November 3 – The Eyes of My Faith

Hope for Today: A Daily Devotion from Reasons for Hope*Jesus

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“The message of the cross is … to us who are being saved … the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18

O that I might always live near the cross and experience its power, till I have obtained a complete victory! Whoever was bitten by a fiery serpent and looked upon the brazen serpent, lived (Numbers 21:8). Thus always to look upon Christ crucified is the one thing needful, from which all other blessings flow (John 3:14-15).

May the eyes of my faith be fixed immovably on You, my crucified Savior! For, as long as I live, I shall feel the wounds inflicted by the old serpent, and therefore have need to look unto You continually.

Gracious Lord, afford me cure day by day, with entire healing at last! My soul, look not at your works, at your feelings, or even at your graces, if you would enjoy peace with God; but look to the cross. Superstitious persons may look at the crucifix — but I will look at the cross. The cross is the antidote of sin, the key that opens the heart of God, and the subject of the songs of heaven.

• If I preach, I will preach the cross;
• if I talk, I will talk of the cross;
• if I write, I will write of the cross; and
• if I sing, I will sing of the cross.

The cross shall be my subject in health, my solace in sickness, and my joy in death. Cross of Jesus! I will cling to you, and thus sail over the Jordan of death.

High on the cross the Savior hung,
High in the heavens He reigns;
Here sinners, by the old serpent stung,
Look, and forget their pains.

Devotion by Karl Heinrich von Bogatzky (1690—1774)