I know that most of you will agree when I say that it is so hard to balance life here on earth and maintain an eternal perspective. It’s like having one foot on a crap patty and the other on streets of gold. Some of you know what I mean.

Ever tried to rub the mess away without losing your footing in heavenly places?

Yeah, me too. It was an epic fail on my part. Yuck!!!

How about if we, instead of looking at our “Oh craps!”, fix our eyes on Jesus? What if we just kept running towards him? Think how much easier that would be.

Jesus is truly the leader and perfecter of our faith. He ran the race, enduring shame with joy, before he sat down at the right hand of GOD. The Word says that if we consider Jesus, we won’t become weary and lose heart. I believe Hebrews 12:1-3 from the Amplified version is worthy of meditation. So I am sharing it.

Read it slowly and meditate on these verses.

I hope they encourage you like they have encouraged me today.

 

“12 Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us,

Mark 10:46-52

Bartimaeus wanted to see!!!

The Spirit of the Living God shifted something deep inside Bartimaeus, causing him to realize that a connection with Jesus would bring him what he so desperately desired.

I must confess that I have good physical vision. But spiritually, I haven’t always been able to see clearly.

I know what it is like to be tangled in the thorns of this world.  I have felt the cold, dark fingers of spiritual disconnection try to cover my spiritual eyes and shut out the light of God. When the oppressive weight of this world began to enshroud me in darkness, I also call out to Jesus. Then I pursue him relentlessly through prayer, reading the Word and soul searing worship. Because I know that once I have Jesus’ attention, I must continue to give him mine.

Oh, how sweet it is when a sliver of light, at first, pierce my dark soul. Then more and more, I began to see.

Oh what a wonderful experience!

Thankfully, it is Jesus’ heartfelt desire to enlighten us.

All we have to do is say, “I want to see.”

Then once he answers us, we can joyfully follow Jesus on the path of righteousness, skipping joyfully, all the way home to eternity.

Mark10:51:

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked. “My rabbi, “the blind man said, “I want to see!”

 

Mark 6:37-42 lets us in on a 2,000 year old conversation between Jesus and his disciples that still have meaning for us today. It went something like this…

But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked.

“We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!”

“How much bread do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.”

They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.”

In the end, Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked toward heaven and blessed them. He kept giving bread to the disciples so they could distribute to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share. They all ate as much as they wanted. A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed from those loaves- with leftovers!

Remember to bring what God has given you to any situation.  Even if it appears to be just a measly drop in a supersized bucket, offer it to the Lord anyway. Let God bless it and He will multiply it for His glory and for the advancement of the kingdom. This humble act of giving on our part glorifies God and it is our contribution to our fellow man. A “few loaves and a few fish” are like storehouses of supplies for God. It is more than enough for a miracle.