Friday Feelings – Keeping My Eyes on Jesus

We made it to Friday again friends!! WooHOO!! I’m not feeling all that frazzled this week, so instead of “Frazzled Friday” I thought we would go with “Friday Feelings”. I shared this verse earlier in my Instagram feed. It’s one that are pastor preached on this last Sunday. And, man did it really hit home.

I’ve always been a glass half-empty kind of girl, most of the time. Even when things are going good, I’m skeptical. Waiting for the other shoe to drop. (do you know that expression? haha ) I was reminded/convicted Sunday by this message because that kind of attitude is not on that I believe Jesus would want me to have.

You see when I keep my eyes on Jesus, my perspective changes. When we see things the way God sees them, we have no need for worry. There is no room for disappointment. No reason to feel discouraged.  When we keep our eyes on Jesus, we begin to understand what is truly important, and all the other things fade into the background. Our circumstances don’t matter, God’s plan for our life matters.

Sometimes this is hard to live for me. When I am in the midst of trials big or small, I tend to take a worldly, why me perspective. Most of the time, I am able to refocus and move on. I remind myself that things could be worse. But, even that isn’t that best response right?? We are suppose to be thankful in ALL things (verse)

So, all week I have been praying, and meditating, trying to think of the best ways I can KEEP my eyes on Jesus. Because it is when I KEEP my eyes on Jesus that I can turn my glass upside down and see it as half full!!

My strategy is simple, but they are practices that are not always a daily habit for me, and this is something I desperately want to change.

1. Daily Bible study – studying and meditating on God’s word gives us insight into the mind of Christ, so that in all circumstances we can better understand God’s plan and His will.

2. Prayer – I’m not just talking about mealtime or bedtime prayer here folks, I’m talking about dedicated time each day to sit at the feet of The Father to talk with Him. Talk with Him about my concerns, my life, my needs, and most importantly to listen. (sounds much like what we would do with any other person in our life that we valued our relationship with am I right?)

3. Gratitude – This is more than just having an ‘attitude of gratitude’. Although that is good, I need to remind my brain daily of all the things in my life – big and small – that I have to be thankful for. This will definitely help fill that half full cup!!

That’s it friends! Again, I do these things but, I do not do them all every day. My goal is to create this habit because, if I’m being honest, I get tired of living with a glass half-empty attitude. It causes me to be a bit of a grumpy gus, and a pretty big worrier. There is nothing appealing about that!

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Here are a couple of devotionals that I am loving right now.

New Morning Mercies – Paul David Tripp

Gracelaced – Ruth Chou Simons

And a book about prayer that I shared a while back. And, this author has a lot of other books geared toward all things that you might want to pray for, so be sure to search for something to suit the stage of life you’re in.

The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children – Stormie Omartian

And this one is great too, if you need some tips on how to get started with your prayer time.

Lord Teach Me To Pray – Kay Arthur

You can buy gratitude journals, but really you just need any kind of journal or notebook where you can write down your daily thankfuls!

I know I’m not the only one who could use a plan to help them KEEP their eyes on Jesus each and everyday! Who’s gonna join me?? I love you guys and I hope this touches your heart and is helpful! Have a great weekend!!