Looking to Jesus provides us so much more than freedom from worry. It gives us hope, joy, and increases our faith, just to name a few. The thing I want to talk about today is how turning your eyes upon Jesus can multiply your blessings. It is true and biblical that Turning your eyes upon Jesus can increase your blessings. With the Spirit’s help, I will show you how.
The year 2010 needs to be the year the church stop seeking just after God’s hand but after God’s face. We have spent too much time just seeking God’s hand. By that I mean, we spend prayer time asking God to give us this or that. That is seeking God’s hand. Seeking God’s face means to spend time with Him in prayer and in His Word getting to know him, and not just about Him. We need to spend time building our relationship with Him—after all, a relationship is what we were created for. A relationship is what separates true Christianity from religion. God is not about religion; He wants a relationship with His children. Religion is about ritual, rules, and rites which lead to death. Jesus is about redemption, reconciliation, and a relationship that leads to life everlasting.
Imagine with me, how strong would a relationship be if a boyfriend's or girlfriend's only interested in a person was from the neck down. Those are the relationships that go south quickly. Relationships that are about getting what we can from a person and not about getting to know the person are doomed from the start. I am reminded of the words to the song, Friends, by Whodini:
Talking on the telephone for hours at a time;
Else I was at your house or you were at mine.
Then came the arguments and all kinds of problems,
Besides making love we had nothing in common.
Could’ve lasted longer ‘cause it started out strong;
Guess we went about the whole thing wrong.
Saddest the way it came to an end;
‘cause we became lovers before we were friends.
The Southern Baptists like to say that if God can get your heart, He can get your pocketbook. By that they mean, if God is allowed to sit on the throne of your heart, you will have no trouble giving Him all you’ve got—since you’ll recognize it’s His anyhow. But did you know that the reverse is also true? Many are familiar with the passage of Psalms 37:4, even if they don’t know the chapter and verse. Psalms 37:4, says, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” That means that we are to seek the Lord’s face and He will bless us with the things that we want. He will do this because the things that we’ll want will be the things He wants us to have. Another good passage is 2 Chronicles 7:14, which states, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” The latter part of the verse is speaking of the blessings they desperately needed because they and their land were under a curse.
Let 2010 be the year you get to know God on a more intimate basis. Talk to Him and tell Him your problems and desires and let Him speak to you through His Spirit and His Word. You will find that it will change your life! Not only that, blessings will come your way as well. I am reminded of King David. David was known as a man after God’s own heart. This means that He was a man who sought the face of God. After David sinned with Bathsheba and God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David, God said to David through Nathan, "You are the man. Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gaveyou’re your master's house, and your master's wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee [more] (2 Sam 12:7-8).” David repented and was spared the fate of Saul. God did not kill him nor take the Kingdom away from him. Vow to be a man/woman like David—a person after God’s own heart.
If you seek after the face of God, you can have what is in His hand. What is in His hand? Ask any child—“He has the whole world in His hand.”
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