Good stuff

I am currently doing Beth Moore's new study on the Psalms of Ascent. And like everything 'Beth' that I have encountered before, it is awesome! There were a few quotes in the study today that really spoke to me - and I just had to share them.

Psalm 123:1 - "I lift my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven."

Where is our focus and where are our eyes looking? Are we focused on God or our circumstances and the world around us?

Beth said, "...everything else will downsize into its proper place when we look to God alone. Just as God is enthroned over the flood, He is enthroned over everything that troubles you."

Boy, I needed to hear that - I really need God to downsize some things that I have allowed to consume my thoughts. What an awesome reminder, that if I keep my eyes looking up He will give me a new perspective. Ultimately, He is in control and praise the Lord He is bigger than anything else going on around me. What a relief that is!

One last quote, and I'll stop - although this one is long. But oh so good! Beth quotes this from Eugune Peterson's book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction:

"We are not presented with a functional god who will help us out of jams or an entertainment god who will lighten our tedious hours. We are presented with the God of exodus and Easter, the God of Sinai and Calvary. If we want to understand God, we must do it on his terms. If we want to see God the way he really is, we must look to the place of authority - to Scripture and to Jesus Christ."
"And do we really want it any other way? I don't think so. We would very soon become contemptuous of a god whom we could figure out like a puzzle or learn to use like a tool. No, if God is worth our attention at all, he must be a God we can look up to - a God we must look up to...the moment we look up to God (and not over at him, or down on him) we are in the posture of servitude."

Lord, keep me eyes on you...the Holy One enthroned on High!