Title Let's Look to Jesus / Hebrews 12:2
Contents Hebrews 12:2, Isaiah 42:2-4
I pray that God's grace and blessings be with you all who come before the Lord today. We are now in the fourth week of Advent. Advent is said to be a season of waiting and preparing the way for the Lord to come. The object of waiting and preparing is Jesus. Today's book of Hebrews says that the faith that awaits and prepares is 'Jesus'.
Why should we look to Jesus? In today's text, I gave two reasons to look to Jesus.
First, because Jesus is the 'Lord of Faith'.
Jesus is the object of our faith. Being a Christian means making Jesus the goal of your life. When you lose Jesus in your faith, that faith is lost. To lose Jesus is to lose faith.
In the life of faith, experience is important, you must receive blessings, and you must also have gifts. But Jesus must be at the center of it. Jesus who bore the cross for me, Jesus who generously shed water and blood to atone for my sins, and Jesus, who is still praying for me at the right hand of God, must be the center of my faith for true faith.
You are the core, center, content, and whole of our faith. Faith without Jesus, no matter how great it may be, is just a superstition. The words without Jesus are in vain, no matter how interesting or interesting they are. Love that doesn't know Jesus, no matter how amazing you are, you fall into hypocrisy. Hope without Jesus, no matter how brilliant, is just a picture.
You are the sign and center of our faith. No matter what we do in the world in the name of faith, it is in vain if it is not for Jesus. Because Jesus is the ‘Lord of Faith’. So Augustine said that all of our faith should be a finger pointing to Jesus. To be like the Lord, to follow the Lord's word, and to be faithful to the Lord, that is faith.
Second, because Jesus is the “perfecter”.
Jesus delivered us from our sins by the grace of the cross, and He is the One who helps, fills, guides and perfects our shortcomings as children of God. Jesus washes away our sins. He fills our shortcomings. He covers our pain. makes us whole.
The prophet Isaiah prophesied about Jesus:
He will not break a bruised reed, nor put out a smoldering lamp...
To establish justice in the world, and the islands will wait for their teaching. Isaiah 42:2-4
The Lord does not break a bruised reed, nor does he quench a smoldering lamp. Therefore, it is faith to go to the cross of the Lord when we are discouraged, and to kneel before the Lord when we do not know where we are going is faith.
How many difficult and difficult things in your life, how many things have you fallen and broken your heart? There are times when our faith is shaken. In times like these, we should only look to Jesus. When you look at the environment, people, and yourself, you lose strength and fall into the abyss of discouragement.
When Peter looked at Jesus and went out by faith, he could walk on the water like Jesus did, but when he saw the storm and looked down, he immediately fell into the water. Seeing Jesus is faith.
.....Eternal God, Jehovah, who created the ends of the earth...
He gives strength to the weary, and strength to the weak...
But those who wait for the Lord will find new strength, and they will soar up like eagles with wings.
I will run and I will not get weary, I will walk and not get weary. Isaiah 40:28-31
Many of our ancestors of faith also struggled with difficulties and eventually achieved the victory of faith. Who are the people who just run through life easily? Is there any Christian who left a fragrant trace of faith by believing in Jesus easily and comfortably? With the help of the Lord who makes everything perfect, the saints who ran down the narrow road with grace left behind beautiful traces of faith. Only faith that has overcome hardships and difficulties becomes powerful faith. A beautiful tree ring is formed on a tree that has survived the midwinter, and a bright star gives off a more beautiful light in the dark night sky. The harder it gets, the more we need to look to Jesus. At that time, I believe that the hand of the Lord's grace that makes us perfect will hold us.
You are the one who makes perfect. He heals us from our weak lives, heals wounded souls, delivers us from our bad lives, and washes away our sins and makes them whole. That is why we must always look to Jesus.
What will Jesus do?
1. Thinking of Jesus every day.
To look to Jesus means to always think of Jesus. By thinking of Jesus, we become more like Jesus. What did Jesus do? What does Jesus say? To admire the life of Jesus, to listen to his words, and to imitate his life is Jesus.
There is a saying that couples look alike. Because we think of each other every day. Because we look at each other every day. When we think of Jesus, we become like Jesus.
2. It is to meditate on the words of Jesus every day.
To look to Jesus is to meditate on the words of Jesus in our hearts. The life of faith is to set yourself up before the words of Jesus every day. This is how I focus my life and life on Jesus.
Have you ever memorized a Bible verse? Don't just think of easy verses in moderation, and memorize those verses that really become a milestone in my life, empower my faith. If it is a phrase that resembles the Lord, even better. If you recite it every day, I believe that it will become your eyes on Jesus.
Meditating on your words every day, that is Jesus. This is because the person in the words of Jesus is a person who resembles Jesus, and Jesus is a person.
3. Pray before Jesus every day.
To look to Jesus is to pray. To lose prayer is to lose Jesus. It is without Jesus. Prayer is the surest way to look to Jesus. You don't even have to talk when you're in trouble.
When the disciples on the boat encountered a great storm, they forgot the Lord. They did their best to solve problems with their experience, talents, and common sense. But the situation was getting worse. The Lord was sleeping in the boat. Only later did the disciples shake Jesus from his sleep and wake him up. And the Lord calmed the storm.
Shake and wake the Lord who sleeps in my heart. That is prayer. That is looking to the Lord. To pray to Jesus every day is to look to the Lord.
How often do I forget that I am a Christian and that I am a man of God in my busy life? So, how often do you rush to church and sing your first hymn saying, ‘Lord, you are here.’ After that, when you think that your soul will open a little bit, the worship service is already over and you are thrown back into the world, so you will always live in faith like cold rice.
Dear brothers and sisters, please do not bind your faith only to the church. May life be your faith. Let us all think of Jesus at least three times a day. Let's all call on Jesus three times a day. 'Jesus, Jesus is my Lord.' This kind of faith turns our hearts toward the Lord. This kind of faith is what keeps us filled with the Holy Spirit. This is faith looking to the Lord.
I bless you with the wonderful grace of the Lord that makes you whole by looking to Jesus with sincere faith.