January 26, 2025 Pondering
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
- Hebrews 12:1-2
What a glorious Savior we have! He rescued us from our sin and the wrath to come; He redeemed our life from the pit of despair and destruction; through His sacrifice He shed His blood, atoning for our sin and reconciled us to the Father; He has placed His own Spirit to dwell within us; He lives to make intercession for us and has promised to come back for us that we would be with Him forever! What a truly glorious Savior we have been given!
But every follower of Jesus Christ has a continual problem we all must learn to battle - we have a propensity to take our eyes off of Jesus Christ our Lord, Whom we love so much! As a hymn writer once succinctly wrote, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love”. Why?! For those who have been purchased by the shed blood of Jesus, this logically this makes no sense that we would ever do this. We have tasted and seen that the LORD is good! We even resonate with the Apostle Peter after Jesus tells the disciples that they will all scatter and fall away from Him when He is arrested; Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away” (Matthew 26:33). Yeah! And yet, we all know about the three denials that occurred before the cock crowed. Peter also had forgotten that he had walked on water while looking to Jesus, but quickly began to sink when he grew afraid of the wind and took his eyes off of Jesus. Our spirits are certainly willing and our flesh is certainly weak.
The passage above from Hebrews uses the metaphor of a race being an example of our life lived. We are called to live our lives not in a dead sprint, expelling all of our efforts at once, but in a slow slog of a race, we are called to run with endurance. It takes wisdom, patience, diligence in remembering this call to run with endurance. And yet, note that we don’t look to the finish line, but that we look to Jesus! He is where we are to set our gaze! The elders pray for every believer at New Life to be captivated by Christ in order that we would be conformed to Christ, to the praise of His glory and grace! To be captivated by Him has to come from us gazing upon Him in the revealed
Word of God. His Word continually helps us to not drift in our focusing on Jesus. In His Word is found reminders from God to not forget Him, but to remember Him - “then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 6:12); “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command
you today,” (Deuteronomy 8:11); “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.” (Psalm 77:11)
Let us love one another in the Body of Christ by helping each other to continually set our gaze, our minds, our hearts, our emotions, and our desires upon Jesus Christ, the Lord of lords and King of kings!
- looking to Jesus,
pastor jeff
- Hebrews 12:1-2
What a glorious Savior we have! He rescued us from our sin and the wrath to come; He redeemed our life from the pit of despair and destruction; through His sacrifice He shed His blood, atoning for our sin and reconciled us to the Father; He has placed His own Spirit to dwell within us; He lives to make intercession for us and has promised to come back for us that we would be with Him forever! What a truly glorious Savior we have been given!
But every follower of Jesus Christ has a continual problem we all must learn to battle - we have a propensity to take our eyes off of Jesus Christ our Lord, Whom we love so much! As a hymn writer once succinctly wrote, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love”. Why?! For those who have been purchased by the shed blood of Jesus, this logically this makes no sense that we would ever do this. We have tasted and seen that the LORD is good! We even resonate with the Apostle Peter after Jesus tells the disciples that they will all scatter and fall away from Him when He is arrested; Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away” (Matthew 26:33). Yeah! And yet, we all know about the three denials that occurred before the cock crowed. Peter also had forgotten that he had walked on water while looking to Jesus, but quickly began to sink when he grew afraid of the wind and took his eyes off of Jesus. Our spirits are certainly willing and our flesh is certainly weak.
The passage above from Hebrews uses the metaphor of a race being an example of our life lived. We are called to live our lives not in a dead sprint, expelling all of our efforts at once, but in a slow slog of a race, we are called to run with endurance. It takes wisdom, patience, diligence in remembering this call to run with endurance. And yet, note that we don’t look to the finish line, but that we look to Jesus! He is where we are to set our gaze! The elders pray for every believer at New Life to be captivated by Christ in order that we would be conformed to Christ, to the praise of His glory and grace! To be captivated by Him has to come from us gazing upon Him in the revealed
Word of God. His Word continually helps us to not drift in our focusing on Jesus. In His Word is found reminders from God to not forget Him, but to remember Him - “then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 6:12); “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command
you today,” (Deuteronomy 8:11); “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.” (Psalm 77:11)
Let us love one another in the Body of Christ by helping each other to continually set our gaze, our minds, our hearts, our emotions, and our desires upon Jesus Christ, the Lord of lords and King of kings!
- looking to Jesus,
pastor jeff
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