“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; 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

Distraction can be deadly. One of the problems we face today is that of being focused on our problems rather than our Savior. Consequently we lose sight of who we are and what we have in Christ and are overcome by fear. This story by Elisabeth Elliot is a good illustration of this dander:

“In one of the photo albums from my years in Ecuador is a close-up of a big scorpion on a window screen. I know what was beyond that ugly thing–a green lawn set about with palm trees, a garden of pineapples, a sweep of pasture land, and then the curve of a wide river. The photograph knows nothing of all that. The photographer had focused on the scorpion. He got a very good picture of a scorpion. The eye of the camera saw nothing else.

The eye of faith looks through and past that which the human eye focuses on. Faith looks at the facts–even the ugly ones (remember Abraham who looked at his wife’s barrenness and his own impotence)–but does not stop there. It looks beyond to the beauty of things the human eye can never see–things as invisible as the palms and the pineapples are in my photograph.

When the eye of the heart is fixed on the world and the self, everything eternal and invisible is blurred and obscure. No wonder we cannot recognize God–we are studying the scorpion. Instead of gazing at Him in all his majesty and love, we peer at the screen, horrified at what we see there.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Make my heart pure, Lord, that I may will to do your will. Give me the courage to see my world with all its evil and pain, but change the focus of my life.”

Finishing the work God has given us to do ought to be the desire of every Christian. But many fail. Their life ends but their work is left unfinished. Some folks serve with for years and then suddenly blow it near the end, and fail to finish. For one reason or another they stumble, fall, and fail–in sight of the finish line. Dear friend think about it–just a few more days to labor, just a few more miles to travel, just a few more difficulties to overcome–please don’t quit now. With God’s help you can take it and make it. It would be horrible to halt now. Do as the song says, “with joy I’ll carry on!” It is time for “sad-sack” Christianity to cease. We are to rejoice in the Lord always (Phil. 4:4) and to do that we must be “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; 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. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” (Heb. 12:2-3). With our focus on Christ we cannot fail.

Christians are pilgrims and strangers on earth. Unfortunately they sometimes forget that this world is not their home, and that leads to problems. When we forget that we live in a fallen world, and deserve nothing, we tend to have unrealistic expectations. We murmur and complain as though we are being cheated. That’s not fair–we’re not home yet. We have no right to expect heaven on earth. However, although not exempt from trials we are enabled to endure them. Christ provides all we need to get us through the toughest of times.

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” – Hebrews 9:14

Reflecting on the reality, the reason, and the results of our Lord’s resurrection gives us reason to rejoice. When God raised Jesus from the dead He was showing us He was satisfied with His sacrifice. That gives us assurance that if we accept Christ, God will accept us, because His sacrifice was acceptable. He was the perfect sacrifice!

Adrian Rogers said, “The Lord Jesus lived an amazing life. Do you realize that Jesus never corrected, withdrew, or amended any statement He ever made? I wish I could say that! Jesus Christ never apologized for anything He ever did or said. He never sought advice from anyone, nor ever needed to ask for forgiveness.

Jesus Christ doesn’t have any strong points. For Him to have strong points, He would have to have weak points. Robert Clark has rightly given this assessment of the character of Jesus: “There was meekness without weakness, tenderness without feebleness, firmness without coarseness, love without sentimentality, holiness without sanctimoniousness, lowliness without lowness, truth without error, enthusiasm without fanaticism, passion without prejudice, heavenly‑mindedness without forgetfulness, carefreeness without carelessness, service without servility, self‑exaltation without egotism, judgment without harshness, seriousness without somberness, mercy without softness.”

What a person was the Lord Jesus Christ! Today, embrace the death, burial and resurrection of our Savior with this renewed sense of Who He was—His matchless character. This is the One Who laid down His life for you.”

“Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God.” – Romans 6:9-10

The best news this old world has ever heard came from a graveside just outside Jerusalem. He is risen! On that day, life and death met in a tomb in mortal combat. Life won. Death died. Jesus died the death of debt. In that tomb, Jesus won the victory over death.

There is no more timeless truth than this: Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. That’s a truth that science cannot explain, history cannot repeat, and time cannot erode away. It is the Truth of all truths. And the Truth that proves Jesus is the Son of God.

Someone has said, “If Jesus Christ is still in that grave, nothing matters. But if He came out of the grave, nothing but that really matters.”–Adrian Rogers