Heavenly Perspective

For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the Heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6, NLT)

A while back, I read a devotion by Dr. Bill Hanshew entitled, "Standing in the Shadow of a Man of God." You may find the link below.

http://www.billhanshewministries.org/Devotion--079.html

Everyone should read the devotion because it is excellent training. Everyone should keep it close and re-read it to maintain that training. 

There are many great aspects of the devotion; however, the one that I have been meditating on is the overall chord running through the devotion (as well as Dr. Hanshew and this ministry) and that is, Heavenly Perspective.

No matter what storms may rage, above the storm we find, Heavenly perspective. Look through the dark clouds to Heavenly perspective. Every storm that rages in our lives can be fought through Heavenly perspective.

Heavenly Perspective = God's Perspective = God's Word (The Bible)

Offense…Matthew 18:15

Infertility… Deuteronomy 28:4

Marriage…Ephesians 5:22-33

Unruly children…Proverbs 22:6

Unbelief…1 John 5:14

Finances...Luke 6:38

Health...Isaiah 54:5

Battles…Ephesians 6:12

Manipulation...Matthew 24:4, Galatians 5:1, 

Gossip...Proverbs 29:19

"I don't know what to do."...Jeremiah 29:11 so 1 Peter 5:7

'I don't know what to say."…Ephesians 5:1 

"I can't, this is so hard."...Galatians 6:9

We could do this all day!

Our God, our Heavenly Father, the Creator of Heaven and earth, the Owner of everything on earth, the Giver of all good gifts has given us everything we need for life and godliness in and through His Holy...life giving…life changing Word! (Psalm 18:2, 1 John 3:1, Psalm 146:6, Psalm 50:12, James 1:17, 2 Peter 1:3, Hebrews 4:12)

And He is The One who's love will never be separated from us!

(Romans 8:38) 

Does that mean there won't be storms? Absolutely not. But that does mean, we keep our eyes and hearts beyond the dark clouds, above the storm, through to Heavenly Perspective, we rise above the storm and walk in Heavenly Perspective!

For every storm that rages, find your answer in the Bible, and keep Heavenly Perspective!

Father, thank You for teaching us how to find and to keep Your perspective. When the black clouds roll in and the battle rages, we know that we know that we know, we are seated with You. Thank You for uniting us with Christ Jesus! I pray for every reader right now, as well as myself, in the name of Jesus I decree and declare we are not deterred, discouraged, or distracted by dark clouds but we see through the dark clouds to Your perspective. We walk in Your perspective in the name of Jesus! 

The Hawaiian Net Fisherman

I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. (Philippians 3:12-14, MSG)

This morning on my beach walk, I walked past a net fisherman. He was standing on a rock wall casting his huge net into the water.

Upon my return home, I walked back past him. This time, he wasn't on the rock wall, he was in the rough surf. I wondered why he would leave the security of the rock wall and get into the rough water.

Then I noticed, he was attempting to untangle his net from rocks where he had been throwing his net.

I was concerned about him because he was elderly, was in water over his head, was having to tread water, was caught up in rough surf, and was dangerously near the rock wall as well as close to other large rocks.

I watched him for a few seconds. I wanted to make sure he was ok and I was watching for opportunity to help him.

As he freed part of his net from the rocks, the rough surf bounced him around as he treaded water, the water hit the rock wall, bounced back and slapped him in his face. Over and over and over.

He shook the water off his face, continued to tread water and removed whatever part of his net was caught on the rocks by the most recent wave. Over and over and over.

I thought, "There has got to be something I can do." I asked him if he was ok. He shook his head yes. I asked if I could help. He shook his head no.

He wasn't at all rude but I could almost read his face which seemed to be relaying, "Do not jump in this water, I don't want to have to save my net and you!" And, "I'm kinda busy here and don't have time to rescue you!"

The fisherman had extraordinary focus. In the midst of all the turmoil, he was extremely calm and patient. His demeanor never changed. His face never looked worried or scared and he maintained his focus...his net...the prize.

I immediately thought, "Man...I've got to up my game in the focus department."

I learned a very valuable lesson from this net fisherman.

• Maintain extraordinary focus in the midst of turmoil (Matthew 6:33)
• Maintain calmness (Deuteronomy 31:6)
• Be patient (James 1:4)
• Don't allow my demeanor to change (Philippians 4:13)
• Never worry (Philippians 4:6)
• Never be scared (2 Timothy 1:7)
• Maintain focus on my prize (Philippians 3:14)

Lord, God Jehovah, thank You for this Hawaii net fisherman and the lesson You taught me while watching him recover his net. I pray for every reader right now and ask for You to give them a revelation of Your unfailing love and supernatural focus for today and the days ahead. No matter the season they are currently in, mountaintop or valley, I pray every reader walk in the acknowledgement of the vastness of Your great love and a focus they have never had before today. In the name of Jesus, continue to teach us to maintain our focus on You Father and to always seek You first! 

It's Too Late...

It’s better to have a partner than go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth. And if one falls down, the other helps, But if there’s no one to help, tough! (Ecclesiastes 4:9, MSG)

This morning I took a long walk on the beach. When I ran out of beach, I extended my walk along a rock wall on the ocean. The wall was approximately three feet in height and had been built to keep the surf from washing up on the park. The big surf rolled in and hit the wall sending big splashes over the rock wall leaving puddles of water along the path.

On the path, I saw a fish that had been caught up in the rough surf and thrown over the wall as the surf rolled in. I walked up to the fish, planned to pick him up and throw him back over the wall into the water. But I was too late to save the fish. He had been out of the water too long. He had most likely jumped and flopped but was unable to get himself back in the water because the rock wall was too tall. And he had no one to help him.

I envisioned the process that landed him in his predicament. I had a mental image of him as the rough water caught up in the surf, and threw him over the wall.

It occurred to me, at times, we get caught up in processes that land us in predicaments. The water of life gets rough, we get caught up in storms and rough “surf”, and at times, we get thrown over the wall and we are a "fish out of water"!

Thank God for the praying friends He places in our lives to help us up when storms of life toss us around! They come alongside us and help when we fall down!

Today, my prayer for you is to be surrounded by friends who lock into covenant with you and weather the storm through to victory so that you are never a fish out of water!