MY DAILY FOCUS
June 28 Morning - "Looking to Jesus" Hebrews 12:2 - from Charles Spurgeon's devotional Morning and Evening
It is always the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus. But Satan's work is just the opposite; he is constantly trying to make us look at ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, "Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you do not have the joy of His children; you have such a wavering hold on Jesus." All these are thoughts about self, and we will never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: He tells us that we are nothing, but that Christ is everything. Remember, therefore, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you - it is Christ; it is not your joy in Christ that saves you - it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, although that is the instrument - it is Christ's blood and merits. Therefore, do not look so much to your hand with which you are grasping Christ as to Christ; do not look to your hope but to Jesus, the source of your hope; do not look to your faith, but to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of your faith. We will never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our deeds, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we are to overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by "looking to Jesus." Keep your eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession be fresh upon your mind. When you waken in the morning look to Him; when you lie down at night look to Him. Do not let your hopes or fears come between you and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fail you.
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness:
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
5 comments:
Thanks so much for the wonderful post, Meredith! I love Spurgeon. He knows how to express things that really give you the right perspective and give you hope and encouragement.
I'm so thankful that the Lord has seen fit to bless us with the writings of men like him.
Blessings!
Karen
Meredith,
How are your school plans coming? When will you be starting?
Enjoying the end of your summer? It has cooled off here! Praise the Lord! So glad for the coolness. :o)
Blessings,
Karen
Hi Karen. Thanks for asking. We're going to get started on Aug. 21st. I've bit the bullet and made the leap to doing school in August although I never did growing up. My summer has been busy and hot. I'm ready for the school year to start up.
How about yourself?
Hi Meredith,
We will be starting school officially August 28th. It is the same day that my daughter is starting her classes at college.
After seeing her schedule, we worked our schedule around hers so that we could have some time to relax together. :o)
I'm so blessed that she will be commuting, so I will see her, but not as much as I would like, I'm sure! :o)
She gets a spring break for about 4 weeks starting in december and going to mid-january. So with the baby due in early january, it worked well to take at least 3 weeks off then.
Very interesting transition time for us all!
Hope you are finding school flowing smoothly!
Blessings,
Karen
Karen - what a blessing to have your daughter so close. We are far away from anyone graduating but my oldest, who's nine, says steadfastly that he doesn't want to go away for college. It's cute. I wonder how long that will last. Ha, ha.
Blessings! I hope and pray your pregnancy is going well.
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