A journey of Looking up

Topic: A journey of Looking up

4/2/18 by Rev. Renny Khoo

Looking up deals with the direction of our gaze

Looking up exhibits the decision in our hearts.

Sometimes we are put in determining circumstances in order to Look up.

In our journey we learn how to look up and start afresh to know whom we are looking up in this redemptive journey starting all over again.

1) Direction of our gaze- fresh perspectives .

This is the decision of our hearts to look up.

Isaiah 6 shows us that in the midst of despair our Prophet Isaiah look up and saw the lord seated on the throne high and exalted.Isaiah drew assurance and comfort from God that He is still in charge.

Sometimes we are cornered to look up in times of crisis.We need to look up to take refuge from the lord.The apostle Peter fixed his eyes on Jesus and walk on water when he gaze at Jesus and then sank when he turn away from Jesus and lost his perspectives .We need to learn to get our perspective right.

2) Decision in your heart -know where your help lies.

Psalm121 The psalmist lifted up his eyes to the hills and beyond to know where his help comes from.Regardless of our circumstances the Psalmist confidently knows that his help comes from God.

God is our personal God who is our creator and promise that he will never leave us as we make the decision in our hearts to look up to him all the time at different seasons and stations of our journey.

3) Determined circumstances-put into a place in order to see what God wants us to see.

Jonah refused to preach the word of God to the wicked city of Nineveh and ran away.

God have to use a fish to save Jonah and cause him to repent and return back to God and answer his call to preach to people of Nineveh.It is the desire of God to extend his mercy to save the people of Nineveh.We need to realign our hearts desire in alignment with God’s desire .

The disciple journey is a redemptive journey and not a journey out of duty but love.

We need to guard our hearts by spending quiet times with the lord to hear and see what he has to teach us to grow our faith into maturity.We have to return to the basic truth in our discipleship  journey in drawing our hearts align to his purposes.Christianity is not a religion but a person relationship with God.

We have to guard our lives against busyness and respond to serve our God.We need to grow our faith to maturity by serving to experience God and grow intimacy with our lord.

There are plenty of things we can do to serve our Lord to have lasting effects eternally.

  

Questions:

1.Share an experience where you look up to God.what happened?What made you decide to look to God? What does this experience tell you about God and yourself?

2.Read Psalm121.circle recurring words in this psalm.How does the psalmist feel and think about God. What do you think the psalmist wants us the readers to know?

3.As we embark on the Discipleship journey,what are some things you think God is trying to show you in this journey? What do you intend to do about it?