FOCUS on the JOY!

Perspective is everything. Jesus demonstrated that “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2)

Jesus set this joy of seeing all of us redeemed before Himself, and that allowed Him to endure the cross. If you aren’t enduring, it’s probably because you don’t have any joy set before you that you’re focusing on instead of your present circumstances.

It’s when we’re able to back up and view the whole picture in perspective, that we can appreciate it. If we’re too close, all we see is a little blob of paint. But it’s only a tiny part of the  perfect masterpiece.

You can get so close to your problem that you can’t see anything else and you think the whole world is falling apart because of it. We need to get focused on something other than what’s going on right now. Look beyond it. Lift your eyes up and look somewhere other than just down, and what’s going on.

Jesus overlooked His problem. That’s what enabled Him to endure it. He disesteemed the shame and focused on the joy.and on the victory ahead. And that’s what helped Him endure the suffering and ultimately, the cross.

This in fact is the whole purpose, and the strength of praising. They are two times when we should praise the Lord. When we feel like it, and when we don’t feel like it. Praising brings the immediate circumstances into the eternal dimension.

Let’s lift up our eyes, and let’s praise him. And we’ll then get His perspective.