Focus?

(12.07.21– Soul Gazing! –Revelations 2:10)

My friend, may I ask you a question? How focused is your faith? When you gaze on Jesus, the sinless Son of God, does anything else really matter?

My friend, Life’s a story, welcome to This Passing Day.

I'm M. Clifford Brunner.

We have a lot of woodpeckers at our feeders this time of the year. Downy, Hairy, Flickers and Red-bellies are fairly common. But there is one species, the Pileated, that is much more uncommon and, therefore, more exciting to see. It's the largest of North American woodpeckers, the size of a crow. Recently I was feeding the puppies in Holly's kitchen and happened to look out toward one of our hanging suet feeders and there it was, a beautiful, male Pileated. For me this was one of the most exciting feeder observations I've had over the 20 plus years we've lived at Beech Springs. I was transfixed. Nothing else mattered for the moment. I'm sure that Sammy stole some of Frodo's food, but I didn't notice. Quite frankly a solar eclipse would have probably gone unnoticed on my part. My attention was that distracted, that focused.

How focused is your faith? When you gaze on Jesus, the sinless Son of God, does anything else really matter?

Here's a story: In 1988, Wally Magdag was pastoring an underground church in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was a Filipino lay pastor to Christian foreign workers there. By 1992 the house church had grown to over three hundred worshippers, the largest church in the country. The Saudi government became alarmed and Wally was arrested. While he was in prison, Wally was tortured, abused, and eventually falsely charged with blaspheming Muhammad and Islam. He was tried before the Saudi Arabian High Court and was sentenced to death by public hanging. Throughout his terrible ordeal, Wally refused to renounce his faith in Jesus Christ. Outcries from several foreign governments and agencies, including Amnesty International, and members of the U.S. Congress were made on behalf of Wally. And then just a few hours before his scheduled execution, he was miraculously was granted a reprieve. The Saudi Government decided to deport him to the Philippines instead. Today, Wally is itinerant preacher, sharing how the Lord delivered him from persecution. (Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances dictate.)

Being a Christian has never been easy. There are many Christians today who are being persecuted for their faith. Wally is an example of faith focus that all of us ought to remember. He focused on his Savior and nothing else. He directed the "affections of his heart," as A.W. Tozer has put it, on Christ and not himself. In that way, no matter how the situation turned out, his prize, eternal life, was never in jeopardy. When you and I practice a focused, faith gaze on Christ, like that Pileated Woodpecker I couldn't take my eyes off of, no matter what might be happening around us, nothing else will really matters. A faith that looks out toward God and not in on us, can't focus anywhere else.

We pray. Heavenly Father, when we practice a focused, faith gaze on You, no matter what might be happening around us, nothing else will really matters. You, our Lord, is all that really matters in our lives. Thank You Lord for a faith that looks out toward You and not in ourselves. May we never focus on anything else but You. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!

Therefore my friend, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself; each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6:34) This Passing Day. May this passing day honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be a blessing to you and everyone you meet. Find a stranger and say hello. Don't let another day pass without your day blessing someone else.

If you have a special prayer request, please send your request to ”This Passing Day!”

<thispassingday@gmail.com> From Beech Springs, God bless you for Jesus sake.

Focus?

(12.07.21– Soul Gazing! –Revelations 2:10)

My friend, may I ask you a question? How focused is your faith? When you gaze on Jesus, the sinless Son of God, does anything else really matter?

My friend, Life’s a story, welcome to This Passing Day.

I'm M. Clifford Brunner.

We have a lot of woodpeckers at our feeders this time of the year. Downy, Hairy, Flickers and Red-bellies are fairly common. But there is one species, the Pileated, that is much more uncommon and, therefore, more exciting to see. It's the largest of North American woodpeckers, the size of a crow. Recently I was feeding the puppies in Holly's kitchen and happened to look out toward one of our hanging suet feeders and there it was, a beautiful, male Pileated. For me this was one of the most exciting feeder observations I've had over the 20 plus years we've lived at Beech Springs. I was transfixed. Nothing else mattered for the moment. I'm sure that Sammy stole some of Frodo's food, but I didn't notice. Quite frankly a solar eclipse would have probably gone unnoticed on my part. My attention was that distracted, that focused.

How focused is your faith? When you gaze on Jesus, the sinless Son of God, does anything else really matter?

Here's a story: In 1988, Wally Magdag was pastoring an underground church in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was a Filipino lay pastor to Christian foreign workers there. By 1992 the house church had grown to over three hundred worshippers, the largest church in the country. The Saudi government became alarmed and Wally was arrested. While he was in prison, Wally was tortured, abused, and eventually falsely charged with blaspheming Muhammad and Islam. He was tried before the Saudi Arabian High Court and was sentenced to death by public hanging. Throughout his terrible ordeal, Wally refused to renounce his faith in Jesus Christ. Outcries from several foreign governments and agencies, including Amnesty International, and members of the U.S. Congress were made on behalf of Wally. And then just a few hours before his scheduled execution, he was miraculously was granted a reprieve. The Saudi Government decided to deport him to the Philippines instead. Today, Wally is itinerant preacher, sharing how the Lord delivered him from persecution. (Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances dictate.)

Being a Christian has never been easy. There are many Christians today who are being persecuted for their faith. Wally is an example of faith focus that all of us ought to remember. He focused on his Savior and nothing else. He directed the "affections of his heart," as A.W. Tozer has put it, on Christ and not himself. In that way, no matter how the situation turned out, his prize, eternal life, was never in jeopardy. When you and I practice a focused, faith gaze on Christ, like that Pileated Woodpecker I couldn't take my eyes off of, no matter what might be happening around us, nothing else will really matters. A faith that looks out toward God and not in on us, can't focus anywhere else.

We pray. Heavenly Father, when we practice a focused, faith gaze on You, no matter what might be happening around us, nothing else will really matters. You, our Lord, is all that really matters in our lives. Thank You Lord for a faith that looks out toward You and not in ourselves. May we never focus on anything else but You. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!

Therefore my friend, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself; each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6:34) This Passing Day. May this passing day honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be a blessing to you and everyone you meet. Find a stranger and say hello. Don't let another day pass without your day blessing someone else.

If you have a special prayer request, please send your request to ”This Passing Day!”

<thispassingday@gmail.com> From Beech Springs, God bless you for Jesus sake.