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.
A brighter world is right at our finger tips if we were to take seriously the lyrics of the song above. It is a well known hymnal and you can read here if you want to understand the inspiration behind the words.
Whenever we turn our eyes on Jesus, we can be sure that our paths will be made straight and that our lives will no longer have a question mark over it.
Remember in Matthew 14: 24-30(NIV)Jesus Walks on the Water
“Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
The focus here are verses 28-30. Peter by virtue of Jesus telling him to come, had kept his eyes on Jesus but as soon as he saw the wind and waves (represents trials and challenges, things that we give a lot of weight to) he became afraid and took his eyes off Jesus. The inevitable happened, he started to sink (disaster happens, our challenges overcome us).
This is such a great lesson in the Bible of faith and trust, and telling us to keep our eyes on the one who can take us through. If Peter had just kept the faith and trust in Jesus we would be reading about his accomplishment and not his failure.
Do we want to be accomplished in this lifetime? Do we want to succeed and to live in a world that despite the darkness and negatives it is a brighter world to us? Then all we simply need to do is to keep our eyes focused on Jesus and the negatives of this earth will grow “strangely” dim, in the light of his Glory and Grace.
We will live in the world but we will not be of the world.
Affirm: I will keep my eyes on Jesus so whenever life’s winds and waves come at me I will stand strong and continue to do what I am destined to do . I acknowledge that the winds and waves come to be a distraction, but I will focus my thoughts, heart and mind on my heavenly father who will give me the strength to stand firm. Stand firm in the midst of life’s storm so I will experience a brighter world. It is well and I am well.
