DATE: TUESDAY NOVEMBER 21ST 2017
THEME: LOOK TO JESUS AND SEE HEAVEN
Memorise:
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. Psalms 121:1
Read: Hebrew 12:1-2
12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Message:
Looking at Jesus with the eyes of the spirit is so important to believers because it helps us to see ourselves more clearly. When you see Jesus and you take a look at yourself, it makes you to see yourself the way God sees you, and consequently, it propels you to make necessary adjustments. Also, you need to see Jesus so that you can access your help. In Psalm 121:1-2, David said he would lift up his eyes to the hills where his help comes from. When you lift up your eyes to heaven, you will behold Jesus. If only you can see Jesus, distractions will fade into oblivion. Many of us are separated from our Source because instead of looking up , we are looking sideways: we are looking for help from our neighbours, colleagues and fellow men. These people are quite limited in the level of help they can render, no matter how highly placed, financially endowed or intellectually sound they may be. Making man your source brings limitation into your life. Even within your family, do you know that it is wrong to focus on your father or mother as your source? The right approach is to view God as your source of help, and to see every other person as a conduct pipe through whom God can channel His help. The right attitude to have in every home is to always channel the family request to God, and thereafter, allow God to channel His provision through whatever means He wants. Henceforth, get your family to focus on Jesus as the Provider, and He will never disappoint you.
Moreover, focusing our gaze on Jesus is a sure path that leads to Heaven. Hence, today’s Bible reading says that we should look towards Jesus, who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. Jesus Christ is the One who began the Christian faith and He is the One who completes it. He walked the earth and successfully ended in Heaven. If you focus your gaze on Him, you will be able to follow in His steps. If you follow His steps, what He did you will do, and where He ended you will end. The shocking news here is that we really do not have any alternative to doing this. If you do not look to Jesus, you will not see His steps, and hence, you will end up following the wrong path. This will result in you not ending your journey where Jesus ended His. May this not be your story in Jesus’ Name. While here on earth, focus your gaze on Jesus, and you will be able to see Him in Heaven.
Action Point:
Focus your gaze on Jesus by always asking yourself this question: What would Jesus do if He were in my shoes?
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Psalm 28-33
Jonah 1
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 11: I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS
1. I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.
2. The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
No turning back, no turning back.
3. Though none go with me, still I will follow;
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
No turning back, no turning back.
4. My cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus;
My cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus;
My cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.
5. Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
No turning back, no turning back.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR PASSAGES
Psalm 28: 1. Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. 2. Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. 3. Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts. 4. Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert. 5. Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up. 6. Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. 7. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. 8. The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed. 9. Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.
Psalm 29: 1. Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. 2. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. 3. The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. 4. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. 5. The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. 6. He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. 7. The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire. 8. The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. 9. The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory. 10. The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever. 11. The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.
Psalm 30: 1. I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. 2. O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. 3. O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 4. Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 5. For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. 6. And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. 7. LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. 8. I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication. 9. What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth? 10. Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper. 11. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; 12. To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. -
Psalm 31: 1. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. 2. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. 3. For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me. 4. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength. 5. Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth. 6. I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD. 7. I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities; 8. And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room. 9. Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly. 10. For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed. 11. I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me. 12. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel. 13. For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life. 14. But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God. 15. My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. 16. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake. 17. Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave. 18. Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. 19. Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! 20. Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. 21. Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city. 22. For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. 23. O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. 24. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD. -
Psalm 32: 1. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 3. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. 4. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. 5. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. 6. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. 7. Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. 8. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. 9. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. 10. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about. 11. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. -
Psalm 33: 1. Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. 2. Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. 3. Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise. 4. For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth. 5. He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD. 6. By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. 7. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. 8. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. 10. The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. 11. The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. 12. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD: and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. 13. The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. 14. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. 15. He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works. 16. There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. 17. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. 18. Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; 19. To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 20. Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. 21. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. 22. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee. -
Jonah 1: 1. Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. 3. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. 4. But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. 5. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. 6. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. 7. And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. 8. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? 9. And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. 10. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 11. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. 12. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. 13. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. 14. Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee. 15. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. 16. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. 17. Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. -
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