The Flog – The Fabry Log

What does it mean to “Fix your eyes on Jesus?” That’s what we’re trying to do in these forty days. We’ve heard from an exotic dancer who listened to the message and said she didn’t want to do that any longer. Yesterday I received this message:

Mr. Fabry,
I became a stripper in Dallas Texas when I was 23. During that period in my life I lost everything and I mean everything. By the time Dallas was done with me I lost everything material, financial, relational, but most importantly I lost me and I thought I lost God. My dignity, integrity, honesty, and purity was gone. I was empty. The last night I was in a strip club working I was drunk. Stumbling around the club half dressed in high heel shoes crying my eyes out; a man, a woman, or a spirit walked by me very fast and I heard, "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" All of the sudden it was as if someone clapped their hands. I came out of a trance and thought, "What am I doing here?"

There are those moments of clarity, in the midst of the sin—just like the Prodigal Son experienced. “When he came to himself…” That’s what happened to the person in Dallas. That’s what happened to the dancer who phoned us the other day. She came into her right mind. Jesus will help you do that if you ask him, no matter what the situation.

A disease can cloud your mind, too. Here’s another response to the devotion we’ve been doing the past 22 days:

When I was so very ill with lyme disease six years ago, if my eyes were not fixed on Him, looking to Him, thinking on Him or talking to Him, my symptoms would overtake me even to the point of suicide. But as I have gone through the healing process over the years I have gained strength. I know where to turn for comfort and I have learned I can trust wholly on Jesus, secure in His love and grace to get me through anything. I know that every day until I die or until His return, the only direction I want to place my eyes is on Him, the author and finisher of my faith!

What a great way to express the submission we’ve been looking at in Philippians 2:1-11.

Read the passage once again. Focus on verses 5-8.

Jesus fully leaned on his Father and submitted himself to his Father’s will. He fixed his eyes on God at every turn. If Jesus needed to do that, how much more do you and I need to do that?

God wants to set you free. What is holding you back from fully submitting your life to him today? Is there anything in your life that you feel is making you stumble? Is there anything about your life that you would say, “What am I doing here?”

If so, confess that to God and accept his forgiveness, and get out of there. Flee whatever that is today and fix your gaze on Christ.

Prayer:
Father, take my prodigal heart and turn it toward yourself today. I submit my life, and everything that I have, to your perfect will. Use me as I present my body, my mind, my soul, my life to you. I want to be more like Jesus. Show me those areas, shine your light on the places I need to see, and help me submit them to you today. For Christ’s glory and for your Kingdom, Amen.