Tag: focus

God’s Sovereignty Always Stands

- dannalundstrom

cropped-img_1711.jpgWe all have to die to different dreams and realities every day.  Sometimes they are for ourselves, our children or someone else we love.  Those desires are hard to let go, and often we get up each morning and have to surrender them all over again.  It is painful.

There is a great hope, however, right in the midst of the death of our dreams.  We have this glorious gift of choice that affords us the ability to choose a victorious or victimized perspective.  If we frame our thoughts in victory, we can look our dying dreams in the face and say, that may not be an option anymore, but God’s sovereignty always stands.

Whatever dreams you are dying to friend, instead of fretting about their death, focus on their direction.  This is not always easy; I know!  However, believing in The Lord’s promise that He has a plan that will prosper all His children, (Jeremiah 29:11), we can face those dwindling dreams and say, Father I do not like this new picture, but I cannot wait to see your purpose.

Life is a lot lighter under His yoke!  (Matthew 11:30)  You are loved!  #selfiesermon #preachingtoself

Fixing Our Eyes On the Cross

- dannalundstrom 1 Comment


If we are not keeping our eyes on the cross, we are no better than a blind man driving home.
Three crosses stand high above our church, Shades Mountain Baptist Church. The cross in the middle stands the highest, and the two on each side beneath the shadow of the larger cross. The two lower crosses represent the crosses of the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus. The higher one, representing the cross of Jesus. These three crosses, the highest one, in particular, hold a special place in my heart.

In September 2005, my parents were in town visiting. The second day they were here, my mom and I dropped my children at pre-school and headed to Sam’s. We had just parked when she got a phone call. It was my dad. “He said something has happened, and I cannot see.”

Our Sam’s trip was averted, and we rushed back to my house to check on him. We would later end up in the emergency room to find out he had a stroke in his eye; this would be my dad’s second stroke. The first had affected one eye; the second stroke now leaving both eyes impaired.

As hours passed, and the story unfolded, we found out he was in the car driving down Columbiana Road when the stroke besieged him. Our church sits on Columbiana Road. Although my dad had very limited vision, He said he could see ONE thing. The high cross that stands guard at the top of Shades Mountain Baptist Church.

He went on to explain that he knew if he slowly proceeded toward the cross, he could find his way to my home because I lived just down the street. Miraculously he drove himself back to my house, the cross guiding him the whole way.

I was recently sharing this story with a friend who said to me, “I do not understand how he drove home blind.” It was at that moment that God spoke to my heart. The message was very straightforward,

“If we are not placing our eyes on the cross we are no better than a blind man driving home.”

Wow! I had chills, and I love how God used that conversation to embed His message into my heart.

We are all just driving home, friends. Where are we fixing our eyes? On the world, on our problems, on our pain, on our possessions, or on the cross?

Sometimes my vision gets distorted. There are many things the world has to offer to distract my eyes. My flesh wages war against my sight. The goal is not perfect vision, but progressive vision. We must always be advancing, focusing and refocusing towards that one thing that now or later will make all things clear and guide us without fail, even in darkness-The Cross.

I know your “drives” sometimes become treacherous. I know your vision often feels blurry. Mine too, but Keep returning your eyes to the cross. It is the only way to get you home.

Hebrews 12:1-2~ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.  

You are loved, friend!

Vertical Vision

- dannalundstrom

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When I have an issue, I do not have time for or do not want to address, I ignore it as if it will go away.  That senseless strategy only works for a limited time.

My vision is the perfect example.  I have glasses for distance that I have used intermittently for several years.  Now I require the aid of readers for smaller, up close print.  I know I need bifocals, but it has been easier to neglect that fact than to address it.

Yesterday I happened to have my readers on when I pulled out my iPhone to look at a text message.  I have the 6 Plus, so the screen and font are bigger, but when I viewed my phone with the advantage of my readers, it was like a whole new world opened up before me.  A crisp, clear, bright and beautiful world.  I did not realize how bad I had been struggling until that moment when my world was brought into focus.  Wow!  What a difference.

It occurred to me that this is not only representative of vision for daily tasks but also daily living.  When I become overwhelmed, exhausted or distracted, I am vulnerable to neglecting my “gospel glasses” that aid vertical vision.  That is always to my detriment because without them my life becomes blurry, unfocused, and I struggle to make sense of things.  Possibilities appear small, and my insufficiencies great.

Why would I want to navigate life with an obscured perspective?  There is a whole new world, a whole new life available when I see things through a lens focused on biblical truths.  To live life out of focus is to miss out on so much beauty and clarity that is available to me.

I am grateful for the reminder that played out before me yesterday.  Perspective makes all the difference.  May we not forget to put on our glasses every day, friends.

Matthew 6:22-23~ Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light.  But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

A Gentle Whisper

- dannalundstrom
If you watch closely, His fingerprints are everywhere.
If you watch closely, His fingerprints are everywhere.

“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.~1 Kings 19:11-12.

I love this. It is a great reminder to me in all the answers I am seeking through prayer, to not get so consumed looking for God’s mighty handprints that I miss his pervasive fingerprints. He sometimes shows up in majestic ways, but in my striving to see, it can be easy to miss Him in the small, humble spaces all around.

Happy Saturday friends.