Focusing on Jesus

3.1.14

Dear Students, 
Today is the first day of you Media Fast!  I hope the following Devotional prepares your heart for the next 30 days! 

     READ: "I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God."

--Psalm 40:1-3

     THINK: Focus on four words you find in the first three verses:

  Turned, lifted, set, put. All action words. You can almost see the work of the Lord take place right before your eyes. Jesus Christ has righted an upside-down world. You see it in Psalm 40: the Lord taking pity on my upside-down-ness, turning, lifting, setting, and putting--giving me a new, noble purpose.

     Notice that there's an increase of intimacy in the progression of those four words.

    Jesus turns, He changes course, He considers me. Then He draws me near, pulling me up to Himself. Next, He sets me in a place of confidence, right beside Him as a participant with Him in His purposes for the world. And finally, He is the composer of the song that He Himself puts in my mouth.

    DO: When are you most disoriented? When does your upside-down life need a rescuer? Give thanks that when all other distractions are set aside, your walk with Christ is filled with his purposes.