All Eyes Are On You, Jesus

"Lord forgive us when we get consumed by the things of this world,That fight for our love, and our passion,As our eyes are open wide and on you.Grant us the privilege of your world view,And may your kingdom be, what wakes us up, and lays us down. I DON'T WANT TO GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD AND LOSE MY SOUL." -"Lose My Soul" by tobyMac feat. Kirk Franklin and Mandisa

I was on MySpace this morning because I wanted to listen to some gospel music without using too much of myalotted monthly gigabytes of internet here (long story). Anyway, in recent years I've been really drawn to the contemporary Christian movement/ alternative Christian movement (I'm just about through with gospel...but that's another story for another time). The first group I heard like this was a group by the name of dcTalk. I was about 12 or 13 years old in the old DC Convention Center for a Youth convention and as they blasted out an intensely different version of "Our God is an Awesome God", I stood there in tears. The front man was a young white male by the name of tobyMac. From then on, I was convinced. dcTalk does not perform anymore but tobyMac's ministry is still strong years later. The lyrics that I began this post with are from his song "Lose My Soul". The lyrics are so real and reflect where I am right now. I may not be a world renowned recording artist or even close to what would be considered popular by any means. But....we all have those things that we constantly have to fight against in order to keep us close to the cross. I've been really trying to push to stay in close to Christ because of the mere fact that I realize that He is the air that I breathe. Without Him, I exist. I do not live. Even though this is something so clear to me.....there are some things in my life with which I just STRUGGLE. We all struggle. We all have to deal with the sting of personal sin. We all can be enticed at times with what the Bible tells us is "the way that seemeth right unto men but the end leads to destruction" (Pr. 14:12). But we have a choice. We have a choice to continue to look to Jesus. You may fall but keep looking to Him. You may give in to that fleshly desire but continue to look to Him. You may give in to that wayward thought but continue to look to Him. Trying to do better but you can't seem to shake those trifling habits, continue to look to Him. Here's what the apostle Paul tells us is God's spin on the issue: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perserverance the race marked out for us. LOOKING UNTO JESUS, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb. 12:1-2)

So many of us fall back from God when we mess up. I understand the feeling....when you know you've done wrong by Him, you can't help but to be overtaken with remorse, regret, and great fear. It's natural; I would even say that it's something similar to what happens when as children we disobey our parents and are too afraid to go to them when they call for us. We must understand that when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he did it as the propitiation for us. Propitiation is just a fancy word that means he took our place. And so when we sin, it does not surprise God. He's so good at His role as Providence that He sent His most precious possession to clean the slate BEFORE we ever graced this earth. I need someone to get the magnitude of this. Before we had the opportunity to sin, He had already made provisions so that our sins would not be the separation factor. Therefore, we do not have to experience the wrath of God. Let's not get it twisted, however; Hebrews 12:10 says "Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness." This means that just because we may not experience the wrath of God does not mean that we will not share in the discipline of God. Discipline and wrath are two separate things; sin blurs the lines between the two. Wisdom recognizes the discipline of God and realizes that it produces what verse 13 goes on to say is "a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." God still calls us to walk worthy of the calling. That will not change. When we mess up, His love for us won't change either. Therefore, friends, it is only logical that we use our mistakes as opportunities to only CONTINUE to draw nigh unto God. Press through the guilt, press through the shame, press through the self-crucifixion on to freedom in Jesus. We all are at the foot of the cross, plunged beneath that flood of Jesus' blood. Therefore, when we accept the gift of salvation, God looks down and sees us under the blood. Under the new covenant.

So...I say all that to say.....Get back in the game and get focused. A real football player doesn't quit the whole sport because he loses a game...he'll whine a little, think about what could have been done differently, and the next day he's right back out there on the field trying to make things better. You see, our Heavenly Father is not nearly as complicated as we love to make Him. I think over-complication of God in our heads is a tactic used by us to make excuses for our actions. Well, I'm tired of making excuses. It's time to be in this thing to win it. God is bigger than life, true. But here's His secret and this is why He's God. He can be bigger than life and as small and intimate as we need Him to be. Now that's complication! But not the type of complication that deflects but it's the complication that has drawn and will continue to draw countless people unto Himself.

Another blog for the people. ALL EYES ARE ON YOU, JESUS. ALL EYES ARE ON YOU.

Phileo Love,
Ash B.