“LOOK UP!”
says Jennifer.
One day I had a pain in my back. I was about to complain. It was too much for me to handle that day.
Suddenly, I received a message from my friend Jennifer:
“LOOK UP!”
Let me tell you a bit about Jennifer. She has a brain tumor.
Doctors said to her that she has only three month to live.
But she lives, works and enjoys her life already more than a year after that statement.
I asked her what is the secret of that miracle?
And she told me about “Light People” from the Bible who comes to cheer her at night.
I looked up those “Light People” and found out that they are the heroes of faith who cheer us up from heaven.
Let me tell you today about how
“LOOK UP”
help us when we are down.
We all face opposition. Things that get against us. It is easy to get discouraged and give up.
Sometimes we feel alone. Nobody knows what we are going through. Nobody is supporting us.
We get weary and faint in our soul.
But I found in Hebrews 11 about “Light People”, Jennifer was talking about.
{And about all things they had accomplished}. They are heroes of faith.
It was not easy. They endured hardships. They were mistreated.
They had plenty of opportunity to give up. But they stayed faithful and fulfilled their purpose.
It is simple for me now:”When life knocks you down, if you can
LOOK UP
you can get up!”
And then in chapter 12 it says that we are surrounded by a big cloud of witnesses.
So let us run the race that set before us.
This chapter paints the picture of a big stadium that comes from heaven
in which spectators are the Saints of all – the great cloud of witnesses.
These heroes of faith looking down at us, cheering us on.
You, my friend, are not running alone.
All of the heaven is rooting for you. Not just the heroes of faith but also loved ones that gone before you.
Relatives which you have never met. Great great grandmothers, grandfathers.
They are watching you right now.
They say, “You go boy. You go girl. Life maybe tough. But you’ve got what it takes. We believe in you.”
When you are tempted to give up. You must by faith
“Look Up”
and seeing them cheering you on.
I can see king David saying, “That giant may look big, that obstacle may look impossible.
I know how you feel, but can I tell you? God can do the impossible!!!
You may think, you do not have what you need. All I had was a sling shot and a few stones.
People told me, I was not qualified. I did not have the experience.
My family tried to talk me out of it. My brothers made fun of me.
But despite all the opposition, God looked after me and I became a giant killer.
Stay encouraged. You can defeat your giants.”
David is cheering you on. He is saying that our giant maybe big but our God is bigger.
Do not give up.
LOOK UP.
Maybe you are facing an illness, like Jennifer. You do not see how you can get well.
You are tempted to settle where you are. You may think you are locked in life.
I am hearing the young lady in the stadium from heaven saying,
“Do not loose hope! I was sick for eighteen years. I could not stand straight.
I was bent over for eighteen years, in pain. The doctors could not help me.
I tried everything but it did not work out. Just when I thought it was permanent.
I went to the Temple one day. And out of huge crowd of people, Jesus called my name.
Jesus said, “Woman, you are free from this sickness.”
Immediately, I straightened up. All the pain left. From that day I could walk, run. I was perfectly well.”
Maybe, nobody around you encourage you.
Maybe all other voices around you tell you, you will not get better.
You feel alone, isolated.
LOOK UP.
This lady is saying, “God did it for me. He can do it for you!” She is cheering you on.
Another man, Moses, is rooting for us also. He is saying,
“You may have made mistakes. You may have blown it. So did I.
I thought I have missed my destiny. I thought I have been done.
But when I was eighty years old, God showed up in the burning bush.
He said, “Moses, it is not too late. I have not forgotten about you. It is time now to deliver Israelites.”
After all those years when I felt like a failure, guilty, condemned. God still used me to fulfill my purpose.
You maybe sitting on the side of life feeling disqualified, guilty.
Moses is saying, “Get back in the game. God’s Mercy is bigger than those mistakes.
You can still become who you were created to be.
People may write you off. But God never will write you off.
You hear those voices:” You blown it. You missed your chance.”
That means you are listening to the wrong voices.
You have to understand. You have the home field advantage.
In the stadium which comes from heaven everybody is for you. They are not condemning you.
But if you hear voices like, “This one can not do anything good.” It means you are in a wrong stadium.
The enemy has a stadium filled with accusers, condemners, who discourage you.
Do not go there. It is the opponent’s stadium.
The Bible says,
“LOOK UP!
For your redemption is at the reach of your hand.”
If you are tempted to be discouraged,
LOOK UP
and hear the cheers from the heavenly Saints.
When you know that someone is cheering for you, you can jump a little higher, withstand more pressure.
When I was in excruciating pain, paralyzed, could not contract muscles for three years.
I could be disappointed, feel like a failure.
But my many friends cheered me up on earth and from heaven. They gave me extra boost.
And those “Light People” of Jennifer and heroes of the Bible shout out to me,
“This is your day. Show them what you have. Be strong. Take big steps. Pray bold prayers. Shine brightly.”
Know that there are people right now in heaven cheering you on.
Relatives that had gone before you. They are rooting for you.
Doctors said to me in 2014, “Boris is done, for cancer in his lungs and spine says so. He has no chance.”
But God says, “I have the final saying. You will live, Boris.” And I am alive and well.
Brain Tumor said to Jennifer in 2017, “You have no chance.” But God said,”You will live Jennifer.”
And she lives and works.
We are the living examples of God’s Goodness.
My challenge to you is, become a hero of faith.
Overcome what seems impossible. You may not see how it may happen.
But you have generations cheering you on.
You have read about Saints, how great, faithful, dedicated they are.
Those same Saints are calling your name, saying,
“Dream big, keep stretching, keep believing.
LOOK UP!
We want to read about you.”
Imagine every day that you received a personal text from David, Moses, Noah, Rachel.
And the message says about how they believe in you, how you are well able.
That would do something to you. It will cause you to have more confidence.
It helps Jennifer when she has opposition.
She is not discouraged when she has opposition. She does not give up when she has a set back.
Can I tell you that all of heaven is cheering for you.
The stadium is packed with people who believe in you. People, who had been where you are but made it through.
You may be surrounded by opposition. Everything is coming against you.
But Elisha has a message for you. He says that one day he was surrounded by the vast army of enemies.
But when he
LOOKED UP
with his spiritual eyes, he saw that huge army from heaven which surrounded all his enemies.
Elisha tells you,
“Stay in faith. That addiction may look like you are surrounded. The truth is that God has that addiction surrounded by His Power.”
That sickness, the debt, the depression, that anger, fear maybe surrounded you.
But Elisha is cheering you on saying, “Do not worry! God is surrounding what is surrounding you.”
Maybe you pray for situation to turn around.
Your thoughts tell you, “It is too late. It will never work out. Why God did not answer your prayers.”
I see three men stepped out of their seats in the stadium. Their names are Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
They say, “We know, how you feel. We would not bow down to the kings golden idol.
He told us he would had thrown us into the fire. We prayed. We asked God to deliver us.
We did not want to go into the furnace. But God did not answered our prayer the way we wanted.
We were tempted to get upset, to complain. Instead, we decided to trust God.
We made a choice. And we told the king that even if God does not deliver us. We, still, will not bow down to the idol.
When he threw us into the furnace the fire did not burn us.
And in the middle of the fire from nowhere the Son of the living God showed up.”
They are saying that you may be in the fire. But if you stay in faith, you are fire proof.
That fire will not harm you. God is with you. Keep believing. Keep doing right thing.
And like them you will come out without a smell of the smoke.
Are you fainting in your mind, talking yourself out from something great?
God is saying, “Take your passion, your excitement back!”
When you are tempted to be discouraged
LOOK UP
and Listen Up.
All of heaven is cheering for you.
They have signs with your picture on them. People are calling your name saying
“Run, my friend, Run, you are a Champion, Run!”
Let us honor them to go further. Let us not give up. Let us make this generation better.
If you
LOOK UP
and you will not give up,
I believe and declare that you will become a hero of faith.
You are going to rise higher, accomplish your dreams and leave your great legacy for the next generations.
Let us
LOOK UP
as Jennifer urges us.
