PRESSING ON TO HIGHER GROUND
Part 2

Mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust;
leave not my soul destitute.”
(Psalm 141: 8)

We continue thoughts about LIFTING UP OUR EYES. Blessings come when we open our eyes to the Lord. God revealed visions to Daniel when he lifted his eyes (Daniel 8:3 and 10:5). When Elisha asked God to open the eyes of his servant, he saw the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire protecting them (2 Kings 6:17).

God promises to pluck our feet out of the net we are in when we fix our eyes upon Him. David confesses in Psalm 25:15: “Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.” The NET states: “I continually look to the LORD for help, for he will free my feet from the enemy’s net.”

We read the amazing deliverance God brought to King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles chapter 20. A huge army of soldiers from three armies came to fight against Judah. Jehoshaphat feared. He had no might against this multitude. What could he do? He turned to the Lord and cried out to Him: “We have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon thee” (verse 12).

What do you do when you don’t know what to do? You turn your eyes to the Lord and look to Him. When your eyes are upon the Lord instead of your circumstances, He will show you what to do. When Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah looked to the Lord, He showed them His plan and God wrought a mighty deliverance for them.

Isaiah 40:26: “Lift up your eyes on high (not on the fleeting things of this world or the difficult circumstances), and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out the host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might; for that he is strong in power.” We lift up our eyes to the One who is all powerful and the Creator of all things. We can trust Him implicitly.

Psalm 123:2: “Behold as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until he have mercy upon us.” The servant must keep his eyes upon his master to be ready to do his bidding. A faithful servant knows his master so well that he knows what to do by the look of his master’s eyes or his hand movements. We do not look to the Lord in vain. We look to Him to know Him, to hear His soft whisper, to follow His guidance, to know His will strongly in our hearts.

Looking to the Lord should become a lifestyle. We inherently keep our eyes upon Him. It becomes the habit of our lives. May God help each one of us to live in this realm.

Read these further Scriptures to be encouraged today: Palm 121:1; 123:1, 2; 141:7, 8; Proverbs 3:5, 6; Isaiah 40:26-31; Luke 21:28; John 4:35; and Hebrews 12:1, 2.

2. LIFT UP YOUR HEAD

Psalm 24:7-10: “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle . . . the LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.” The gates of the city must be lifted up when an earthly king arrives. We must also open up the gates of our hearts and minds to welcome our King of kings. He is the One who is strong and mighty. He is the One who will help us fight our battles! He is the God of the heavenly armies. We can’t do it on our own. In the flesh, we tend to open our minds to our problems, to the “poor me” attitude, to the overwhelmingness all around us and our gates are closed to the Lord.

Dear mother, lift up your head today. Open up the gates of your mind and heart to the Lord. He will lift you up to a new plain. To higher ground. As the hymnwriter says: “My heart has no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay; Though some may dwell where those abound, my prayer, my aim, is higher ground.” Can you say Amen?

He has promised to be “the lifter of your head” (Psalm 3:3). He will “lift up your head above your enemies” (Psalm 27:5, 6). Read also Luke 21:28.

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, forgive me for looking to my own resources and trusting in my understanding instead of looking to You. Help me to look to You first in every situation. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

My eyes are continually toward the Lord.