Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Glancing or Gazing Upon the Lord

Jaded- worn out, wearied     to make or become dull
Glance- to look suddenly and briefly
Gaze- to look intently and steadily
       stare as in wonder or expectancy


There is nothing like lying in a hospital bed to increase your prayer life.
 Pain, tubes, morphine hallucinations...
  one feels vulnerable, weak.

Before going in unexpectantly for a second surgery, if you had asked me about my faith I would have said it was strong.... yet relaxed.
Now I had no faith crisis, no disbelief, no struggle with God, I had just become comfortable.
Prayer- less frequent, study less intense, if one were to climb a ladder of faith I had perhaps stepped down a rung.

Once when I was a new Christian a friend that had been active in the church for years said to me, "You haven't been a believer long enough to be jaded."
   I remember being shocked and praying that night that I never would become "jaded".
yet...
somehow over the years that fire within , the desire to know God more became...dulled.
Always in a bible study learning about Him but not meeting with Him.
Always praying to Him but not approaching Him.
You see I was glancing at Him. I was not gazing upon Him.
My head knew and my heart forgot.

Still knowing He was on the throne,
              mighty,
                     merciful,
           holy and full of grace,
I glanced his way.
The will of man sometimes needs drastic measures to stop wandering away from the very God who created him.

So there I sat, weak, tired- no exhausted, self absorbed and uncomfortable in a hospital bed when a knock came.
In walked a man with gray hair and a full smile, he worked at the hospital in food service.
He asked if he could sing me a song.
I said yes.
He sang Beulah Land.
He spoke scripture.
Encouragement straight from God.
 The focus of the song is on eternity, the promise of Christ's return to gather those who are his. Focus on Him and His redeeming work....Beulah Land, the Promised Land.
when we glance His way it is easy to stay focused on ourselves
when we gaze and look intently and expectantly we should be in awe of who He is.

Do not glance upon the writer of History, do not merely look His way.
Gaze upon Him who can carry you into a glorious eternity;
To a place of glory, without pain, without fear.
Look intently....expectantly for He comes faithful and true.


Beulah Land
I'm kind of homesick for a country
to which I've never been before
No sad goodbyes will there be spoken
and time won't matter anymore

Beulah Land I'm longing for you,
and someday on thee I'll stand
There my home shall be eternal.
In Beulah Land, Sweet Beulah land

I'm looking now across that river,
to where my faiths 'gonna end in sight
There's just a few more days to labor,
then I will take my heavenly flight

Beulah Land I'm longing for you,
and someday on thee I'll stand
There my home shall be eternal
In Beulah Land, Sweet Beulah land

In Beulah Land, Sweet Beulah land 




Stop by Spiritual Sundays for more inspiration.

19 comments:

  1. praise God girl! your a blessing in your Love and Devotion to our God. Christ Reigns forever. I want to look more intently, I want to approach him, I want to sit at His feet in awe of His grace. I too have lost that new believer spark that I once had. In revelation 2? John writes for Jesus and speaks to the church about leaving their FIRST LOVE! Turning from the things they ONCE DID. That hits me so deep because I did do things before when I was ON FIRE and praying, never too become jaded or see the flaws of the Church but to just LOVE CHRIST, that I no longer do. But I know He has a perfect plan and will.

    I pray that a fresh baptism of His Spirit would come upon you like fire and wash away all flesh and bring you more into the Spiritual world. May you be a true imitator of Christ in all the things you do and do all unto our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

    GOD bless you sis and PRAY FOR ME :)

    ♥cheche

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  2. Sometimes I wish I were so close to God that if I were to reach out I would feel His presence. I know He is there but sometimes I feel He is out of my grasp. I truly want to know Him better than anything else. I too, find I am slacking in many areas of my relationship with Him. Your post reminds me that I need only try harder and keep my focus on Him. thank You for the reminder

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  3. ahhh, Thank you so much for sharing this! I am praying for you! I have been thinking that maybe God has snowed a lot of us in so that we will spend more time with him!

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  4. Truly enjoyed this post! Fell upon it by "accident" (is there ever really an accident when it comes to hearing God's word?) God bless you.

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  5. What a wonderful post! I am so encouraged and reminded that I to get complacent at times, that is not where God wants us to be. I love that old song, makes me homesick.
    Be blessed and thank you for sharing your heart.

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  6. Truer words were never spoken! Bless you for sharing.

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  7. What a sweet man for singing this song to you.
    May the Lord be with you always.
    God Bless,
    Ginger

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  8. The Lord sent an angel to minister to you!
    What a blessing.

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  9. powerful words...powerful post...and real...He always comes through in ways that make a difference. Glad He showed you how much He cares for you.

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  10. Hi Shannon,

    This post re-kindled memories of a recent surgery (last year). Although no one came in and sung to me, I found great comfort in prayer.

    "Always praying to Him but not approaching Him." -- Something that I came to realize as well. How imperative it is for me to enter into His presence, rather than standing outside the gate.

    Thank you so much for sharing this experience.

    Blessings and peace.

    MTJ

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  11. What an inspiring post. Bless you for sharing your God moments with us. This is another example of how good came come out of bad circumstances.
    Blessings,
    Charlotte

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  12. Oh how I love it when the Lord gets us to a place where we can do nothing but gaze at Him and commune directly with Him. I too have been sat down by knee surgery so that I have to stop all the daily hubbub. It has, I'm humbled to say, forced me to gaze and listen. You have blessed me so with your post today. Very inspired. God bless, Dr. Bobbi

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  13. Like MTJ I spend a lot of time hanging around the gate - must try harder. Thankyou for this revealing and encouraging post. Bety

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  14. Great post. Thank you for taking the time to share this. It will be a blessing to many. I noticed that one of your favorite books is Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology. Wayne is an elder at our church and teaches a huge Bible Class with about 500 enrolled. He is an excellent teacher.

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  15. This post was such a blessing. Thank you for sharing.

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  16. You know being in hospital can be a fearful situation expecially when your knowledge of care in limited. It really is a wonderful place to be when needed. And God loved you so much, He supplied someone to gently touch you with His love and understanding. He sent an angel, someone who responded to His prompt..
    How very special you are. Hug

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  17. What sweet words of encouragement and such good food for thought. Thank you for an uplifting Spiritual Sunday devotional - good for those caring for elderly parents and their beloved senior citizens as well.

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  18. Hope you are doing better and I always think that God sends us angels such as that gentleman to remind us He is always with us even when we don't look for Him.

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  19. Shannon...I'm so ashamed that I'm just now seeing this!!! This is amazing...and just what I needed right now!!! Do you care if I "share" this on Facebook? I'm always amazed at the people that God puts in our path to remind us of His faithfulness!!!! If EVER someone sings Beulah Land to you...you need to listen!!!! and I really do mean that!!!

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