I recently read this quote in Jesus Calling by Sarah Long, “Instead of trying to ‘fix’ yourself, fix your gaze on Me, the Lover of your soul. Rather than using your energy to judge yourself, redirect it to praising Me.” I love those words because so often I am my own worst critic.  When I make mistakes, or say words I wish I hadn’t, or let the ball drop on important matters, my inner critic starts.  This week, I am making a different choice. As this new week begins I am committing intentionally that when my inner critic starts, I am going to change my focus.  I am going to lift my eyes off my own inadequacies on to the One who is completely adequate. I am going to lift by eyes from my unloveable self to the One who is completely and madly in love with me.

Psalm 123:1 reads, “I lift my eyes to you, O God enthroned in Heaven.” That’s my focus this week. How about you? I’m guessing you have a little nagging inner critic yourself. When he, or she starts, silence them by changing your focus. Lift your eyes to the Lord who is perfect in holiness and marvelous in love. As you praise Him, He becomes bigger in your mind and your little critic becomes smaller in your thinking. Give it a shot this week.

Today, I am giving away another $10.00 I-Tunes gift card. The 30 Day Praise Challenge includes a lot of worship song suggestions. So if you win the I-Tunes gift card you’ll be able to begin developing your own praise play list.  But in order to win, you must leave a comment. Here’s a question for you, what is your favorite verse describing God’s love for you? (If we’re going to silence our inner critics, we need to have these verses in our thinking.)  Leave a comment and you might win an I-Tunes gift card!