Matt Beaney
- Jul 19, 2021
- 4 min read

#396 - I RAISED MY EYES - (19/7/21)

During this LEARNING TO HEAR series I’m taking a different approach to these devotionals. I want to us work harder at searching the scriptures for ourselves. We will use the ‘Come to Jesus Daily’ method below to help us with this. It’s well worth the hard work involved!

TODAY’S TEXT

“At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honoured and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:34-35)

I’ve included my reflections on today’s text below. However, I encourage you to pray and spend time reflecting (writing can be helpful) using the 5 questions below before reading my thoughts.

i. †GOSPEL - 'Gaze on the cross'- What does this text reveal about salvation through Jesus?

ii. UP – What does this text say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?

iii. IN – What does this say about me, the church and how we are to relate? Is there a promise to believe, command to do, attitude to have, something to avoid, is there forgiveness to seek or give?

iv. OUT – What does this say about my community and mission?

v. DO - This has two components. Firstly, list as many possible ways that you can think of that one might apply the text (actions or attitudes). Secondly, hear - Pray about how the Holy Spirit is leading you, specifically, to respond.

MY REFLECTIONS

1. †GOSPEL

God had mercy on Nebuchadnezzar and brought Him to faith. The Lord humbled him.

“I thank you for ‘restoring my sanity’ so as let my fallen, darkened mind know you. Jesus, you were humbled for me so that I can be raised up."

2. UP

God is ‘the Most High’. The Lord is the incontestable King who ‘lives forever’ as the eternal God. His rule is eternal in time and scope.

“I praise you. I rest in you. You are fulfilling all of your purposes by your great power.”

3. IN

Like Nebuchadnezzar, we need to be continually humbled so as to acknowledge, worship and rely on God afresh. He wants us to ‘raise our eyes toward heaven’.

“May I and your church raise our eyes and allow our ‘sanity' to be restored in light of your great might.”

4. OUT

The Lord can open the mind of anyone, even great kings. He can do as He please with the ‘peoples of the earth’.

“May it please you to humble and then transform those in my life.”

5. DO?

Here are a few examples of application that I’ve come up with:

“I… raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored.” An application could be to set aside a good amount of time to ‘raise our eyes toward heaven’ in worship.

It might be good to memorise a text like this.

Take time to bring to mind all the things that are worrying you and pray about each thing in light of this text.

Maybe there’s an opportunity that you are scared to try; think about it with fresh eyes as you raise your eyes to God as revealed here…

HEAR - Pray about how the Holy Spirit might want you to respond.

COMMUNITY GROUP STUDY

During this LEARNING TO HEAR series we are going to take a different approach to learning from the Bible together. We will use the ‘Come to Jesus Daily Method’ together (Gospel, Up, In, Out, Do) - you will have to do all the work!

1. Icebreaker - How has God spoken to you from the Bible this week? (During this LEARNING TO HEAR series, we are seeking to develop a culture of listening to God out of His word)

2. Select a text of scripture. (You could use the text from Sunday’s message or something of your choice.)

3. Read and recall. (Read the text and ask each person in the group to put it into their own words.)

4. Please go through these questions together:

i. †GOSPEL - 'Gaze on the cross'- What does this text reveal about salvation through Jesus?

ii. UP – What does this text say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?

iii. IN – What does this say about me, the church and how we are to relate? Is there a promise to believe, command to do, attitude to have, something to avoid, is there forgiveness to seek or give?

iv. OUT – What does this say about my community and mission?

v. DO - This has two components. Firstly, list as many possible ways that you can think of that one might apply the text (actions or attitudes). Secondly, hear - Pray and share (if it’s appropriate) about how the Holy Spirit is leading you, specifically, to respond.

5. SIV - Finally, it would be helpful to talk and pray about how we are doing in regard to Serve, Invest and Invite. Do you have any encouraging stories or any plans in this regard? How do you want to pray in regard to our mission?

#396 - I RAISED MY EYES - (19/7/21)

During this LEARNING TO HEAR series I’m taking a different approach to these devotionals. I want to us work harder at searching the scriptures for ourselves. We will use the ‘Come to Jesus Daily’ method below to help us with this. It’s well worth the hard work involved!

TODAY’S TEXT

I’ve included my reflections on today’s text below. However, I encourage you to pray and spend time reflecting (writing can be helpful) using the 5 questions below before reading my thoughts.

i. †GOSPEL - 'Gaze on the cross'- What does this text reveal about salvation through Jesus?

ii. UP – What does this text say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?

iii. IN – What does this say about me, the church and how we are to relate? Is there a promise to believe, command to do, attitude to have, something to avoid, is there forgiveness to seek or give?

iv. OUT – What does this say about my community and mission?

v. DO - This has two components. Firstly, list as many possible ways that you can think of that one might apply the text (actions or attitudes). Secondly, hear - Pray about how the Holy Spirit is leading you, specifically, to respond.

MY REFLECTIONS

1. †GOSPEL

God had mercy on Nebuchadnezzar and brought Him to faith. The Lord humbled him.

2. UP

God is ‘the Most High’. The Lord is the incontestable King who ‘lives forever’ as the eternal God. His rule is eternal in time and scope.

3. IN

Like Nebuchadnezzar, we need to be continually humbled so as to acknowledge, worship and rely on God afresh. He wants us to ‘raise our eyes toward heaven’.

4. OUT

The Lord can open the mind of anyone, even great kings. He can do as He please with the ‘peoples of the earth’.

5. DO?

Here are a few examples of application that I’ve come up with:

“I… raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored.” An application could be to set aside a good amount of time to ‘raise our eyes toward heaven’ in worship.

It might be good to memorise a text like this.

Take time to bring to mind all the things that are worrying you and pray about each thing in light of this text.

Maybe there’s an opportunity that you are scared to try; think about it with fresh eyes as you raise your eyes to God as revealed here…

HEAR - Pray about how the Holy Spirit might want you to respond.

COMMUNITY GROUP STUDY

During this LEARNING TO HEAR series we are going to take a different approach to learning from the Bible together. We will use the ‘Come to Jesus Daily Method’ together (Gospel, Up, In, Out, Do) - you will have to do all the work!

1. Icebreaker - How has God spoken to you from the Bible this week? (During this LEARNING TO HEAR series, we are seeking to develop a culture of listening to God out of His word)

2. Select a text of scripture. (You could use the text from Sunday’s message or something of your choice.)

3. Read and recall. (Read the text and ask each person in the group to put it into their own words.)

4. Please go through these questions together:

i. †GOSPEL - 'Gaze on the cross'- What does this text reveal about salvation through Jesus?

ii. UP – What does this text say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?

iii. IN – What does this say about me, the church and how we are to relate? Is there a promise to believe, command to do, attitude to have, something to avoid, is there forgiveness to seek or give?

iv. OUT – What does this say about my community and mission?

v. DO - This has two components. Firstly, list as many possible ways that you can think of that one might apply the text (actions or attitudes). Secondly, hear - Pray and share (if it’s appropriate) about how the Holy Spirit is leading you, specifically, to respond.

5. SIV - Finally, it would be helpful to talk and pray about how we are doing in regard to Serve, Invest and Invite. Do you have any encouraging stories or any plans in this regard? How do you want to pray in regard to our mission?

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