Friday, July 15, 2011

All Eyes on You

God, this is our yearning. This is our desire: that we be set free from ourselves. Lord, that we would no longer be reigned by trivial and carnal emotions, but that we be filled with the mighty, transforming power of You. That you would reign in our mortal bodies. That all of our everything is established, confirmed, and built in You. That You, God would be our source of breathe, our very sustaining life. Lord, that our eyes are kept on You. That you would be magnified in our walk on this earth, even through temptation, death, trial, and famine YOU are still faithful God.

I believe so many times we miss the very reason why we are alive. We think it is about going to church, having relationships with others, making money, making more money, loving others, or doing good deeds. These things are not wrong or sinful-- in fact some these are what the Bible teaches us. But these very things are not capable of being fulfilled unless our eyes are on Him. We miss the very voice of God when we focus our everything on the will of Him, rather than He Himself. God never said, "put your eyes on what I am going to do for you." He never said, "focus on my will for you."

Rather, we lift our eyes to where our help comes from. "1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth." Davids plea is not, "God, I set my eyes on the life You will give me." He is crying out to where the source of His life comes from. David runs to the source rather than the product that comes from the Source. Paul discusses this in his letter to the Romans, "Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." We exchange the very validity and authority of God with a false depiction of what our calling is and who are calling is for. We must see that our calling is not for us. It is not to satisfy us, but it is to satisfy Him-- the very Creator of your calling. The foundational problem is selfishness. We must put our wants aside to see His. We must put our love aside to see His. We must put aside our hope to see His. Our satisfaction is found in His satisfaction. He must increase and we must decrease.

We need to look to the very creator of the will that we run so hard after. Jesus lived His life on earth to accomplish God's will, not His own. How many people would still follow Christ if He told them that His will for their lives was to die a gruesome death before they were 40? Not many. Where is our faith? Where is our selflessness? Where is our hope to see His kingdom come on earth? Where is our desire to live for Him even if we get nothing in return? Faith takes action, and belief takes obedience. We walk by faith. Faith is not knowing our every step. Faith is not a blueprint. Faith is a blindfold we must put on ourselves. We let Him reign in us, and we let Him make our paths-- but we must be obedient to walk down them. By establishing His reign in us, we establish a true faith and love based relationship that will open doors, open hearts, and open minds. But we must not walk in the establishment of our faith towards Him, we must walk in the permanence of His faithfulness to accomplish His will. We trust Him to lead us into His life. Running into His arms is what we are created for. To know Him is why we breathe. To breathe His breath. To touch His heart. To know His voice.