Steady Eyes, Steady Heart
Recentered on the Lord, loving people with a steady heart.
Devotional Credit: In Christ, E. Stanley Jones
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Paul wrote, For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord. E. Stanley Jones reflects on the beauty and the limit of empathy. Paul loved people deeply, yet his life did not rise and fall with every swing of their emotions or outcomes. He lived in the Lord, not in them. That anchored affection. It did not shrink love. It set love free to be steady.
Jones helps us see the difference between gazing and glancing. If I gaze at people and only glance at Jesus, my peace runs thin. If I gaze at Jesus and glance at people, I can serve with a settled heart. He reminds us of the Lord’s word to Peter, What is that to you. You follow me. That line clears the fog. Jesus holds my reference point.
This does not make us cold. It makes us clean and available. I can feel with my friend and still entrust my soul to the same faithful Lord who stood by Paul when others fell away. I can love the church and still remember that my unshakable place is in the Messiah who is the same yesterday and today and forever.
So here is the relief. We are not called to carry anyone as the source of our life. We are invited to carry them to the Source. We live in Him. Then we live among them, steady and kind, because our eyes are set.
Journal Entry - Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
Fix your eyes on my Son. Look to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. If you look within you will be discouraged, if you look around you will be distracted, but if you look to him you will know my peace that guards your heart and mind.
You live and move and have your being in me. Stand firm in the Lord. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. I am the Lord who stood by Paul and strengthened him. I am with you as I was with him, to proclaim my message through you where I send you.
Set your mind on the things above where the Messiah is seated at my right hand. Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to me in Christ Jesus. The life you now live in the body you live by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave himself for you. Keep in step with the Spirit. Let the peace of the Messiah rule in your heart.
When you are tempted to compare your path with another, hear my word. What is that to you. You follow me. I am the same yesterday and today and forever. I complete the good work I began in you. My grace is sufficient for you, and my power is made perfect in weakness.
Real-Life Analogy
Picture the navigation app on a phone. When the map spins, you miss turns and second-guess every lane. Tap recenter, and the arrow locks to true north. The same streets remain, but your path steadies and the next step becomes simple.
Life in Jesus works like that. The Holy Spirit continually recenters your heart on the Lord so love stays warm and your pace stays calm. Today, before answering a heavy text or stepping into a tough room, choose dependence. In your heart say, Lord, I trust you to center my gaze on you and to voice your patience through me as I respond. Then act with clear words and a gentle tone, confident that Jesus in you is your steadiness.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank you that my life is located in Jesus, not in the rise and fall of people or circumstances. Thank you that your peace guards me as I set my mind on your Son. You stood by Paul and strengthened him, and you dwell in me by your Spirit. I receive this day as your assignment. I walk forward with steady eyes and a grateful heart, resting in the grace that is already mine in Christ.
Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
1 Thessalonians 3:8, Hebrews 12:2, Philippians 4:6-7, Acts 17:28, Ephesians 6:10, 2 Timothy 4:16-17, Colossians 3:1-2, Romans 6:11, Galatians 2:20, Galatians 5:25, Colossians 3:15, John 21:21-22, Hebrews 13:8, Philippians 1:6, 2 Corinthians 12:9