Seize the Moment – Day 1255
Keep Your Chin Up!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, August 24.
When one of my athletes is discouraged, I will often say, “keep your chin up!” While this is a common idiom that means to be encouraged and remain hopeful during a difficult circumstance, it is also a coaching cue to help the athlete’s posture. There is a physical reality to keeping your chin up, but there is also a spiritual one: Your body follows your head, just like your life follows your heart!
Psalm 123 teaches us to keep our chins up. The psalmist is discouraged (3-4), but in verses 1-2, he coaches himself, “To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He is gracious to us.” God alone is our hope in times of discouragement!
Just like your physical posture is affected by keeping your chin up, so is the state of your heart. By uplifting the perspective of your heart, focusing on God and not your circumstances, you are filled with hope, confidence, and expectation. Hebrews 12:2-3 teaches you to keep your chin up so that you may live the victorious life of Jesus Christ:
Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 123, meditating upon the posture of your heart when you are going through difficult circumstances. Keep your chin up and not only will you walk taller, but also you will persevere with God! Don’t Quit! CM![1]
God bless you!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.