Hebrews 12:3, ‘For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.’
In our Christian life, we have to go through many hardships! Bible says that we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. They vary for person to person, the anxieties, problems, sufferings, hardships and trials and sicknesses or spiritual
The Hebrew Christians were also going through many trials. A true believer can live victoriously by faith! We see that in Hebrews, they are encouraging the Christians and pushing them towards the goal. We are running in our Christian life, to reach the finish line, by facing all the hardships! We need to overcome! Do not grow weary and lose heart! It is done only by fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.
V2, ‘fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.’
We need to continue and finish our race by fixing our eyes on Jesus, then we won’t grow weary and lose heart!
In Message Translation,
V2, ‘Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.’
Jesus is our forerunner; He had already begun and finished this race. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.’ He is encouraging us to run this race, by fixing our eyes on Jesus. The race which is set before us by God. Run with endurance and faith to reach the finish line. This race is the race of faith! Do not be entangled with the weight, physically or mentally or by the burden of sin, as they slow us down in our race! We can reach the finish line, only when we continue to fix our eyes on Jesus.
We do fall down in our race, sometimes, but do not get discouraged! Holy Spirit is encouraging us to rise up and continue in our race! Many have started well in their Christian race but they had fallen and were side-tracked! Others have fallen but they rose up and continued in their Christian race by faith! Let us fix our eyes on Jesus!
Hebrews 10:38, ‘But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.’ V39, ‘But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.’
We are not of those who shrink back to destruction! But we live by faith! Continuing in our race, by fixing our eyes on Jesus.
Matthew 14:26, ‘When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”’
V28, ‘Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”’
In the beginning when Peter started his walk on water, it was very good! He started well by fixing his eyes on Jesus. When he saw the waves, got side-tracked by the wind, he became frightened, and began to sink and cried out!
When we get diverted to the circumstances, away from Jesus, we will fall down!
2 Corinthians 4:18, ‘while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.’
NLT, V18, ‘So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.’
If we fix our eyes on what is seen, we will fall down! But if we fix our eyes on things which are not seen, we can continue our race, and will reach the finish line!
We can see our circumstances, our selves, our strength, we get discouraged and will fall down! Let us fix our eyes on what is unseen, on Jesus, then we won’t fall down! We can live an overcoming life!
Our Christian life is full of hurdles! There are series of hurdles in this race! We need to overcome all these hurdles and finish our race!
Acts 14:22, ‘strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”’
With our own strength we cannot overcome these obstacles but only with God’s strength we can overcome these obstacles by faith!
Psalms 18:29, ‘For by You I can run upon a troop; And by my God I can leap over a wall.’
By His strength, we can leap over a wall!
Revelation 3:21, ‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.’
There is a common message to all the Churches, to be an overcomer. Jesus finished His race; He already overcame and is now sat down with the Father on His throne. We can also overcome!
Hebrews 12:2, ‘fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.’
Jesus is the author and perfecter of faith.
‘I trust the next chapter because I know the author’ – We do not know what is our next chapter but we know our author of faith, we can trust Him! Our God is faithful, He will never allow us to be tempted beyond our capacity! Jesus overcame and He is our forerunner!
1 Corinthians 9:24, ‘Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.’
There is no lazy living in our lives, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus; we need to rise up and continue our journey!
In 1 Kings, Elijah was threatened by Jezebel, when all the Baal prophets were killed, that she would kill Elijah; Elijah was scared and ran for his life! Finally, he sat down at the Juniper tree! Elijah was in a discouraged condition. He was feeling lonely! He wished to die! He had a voice of discouragement! Do not be under discouragement or under condemnation! An angel came and encouraged Elijah to arise and eat as the journey ahead is too great! Holy Spirit is encouraging us also, let us not sit under a juniper tree under discouragement but rise up and continue the journey! As we have a great journey ahead of us!
Hebrews 12:12, ‘Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.’
Strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble. God will give us His strength to continue in our journey!
Habakkuk 3:19, ‘The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places.’
God will strengthen us to reach the high places! Let us fix our eyes on Jesus and let us press on to reach the top of the mountain!
May God help us.
FIXING OUR EYES ON JESUS
