Enthralled Eyes: The Joy of Living Before God's Face

By Jonathan Gale and Robert J. Stamps

Do you long to grow in your love and enjoyment of God, to taste and see more of His glory and goodness, to experience more of the freedom you have in Christ, unencumbered to run the race your heavenly Father has set before you? If so, then this book is for you, laying Biblical foundations for intimacy with God, exploring God's faithfulness, favor and heart for you. The joy of living intentionally before Him, living for His pleasure while simultaneously enjoying the spacious place we have in Christ, these are some of the themes surveyed. Overcoming hindrances to loving and enjoying God are also examined, that our lives may be radiant witnesses of His glory and goodness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664286696

Jonathan Gale

Jonathan Gale is a practicing scientist and former university professor. The oldest son of medical missionaries in Costa Rica, he now resides in Massachusetts with Cindy, his wife of 40 years. Father of five grown children and church elder - imparting the Father's love and the thrill of loving Him are his supreme passions. He enjoys Bible teaching and writing, his other two books being "In Your Name We Glory: An Inspirational Guide and Complete Reference to the Names and Titles of God" and "The Joy of Thinking with You: Heart and Mind Joined in Loving God."

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Enthralled

EYES

The Joy of Living Before God’s Face

JONATHAN GALE

Copyright © 2022 Jonathan Gale.

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-8670-2 (sc)

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WestBow Press rev. date: 12/15/2022

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To my darling wife with whom I have shared

decades of life and joy with!

To my dear kids whom I always carry in my

heart – you all make me proud!

CONTENTS

FOREWORD and ENDORSEMENTS

PREFACE

1     THAT FIRST LOOK

2     ALIVE TO HIM

3     BEFORE HIS FACE

God’s Seeing Eyes

God’s Loving Eyes

God’s Favor and Smile

Seeing Him Who Is Invisible

Look Full in His Wonderful Face

4     FOUNDATIONS FOR INTIMACY WITH GOD (PART 1)

God’s Heart for Me

Seeing God’s Heart in the Scriptures

His Heart Toward Me, For Me – A Scriptural Journey

Basking in His Unmerited Favor and Smile

God’s pleasure and our race

5     FOUNDATIONS FOR INTIMACY WITH GOD (PART 2)

God’s Faithfulness

Faithfully at Work in Us

Faithful in His Hold

Faithful in Leading and Guiding Us

Faithful in Speaking to Us

Faithful in His Provision

Faithful to Protect Us

Faithful in His Instruction and Training

Faithful to Restore and Heal Us

Faithful to Work It All Out

Faithful to reveal Himself

6     THE GOD WHO SATISFIES – PART 1

Tasting and Seeing His Goodness

God – Our Spring and Living Drink

God – Our Rich Feast

God – the One We Behold

God – the One Who Shows Himself

7     THE GOD WHO SATISFIES – PART 2

His Sweet Voice, Loving Touch, and Rewarding Presence

His Voice – Our Delight

God’s Love Language of Touch

God – Our Reward, Joy, and Delight

8     INTENTIONAL AND FREE

Our Hearts Inclined Toward Him

Our Spacious Place in Christ Alone

9     THE JOY OF LIVING FOR HIS PLEASURE

10   THAT WONDROUS IMPERATIVE

Rejoice in the Lord Always

God – Our Delight (the Object of our Joy)

Joy – A Matter of Relationship

God – the Natural Source of our Joy

Joy – A Matter of Perspective

Always

11   OVERCOMING HINDRANCES

To Loving and Enjoying God

Key Hindrances

Keys to Overcoming

12   A RADIANT WITNESS

Our Testimony from Beholding His Glory

13   TO HIM WHO LOVES US

Rallying Around the One We Love

FOREWORD and ENDORSEMENTS

I first met the Gale family when I was a student at Wheaton College, Illinois, nearly sixty years ago. Jonathan and I met when he was a student at Oral Roberts University, nearly fifty years ago. At every turn, their friendships have enriched my life. It is a singular privilege to write this recommendation for Jon’s newest book, Enthralled Eyes.

Inscribed on the book’s cover: The Lord has said, ‘Seek ye my Face.’ My heart replies, ‘Thy face, O Lord, do I seek.’ (Psalm 27: 8-9)

Jonathan’s work is an account of what his own ‘enthralled eyes’ have seen of God’s face - of who God is in Himself. It is nearly impossible to write such without having gone through circumstances that would prove or disprove God’s faithfulness. Jon has experienced crises in life requiring him to trust the raw, biblical assertions of God’s trustworthiness...and God has proved true.

Jon’s book is a written witness to what he calls the ‘multifarious faithfulness’ of God. It is a record of his journey of discovering the varied facets of God’s nature. Indeed, every page is a meditation upon scriptures that reveal these virtues. I would recommend anyone to enjoy the book precisely in this way, as an act of devotion.

While not diminishing the importance of personal ‘leadings’ from the heart of God to the believer’s heart, Jon is careful to submit all such to the confirming, or disaffirming, scrutiny of Scripture. I have witnessed the confusion those not so wise have inflicted upon the church.

Let the reader come to this book as one would come to a banquet, to ‘the rivers of God’s delights’ (Psalm 36:8). He/she will be fed, yet will always remain hungry for more. And I’m sure Jonathan will have more for us.

Robert J. Stamps, was Chaplain at ORU, 1968-81; United Methodist Pastor, 1986-2006; Dean of Chapel, Asbury Theological Seminary, 2011-2014; Professor in Theology: Asbury Theological Seminary, Virginia Union University & American University, 2006-2022. Stamps received the PhD from St John’s College/University of Nottingham in 1986

"Enthralled Eyes is a treasure trove of wisdom and insights borne of Jonathan Gale’s own journey and life-long love of the Scriptures. This book invites every one of us to jump in and receive this amazing joy filled life with God that is truly ours for the asking!"

Lin Nicolet

Leader/Pastor at Faith Worship Center, Pepperell, Massachusetts

"Enthralled Eyes is a beautiful compilation of inspirational scriptures and commentary by Jonathan Gale. This great resource reveals the happy heart of Father God, watching his children run before Him wild and free and reminds us to keep our gaze fixed on Him rather than on our own feet."

Daryl Nicolet

Sr. Leader/Pastor at Faith Worship Center, Pepperell, Massachusetts

The genius of this book is that we are given a marvelous view of Jesus as he was during his days on earth. The land has never been more real and the events of his life never more compelling. Jonathan Gale gets it. His command of the Scriptures (both old and new Testaments) brings us into the presence of Jesus in such a way that we want to worship him in the now and lead others to do the same! Read this book expectantly. Expect to be transformed. Expect to be inspired in such a way that you can inspire others in the here and now! Expect to be enthralled!

Robert G. Tuttle, Jr., Ph.D.

Emeritus Professor of World Christianity

Asbury Theological Seminary

PREFACE

This book is about the joy of eyes fixed on God and His Son, looking full in His wonderful face as penned by Helen Lemmel more than a century ago, inspired by words written by Lilias Trotter, two women who in difficult circumstances had learned the joy of directing their live’s affections to the One who gave it all for them.

The central importance of looking to Jesus was something I was taught from the time I was little. I can still hear in the recesses of my memory the repeated testimony of ministers or even friends sharing how they got their eyes off of Jesus and soon found themselves sinking – much like Peter literally sank under the waves of the sea of Galilee when he got his eyes off of Jesus and instead got seriously distracted by the turbulent waves. Peter had started out great, hearing the voice of the Master call him out of the security of his fishing boat and onto the waters. The eyes of his heart had been fixed trustfully on Jesus as he walked in faith toward the One who had called him earlier to give up everything and follow Him.

I trust that through this book God will stir in your heart a desire to live your life always looking to Him, not just in trust, dependency, and surrender but also enthralled by His beauty and splendor, enamored by His love, inspired daily by His vibrant hope, glorying in His power and greatness. It is my prayer that as the whole body of Christ rallies together around the Son, hearts joined in passion for Him, exulting in Him, that we would as one body be His radiant witnesses, because when we look to Him we are radiant.

As His radiant church, his love, power, and glory manifest through our lives, Christ will be lifted up and He will draw all people to Himself, opening the eyes of their hearts, so that looking to Him they too will come to life – this new life we have in Him that overflows with the joy from beholding Him. That’s His desire and we join our hearts to His that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

CHAPTER 1

That First Look

Oh wonderful Jesus, our hearts explode with joy in your presence, when we look to You. It’s you we adore, our hearts forever yours!

O the joy of looking to Jesus! When we look to Him, something always happens. Our hearts light up and we see everything differently.

This couldn’t be truer than with that first look, when our hearts first met the gaze of the One who died for us, our glorious Lord Jesus!

This picture, of you and I looking to Jesus, was described prophetically long ago.

They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; ⁵ they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food! ⁶ Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. ⁷ The people came to Moses and said, We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us. So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸ The Lord said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived. (Num 21:4-9, my bold emphases)

Questioning God’s goodness, as God’s people did here, has always been part of the human plight, fathered from the start by the father of lies when he said, Did God really say? And that is the root of all sin – unbelief, not believing in God’s goodness, not believing that God’s word can be trusted but believing instead that He has some hidden agenda that ultimately only serves His good and not ours.

Sin