The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Look Up. Show Up. Get Up"
Through the years in these messages, I have shared with you three of what might be called "philosophies of life." I usually write about them individually, but the thought occurs to me today of how interconnected they are.
"Look up… Show up… Get up."
Or, in terms of Scripture:
"Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).
"Here am I. Send Me" (Isaiah 6:8).
"Arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Ephesians 5:14).
First and foremost, we live by looking, by looking up. God made the eyes of our heart for a set gaze on the Lord Jesus Christ. This means we recognize and affirm that "to live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21). Without Him, we can "do nothing" of eternal value and significance (John 15:5). Through Him, we can "do all things" for the glory of God, the blessing of others, and a life lived that can truly be defined as life (Philippians 4:13). Yes, w look up, which leads to…
Show up. Day by day, we acknowledge the call of our Heavenly Father to His throne of grace for the purpose of gratefully submitting to His sending. "I am thine… Lord, What wilt Thou have me to do?… I will go" (Psalm 119:94; Acts 9:6; Psalm 61:16). We belong to Another. Whatever our calling in life, whatever our responsibilities for each day, and wherever we may go, born again believers in the Lord Jesus must view ourselves as stewards sent forth to honor and reflect our Master. This requires our consistently showing up before Him to gratefully seek His guidance and enabling. "Thou wilt show me the path of life" (Psalm 16:11).
Finally, get up. We will sometimes be knocked down as we walk with our Lord, and sometimes we will throw ourselves down. Either way, if we could audibly hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, a resounding "Get up!" would frequently beckon us to not wallow in sin or failure. Too much was sacrificed by the Lord Jesus to both originate and maintain our walk with God for any believer to remain in the mire. "He shall lift you up… If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (James 4:10; I John 2:1). Indeed, we get up by looking up to see our Savior as He "ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25). Thereby, our being sent by God continues in His grace, truth, and abiding faithfulness as we show up before Him in the restoration, forgiveness, and cleansing of Christ.
Look up. Show up. Get up. Considering these philosophies of life in conjunction with one another causes me to realize how much more I need to walk in their holy light. Even more, I realize the faithfulness of the God who works in the hearts of His trusting children to direct our gaze Heavenward for the purpose of daily leading us to our knees in consecration, and back upon our feet if we fall.
"I will look for Him."
(Isaiah 8:17)
"Incline your ear, and come unto Me: hear, and your soul shall live.
(Isaiah 55:3)
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
(Isaiah 1:18)
Weekly Memory Verse
"And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh."
(I Timothy 3:16)
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