OUR DAILY BREAD : CRACKED LENSES

[cimi]

October 3
Wednesday


CRACKED LENSES

READ:
Psalm 141
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My eyes are upon You,
O GOD the Lord; in You
I take refuge; do not
leave my soul destitute.
__Psalm 141:8
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I started wearing glasses when I was 10 years old. They are still a necessity because my 50-something eyes are losing their battle against time. When I was younger, I thought glasses were a nuisance__especially when playing sports. Once, the lenses of my glasses got cracked while I was playing softball. It took several weeks to get them replaced. In the meantime, I saw everything in a skewed and distorted way.

In life, pain often functions like cracked lenses. It creates within us a conflict between what we experience and what we believe. Pain can give us a badly distorted perspective on life__and on God. In those times, we need our God to provide us with new lenses to help us see clearly again. That clarity of sight usually begins when we turn our eyes upon the Lord. The psalmist encouraged us to do this: "My eyes are upon You, O GOD the Lord; in You I take refuge; do not leave my soul destitute" (141:8). Seeing God clearly can help us see life's experiences more clearly.

As we turn our eyes to the Lord in times of pain and struggle, we will experience His comfort and hope in our daily lives. He will help us to see everything clearly again. __ Bill Crowder
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Turn you eyes upon Jesus,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Look full in His wonderfu face;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~And the things of earth will grow strangely dim~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~In the light of His glory and grace. __ Lemmel~~~~~~~~~
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Focusing on Christ
puts everything in perspective.

***************Today's Bible Reading __ Psalm 141***************

1 LORD, I cry out to You;
make haste to me! Give ear
to my voice when I cry out
to You. 2 Let my prayer be
set before You as incense,
the lifting up of my hands
as the evening sacrifice.

3 Set a guard, O LORD,
over my mouth; keep watch
over the door of my lips.

4 Do not incline my heart
to any evil thing, to practice
wicked works with men
who work iniquity; and
do not let me eat of their
delicacies.

5 Let the righteous strike
me; it shall be a kindness.
And let him rebuke me; it
shall be as excellent oil; let
my head not refuse it.
For still my prayer is
against the deeds of the
wicked. 6 Their judges are
overthrown by the sides of
the cliff, and they hear my
words, for they are sweet.

7 Our bones are scattered at
the mouth of the grave, as
when one plows and breaks
up the earth.

8 But my eyes are upon
You, O GOD the Lord; in
You I take refuge; do not
leave my soul destitute.

9 Keep me from the snares
they have laid for me, and
from the traps of the
workers of iniquity. 10 Let
the wicked fall into their
own nets, while I escape
safely.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Some Bible teachers believe that Psalm 141 is the centerpiece of a
trilogy of songs (Psalms 140-142) written by David when he was
under great distress. The dominant thought is that this distress was the result of his being pursued by saul, who wanted to kill him, thus
removing him as a threat to Saul's throne and rule. __ WEC