Dear Westside Family and Friends,

Have you ever prayed for someone and God healed them right away?  Have you ever told someone your story and they were so impacted that they gave their life to Christ right then?  I have . . .  and it was awesome! 

Then there have been times that I have prayed for folks and they didn’t get healed or give their lives to God.  Remember that God is sovereign and we can trust Him.  We can never put God in a box and command Him to do our bidding.  He always has our highest in mind.

Jesus’ disciples came back from their mission and joyfully reported all the great things that God had done through them.  They were especially excited about the fact that even demons were subject to them.

When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”
Luke 10:17

You know, it can be pretty exciting as great things happen when we are serving God and He comes through in a mighty way.  But a couple verses later, Jesus gives his disciples insight into the way we should really see things.

“. . . don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”
Luke 10:20

This is perspective.  Perspective means that we see things from a different vantage point.  Like when we are flying in an airplane and we can see for hundreds of miles when we could never see that far from the ground.  For us, perspective means that we see things from God’s point of view.
•  From His perspective the fact that our names are written in heaven is more important than any little victories we may experience here on earth.
•  From His perspective eternity is more important than the “here and now.”
•  From His perspective what waits for us in heaven is so much greater than anything that happens to us (whether good or bad) on this earth.

REJOICE!  He says: “your names are registered in heaven.”

So, it doesn’t matter if we are powering on for Christ and everything we do seems to be successful.  It doesn’t matter if we are in the dregs and nothing seems to go right.  It doesn’t matter if we have mighty momentum or pitiful progress.  If we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, if we spend time in His presence, if we honor Him by knowing Him, reading his Word, praying, worshipping, we will gain His perspective!

Knowing Him
and knowing that He has saved us
and knowing that our names are written in heaven
IS THE IMPORTANT THING!!

I urge you to remember this.  It will change your whole outlook.  You won’t get so cocky when you’re doing good and you won’t be so discouraged when you’re not doing so well.  Prayerfully consider the words of Hebrews as you run the race.

“Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. 2 Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.”
Hebrews 12:1-2 (MSG)

Hey!
We have heaven before us!
Jesus will be there . . .
the Father too . . .
and His wonderful Presence . . .
for . . . ever . . .
and . . . EVER!

Love you Guys – keep looking forward,
Steve