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Saturday, January 22, 2011

Are we looking to God?



Oswald Chambers book "My Utmost for His Highest" is just so amazing and anointed!! Todays reading spoke to me. As I spent time visiting my daughter in the hospital while she gave birth to our new grandson, I experienced so many emotions. Joy and Thankfulness at the sight of my precious grandson, praising the Lord that he was healthy, and yet, just down the way were rooms full of children who are so sick. Waiting areas were full of those sitting and waiting while their loved ones are in surgery and worse, there are those who have received devastating news that their loved one is gone and they are faced with saying good-bye. At one point my son and I walked down to get something cold to drink and we passed a young woman who was praying and hurriedly walking to the chapel to have one on one time with the Lord. It was clear her heart was heavy and she needed a miracle.

Sadly, we do reach out to God more when in the midst of a trial than when life is smooth sailing. But, doesn't the Word tell us to count our trials pure Joy?

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:1-3

May we keep our eyes on Christ no matter what. blessings. trials. or just in a normal day. But I think Oswald Chambers explains it far better than I in the devotional below:



Do we expect God to come to us with His blessings and save us? He says, “Look to Me, and be saved . . . .” The greatest difficulty spiritually is to concentrate on God, and His blessings are what make it so difficult. Troubles almost always make us look to God, but His blessings tend to divert our attention elsewhere. The basic lesson of the Sermon on the Mount is to narrow all your interests until your mind, heart, and body are focused on Jesus Christ. “Look to Me . . . .”
Many of us have a mental picture of what a Christian should be, and looking at this image in other Christians’ lives becomes a hindrance to our focusing on God. This is not salvation— it is not simple enough. He says, in effect, “Look to Me and you are saved,” not “You will be saved someday.” We will find what we are looking for if we will concentrate on Him. We get distracted from God and irritable with Him while He continues to say to us, “Look to Me, and be saved . . . .” Our difficulties, our trials, and our worries about tomorrow all vanish when we look to God.
Wake yourself up and look to God. Build your hope on Him. No matter how many things seem to be pressing in on you, be determined to push them aside and look to Him. “Look to Me . . . .” Salvation is yours the moment you look.


To join in with Spiritual Sundays go here
Also, There are many who are facing trials, those who are a part of the Spiritual Sunday family. To offer up prayers for them and see who needs prayer go here

13 comments:

Nana's Nuggets

Good Morning Loren, I finally linked up with Spiritual Sunday! Thank You for your encouragement. Your post this morning is wonderful, and yes so True, so many wait to seek god just in the bad times! Have a Blessed, Warm, Weel-end! and Love on those Babies!1

Andrea

Love you!
Blessings, hugs, and prayers,
andrea

George

I very much enjoyed My Utmost for His Highest when I first read it, and you've got me thinking that I need to read it again. Thank you.

Sandy

Thank you again for sharing, Loren!

Unknown

Beautiful write, Loren!

Have a beautiful week ~
TTFN ~
Marydon

Nikki (Sarah)

as we say in jewish...matzel tov (congrats) on your new little grandbaby. Somebody gave me four little green books by Osweld Chambers. After reading your post...I look forward to reading them. ☺☺

Ginger~~Enchanting Cottage

I know the scripture says this but It is so hard sometimes. Congratulations on your new grandson. Yes it is a true blessing when they are healthy,it seems like more and more babies are being born with problems.
God Bless,
Ginger

Charlotte

So many spiritual truths in this post, Loren. Thank you for sharing these thoughts with us.
Blessings,
Charlotte

Saleslady371

I know what you mean when you think about the blessings of healthy children; we do the same and feel so sorry for those little ones who are sick.

Putting Jesus first with you, today, Loren! Love you, dear one.

Pamela

So enjoy Oswald Chambers, too. I'm reading "Searching for Mrs. Oswald Chambers" now--the story of his wife.

Appreciated the thoughts in your post. I am memorizing James 1 right now.

Oh, and I have a grandson due on Friday. :-)

Kaye Swain - SandwichINK for Grandparents and Caregivers

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! :) :) :)

Thanks, too, for this great book review. This is one I'm familiar with but haven't yet read. I'll definitely have to do so. It's definitely a Spiritual Sunday for book reviews as I've got one as well - one of the Kay Arthur books for the Christian dealing with pain and suffering.

MTJ

Hi Loren,

Congratulations on the birth of your grandson! Thank you for sharing these thoughts from Oswald Chambers..."Our difficulties, our trials, and our worries about tomorrow all vanish when we look to God." -- This is such a timeless truth.

Blessings and peace.

MTJ

jayayceeblog

Great message ... thanks for the reminder! Joy to you and yours!!!

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