“and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:19
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23
My ballet teacher growing up used to always remind us to smile all the way to the back row…to the very last row at the very back of the theater…especially to the very last row on the very top balcony of the auditorium. They may have been far away from the stage…but they were the ones we needed to project to. Her reminder to smile to the back row really made us project our character and our stage presence in a much bigger way than if we were just dancing for the front row of the audience.
From the stage, I would typically let my eyes focusĀ on the exit signs because they were right above my eye level, usually centered perfectly with the aisles, and they were placed right between the lower levels and upper levels of the balcony. They gave me a place to focus on where I felt like I wasn’t leaving any audience members out. Keeping that focus gave my eyes a place to go to whenever I looked out into the blackness of the audience.
Our gaze impacts the state of our hearts. Where we gaze, where we focus, impacts what we think, how we feel, and then…how we live. It is hard to keep our gaze in the right place…have you noticed that? Just as it’s hard in a performance to continuously smile all the way to the back row…it’s hard to continuously keep our gaze in the right direction.
Today I want to encourage you to keep your gaze on Christ, on His good gifts, and on His presence. Remember that He is always with you…guiding you, leading you…trying to get your attention. Our attention can get so easily diverted by distractions whether it’s our phones, social media, the news, TV…you name it…there are so many distractions in our world. I’m not saying they are all bad distractions of course, but we can so easily lose our focus on Christ.
How do we keep our gaze on Christ? I’m learning that it’s possible by letting Him transform our hearts, minds, thoughts, and habits. It’s getting His Word in us…painting it on our hearts…it’s spending time with Him…it’s letting Him rewire us to think on Him…to let Him shape our hearts.
You see, dear sister, what we think on shapes how we feel. How we spend our time shapes how we feel. What we read, what we watch…it all…shapes how we feel. We must guard our hearts…and this Baby in a manger…this Savior of the world…He provides the focus we need for our hearts.
Oh how thankful I am that we have Him! This Christmas will you let Him help you refocus your gaze? Will you let Him help you fix your eyes on Him instead of all the other stuff? Will you let Him rewire your habits?
And when you do, I know your heart will be smiling all the way to heaven and back with delight as your heart fills with all the measure of all the fullness of God. He wants you to know the full measure of His love this Christmas!
Prayer: “Precious Lord, thank You for loving me enough to pull my heart and my thoughts back to You. Thank You for giving my heart a place to focus. Lord, transform my heart, mind, thoughts, and habits…let my heart gaze on You. Show me what needs to change.”
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