Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus! by Myra Boozer

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus...Look full into His wonderful face...and the things of life will grow strangely dim...In the light of His glory and grace...”

I love this song...but there is something we MUST do...TURN...hard to do sometimes. It takes real effort, something we don't like to do. IT IS A MUST IF WE ARE TO SEE JESUS!

Something my Mother told me in the days before she passed away, "the things of this world grow very dim." Are they losing their hold on you? Are they becoming less and less important? I think the more we acknowledge God and His plan for our life and OUR LIFE WITH HIM, the things we have here start growing dim and not so important as they once were.

“For where your treasure is there will your heart be also,” Matt. 6:21. I want my Treasure to be in Heaven, not here on earth, where it will be destroyed...GOD HAS SUCH A WONDERFUL PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE...BUT I WOULD SAY IT IS NOT HERE (IN THE TEMPORAL) BUT IN THE LIFE TO COME...THE EVERLASTING LIFE...Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus!

The Revelation Of Jesus Christ!

Galatians 1:9, “As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. 11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

The Apostle Paul is recounting his own personal experience to the Church at Galatia. He is emphasizing the powerful nature of his revelation of Jesus Christ and the subsequent effect of that revelation on the message he has preached and is preaching. He received the authority to preach the Gospel directly from Jesus Christ Himself! What we all require is a revelation of Jesus Christ!

If we are to share in the revelation of Jesus Christ, we will require the assistance and nurture of the Holy Spirit. What God has purposed will require the power of the Holy Spirit to totally change or transform this fleshly tabernacle into a spiritual habitation for Himself. The revelation of Jesus Christ is to welcome Him to take charge of our lives, uninhibited by our human limitations, to be a living, breathing, walking vessel filled with the Holy Spirit. (continued) 

He (Jesus) Is More Than Enough! by Myra Boozer

John 14:13, “Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.“ That speaks to me about a life without want. Remember, ‘The Lord is MY Shepherd, I shall not want...’ the broader meaning, not lacking, not deficient in proper care, management, or husbandry. But a second emphasis is the idea of being utterly contented in the Good Shepherd's care and consequently not craving or desiring anything more," taken from A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller.

As I have been reading in the Book of Mark about Jesus, the disciples, and the multitudes, I really honed in on a question Jesus asked the disciples. They had departed in a ship to the "other side" away from the crowds. As they left, the disciples realized they only had one loaf of bread on the entire ship, a real dilemma for hungry men. This is what Jesus had to say about their reasoning over such a small amount of bread. Mark 8:17-18, "...Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? AND DO YE NOT REMEMBER? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many BASKETS FULL of fragments took ye up? They said unto him TWELVE. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said SEVEN, and he said unto them, HOW IS IT THAT YE DO NOT UNDERSTAND?"

When we have Jesus in our lives, we are covered at all times. He has provision that is MORE THAN ENOUGH! Now these guys are talking about a loaf of bread, not a Banquet. Many may feel that God lets them down or doesn't provide because they do not receive a "Lobster Fest" on a Cruise Ship.

I found this statement a while ago..."God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." When the desires of this world can fade away like a fog lifting off the valley, I believe that we find a new perspective about life, love, and our relationship with others, especially God. He just fills our every longing and desire. We are no longer pushed and pressured into needing anything except Him and His presence. It is no longer about me and what I must attain or receive from this world. He becomes my focus. He brings my life to the fullest, and my heart can sing in the midst of chaos. I know He Is More Than Enough for today, tomorrow, and forever...and He always has leftovers...His storehouse is FULL... 

No Reason To Be Afraid!

Hebrews 13:5, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

How often do we find ourselves in the position to question, “Why are these harsh circumstances developing around us?” We are susceptible to cry out in absolute disbelief, “I can't believe this is happening to me!” This position makes us vulnerable and opens the door for Satan to rush in and steal our faith. In extreme cases, our soul can be seized with such life-altering doubt that our Christian service is totally paralyzed, and we cannot proceed further. In that moment, we should run to God and fall upon our faces in prayer! If we seek His face in submission, He will throw off the chains of dejection and depression as we heed the burning desire of the Holy Spirit that lives within us. We are never alone. Heb. 13:5, “...for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”

We can easily get caught up in the current climate and events. We may question why all the negative stuff appears to be happening to us! But Jesus said it would be this way in the last days and that He would return to catch His Church away and redeem His people Israel. We must be careful that we are not so consumed with our current distress that we allow Satan to steal away the promise of our redemption and the Second Coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

We can place our total confidence in the promises the Lord has given us. He will never fail us! What He has promised, He will fulfill, so there is No Reason To Be Afraid! 

Jesus Is Our Refuge! by Myra Boozer

You can't travel very far on any given Street or road without seeing a Church Steeple, and sometimes they are side by side. When we lived in Valley Head, a tiny little town at the foot of Lookout Mountain near Fort Payne, AL., I could look out my kitchen window and see three Churches. We were Pastors of a Church on top of the mountain at Mentone, also surrounded by other Churches.

There are church buildings everywhere. We are living in the middle of the Bible belt, but many people are confused, troubled, and not connected to any Church...Why? This troubles me greatly...an abundance of Churches (places of refuge), but are they giving fresh bread (Jesus is the Bread of Life) to the hungry souls? Are they keeping the Spiritual Fires burning to warm the cold and the lost? Are they teaching Truth...or just some ideas that make people comfortable in their situation? Do they offer Freedom from the chains that bind people?  Do they have the Key to help the enslaved be set free from sin? Are they the Lighthouse to the weary traveler? What is going on in these beautiful buildings that have the lights on several nights a week? Is there revival, renewal, regeneration, and restoration happening? What is happening in all these places?

Our Church buildings are beautiful structures, but will they lead the lost to Jesus? Will they leave rejoicing because of their new Freedom in Him? Will they find Hope and receive Life and direction for the days we have left? Will they desire to leave their shackles and receive the new life of freedom from sin and walk in union with Christ? People need answers! They need love! They need JESUS! 

Do We Really Want God's Help?

2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people...then I will hear from heaven...”

This verse is all about God intervening in the lives of His people. God wants us to invite Him into the affairs of our lives. He loves His creation and desires to intervene in our needs. In verse 13, God offers a litany of circumstances that would warrant His intervention. In this text, the first is, “If I shut up heaven that there be no rain...” He is literally addressing a physical lack of water. However, I believe we can also apply this in a spiritual sense, such as spiritual water. Jesus referred to Himself as the living water and referred to all who believed in Him as having rivers of living water flowing out of their belly. He was talking about His flowing through the believer by the Holy Spirit to give spiritual refreshment to all who are willing to receive.

I believe that our world needs spiritual rain, spiritual rain flowing from the throne of God, spiritual rain consisting of the power and presence of God in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit! How long has it been since we have seen a genuine move of the Holy Spirit? I’m not talking about an exhibition of emotions or a series of religious meetings fraught with a supposed divine encounter. What I am talking about is an undeniable, unmistakable, genuine move of the Holy Spirit that affects not only our emotions but also has an overwhelming effect on the way we talk, behave, and live. A work of God that changes attitudes as well as actions. A work of God that changes people, churches, cities, states, and nations. God help us to lay hold on such a move of God!

Have we become void of that intense, sustained, convicting presence of God? Have we walked away from God’s perfect will for His Church and us? Have we become satisfied with a trickle of spiritual water when He wants us to experience a spiritual river? He wants to lead us out into the deep! He wants to bless His Church by His presence, and He wants to flow out through His children by the Holy Spirit to bring His refreshing to a dry and thirsty land.

I would suggest to you that our world is in the midst of a spiritual drought. The Holy Spirit is calling the Church to bring life-giving water to the thirsty and dying souls in this world. We can only do that as we seek for and participate in God’s intervention for the salvation of lost souls. Jude said, “...pulling them from the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.”

In our beginning text, after solidifying His relationship with His people, God challenged them to trust and believe in Him. He said in verse 13, “If I shut up heaven that there be no rain...” and in verse 14, “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.”

Are we willing to do our part so God can do His part?

Prayer Is Not A Spare Wheel! by Myra Boozer

God help us to remember this..."Prayer is not a 'spare wheel' that you pull out when in trouble...But it is a 'steering wheel' that directs the path throughout…" To want God's attention only when in trouble is not really wanting God at all; it is that a person wants the problem solved and right quick. God forgive us all for not talking to you more and giving you control in so many situations of life. We need you MORE than Yesterday, more than words can say. Oh, we NEED YOU in everything, we need YOU!