Gözlerini İsa'da Tut

In our last lesson, we learned that our tongue could be very destructive if we do not learn to control it.  Thank God, He can give us the power to tame our tongues!  This lesson will talk about another part of our body that is equally as important as our tongue.

Gözler

Matta 6:22-23

“22 Bedenin ışığı gözdür; bu nedenle gözünüz tek olursa, tüm bedeniniz ışıkla dolu olacaktır.

23 Ama gözün kötüyse, bütün vücudun karanlıkla dolu olacak. Bu nedenle, içinizdeki ışık karanlıksa, o karanlık ne kadar büyüktür!”

İnanılmaz Göz Gerçekleri

• Gözleriniz beyniniz dışında sahip olduğunuz en karmaşık organlardır.
• Gözleriniz 2 milyondan fazla çalışan parçadan oluşuyor.
• The average person blinks 12 times per minute – about 10,000 blinks in an average day.
• Gözleriniz her saat 36.000 bit bilgiyi işleyebilir.
• Göz kürenizin sadece 1/6'sı dış dünyaya açıktır.
• The external muscles that move the eyes are the strongest in the human body for the job that they need to do.
• The eye is the only part of the human body that can function at 100% ability any time, day or night, without rest.
• Gözleriniz toplam bilginizin 85%'sine katkıda bulunur.
• Gözleriniz doğumdan itibaren hep aynı boyuttadır, ancak burnunuz ve kulaklarınız asla büyümeyi bırakmaz.
• Gözler çok karmaşıktır ve bir kamera gibi çalışır.
• The human eye is remarkable.  It accommodates to changing lighting conditions and focuses light rays originating from various distances from the eye.  When all the components of the eye function properly, light is converted to impulses and conveyed to the brain, where an image is perceived.

In Mathew 6:22-23, Jesus describes the duty of fixing our affections on heavenly things.  Everything is clear and plain when healthy eyes are directed steadily toward an object in single focus.  But if it flies to different objects and looks at multiple things instead of a singular entity, it does not see clearly.  The eye regulates the motion of the body.  To have an object distinctly in view is necessary to correct and regulate action.  Think about this, if a man is crossing a stream on a log and looks across the stream at some object steadily, he will be in little danger because he clearly sees where he is going.  But, if he looks down on the running waters or to the right of himself, he will become dizzy and unstable on the log.  This is because he is not focused on where he is going.  In Mathew 6: 22-23, Jesus is saying, for us to have the proper conduct or be a good Christian, we must have our eyes fixed on Him. “Thy whole body shall be full of light” means our conduct will be regular and steady conduct of a Christian.  The word “light,” in Mathew 6:22-23, signifies “the mind,” or principles of the deeper soul of our soul and mind.  In short, Jesus told those He spoke to, if you keep your mind focused on the right direction, you will be full of light, or full of God’s light for your life.  But if you turn your eye toward the evil things of this world, it will affect your body, mind, and soul, and you will become dark.  We need to keep our eyes on Jesus.

We have discussed Mathew 6:22-23 and the importance of fixing our eyes on Jesus.  Now let us look at a story in the Bible found in Matthew 14:25-33.  The story deals with the raging storms on the Sea of Galilee.

The Sea of Galilee, by all standards, is small in size.  It is 13 miles long, 8 1/2 miles at its widest point, and has a maximum depth of 150 feet.  As told in the Bible, one might ask, “How can a body of water this small get so rough and bring so much fear to the disciples?” The answer is the shallow depth, combined with the wind currents in that area, make quite a storm.  When the winds blow hard over the sea, the water rocks back and forth, causing rough waves.  It acts in the same principle as holding a shallow pan of water in your hands and tipping it from side to side.  Thus, the constant high wind over the sea rocks the water back and forth.

Matta 14:25-33

25 Ve gecenin dördüncü nöbetinde İsa denizde yürüyerek onlara gitti.

26 Ve öğrenciler onu denizde yürürken görünce, rahatsız oldular: Bu bir ruhtur; ve korkudan haykırdılar.

27 Fakat İsa hemen onlara söyliyip dedi: Neşeli olun; o benim; korkma.

28 Ve Petrus ona cevap verip dedi: Ya Rab, sen isen, su üzerinde sana gelmemi iste.

29 Ve dedi: Gel. Ve Petrus gemiden indiğinde, İsa'ya gitmek için su üzerinde yürüdü.

30 Ama esen rüzgarı görünce korktu; ve batmaya başlayarak, "Tanrım, kurtar beni" diyerek haykırdı.

31 Ve hemen İsa elini uzattı ve onu yakaladı ve ona dedi: Ey kıt imanlılar, neden şüphe ettin?

32 Gemiye girdiklerinde rüzgar kesildi.

33 O zaman gemidekiler gelip O'na tapındılar, "Gerçekten sen Tanrı'nın Oğlusun" dediler.

It is to our loss as Christians that we often forget the simplest teachings of the Scriptures.  Peter could walk on water by faith until he took his eyes off Jesus, looking at the storm’s tempest instead.  What a truth!   So often, take our eyes off Jesus because of trouble around us.  Maybe we need to deal with rude people, unfair situations, or we didn’t do well on a test at school.  If we keep our eyes on Christ, we will be able to go through the trial with the right attitude, the right mindset, and positive thinking.  But when we take our eyes off Christ, it leads to trouble.

Are you familiar with the sport of horse racing?  Here in America people race, horses for sport.  Do you know it is customary before the race to put blinders on the horse?  The purpose of this is so the horses will not see each other.  Horses with blinders will not look to the right or the left.  So, when the horses race around the track, all the horses see is what is in front, not each other.  As a young person, you will find yourself in frustrating, discouraging, and maybe even upsetting situations.  We need to remember to keep our eyes focused on Christ in those times.  It is pretty easy to lose sight of our Christian beliefs when overshadowed by adversity and grief.  Life can be overwhelming at times.  There can be troubles and problems; we all go through this.  The account of Peter walking on water to Jesus is a lesson that we should never lose sight of.  When we focus our thoughts upon the divine Truths of God’s Word, we can withstand all the attacks Satan puts in front of us.  The devil is trying to get us to look to the right or the left.  The devil’s goal is to distract us, so we take our eyes off Christ.

(Şarkı)

Gözlerini İsa'ya çevir

Ey ruh, yorgun ve dertli misin
gördüğün karanlıkta ışık yok
Kurtarıcı'ya bakmak için ışık var
Ve hayat daha bol ve özgür

Gözlerini İsa'ya çevir
Onun harika yüzüne tam bak
Ve dünyadaki şeyler garip bir şekilde kararacak
O'nun yüceliği ve lütfu ışığında

This song challenges us to turn our eyes upon Jesus.  I want to share a couple of thoughts with you that keep young people from keeping their eyes on Christ.

1.  Gözlerimizi kendimize odaklama eğilimindeyiz.  It is easy to spend much of our time analyzing our feelings.  We ask ourselves questions like, “Am I happy?”, “Am I fulfilled?”, “Am I doing well or poorly?”.  Remember when Peter stepped out of the boat, while he kept his eyes on Christ, he could walk on water toward Jesus, but as soon as Peter looked at the waves or the trouble, he started to sink.  We need to look outward toward the things of God and not inward toward ourselves all the time

2.  Sağa veya sola bakma eğilimindeyiz.  Meaning we tend to look at other people and start asking, “I wonder what they are doing about Christ?”.  As an example, Maybe Peter looks around and says, “I wonder what Emily is doing with God?  “or “I wonder what Sharon is doing with God?”, or “What about Jerimiah?  I wonder what he is doing?” God wants us to keep our focus on Him.  We need to be concerned about what God is doing in our lives and not so worried about what others are or are not doing.

Yuhanna 21: 19-22

“19 Tanrı'yı hangi ölümle yüceltmesi gerektiğini belirtmek için böyle söyledi. Ve bunu söyledikten sonra kendi kuluna dedi: Beni takip edin.

20 O zaman Petrus arkasını dönerek, İsa'nın takip etmeyi sevdiği öğrencinin; O da akşam yemeğinde göğsüne yaslandı ve dedi ki, Rab, sana ihanet eden kim?

21 Petrus onu görünce İsa'ya dedi ki, Rab, bu adam ne yapacak?

22 İsa ona dedi: Ben gelene kadar kalmasını istersem, bundan sana ne? beni takip et."

Notice here, in John 2:19-22, the conversation with Peter and Jesus.  Jesus asked Peter to follow Him, but Peter looked at another and asked Jesus, “what shall this man do?” Jesus told Peter, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” Jesus told Peter; what concern is it of yours what this man does for me?  I am asking sen to follow me, Peter.  Peter’s job was to focus on following Christ.  As young people, we are often concerned about what everyone else is doing.  But Jesus wants us to focus on Him.

3.  Gözlerimizi geleceğe dikmeye veya gelecek için endişelenmeye meyilliyiz.  Belki mezun olduğumuzda ne olacağı konusunda endişeliyiz. Gelecek için endişelendiğimizde, şu anda neyin önemli olduğunu unuturuz.

Matta 6:34

"34 Bu nedenle yarını düşünmeyin: çünkü yarın kendi başına şeyler için düşünülecektir. Onun şerri de gündüze yeter.”

In essence, Jesus says, “do not worry about tomorrow because it will take care of itself.” We need to focus on what God wants us to be looking at today and do what we know is right today.  Today if we are doing what is right, meaning:  we are honest, we are not stealing, not cheating, not lying to our parents or others, we are doing our homework, we are doing our best in school, and we are working hard, focused on what we are doing today, tomorrow will work itself out.

What are you looking at?  Your friends?  Things of the world?  Jesus is challenging us to keep focused on Him through every decision and challenge we face in life.  Trouble will come when we do not keep our eyes focused on Christ.  So, turn your eyes upon Jesus, and look full in His wonderful face; the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.  So, I challenge you to keep your eyes upon God, and He will continue to strengthen and help you as you go forward through life.

Mezmurlar 121:2

"Gözlerimi, yardımımın geldiği tepelere kaldıracağım.

2 Yardımım gökleri ve yeri yaratan RAB'den geliyor."

Gözlerinizi İsa'dan ayırmayın, O sizin yardımcınızdır ve her güzel zamanınızda, her zor zamanınızda ve her zaman yanınızda olacaktır.

sağ