This chapter could easily be titled, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” like that old and wonderful hymn. Hymns are so precious to me and have been such teachers to me through years of singing them at church. They are full of such great biblical truths!
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!
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.
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!
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,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
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.
I hope you read over those lyrics slowly…that is what I did this morning as I was writing. Isn’t it so true that the things of this earth grow dim when we look upon our Lord! The hymn says strangely dim…this is SO true. They grow dim in a way that cannot be explained by anything earthly.
I haven’t written as much about the chapter this week…I have listed some quotes from the 6th chapter of Because He Loves Me below that struck me. They remind me to acknowledge my sinfulness and then look away…look away to my Lord and Savior! He is glorious. I have so much to learn.
Read below:
“Whether we’re overly introspective and excessively aware of our failures or blindly proud and self-sufficient, the gospel dares us to look away to Anther in faith.”
“I’ve sinned and I’m not worthy of your blessings on my own. But I’m trusting that you’re as merciful as you say you are.”
“Look up from your reading again and focus on that other object for a moment. When you looked away you couldn’t read this page, could you? In the same way, the Lord calls us to fasten our eyes on Him and not on all the sinful toxins in our heart (Isa. 45:22; Mic. 7:7). We’re invited to look away from ourselves and our great need and to focus on His overflowing bounty, or as A.W. Tozer plainly advised, “Stop tinkering with your souls and look away to the perfect One.”
“As we think on our sweet relationship with Him, we’ll find joyful gratitude and humble confidence blossoming within our hearts. For in stance, we’ll grow in our belief that He really is good and that we don’t have to fear obedience (1 Pet. 3:6), because He loves us too much to command anything that will ultimately harm us. We’ll no longer be driven to protect our selfish interests, because we’ll see that He has given us an interest in Christ, and Christ is presenting our needs before His Father at every moment.”
This is SO good for me to read! It is so easy to forget and yet such an essential truth. Our eyes must turn to the one who is worthy of our focus! There is so much hope in turning our eyes off of ourselves and gazing with love, adoration and awe at our Lord. Oh, Lord, it is my prayer that you will help me fix my gaze upon you and away from myself. It is not about how sinful I am, and I am desperately sinful, it is about how perfect and glorious You are! Fix our eyes upon You precious Lord. Please fix our eyes upon You.
Blessings!
P.S. Remember to visit Gracelaced to join in the book study I am participating in! 🙂
