LOOKING TO JESUS!

"Run the Race"! 

In this season of life, running isn't always an option! I would probably trip over my cane! Plus, endurance would probably be short-lived.

Bible Marginalia reminded me, "entrusting to Him is key to endurance."

Run the Race. Which race? Hebrews 12:1 gives the answer, "the one set before us."

Bible Marginalia again......Life of faith = long run...ie not a sprint or an easy run. 

Before discouragement set in, I read the answer to running the race in the life of faith. The all important phrase of Hebrews 12:2----looking to Jesus! 

Think focusing, trusting and relying on "Jesus, the name above all names" as the source of our life of faith. (Philippians 2:9)

Looking to Jesus at my life stage/age  needs more than a ck off the list quiet time.

It can require extended time.....often that includes being still, looking up and out the window that frames my prayer chair. Blue skies or rainy fog--the weather doesn't seem to matter.  

It's the condition of my heart that matters as I seek time with Him.

 

Know Peace. No Fear!

Looking to Jesus is soul affirming. 

SEE THE CROSS!

Do you see it---the cross that is?

 

Keep your FOCUS on the cross! (Hebrews 12:2)

CHOOSE: 4F

4-F, in it's military connotation, is negative---especially for those who want to serve, as did many of the young enlistees in WWII. (Hacksaw Ridge) It identifies one as physically or psychologically unfit. Not worthy. Unacceptable. Unfit to serve.

No one I know wants to be deemed unfit. 

In the spiritual realm, as a member of the household of faith, I am grateful for God's appointment into service, based on His strengths, not mine. (1 Timothy 1:12) I just need to be faithful to Him.

4-F in Christian service is a positive.

Indicators are found in Spirit-filled, Spirit-controlled life of faithful service. (George Verwer, Drops from a Leaking Tap)

• Focus---daily on Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 12:2)
• Forgiveness---His of me. Mine of others. (Matthew 6:12)
• Faith shield---available 24/7. (Ephesians 6:16)
• Fellowship---with other believers. (Hebrews 10:25)

Choosing 4-F in the Christian life is a winning situation as one faces battles each day.

CHOOSE: SEEING

This entry could have easily have been entitled, Choosing Joy Again!

Interestingly enough, finding joy was Jesus Always entry for 2/17----the day I began choosing "my one word." No wonder my first thought was that "joy" would be my word. Sarah Young's latest devotional book, Jesus Always is all about embracing joy!

Young reminds readers that "joy can be found in the most unexpected places." 

One just needs to search for the "good" in life---to "see" joy. As she puts it, "Living joyously is a choice...and gladness must be chosen many times daily." (2/17)

Choose is my word because I want to keep on choosing "right living" as Proverbs shows.

Choosing is about seeing God's hand in our lives and trusting the outcome regardless of our trials and most difficult times.

Seeing His goodness requires focus. Focus requires "fixing one's eyes on Jesus." (Hebrews 12:2) Seeing Him. Regardless.

It's a choice!

A.D.D.

3/29/11 Acutely Distracted Dotsy. That’s me! That’s where I am in my life. If you don’t believe me just take a gander at my sermon notes. Where is the outline form that defines my notes? The CAPS for emphasis? The THOTS? The color insertions? Where are all the characteristics that make my notes identifiable? These current notes, with scribbles here there and yon, are muddled---just like my mind. Will it get better? I’m not so sure.
I, who once preferred people arriving at my parties in alphabetical order because it was easier to check them off the guest list, haven’t the wherewithal to plan a party or even think about generating a guest list. A list is the absolute easiest form of note taking. How do I keep going? How do I focus?

In so many areas (other than notetaking), I seemed to have dug a hole and I just keep digging, unable to get out ----creating a fog of dirt and dust in my eyes. I want out of this earthly hole of “unavoidable” circumstances, which I have made larger by my own “unfocused” digging. When I cry, it just muddies my focus even more.

Maybe a better question is, Where are my eyes focused? Will my mind follow since my mind is the “the eyes of my understanding?”

Scripture tells me that the Lord’s eyes are on me? “The LORD pays attention to (literally, the eyes of the LORD are toward) the godly and hears their cry for help” (Psalm 34:15). Shouldn’t my eyes be upon Him? "……fixing our eyes on Jesus," (Hebrews 12:2a)

Help me Lord to return to Always Dancing Dotsy.

His answer is simple. It’s all about a “set” focus, Dotsy. His focus/plan set for me. "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." (Colossians 3:2)

ALPHA-BITS

11/22/09 This ABC emphasis was giving me fits and I was only on "A." But God….had my Batesville bud, Carolyn, e-mail me about a youngsters’ choir in Jackson, MS known as the Alpha-Bits. Ah-ha! That was it----I could recap all the A words that flooded my mind with just a little info, if some was pertinent, and still finish within a “reasonable” time frame. Plus, my readers, who really should be bloggers themselves, can offer input on those important words they might have included and give their reasons.

Disclaimer---I am somewhat of a nomenclator---I create my own terms---but blog readers already know that; i.e. decaDANCE, (misspelled according to grammarians but used by me to make a point) or Answerer (11/19 entry) as a way of personifying the noun. BTW, spell check doesn’t like nomenclator but I didn’t make that one up--- I’m sure it’s at least in an unabridged dictionary. Humor me. Maybe even share some of your own.

“Answerer” addition---Ann P., a student in one of the university classes that I taught in the 80s would write Jer. 33:3 at the top of each of her exam papers. Though I know it by memory now, I had to look it up at that time. “Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.” (KJV) I wrote “in red” on her paper that I hope she at least did her part by studying her notes rather than relying on these weekly “answer” miracles. She indeed knew the Answerer. She accepted my joke and we built on that spiritual connection. She actually was a good student and we have kept in touch via others for several years. She even honored me by “placing” a brick in my honor at the “main” city of Memphis library.
Awesome—alluded to in praise chorus of first “A” blog
All in All---You’re my strength when I am weak. You’re the treasure that I seek. You’re my “all in all.”(Thanks Sam & Lo for partial lyrics from this Point of Grace song.)
Ephesians 1:23…the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Alpha and Omega---omitted at this time because I’ll probably end with that one.
Anchor---The night before my first surgery my brother, whose daughter, Allyson, died in a car accident, called me to touch base and tearfully told me that he wished he had my faith. I reminded him that he did. He just had to hold on to it. It’s the only anchor that holds. I’ve never known pain like his but in the pain I have known, it’s been my faith that has anchored me. The "author and finisher" of that faith is Jesus. (Hebrews 12:2)

All of us know pain---it’s universal, whether physical, mental, spiritual or emotional. But not everyone has an anchor.
Even in times of my deepest emotional pain the Lord anchored me. He was my hope when the world seemed dark as if the very windows of my soul were tinted with a blackness.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. (Hebrews 6:19)

Alpha Bits---sounds like a cereal that would be good for the soul if you considered one of the Lord's attributes each morning with your “cuppa” praise.