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The greatest and most important thing one can do in Christianity is to look at Jesus Christ. Looking at Jesus Christ is the answer to our illnesses, troubles, temptations, struggles and ills.
Are you struggling with sin? Are you weak in the face of temptation? Do not focus on your struggles but on Your Saviour. Look away from your sin and look to Christ. Murray Mcheyne said, 'For every one look at your sin take ten looks at Christ'. By concentrating on your sin or temptation, you will only feed it and empower it to come after you, but by looking away to Christ and fixing your eyes there you will not even think about your temptation. By looking to Jesus your fears or troubles will be driven away and the chains of sin will be broken. This will all happen as you gaze at Jesus - it's His promise to us! How astonishing.
It is a rule of life that you become like what you see, and experiece and live. As we behold Christ, He will supernaturally change us so that we become like the One whom we are beholding. What does the word say?
"We all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2Cor 3:18).
Do we want to become like Jesus? Then we must spend our time with Him. Spend as much time as we possibly can gazing at Him and on His perfections in secret prayer, Bible reading and meditation and worshipping Him in His presence.
The danger with us is that we can become a people who know all about Him, but without actually knowing Him. Often we can prefer wholesome Christian things to spending time beholding Jesus. Is it any wonder we are not more like Him?
He is the grand object of all Christian affections and desires. The divine Father has been pleased to gaze upon Him throughout all eternity past and would have been perfectly happy doing so for ever without making a world - without making us. The Father sees His own perfections and glory shining so brightly from His Son, in whom He just delights! The holy angels and mighty seraphim are content, more than that, in utter bliss as they gaze longingly at the God-man - the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. So may we - lesser beings - be happy to spend our lives in beholding, adoring, worshipping, serving and delighting in God's Son.
The reason we are not more holy, not more Christ-like, not more loving and pure and powerful is because we have not spent enough time with the Holy One. If only we would take time to sit at His feet, to gaze into His eyes, to abide in Him, to touch His heart, to partake of His life, beauty and holiness. Then we would be more Godly.
We need to look straight ahead and run this race hard, so hard looking at Jesus; throwing off the things that hinder and distract us. We need to look straight ahead at Jesus if we are to make progress along this path - not at ministry, not at goals, not at programs, not even at good Christian stuff - but at Jesus Himself. We mustn't look to the left or the right, cos the minute we do so we become like Peter sinking into the waters of despair, self pity, depression and sinfulness. In fact, it is as impossible for us to walk through this life being a Christian (in the biblical sense of the word) without looking always at Jesus as it is for a man to walk across an ocean.
Sometimes we can even sink when we make too much of a particular doctrine or we focus on our sacrifice and cross bearing so much so that the thought of it becomes attractive to the mind because of radicalism but nightmarish to the flesh. That's the most dangerous form of idolatry, isn't it? Yes, if we focus so much on our own cross that we focus more on that than on our Saviour, I say we will struggle to die there. On the other hand if we make much of focusing on Jesus then we will be so caught up in Him and His loveliness and worthiness that we'll embrace the cross and death to self for the love of Him - gladly and joyfully.
So, we have to conclude that the main thing in true Christianity - the main occupation of the true Christian - must be to behold Jesus Christ. No wonder so many of us lose our way - it is because we’ve lost sight of the Saviour. We are like the Israelites in the desert trying to feed on past manna - we can't, we need fresh, regular revelations of Christ daily. Let's resolve to turn our eyes upon Jesus afresh today and to spend our lives simply beholding Him. This was David’s one desire: he said,
"One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple." (Psalm 27:4)
I say it again to my soul. Oh soul, look to Jesus! Oh eyes, be transfixed on Jesus! Look and live, look and be free, look and be pure, look and be holy, look and be powerful, look and be useful, look and be like Him. Oh look I say, look to Jesus. Spend your life savouring the Saviour.
“Oh turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of the world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and graze.”
“Jesus, the glories of thy face, my songs of praise record:
I sing the overflowing grace of my beloved Lord.
Thou art the Father’s chief delight: Thy beauty angels view:
Thou art all fair in Zion’s sight: And my beloved too”.
Be joyful, family. For we abide in the One. He is why we are here, and He is the answer to our struggles.
We praise You, Lord!
Are you struggling with sin? Are you weak in the face of temptation? Do not focus on your struggles but on Your Saviour. Look away from your sin and look to Christ. Murray Mcheyne said, 'For every one look at your sin take ten looks at Christ'. By concentrating on your sin or temptation, you will only feed it and empower it to come after you, but by looking away to Christ and fixing your eyes there you will not even think about your temptation. By looking to Jesus your fears or troubles will be driven away and the chains of sin will be broken. This will all happen as you gaze at Jesus - it's His promise to us! How astonishing.
It is a rule of life that you become like what you see, and experiece and live. As we behold Christ, He will supernaturally change us so that we become like the One whom we are beholding. What does the word say?
"We all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2Cor 3:18).
Do we want to become like Jesus? Then we must spend our time with Him. Spend as much time as we possibly can gazing at Him and on His perfections in secret prayer, Bible reading and meditation and worshipping Him in His presence.
The danger with us is that we can become a people who know all about Him, but without actually knowing Him. Often we can prefer wholesome Christian things to spending time beholding Jesus. Is it any wonder we are not more like Him?
He is the grand object of all Christian affections and desires. The divine Father has been pleased to gaze upon Him throughout all eternity past and would have been perfectly happy doing so for ever without making a world - without making us. The Father sees His own perfections and glory shining so brightly from His Son, in whom He just delights! The holy angels and mighty seraphim are content, more than that, in utter bliss as they gaze longingly at the God-man - the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. So may we - lesser beings - be happy to spend our lives in beholding, adoring, worshipping, serving and delighting in God's Son.
The reason we are not more holy, not more Christ-like, not more loving and pure and powerful is because we have not spent enough time with the Holy One. If only we would take time to sit at His feet, to gaze into His eyes, to abide in Him, to touch His heart, to partake of His life, beauty and holiness. Then we would be more Godly.
We need to look straight ahead and run this race hard, so hard looking at Jesus; throwing off the things that hinder and distract us. We need to look straight ahead at Jesus if we are to make progress along this path - not at ministry, not at goals, not at programs, not even at good Christian stuff - but at Jesus Himself. We mustn't look to the left or the right, cos the minute we do so we become like Peter sinking into the waters of despair, self pity, depression and sinfulness. In fact, it is as impossible for us to walk through this life being a Christian (in the biblical sense of the word) without looking always at Jesus as it is for a man to walk across an ocean.
Sometimes we can even sink when we make too much of a particular doctrine or we focus on our sacrifice and cross bearing so much so that the thought of it becomes attractive to the mind because of radicalism but nightmarish to the flesh. That's the most dangerous form of idolatry, isn't it? Yes, if we focus so much on our own cross that we focus more on that than on our Saviour, I say we will struggle to die there. On the other hand if we make much of focusing on Jesus then we will be so caught up in Him and His loveliness and worthiness that we'll embrace the cross and death to self for the love of Him - gladly and joyfully.
So, we have to conclude that the main thing in true Christianity - the main occupation of the true Christian - must be to behold Jesus Christ. No wonder so many of us lose our way - it is because we’ve lost sight of the Saviour. We are like the Israelites in the desert trying to feed on past manna - we can't, we need fresh, regular revelations of Christ daily. Let's resolve to turn our eyes upon Jesus afresh today and to spend our lives simply beholding Him. This was David’s one desire: he said,
"One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple." (Psalm 27:4)
I say it again to my soul. Oh soul, look to Jesus! Oh eyes, be transfixed on Jesus! Look and live, look and be free, look and be pure, look and be holy, look and be powerful, look and be useful, look and be like Him. Oh look I say, look to Jesus. Spend your life savouring the Saviour.
“Oh turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of the world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and graze.”
“Jesus, the glories of thy face, my songs of praise record:
I sing the overflowing grace of my beloved Lord.
Thou art the Father’s chief delight: Thy beauty angels view:
Thou art all fair in Zion’s sight: And my beloved too”.
Be joyful, family. For we abide in the One. He is why we are here, and He is the answer to our struggles.
We praise You, Lord!
Thank you GM 
