walking by faith

What Are You Looking At?!

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

A number of years back one of the men who worked for me had a really quick temper. I found that I sometimes had to make amends for whoever the latest target of his anger happened to be. One day as we were coming to a stop sign Robbie looked out his window and shouted at a surprised looking pedestrian, “What are you looking at!!?”

“Do you know that guy Robbie?” I asked.

“No I just didn’t like the way he was staring at me!” Robbie snapped back. Then I realized that the problem was not in the target of Robbie’s rage but in how he saw the world.

How we see our world will always effect how we live. What we need most of all are eyes of faith. Only a faith that sees the unseen things of God can help us live for Him and prepare us for all He has in store in eternity. So what will you be looking at when you come to the final stop sign of life?

The Eye of the Artist

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My stepfather was an artist and I often remember standing behind him watching in wonder as He worked. With just a few brush strokes He could create an astonishingly lifelike painting. When I asked him how he could be so precise Rudy explained that a realist paints neither what others think they see or what they hope to see but what truly stands before them.

In the same way the canvas of a life must be painted by the eyes of faith. A true faith is born not by our wishful thinking or someone else’s imagination, but in the moment we see Him who has seen us from the beginning. That is when His light can shine into our hearts and reveal to us the face of Jesus Christ.

Singing is a Step of Faith

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Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly! Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!                      Psalm 149:1-2 ESV

Singing is more than music it is a step of faith. When we open our mouth to sing we both connect back to our first childlike step of faith and strain forward towards our heavenly goal.

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We cannot see what heaven will be like, but the accompaniment of heaven’s songs can draw us towards home. I am reminded of one dear elderly saint who was found passed out on the floor by her sister. The ambulance was called and Florence was taken to the hospital where after several days she regained her strength and returned home. Florence told us that while she was unconscious she began to hear the angels singing and felt them coming closer. She said that the song grew louder and louder but then suddenly it faded and then she opened her eyes and woke up. Since she had grown up in the Polish church I was interested to know if God would have His angels singing in her childhood language or in English. But Florence said it was in neither language rather in some heavenly tongue which was completely different from anything she knew! I have never forgotten Florence’s angels and their heavenly song. God has given us songs as wings to our faith. Just as faith without works is dead, faith without words is unborn. What mightier wings of faith can there be than the words of our worship in song?

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