Tag: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

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Worthy of Praise

Dear sister,

To be honest, I have no idea where this letter is going. Sometimes I just have to start typing away before I get a clearer picture of what I’m going to write. So in preparation of writing this letter I did a word study on the word “praise.” (You know how I love words.)

The word “praise” comes from the Latin word meaning “price” or “value.” To praise something is simply to ascribe it worth. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia expands on this definition: “True praise consists in a sincere acknowledgement of a real conviction of worth.”

If we should be convicted that someone or something is of worth, surely God would be at the top of the list. Anything else we may add quickly fades away in comparison with the glory of our God and King, the Creator of the universe. Do you stop to praise God during the day? Do you consider His creation and praise Him for it? Do you meditate on the faithful works He has wrought in your life?

Praising God is not something that I often struggle with. It is but the natural overflow of a heart that meditates on the works and person of God. Just step outside your door and consider the blueness of the sky or the warmth of the sun or the majesty of the trees and immediately you will be filled with awe.

But that’s not to say that there aren’t days when I’m too focused on myself to notice the awesomeness of God’s creation or acknowledge His faithful hand of providence in my life. Sometimes it is hard to praise God when we are in the midst of brokenness and uncertainty.

But when we fail in this duty we rob God of the glory that is due His name and defraud ourselves of the joy that comes from turning our thoughts away from our circumstances and onto our precious Lord Jesus Christ.

I challenge you today, dear sister, that if you are struggling in the valley, if your soul is downcast within you, to take time out to purposefully praise God. Meditate on His goodness and the work of His hands and remember His faithfulness toward you. I assure you, you will find rest for your soul.

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.

Running with joy,

Kayla

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The Watermark of Hope

My Dear Sister, I have been challenged day after day this month to not only find the time to sit and write to you, but to speak of this blessed topic in the midst of sorrow. However, even as I write those words the Holy Spirit convicts me deeply of how much more we/I need to be reminded of the glorious Hope that comes from God alone to His people. You see sister, typically this is a “teary” month at best for me. It is a month that brings with it the memories of a nine year old girl waking up one morning and no longer having an earthly father. Memories of my mother’s tears and groans of incompleteness after burying my father and returning home to a seemingly empty home and five children to raise alone. Memories of many episodes of life in our home when struggles occurred and wondering/ wishing “If only…..”. The memories have a way of finding their way forward out of the corners of my heart with the first Christmas song played in the season. As a Christian for thirty years now God has blessed me with His Truth and has given me the power through His Spirit to not only recognize this propensity I have to remember the sorrow, but to run to Him with it and to fall into His loving arms to receive His compassion once again. And when I do that He never fails to whisper into my heart the blessed hope I have through His Son!!! This loving whisper is like that of an artists watermark upon their masterpiece. It never disappears, it is there for the duration of the work of art and it declares ownership of the masterpiece. This is the hope I have in Christ. This is the hope that Peter calls “living” and which Paul calls “sure”, and “steadfast”. This year of 2011, and this particular month has brought more sorrow for me. The loss of a father in law that was a sweet kindhearted man and a sister in Christ at our church. Sometimes it seems the sorrow comes in the form of a flood and hearts grow weary. Dear sister, I am speaking to myself as well when I say that I am looking only unto Jesus today and although my vision is blurred with tears of sadness my sights are set and my faith is sure because God has placed His watermark of blessed hope upon my heart and I trust Him far more than anything/anyone that happens to be walking upon this frail earth. Where does your hope lie my dear sister? If you are still trying to love God and to place your hope in this world too, I encourage you to consider turning from the temptation to believe it is possible to do both. The Lord not only requires our undivided attention to His glory, but He alone is worthy of our undivided attention. His blessed hope is all that will remain when we depart from this earth. The sorrow and sadness of this earth comes and goes but the blessed hope we have in Jesus will not! “Blessed be the God and Father of Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible (imperishable) and un-defiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” I Peter 1:3 Turn your eyes upon Jesus sweet sister look full in His wonderful face, and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.* Blessings upon blessings, Susan * Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, Helen H. Hemmel,1922