Devotional Song: Go to this link - Please take the time to meditate on this poignant song, sung by an unknown group, singing Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, … reminding us that Jesus wants us to look to Him first as we encounter the tyranny of the world and the deceitful luring of our own heart.
Highlight meditation passage – Romans 12: 1-2 : [Jesus – An audience of One!] …
12 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
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Highlight reading study of Romans, Chapter 12: Go to this link …
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Reference Passage #1: Luke 9: 23 … [Yes, He’s a demanding Savior, isn’t He?] … [NLT] …
23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow Me.
Reference Passage #2: Revelation 3: 20 … [Every day, … every moment, He knocks.] … [NLT] …
20 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. ..."
Reference Passage #3: Jeremiah 17: 9 … [And every moment our hearts are vulnerable to the luring of the world.] … [NLT] … 9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
My Journal for Today: Today in his devotional, Os Hillman, reminded his readers (and me) that we all will play our lives out before various audiences. Orchestra conductors will play to symphony audiences. Politicians will play to the audience of political polls. Salesmen will play out their spiels to potential customers. And Pastors will proclaim their sermons to their congregations. But when it comes to our Savior, He’s a demanding caller, isn’t He?
Yes, Jesus, … everyday, … really every moment of every day, … as He spelled out in Revelation 3: 20, desires that His disciples do what He also called them to do in the passage I probably paste in more of my journals than any other, … Luke 9: 23. Every day, … every moment, Jesus is knocking on the door of our hearts; and He wants us to be an audience of ONE, … at least for the first part of our attention span, knowing that we’ll be playing out our lives to many different audiences as we live for Him.
As the song to which I’ve linked you this morning sings, Jesus wants us to turn our attention to Him … FIRST; and then once we have our eyes fixed clearly on His will and His ways, we can play to the audiences which our roles in life demand. Today, the highlight passage, Romans 12: 1-2, we read one of the most demanding and powerful passages I’ve ever memorized (and I hope you have memorized it too!!).
But the song and today’s scriptures call out to us with God’s ever demanding call to have our life be a “living sacrifice” in 24/7 worship to and for our Lord. And in Verse 2 of Romans 12, God calls us to beware of the calling and the luring of this world (knowing also God’s warning in Jer.17: 9), which will play to our natural selfishness to take our eyes off of Jesus and His calling to follow Him in all we think, say, and do.
So, if this is early in a morning, as it is with me writing this, let’s all turn our eyes upon Jesus and keep our way fixed on following Him through our day … today and tomorrow!
My Prayer for Today … Jesus, You are my Way, … my Truth, … and my Life. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online blog entitled Today God Is First [TGIF], authored by Os Hillman. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read Hillman’s TGIF blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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