Daily Devotional: 5/11/2018

"fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning in shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrew 12:2.

For those who sadly have the pleasure of knowing me know that music is a very important and influential part of my life, yet I do not have a musical talented bone in my body. I have so many friendships that are based off of music. Perfect example of this is my friendship with a good friend of mine, Isaiah. I met Isaiah through a mutual friend (DK) where we ironically connected over music. Quick background, I am that annoying kid that always plays music out of his pocket, I do not really believe in headphones, even though I always have them on me. First I met DK (who is out in China doing God's work - Shoutout my guy), because one day while writing a paper at 2am I was walking to the vending machine to get a Monster while blasting Tyler, the Creator our of my pocket; we had about a 45 minute conversation about music. We had previously talked quick one time because I have my Chance the Rapper "Social Experiment" sweatshirt on. One of DK's bestfriends happened to be Isaiah (who is a very talented rapper - Isaiah Velez ), there was one day after chapel in which he rapped in and I slid in the DMs to tell him how fire his verse was, and the rest was history. Isaiah is not only someone I consider a close friend, but is someone I look up to as a man and a man in Christ. I have drawn a tribute piece for his latest tape (https://www.instagram.com/p/BcONJxFFsXw/?taken-by=_chriscolotti_), I have sat and talked about life with him, talked about music on music with him, I have heard unreleased music (boy this world is not ready for what he has in store), talked about faith and so much more. I am truly blessed to have met a man like him. Now back to what I want to write about in this devotional, Fixing Your Eyes on Jesus. Isaiah is a good example of a Godly man who has fixed his eyes on Jesus. He is not perfect, he has fallen, but he has gotten back up every time. He has fixed his eyes on Jesus and he has an extremely blessed life. Back when I started to study the Bible and get into my faith there was only two songs worship songs that I was able to connect to and listen to (all the others were trash at the time, to me). The two songs were both by King Kaleidoscope, the first was Defender and the second which this devotional is based off of Fix My Eyes (KINGS KALEIDOSCOPE - Fix My Eyes). We have to fix our eye on Jesus continually. When our hearts are weary, when our soul is weak, when the path God paved for us gets a little bumpy; we have to focus and trust in Jesus. In times of trouble we have to survey our surroundings, take a deep breath and focus on Jesus. We have to focus on Jesus because he went through agony, a whole lot worse than the agony than we are going through. He ran the race, the same race that we are running now. There was times where Jesus was tempted by the devil (Mt. 4), there was times were Jesus was questioned, there was even times were Jesus did not want to do what God wanted him to do (Mt. 26:39 - "if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me"). But in the end Jesus finished the race, he came out on top, he was the perfect example for us to follow. He trusted in God and followed his will (Mt. 26:39 - "Yet not as I will, but as you will"). Jesus was always reading with the knowledge and strength of scripture every time he was tempted (Mt. 4) and every time he was questioned whether it was by a Pharisee or someone on the street trying to catch him slipping. To me, one of the most powerful things in the Bible are the "I am statements". There are so many throughout the Bible in both the New Testament and the Old Testament. With this being said, I am going to give you "He is statements". He (Jesus) is the founder and the finisher of our faith. He is our strength. He is our wisdom. He is our healer. He is our rock. He is our redeemer. He is so much. Jesus helps us breathe. He is the only life that we need. He died for us, he died in our for our sins to be forgiven. He is the reason why we wake up everyday with a life to live. He is the reason why we wake up everyday with the second chance in life. Proverbs 4:25 says, "Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.". We have to set our eyes on Jesus, we have to focus on his glory and all he does for us. God has already steps the stones for our path, it is already paved. His word is the light to our path. All we have to do is follow it. Today, open the Bible and read God's word. Fix and set your eyes on Jesus. Learn from his example.

Lord, you are our rock, our redeemer, our strength, our breath, our life. You are the founder and finisher of our faith. Thank you for all you do. We do not deserve the life, grace, and love that you give us day in and day out. You are the reason for life. You are the reason for the second chance we get everyday. I pray that you are guiding us in you. Continually be the light in our life. I pray that we are able to set and fix our eyes on you. I pray that it is not our will, but yours that is the most powerful in our life. You are the One True Amazing God. I pray all this in Jesus's Glorious Awesome Name, Amen.

#LetsBeAMovement