turn your eyes upon Jesus
today was one of those days when the focus of the worship at church lined up so perfectly with my life. charlie hall (the Christian musician) was a guest leader at my church, and he explained that the only way to be truly at peace is to clear your life and ask God to fill it. it was like God took me by the shoulders and shook be back into rightness with Him — for whatever reason, it finally clicked that reliance on Him is the only way for me to be happy. i’ve been stuck in this selfish rut of being discontent with my relationships, worried about my future, and dwelling on a thousand other problems… but it finally hit me that as long as i define my happiness by fallen, contingent aspects of my life, i’ll never be truly at rest. i pray (and i hope that you’ll pray for me too!) that God would give me the wisdom to continue to recognize this and to build my happiness on his dynamic, unfailing love.
Christ, be the center of our lives / be the place we fix our eyes
…
Christ has died / and Christ is risen / and Christ will come again!
—“center” — charlie hall
sweet Jesus Christ, my sanity / sweet Jesus Christ, my clarity / Bread of Heaven, broken for me / Cup of Salvation, held up to drink
—“mystery” — charlie hall
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
—“turn your eyes upon Jesus” — helen h. lemmel
lately, i’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be a Christian and to be a recipient of Christ’s love. one verse which has stood out to me in particular is phillipians 2:5: your attitude should be that of Christ Jesus. it’s so hard for me to constantly fight against my selfish, sinful tendencies in order to live as He lived… but i pray that God would give me the strength to adopt Christ’s attitude. for me, Christ’s attitude is defined by love, and therefore, as Christians we should be characterized by love:
“love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. love never fails” (1 corinthians 13: 4-8a).
i pray that in my life God would help me to be this kind of love: to exemplify this list both in behavior and attitude, so that i may be a reflection of Him and His immeasurable love for us.
romans 12:14-21.
bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. live in harmony with one another. do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. do not be conceited.
do not repay anyone evil for evil. be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. if it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “it is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. on the contrary:
“if your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
in doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.
do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
i pray that God would give me the strength to do this—to trust Him and show love to those who (i think) don’t deserve love. but they do deserve it; it’s so easy to forget that i’m just like them. God found me in my sin and anger and doubt and guilt and loved me anyways. through Him, i can love my enemies… i can do all things through Him who gives me strength.
on the lenten experiential calendar that i’ve been following this lenten season, today’s entry reads “call someone with whom you’ve had a falling out and make amends.”
why is this such a hard thing to tackle—is it a pride thing?
i can’t bring myself to pick up the phone. i know exactly who i should call but have no idea what to say—or rather, am too scared to say it. even if i could tell how sorry i am, how much i hate what happened between us, how i wish things were different—i don’t know if that would change anything or even do anything but alienate us further.
God, this strained relationship is tearing, groaning at its seams. please give me the courage to say what i need to and the wisdom to know which words those are.
write a prayer to God explaining the habits, behaviors, and sins you want to die to.
dear God,
where to begin? spiritually, i’ve felt disconnected from You and from Christian community. i’ve been putting myself and my worries, stresses before You. when was the last time I felt worried and, instead of dwelling on it or feeling like i could fix it myself if i would just try harder, i gave my troubles up to you? to you, who created the whole world and the minutiae of my life, who has complete control over everything i do? God, forgive me. this habit of unreliance has crippled me and caused me to look to myself as the guiding force of my life.
please, God. help me turn from this pattern of disobedience.
Heavenly Father, i’ve been hateful towards those who love me. God, remind me that you have put these people in my life for a purpose, that we may serve each other and grow with each other in Your love.
please remove my selfishness, God.
Lord, I’ve become lazy and disrespectful of the blessings you have given me. i’ve become complacent in my day-to-day routine and find it hard to step outside of my comfort zone to better serve you and to show You to those who don’t know you. God, make me uncomfortable with my comfort zone. please motivate me to serve you better.
God, forgive me for my waste and disrespect of your Creation. You have entrusted me with these tangible blessings, and i have taken them for granted. please help me to realize the affluence i have been given and help me to use that gift wisely, for the benefit of others.
God, You know me. You know that this list is nothing compared to the infinite ways in which i take you for granted, in which i abuse the life and love You have given me. forgive me for my sins, Lord, and give me a Christ-like attitude so that i may better serve You. Lord, please show me your presence and make my life Yours.
i’m having the hardest time letting go of my obsession to control… to control relationships, to control how people feel about me. i can’t handle the existence in the tension.
i pray that God would bring me closer to Him by showing me the truth of the fact that only He will never leave me, only He will never fail me. only He is always there, no matter what.
a church in michigan, mars hill, created this calendar of daily activities to help observe the tradition of lent and reflect upon life during the days proceeding easter.
