So that I can get a good job and make a lot of money so that I can buy a lot of things that I can't bring with me to heaven.  Don't get me wrong, I think all of those things can be great if the motivation behind them is gaining skills to help impact the kingdom.  But I must remember that my Jesus took men who had no education and used them to impact eternity.  They had very little treasure here on earth.  They had one tunic and a pair of sandals, yet I believe they stored up for themselves far greater riches that will last for eternity.

I must keep my eyes fixed on my Jesus.  I must remember that He has already given me something far greater than I could ever buy.  He has covered me with His grace.  He has given me shelter in His love.  He has filled my heart with a joy that comes from knowing I have the best gift ever waiting for me.  When I turn and look at my Jesus and see His face the things of this earth lose their appeal.  When I look at the face of my sweet Savior I am reminded that I have something that can never be taken away from me, I have never ending grace!  He is so so good to me!  May we fix our eyes on our Jesus and be transformed into His likeness more and more with each breath that we take!

Will you teach me about Jesus?

God works in so many incredible ways!  I'm thankful for the way He takes a broken person like me and somehow uses my brokenness to show people how incredible He is.  His grace is sufficient for me, for His power is made perfect in my weakness!

A couple of months ago the dad of the family I lived with when I originally moved to Little Rock came up to me at church and told me that he knew a girl who needed a place to stay for the night.  I had never met this girl before, but I told him that if she was cool with sleeping on a couch that I had two that were super comfortable.

Later that night Ariana showed up at my apartment.  Followed by my intern Emily.  First thing she asked when she walked into my apartment was, "do you usually let strangers stay at your place?"  I told her that there are tons of random people that stay at my place, but that she was the first stranger to ever stay with me.  What started as awkward small talk soon turned to more meaningful conversation and a time of prayer before bed.

The next morning I woke up to make Ariana and Emily breakfast.  The two of them had stayed up really late talking about family, God, the Bible, and tons of other stuff.  During breakfast we talked about church and Jesus and she said that she wanted to come on Sunday morning.

Sunday morning rolled around and Ariana was there!  What turned into one Sunday morning quickly turned into another and into weekly Wednesday nights at Coach Cash's house.  She became quick friends with one of my girls who graduated last year in the college class, Chloe Deaton.  If you know Chloe then you know that there isn't a person in this world that could make anyone feel more comfortable and loved!  As the months passed we would get together around once a week to hang out, have dinner, go to a movie, walk the bridge, or just chill at my place.  I am so thankful for the constant opportunities that God gave me to share His story with her.

Last month I got a text from Ariana after church one night that just said, "Will you teach me about Jesus tomorrow?"  All I could say back was, "I would love to!"  Her hunger and desire to grow in her relationship with God has been so incredible to see.  She has been such a blessing to my life.

This past monday I was locked in my office on my knees spending time in prayer and Ariana was really on my heart.  I felt an urging to pray for her.  I prayed that God would continue to grow her faith down deep in Him and that she would continue to grow in her relationship with Him.  When I finished praying I got up and saw that my phone was flashing.  Of course I had just missed a phone call and a text from Ariana, she was checking to see if I was in my office.  About an hour later Ariana shows up at the church building to talk.  I had no clue what she wanted to talk about, but after a few minutes of talking about her family she looks at me and says, "I want to know about baptism."  God, was this not exactly what I had just been praying about?  Man He works in such incredible ways.

We sat in my office for a few hours discussing baptism and the Holy Spirit and Jesus' death on the cross.  She asked questions and we looked for the answers in His Word.  After our discussion she looked at me and said, "I want to be baptized tonight.  I want the gift of the Holy Spirit.  I want God living inside of me!"  WOW Her faith and desire to know God more and more is contagious.

So this past Monday, on Halloween, with just a few friends and her uncle present Ariana was baptized into Jesus Christ.  Praise God!  Only He could have known a few months ago when a girl got kicked out of her home and needed a place to stay that He had so much more in store for her.  He works in amazing ways.  His faithfulness is amazing.

I pray that God will continue to strengthen my sweet sister in Christ who has been through so much.  I trust that He has awesome plans in store for her and that He is going to use her in beautiful ways to impact His kingdom.  He is God!  He is good!

What if the Point is Deeper?

The storms come.  They do, and they aren't fun.  If this world is comfortable, easy, and painless then I beg you to look and see if you have truly picked up your cross and are following in the steps of our humble Savior.  His Word tells us that if we are truly His disciples that there will be storms.  There will be struggles.  There will be persecution.


In Mark 10 Peter speaks up, surprise surprise, and says, "We've given up everything to follow you."  Jesus replied, "Yes, and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property - ALONG WITH PERSECUTION.  Mark 10:28-30


It's not a matter of IF the storms will come, it's a matter of when.  They are going to come.  There are going to be times that are hard.  I pray that when the storms do come that our foundation will be the rock of Christ.  He can't be shaken.  He has overcome the world, and I have Him living inside of me!  There is nothing more incredible and reassuring than that!


So when the storms come how will I react?  Will I choose to run to the arms of my heavenly Father and know that He is holding me close or will I choose to question how He could ever let bad things happen to me?


I'm starting to learn that there is no reason for me to be impatient with God.  He is God.  Who am I to question His timing?  When bad things happen and when we go through the storms we have to remember that He has the power.  I know that my God has the power to calm the storms.  I read about my Jesus calming the storms.  I know that He has the power.  I know that He can do it.  I know that He can fix anything that is causing me pain, but what if the point is so much deeper than that?  I know He can fix it.  He knows He can fix it.  But what if the point of the storm is so much deeper than just surviving the storm?  What if the point is learning to know Him more?  What if the point is learning to trust Him more?  What if the point is learning to enjoy Him more?  What if the point is learning to surrender more to Him?  What if the point is learning to hunger for Him more?  What if the point is learning to love Him more?  What if the point of the storm is so much deeper?


When I look back over some of the storms I have been through I am amazed at how He delivered me in His timing.  I remember the first six months after moving to Little Rock being incredibly hard.  I was in the middle of a huge storm and I didn't know how to calm it or make it stop.  At the beginning of the storm I was impatient with God and wanted the storm to be over right away, but it wasn't that easy.  The storm drug on.  But as the waves and wind would hit me and I would fall, I quickly found that staying on my face crying out in prayer to my God was the best place to be.  The storm stunk.  It really did, and I would never want to relive that storm.  But I would never want to take it away either.  That storm taught me so much.  That storm grew me so much.  For the first time in my life I would lock myself in my office and  spend hours on my face crying out to God.  For the first time in my life I couldn't get enough of His Word.  He was my strength.  I was clinging to Him.  The point of the storm was so much deeper than what I saw.  I was learning to know Him more.  I was learning to trust Him more.  I was learning to enjoy Him more.  I was learning to surrender to Him more.  I was learning to hunger for Him more.  I was learning to love Him more.


The storms will come.  This whole pick up your cross and follow after me thing was never meant to be easy or comfortable.  But I take comfort knowing that when the storms do come that my God can and will use what satan intends for evil to bring good.  He will deliver us.  He is faithful.  His timing is perfect.  His power is limitless.  It's not that He can't calm the storm, He definitely can.  But what if He knows that the storm is going to draw you closer to Him?  What if the purpose of the storm is so much greater than just surviving the storm?


This reminds me of one of my favorite songs by Ginny Owens:
The pathway is broken
And The signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to 

Cause I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone

So When the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through
And I will go through the valley If You want me to




I pray that when the storms come we will hold tight.  We will trust more.  We will hunger more.  We will surrender more.  We will know Him more.  We will love Him more.  May we be able to see that sometimes the point of the storm is so much deeper than just surviving the storm.

Have Faith

That evening the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late.  Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves." But Jesus said, "That isn't necessary - you feed them."  "But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!" they answered.  "Bring them here," he said.  Then he told the people to sit down on the grass.  Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them.  Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people.  They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers.  About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children!  Matthew 14:15-21

I love the power of our awesome God and Savior.  There is NOTHING too hard for Him.  He is so faithful to us.  When He calls us to something He provides us with what we need to do His work.  He told his disciples to feed the people.  They must have looked at Him like He was crazy.  You want us to feed all of these people with only 5 loaves of bread and two fish?  He says, Yes.  That is more than enough.

So often we look at situations that God calls us to and say, "You want me to do that?  I don't have enough to do that."  He looks at us and knows that what little we have is more than enough with His power.  I pray that in faith we will be able to look towards God when He calls us to do what we might believe is impossible and say, "Lord I don't have much, but what I do have I give it ALL to you.  I trust that with You it can be more than enough."

What baffles me even more about the disciples, and scares me that I am just like them, is that in the next chapter of Matthew the same situation comes up and they question again how they will feed so many people.

Then Jesus called his disciples and told them, "I feel sorry for these people.  They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat.  I don't want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way."  The disciples replied, "Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?"  Jesus asked, "How much bread do you have?"  They replied, "Seven loaves, and a few small fish."  So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground.  Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God for them,  and broke them into pieces.  He gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd.  They all ate as much as they wanted.  Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food.  There were 4,000 men who were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children.  Matthew 15:32-38

I feel like Jesus gives them a chance to remember what He did just one chapter before.  He gives them a chance to say we have seven loaves of bread and a few fish, we know that is more than enough for you to feed them with.  He gives them a chance to remember how He has provided in the past.  He gives them a chance to say, we don't have much but we trust that if we give it to you that it is more than enough.  But instead they say, "Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?"  I wonder if Jesus gets a little frustrated here with his disciples.  Had they already forgotten how He had fed 5,000+ with just 5 loaves and 2 fish not that long ago?

Now there are less people and even more food than the first feeding, yet the disciples forget the faithfulness and power of their Good Teacher.  Sometimes I think we can relate with the disciples.  How many times have we seen the faithfulness and provisions of our awesome God yet we forget what He has done for us?  We are faced with a situation where we think we don't have enough to be able to handle it, and all we need to do is turn to Him and say, "Lord I don't have much, but what I do have I give it ALL to you.  I trust that with You it will be more than enough."  How many times do we try to fix everything on our own and then turn to prayer as a last resort, instead of turning to God before we do anything on our own?

I pray that I will remember all that my Savior has provided for me and have faith.  I pray that I will turn first to Him before I do anything else.  I pray that I will bring what I have to the feet of my Jesus and say, "I don't have much, but what I do have I give it ALL to you.  I trust that with You it is more than enough."  I pray that I will never forget the power of my awesome God.  I pray that I will have faith in Him in ALL circumstances.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.  Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.  Ephesians 3:20-21

Dreams that Impact Eternity

This video is so very challenging to me.  Last week I went running through a nice neighborhood behind the church building and was looking at a bunch of beautiful houses.  I was thinking to myself, wouldn't it be nice to have a house like that.  But the more I thought about that the more I realized that that dream was for something temporary.  Don't get me wrong I think temporary dreams and goals are important, but are we dreaming about things that will impact eternity as well?

When I think about my dreams I want some of them to go far beyond this world.  I want my dreams to involve eternity.  I don't want to get caught up living so much for this world right now that I miss the bigger picture.  I want to give up the pleasures of this short short short temporary world for something that will never end.  How dumb is it for us to trade eternal awesomeness for just temporary gain?

So when I dream I pray that my dreams will look towards eternity.  I dream that I will help tons of people come to know my sweet savior more fully so that they can spend eternity with Him.  I dream that God will help me to meet the needs of thousands of starving people.  People who are starving physically and spiritually.  I dream that I will be able to take in orphans who need a family and somebody to show them love.  I dream that I will live in my saviors will with each breath that I take.  I dream that my life will be completely surrendered and led by the Holy Spirit.  I dream and eagerly anticipate the day when I will get to run into the arms of my Holy God.

Don't stop dreaming!  May our dreams affect eternity!