Until All I See

2Corinthians 4:6 - For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

I was overcome I prayer. I was calling out to the Lord. I was praying for His Spirit to open the blind eyes, soften hard hearts and loosen stiff necks toward Him, that His light would shine. 

We are living in trying times. They might be as close as in your own life or as great as what is happening in the world. No matter what it is, the only way we will get through them is by God's strong arm. His hand is outstretched for anyone to walk with Him. He tells us His yoke is easy and His burden light. 

I know God can work in any person. He can reveal Himself in a way only that person would get it. He did that with me...in the midst of difficulty. He used the simple words of a pastor I had first heard that morning in 1999. He spoke to me, it seemed. He can do this. Were my ears open, my heart softened? Maybe not when I walked into that sanctuary, but I encountered the living God. And looking back I know He had been working on me. Most people who truly are Christians can pretty much know when they had encountered Him. 

I watched a short testimony of an Israeli woman who had a similar experience. So much was going on in her life and she needed to know if God was real. She asked Him from the depths of her soul, and she said, "Then I simply knew." And others saw the dramatic change in her. 

I know this is difficult to comprehend unless it's happened to someone but our God is huge. He can do this with anyone. Sometimes our hearts have grown so cold and hard, our necks so stiff, our eyes so blind and our ears so deaf we just will not allow His wonderful words to penetrate. We think we are so good, so secure, so not in need of a Father who loves us, even when we show no desire for Him. But He can break through just the same. I thank Him for this.

This world is growing cold. It is growing dark and we either will accept that as the norm, fret about it or learn to look to God and get to knowing better things are in store for those who love Him. 

There is a song, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. The refrain goes like this: 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, 

Look full in His wonderful face, 

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, 

In the light of His glory and grace. 

I prayed that I would see more and more of Jesus and less and less of the world. Until the things of the world would become dim. There is also a scripture that says He must increase and I must decrease (John 3:30). Self and the world are hard things to remove because of our fleshly bodies. We are, however, to be of one spirit, to be one with the Lord. That spirit is not of this world. The world is generally in darkness. 

Lord, work in me until all I see is You. We are to think on the lovely, pure, admirable, trustworthy and right things. That is my desire but I also need Your help. I thank You for the work You are doing in those who look to You. For the hope that lies in knowing You. For strength in the days to come.

Pride, boastfulness, lying and cheating, violence, hatred and abominations are seen all around us. How long can this go on? How much worse can it get? According to God's Word these are just the beginning (Matthew 24:8). It will get worse. How much more will a person be able to stand without the knowledge of God, and the hope of His promises? Man can make a lot of promises, like hope and change and making things great again or equality for all persons. None of these can hold a candle to what God promises: freedom from sin and eternal life, through Christ Jesus.

God says His salvation is about to come. He sent His Son and we need to receive Him for that salvation. There is no other way. He is the only Way. He has so much more to offer. 

Romans 13:11-14 - And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.