Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus
Every step forward is not taken in self-effort, but in the footprints Christ has already laid before us.
Based on “Heaven on Earth” by A.B. Simpson
Photo credit: Unsplash.com
Today’s entry from Heaven on Earth points us back to the simplicity and power of grace—reminding us that our journey with Christ is never meant to be sustained by personal effort. We often understand that salvation begins by faith, but somewhere along the road, we begin to operate as if growth depends on us. Simpson gently corrects this: at every stage of our walk, our strength will fall short, our love will be insufficient, and even our courage will fade unless we receive from Christ what only He can supply.
This is not a call to passivity—it’s a call to spiritual dependency. There is something liberating about recognizing that Christ is not just the One who started our faith journey; He is the One who carries it forward and completes it. Christ in us is both the source and the substance of our faith. Everything we think we lack is already ours in Him. The life we live is not us trying harder to imitate Jesus—it is Jesus Himself, living His life through us as we yield.
Simpson closes with a sweet reminder that walking with Jesus step by step is not about struggling to follow behind, but about resting in the footprints He’s already laid before us, carried by grace and moved by His Spirit. Truly, it is “Not I, but Christ who lives in me.”
Personalized Journal Entry in the Holy Spirit’s Voice Through Scripture
I am the One who began this good work in you, and I will carry it on to completion until the day you stand fully in My presence. The faith you now walk in is not of your own making—it is My gift, given freely, and it flows from My Spirit dwelling in you. You were saved by grace through faith, and you continue in Me by that same grace, never by your own striving.
You do not need to summon courage from yourself, for I have not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. When your own love runs dry, draw from Mine, which has been poured out into your heart by My Spirit. When you feel empty, remember that you have been made complete in Christ, lacking nothing of what I have already provided.
Fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith. Look not to your own strength, but to Mine. When you are weak, My power is made perfect. The life you now live in the body, you live by faith in the Son of God, who loved you and gave Himself for you. It is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you.
So step forward—not to do for Me, but to trust Me to do through you. Keep walking, not in the shadow of guilt or the strain of effort, but in the light of My joy. For the joy set before Him, Christ endured the cross and sat down in victory, and you now live from that victory, not toward it.
—Philippians 1:6; Ephesians 2:8; 2 Timothy 1:7; Romans 5:5; Colossians 2:10; Hebrews 12:2; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Galatians 2:20
Prayer of Confident Trust
Father, I thank You that I am not on this journey alone. I am not trying to add something to myself—I am receiving everything from Christ who lives in me. I rest in the joy that You are both the Author and the Perfecter of my faith. Even the faith I walk in today is a gift from You.
So I won’t measure myself by my own love, courage, or progress. I will measure everything by the finished work of Jesus and His life within me. Thank You for completing what You began. I fix my eyes on Jesus today—not as my example only, but as my very life. I rejoice that every step forward is taken by grace.
Amen.