April 15, 2024
One week ago today America experienced an amazing total solar eclipse. Two days before, on April 6th, I posted a blog entitled, What does the April 8 Eclipse Mean? (SEE BELOW)
Thank all of you who warmly received it and posted affirmative comments. In reading through some of the responses, I encountered two issues of disagreement that I would like to address. The first issue was with my statement that the United States was founded on faith in God. I quoted from the Pledge of Allegiance, not because it was a founding document, but because it so succinctly states that we are “one nation under God.” Our very first president, George Washington, immediately following his inauguration on his very first day in office, knelt in prayer along with his entire government and dedicated the United States of America to the glory of God.1 It was an incredible act that established us as a nation under God.
Some time ago, while sitting on the porch of a beach house, I was enjoying watching people walk by. I began to be curious as four people approached because I noticed that the two guys were dressed exactly alike, and the two women walking with them were dressed exactly alike! Not only that, the four of them were walking with two dogs that were exactly alike! As I watched, I thought this can’t be! So I closed one eye, and sure enough…there was only one couple walking one dog! When I opened my other eye, I saw four people and two dogs. That’s the first indication I had of double vision.
Double vision is exhausting because everything looks confusing. Straining to constantly focus is wearying. I can’t see clearly unless I wear glasses, or close one eye…does the pastor and/or worship leader in church think I’m winking at him?
While physical double vision is exhausting, spiritual double vision is more so. Life can become confusing, a wise decision can turn into multiple choice, our goals can become divided, our reason and purpose for living can become ambiguous, and weariness takes over.
In Matthew 6:22-23, Jesus said: The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Put another way, He is saying that your focus determines the direction of your life. If your focus is healthy, your whole life will be full of light. But if your focus is off…if you have spiritual double vision…you will become confused, susceptible to deception, and end up lost on the road going nowhere with a life that is wasted.
Spiritual double vision produces an erratic, inconsistent walk. Some days you read your Bible—some days you don’t. Some days you pray—some days you don’t. Some things you surrender to the Lord—some things you hold on to. Some time and money you give Him…some time and money you spend the way you want. It’s exhausting.
I remember when I first surrendered everything to the Lord. I did so because I was tired. Tired of the multiple decisions I made every day, “Do I do this His way? In obedience to His Word? In accordance to His will? Or do I do things my way, according to what I want?” Finally, it just seemed easier and less exhausting to let Him have everything and give me back what He wanted me to have. So I did. I surrendered all. Immediately I felt a release. A sweet peace. My life, my decisions, my goals that included family and ministry, were in His hands. And my focus was clear. I would live for Him alone. For His pleasure. For His glory.
Over the years, God has taken me deeper in that surrender as I have been challenged in new ways: to surrender my children…and my grandchildren…their decisions and well-being; to surrender the future of the ministry He has entrusted to me; to surrender my time and the way I use it as I seem to get busier and busier; to surrender my health, or lack of it; to surrender my reputation as I come under assault; and the list goes on.
The blessing has been not only peace and spiritual “rest” from the striving, but also a clearer focus on my supreme goal of pursuing Him…of knowing Him, loving Him, pleasing Him, serving Him, glorifying Him until I see Him face to face.
So at the beginning of this New Year 2024, check your focus. What consumes your time? Your thoughts? What are your goals? Your priorities? Do you lack deep inner peace because without realizing it, you have gradually developed double vision? If so, it’s time to surrender all. Make the words of this classic hymn by Judson Van DeVenter not just your New Year’s resolution but your prayer for life:
All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at His feet I bow;
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power,
Let Thy blessing fall on me.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Now I feel the sacred flame;
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His name!
I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior
I surrender all.
For His Glory,
Click here for the Bible Study especially developed for this newsletter.
Rachel-Ruth has overcome daunting, life-threatening health issues not just somehow, but triumphantly, as she has kept her eyes fixed on Jesus. Her life, as well as her message, impacted the hundreds of Intercessors for America who gathered in Washington, DC as she shared the platform with Michele Bachmann, Richard Blackaby and Eric Metaxas.
The King’s personal Christmas gift to me this year was the opportunity to speak at a women’s event at Cornerstone Church in Leesburg, VA, as a substitute for Rachel-Ruth whose doctor did not want her to fly. Two thousand women were seated before me and 3500 were watching by live stream, as I challenged them to surrender their hearts to The King for His birthday. I’m excited to welcome Cornerstone’s pastor, Gary Hamrick, as a teacher at my Cove seminar this November 1-3.
Dino Kartsonakis and his beautiful wife, Cheryl, led worship for my Cove seminar in November. The Cove training center was filled to capacity, with 1500 watching on live stream, as Dino thrilled us with his music. He will be back to lead worship at my Cove seminar November 1-3. The seminar was truly a mountaintop experience as we were all challenged to get ready to meet Jesus—He’s coming!
Thanksgiving was a small celebration in our beloved NC mountains near my father’s house. My spirit was refreshed as I walked around the town I grew up in with my youngest granddaughter, Riggin, and my Golden Retriever, Churchill.
As the world keeps getting darker morally and spiritually, as rumors of wars increase, as nations rise against nations, as anger boils over in homes and on the streets, as our culture has gone so woke it denies the basic science of gender identity…and the list goes on…followers of Jesus are on high alert. The signs of His imminent return are more and more obvious. It’s time to get ready to meet Him face to face!
These messages were recorded at The Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove and are more timely today than they were even then. Dino Kartsonakis has graciously given us his permission to include his Cove seminar concert as a bonus track.
Getting up early in the morning to fix your eyes on Jesus through prayer and reading His Word is like setting your spiritual compass. Because no matter what faces you during the day, or how “lost” and confused you can become…He invariably leads you on the right path.
Our prayer is that the devotions in this updated deluxe edition will help you fix your eyes on Jesus every day, so that you, too, can set your spiritual compass.
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