King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Chapters: Psalms 81, 88, 92-93
Message: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
Hello My Friend,
I find that in order for me to stay focused during my prayer time that it helps to keep a prayer journal. It really does help when you look back and see how many prayers God answered or thank Him for the ones He said no to. Today, I noticed something that brought on a slew of other things that I realized I was guilty of doing. Someone told me that my handwriting was bad, and I know it is when I am writing fast. My focus was more on making sure that I could read what I was writing that I lost focus on what I was saying to God. This is my one one time with God, and instead of focusing on Him I was focused on making sure it was legible. I did the same thing yesterday at work, I got this evaluation from one person that said I did not greet the customer with the exact wording that they tell you, with every customer I was so focused on saying it exact, that I lost focus on the customer. There is a great Bible passage that came to mind.
[Matthew 18:7-8 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! 8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.]
So, here is the thing that God brought to my attention in all this in the first place, we become so focused on being who everyone wants us to be that we can lose focus on who we are. We are never going to be one please everyone because there will always be someone complaining about something that we did not do or say. And even if we tried, the only person we will be offending is God, because most likely it is something that will take our focus off Him. You see, as Christians, we literally do try so hard to give one hundred percent in all that we do that we can lose focus on what our true focus is, and that is Jesus. We are never going to please everyone, so, instead of focusing on trying to please them, we need to focus on pleasing God, everything else will just fall into place.
[I John 3:18-24 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. 23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.]
Every person who honestly, and wholeheartedly accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour has the Holy Spirit living inside of them. That means, that little voice in your head that tells you not to do something is Him talking to you. Likewise, if that voice is telling you to forgive someone, to go this route today, to say this to someone, or to even pray for this person, whom you might despise. When our focus is off on what God is really telling us, whether it has to do with affliction, burdens, pain, or people who make life difficult, we tend to make a lot of decisions that are not ideal because we simply cannot hear Him through all the noise in our heads telling us to do this and that. Many of the Psalms, if you pay attention to the words you will discover that it is actually Jesus speaking through them. In Psalm 81, He is recalling how the first generation of Israelites rejected Him and pleaded with them to listen to Him, but they would not so He gave up to their lusts.
[Psalms 81:8-16 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me; 9 There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god. 10 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. 11 But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. 12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels. 13 Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! 14 I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. 15 The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever. 16 He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.]
[So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust:] God gives each and every one of us a choice, it is called freewill. We can listen to His voice and trust that He knows what is best for us, or attempt to do them on our own, and fail miserably. God does not force us to do anything, and He will allow us to do things in our own lust, but that does not mean that we will not suffer for it. Let me tell you, God does not have to be the one to send judgment, we do that all on our own through conviction, which is why so many reject Jesus in the first place, [Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.]
[and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.] The funny thing about this is that I said to God, and I do say this quite often as it seems if my mouth even touches something that is processed or made with anything other than the whole food itself, that perhaps if I ate the way Jesus ate I would not have so many digestive problems. I mentioned butter, honey, and bread, and then this verse shows up. When we focus on what God want for us we will find that it truly is the best of the best, I mean, there is nothing better than hot fresh baked bread with butter and honey, and it has never bothered by stomach one bit. It is also a great reminder of what Jesus said to Satan when he tempted Him, [Matthew 4:1-4 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.]
You see, all of our doubts, fears, the need to please everyone as to not offend anyone, all of that garbage is Satan, he knows our weaknesses, our vulnerabilities and preys on them until we either give in or trust God and turn to Him. If we are honest with ourselves we will discover that our need to give one hundred percent to everyone has to do with our wanting to feel satisfied in our own abilities. If we fail to give one hundred percent then we are discontent and often feel like we have failed all together. I got a ninety-seven percent, which even she said was a very good score, but all I could focus on was the three points I lost and how it made me feel incompetent. What really is going on is that my soul is full of troubles and I keep thinking that if I look this way, talk this way, buy this supplement, or please this person, then I will feel better about myself and be satisfied. Well, none of it works because I lost focus on the purpose for doing any of the things that I do to give one hundred percent, and that is Jesus.
[Psalms 88:3-10 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. 4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: 5 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. 6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. 7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah. 8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. 9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee. 10 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.]
[and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves.] Sometimes it seems like everything is going too well for us, and any second something is going to come crashing down on us. Through this whole pandemic I have been blessed by God tremendously, praise God. Then, in fact, a year ago, I made a horrible decision and it has been one thing after another, and yet God still continues to bless me. This Psalm reminded me of this song, [Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus O soul are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see? There’s light for a look at the Saviour. And life more abundant and free. Turn you 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….His word shall not fail you, He promised. Believe Him and all will be well. Then go to a world that is dying. His perfect salvation to tell.]
Did you know that you can be serving God, following every command, and yet still be troubled? That is what happens when we lose focus on what we are doing for God because our soul is weary. We want to life to be more abundant and free, and let me tell you, sometimes God has to take some things away from us so that we can turn our focus back on Him, [II Corinthians 7:10-11 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.]
Just because we are saved and faithful to God that does not mean that we do not have burdens in our soul or sorrows in our heart. In fact, those who serve God and are quite faithful have more pain inside themselves then all other Christians. Pastors are some of the most heavy burdened souls as they try to give one hundred percent to both God and their congregation. However, when we turn our focus off the burden and not only turn our eyes upon Jesus, but hand over to Him, then we will feel all that weight holding us down come lifting off. That is what happened to me this morning, I am more focused than I have been on weeks. Praise God! In fact, I have been singing that song in my head ever since I read that Psalm. In fact, sometimes singing to God is the best way to speak to Him.
[Psalms 92:1-8 A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: 2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, 3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. 4 For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. 5 O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. 6 A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this. 7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever: 8 But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore.]
[I will triumph in the works of thy hands.] Through every one of the afflictions I faced this past year, God has blessed my faithfulness ten fold, an awesome job, a beautiful car, a growing ministry, my debts are paid down, and I have so many things in my possession that I could not possibly use them all in the rest of my lifetime. Praise God! The fool will never understand why I not only stand by my faith, but run to it everytime things get hard. The fool will never understand how amazing it is to stand in the house of the LORD nor why, even when we cannot make it through those doors, that we are faithful to Him. The fool will never understand why we praise, thank, and give glory to God for everything that we do accomplish. And the fool will never understand why we do give one hundred percent, even if the world does not recognize it as such. [Psalms 92:13-15 Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; 15 To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.]
[he is my rock,] This reminds me of another song that just popped up in my thoughts, [On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand My hope is built on nothing less, Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand] Jesus Christ is the Rock of every faithful, saved, born again Christian. And there is a very good reason why God does allows us to lose our focus from time to time, and that is the be reminded that He truly is our ROCK, our King and our God.
[Psalms 93:1-5 The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved. 2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting. 3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. 4 The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. 5 Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.]
[The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters,] This is a good reminder that as powerful as God is, and as noisy as life can get, He is the most powerful and heard through a still small voice, [I Kings 19:11-12 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.]
Jesus Christ Magnified: [Psalms 92:15 To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You for the little reminders that tell us that we have lost focus on the real picture, and that is You. Our soul does get weary and tired, it does get burdened with cares of this world, but when we turn our focus off the stuff and on to you, the picture becomes as clear as the day. All we need to do is turn our eyes upon You, our solid ROCK, our SAVIOUR, in whom our hope is built on nothing less than Your one hundred percent focus on us. We are not here to please everyone, we are here to please You, and to give glory to You as You work in and through us. Lord, lead me and guide me, keep my focus on You, not my burdens, and not on trying to please everyone. I hand them all over to You and let You see me through them all. Give me Your mercy and grace, put Your hedge of protection around me, be with me in all that I do today, and remove all the noise so that I can hear Your still small voice speaking to me. I ask this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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