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.

Be Thou My Vision

When cancer knocks at your door

    takes over your life by attacking the one you hold dear,

      takes over your plans

 When retirement becomes....pills, appointments.....transfusions and infusions......fatigue.

Be Thou My Vision

Your child wanders......strays

   flirting with the dark and the empty

    until......

 that darkness invades their mind and clouds their vision.

   suffocating them,   reaching into other lives.......

                  distorting

                     lying

                         stealing

Be Thou My Vision

When someone who knows better, someone you have come to love

   willingly walks away.

  leaving behind their best gifts,

      their joy

         their peace

When you want to yank them back and Yell    WHY?

Be Thou My Vision.

When others, small and frail need you

everything you have to give

   your time

     your patience

        your heart

          your very breath

Despite your own tiredness......you give it all.

 Be Thou My Vision

When we focus on ourselves, all the tasks and challenges at hand,

 we can lose hope

     feel despair

         overwhelmed.

  

Cast our eyes upon Christ

Lord of our heart               High King of Heaven

and all things are possible

They are still hard

 still sad

   still tiring.

             Be thou my battle sheild, sword for the fight:

           Be thou my dignity, Thou my delight

          Thou my soul's shelter, Thou my high tower:

      Raise Thou me heavenward, o power of my power.    (verse 3)

This is dedicated to my friend, my step mother, my sister in Christ......Rachel

For all the obstacles in her path that tried to trip her up....

     Her vision was not clouded.

           Her eyes were on Christ. 

               His strength became hers

                  His truth, she trusts in.

                       His peace adorns her.

Praise and honor and glory belong to Him.

Rest for the Weary

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light. Matthew 11:28-30

I imagine there isn't one of us privileged to go through life unburdened. Life is just that way. Work, family, health, any of these and more can seem to overtake our lives. Before we know it, we are out of balance, caught up on a roller coaster of ups and downs, swerves and hard right turns. Feeling like we could fall off at any moment, we desperately try to grasp at anything to steady us. I may cling to food or alcohol, you may work harder.

Perhaps there is someone very difficult in your life, someone that just can't seem to be pleased. People drain you. People let you down. Life lets you down. Jobs fail, family falters and... I...
you...
we...
seem to get caught up in failure. " If it isn't us; it is them. If it isn't a job it; is a neighbor. Quite often, it is just me.
I try, but fail, so I try harder.
Soon I become yoked to trying. Running on my own strength, is like running on a perpetual treadmill with no cut off button. I get no where and I get tired. I reach out for that comfort, then I depend on it, soon it becomes my habit.
Some of my habits are blame, dissatisfaction, expectations, overeating, withdraw, I am sure there are more. What are your habits?
As long as we are yoked to life we will probably be dissatisfied, the heart and soul will yearn for more.
Jesus said his yoke is easy and his burden light. He promises rest, not ease, but rest. He is gentle and humble. Are you yoked to the gentle and humble or the chaotic and demanding or the disappointing? The word yoke means servitude and literally a beam of balance.
Lest you fool yourself into thinking you are not yoked to anything or think poorly of servitude keep in mind this verse.

- for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 2 Peter 2:19b

Do you feel like a slave? Do you feel mastered by the day?

Find rest for your weary soul by trusting in Him, who is gentle and humble.