"I pray that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened..." (Eph. 1:18, NIV).
"Open my eyes that I may see..." (Psalm 119:18, NIV).
The Greeks came to the disciples inquiring: But we would see Jesus! It's not a matter of having some religious or spiritual encounter that lets you behold Christ clearly and meaningfully, but a life of obedience, not ecstasy, vision, or experience! Remember what Jesus told Thomas: Blessed are those who haven't seen! The point is that Jesus opens the eyes of the blind. But Christians all have the ability to see Christ at work in the world, the church, their brethren, and even themselves if they persist in growing in the faith. It is vital to know that Satan will trip us up with a temptation to test us at our weak points and vulnerabilities. And we must realize that he is like a devouring lion, seeking whom he may devour (cf. 1 Pet. 5:8)!
As Christians with the Spirit within, we have an advantage over those who actually did see Jesus in the flesh and may have become biased, calloused, or blinded to the Spirit. We don't have to go to and fro seeking Jesus' teaching and presence but have the power at work within--which is a much greater blessing and comfort. We are exhorted to walk by faith and not by sight, and if we do we'll see Christ by faith! To be a person who thinks clearly with our thinking straightened out, we must see (Christ) clearly (i.e., by faith). As the Christian sees Jesus from page to page throughout the Bible like a scarlet thread of His theme in action, that the whole of Scripture is about Him.
Peter walked on water as long as he kept his focus on Jesus, but the second he was overcome with the situation at hand and got his eyes off Jesus he began to sink. Suddenly he realized he needed the intervention of his Savior and uttered the simple words of salvation: Lord, save me! We all need to realize that we are in over our head in this life and need Jesus in order to cope with the mundane. The distracted mind is no fertile territory for the seed of the Word of God to germinate.
It has been said that the faith the grain of a mustard seed can move mountains; likewise, we can have faith to move mountains in Christ, figuratively speaking. William Carey said that we ought to "Expect Great Things from God; Attempt Great Things for God!' It's not how big our faith, in other words, but the size of our God, who can work the impossible on our behalf. The clearer our perception of Jesus, the closer we can walk with the Lord and be of benefit to the kingdom. Too often the cares of this world smother our spiritual life and we lose focus from keeping the main thing the main thing. We don't want to major on minors, or become legalists! Each of us has a part to do in the Great Commission and can learn from each other doing their part.
The more we learn of Jesus and see Him spiritually at work, the more proficient we are at accomplishing His work. The Great Commission will one day be the Great Completion (by the corporate body of Christ working in unity). Yes, they say that we can walk on water if we have faith, or that someone has the faith to walk on water. This applies to everyone and not just to a spiritual elite, for there is no room for a class system in Christ--we are all one in Christ.
I read a book once called The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey that was just a description of the Bible's doctrine of Christ. The point: one can never adequately describe Jesus, but you can know Him personally! And we must learn to focus on Christ in the mundane and everyday and down to earth, not just in a book. Each of us is a gospel in shoe leather and has a story to tell or a gift to give. We don't want Jesus to be just in our head or what's called story faith or head knowledge but have first-hand experience one-on-one with our Lord that we have something to share and pass along to others of our encounter with the Lord.
We are to walk hand in hand with our Lord through all the ups and downs, through thick and thin, to realize the presence of our Lord and being able to see Him more clearly, know Him more clearly, to follow Him more nearly, and to love Him more dearly (cf. Richard of Chichester). If a brother needs a book to know Jesus, he's missed the boat! Jesus is as close as the mention of His name! However, the temptation is to get enamored with the intellectual aspect of the faith and not to apply what we know. And the Bible wasn't written to describe Jesus, but to make Him known.
Our faith is not a creed to believe or even song to sing, but a relationship and person to know in the here and now with vibrations throughout eternity. We don't need to get informed, but transformed, and to know our Lord, if we are to walk with Him. We get to know the Spirit at work in our hearts and grow in the faith as we increase in our experiential knowledge of Jesus as our Lord and Savior. "But we do see Jesus..." (cf. Heb. 2:9). God is with us through the indwelling Spirit. The disciples longed to see the Father, thinking it would suffice, but Jesus reassured them He is all they need.
We are not boasting of visions and dreams or visitations, but we see Christ at work in the world in the here and now through each other. Do you see just evil in the world, or do you see the good overcoming evil? Paul said that it was "Christ in you, the hope of glory..." (cf. Col. 1:27), meaning that we live an inhabited life, not just an imitating one. Our walk is a substituted, transforming, relinquished, and surrendered one--"I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me..." (cf. Gal. 2:20).
"Open my eyes that I may see..." (Psalm 119:18, NIV).
The Greeks came to the disciples inquiring: But we would see Jesus! It's not a matter of having some religious or spiritual encounter that lets you behold Christ clearly and meaningfully, but a life of obedience, not ecstasy, vision, or experience! Remember what Jesus told Thomas: Blessed are those who haven't seen! The point is that Jesus opens the eyes of the blind. But Christians all have the ability to see Christ at work in the world, the church, their brethren, and even themselves if they persist in growing in the faith. It is vital to know that Satan will trip us up with a temptation to test us at our weak points and vulnerabilities. And we must realize that he is like a devouring lion, seeking whom he may devour (cf. 1 Pet. 5:8)!
As Christians with the Spirit within, we have an advantage over those who actually did see Jesus in the flesh and may have become biased, calloused, or blinded to the Spirit. We don't have to go to and fro seeking Jesus' teaching and presence but have the power at work within--which is a much greater blessing and comfort. We are exhorted to walk by faith and not by sight, and if we do we'll see Christ by faith! To be a person who thinks clearly with our thinking straightened out, we must see (Christ) clearly (i.e., by faith). As the Christian sees Jesus from page to page throughout the Bible like a scarlet thread of His theme in action, that the whole of Scripture is about Him.
Peter walked on water as long as he kept his focus on Jesus, but the second he was overcome with the situation at hand and got his eyes off Jesus he began to sink. Suddenly he realized he needed the intervention of his Savior and uttered the simple words of salvation: Lord, save me! We all need to realize that we are in over our head in this life and need Jesus in order to cope with the mundane. The distracted mind is no fertile territory for the seed of the Word of God to germinate.
It has been said that the faith the grain of a mustard seed can move mountains; likewise, we can have faith to move mountains in Christ, figuratively speaking. William Carey said that we ought to "Expect Great Things from God; Attempt Great Things for God!' It's not how big our faith, in other words, but the size of our God, who can work the impossible on our behalf. The clearer our perception of Jesus, the closer we can walk with the Lord and be of benefit to the kingdom. Too often the cares of this world smother our spiritual life and we lose focus from keeping the main thing the main thing. We don't want to major on minors, or become legalists! Each of us has a part to do in the Great Commission and can learn from each other doing their part.
The more we learn of Jesus and see Him spiritually at work, the more proficient we are at accomplishing His work. The Great Commission will one day be the Great Completion (by the corporate body of Christ working in unity). Yes, they say that we can walk on water if we have faith, or that someone has the faith to walk on water. This applies to everyone and not just to a spiritual elite, for there is no room for a class system in Christ--we are all one in Christ.
I read a book once called The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey that was just a description of the Bible's doctrine of Christ. The point: one can never adequately describe Jesus, but you can know Him personally! And we must learn to focus on Christ in the mundane and everyday and down to earth, not just in a book. Each of us is a gospel in shoe leather and has a story to tell or a gift to give. We don't want Jesus to be just in our head or what's called story faith or head knowledge but have first-hand experience one-on-one with our Lord that we have something to share and pass along to others of our encounter with the Lord.
We are to walk hand in hand with our Lord through all the ups and downs, through thick and thin, to realize the presence of our Lord and being able to see Him more clearly, know Him more clearly, to follow Him more nearly, and to love Him more dearly (cf. Richard of Chichester). If a brother needs a book to know Jesus, he's missed the boat! Jesus is as close as the mention of His name! However, the temptation is to get enamored with the intellectual aspect of the faith and not to apply what we know. And the Bible wasn't written to describe Jesus, but to make Him known.
Our faith is not a creed to believe or even song to sing, but a relationship and person to know in the here and now with vibrations throughout eternity. We don't need to get informed, but transformed, and to know our Lord, if we are to walk with Him. We get to know the Spirit at work in our hearts and grow in the faith as we increase in our experiential knowledge of Jesus as our Lord and Savior. "But we do see Jesus..." (cf. Heb. 2:9). God is with us through the indwelling Spirit. The disciples longed to see the Father, thinking it would suffice, but Jesus reassured them He is all they need.
We are not boasting of visions and dreams or visitations, but we see Christ at work in the world in the here and now through each other. Do you see just evil in the world, or do you see the good overcoming evil? Paul said that it was "Christ in you, the hope of glory..." (cf. Col. 1:27), meaning that we live an inhabited life, not just an imitating one. Our walk is a substituted, transforming, relinquished, and surrendered one--"I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me..." (cf. Gal. 2:20).
We ought to be so preoccupied with our Lord in all we do that he is the center of our life and our treasure is in Him that it shows to the point of being a testimony and a light in the dark if we are Jesus freaks or fanatics to some or even "out of our mind" (cf. 2 Cor. 5:13) it's for Christ's sake, that would be a compliment, as long as we don't live in ignorance of sound doctrine, having a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge (cf. Rom. 10:2, Prov. 19:2) Colossians 3:2, NIV, says: "For you died., and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."
We are the hands to do Christ's work, the heart to show Christ's love, and the voices through which Christ speaks to a lost world that doesn't realize He's for real and works in us. We shouldn't be saying that we see the devil at work in the world and ask "why?" but Jesus at work through the church and ask "why not?" As the hymn by William Cowper goes: "God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform."(Cf. Isa. 45:15, NLT).
The faith we have is the faith we show--we must learn to become contagious Christians because of our fixation on the Lord, though we are not fanatics who have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, because the clearer our vision of Christ, the more useful in the mission to the world and ministry in the church, as it becomes obvious that we have been in the presence of Jesus!
Bear in mind that to see Jesus with our physical eyes may not do any good spiritually, we must behold him with our spiritual eyes and not only with our intellect but with our whole heart. We need a real-life personal encounter with God that will change us from the inside out so that we can walk with Christ through faith. To see Jesus is to know Him and to know Him is to love Him.
In sum, let's follow on to know the Lord (cf. Hos. 6:3) as Richard of Chichester said, "To know Him more clearly, to follow Him more nearly, to love Him more dearly."
CAVEAT: TO THE PERSON WHO DOES NOT SEE, HE SHOULD ASK HIMSELF: WHERE IS HIS HEART? Jesus Himself said that the person who is really blind is the person who thinks he sees and doesn't. Soli Deo Gloria!
We are the hands to do Christ's work, the heart to show Christ's love, and the voices through which Christ speaks to a lost world that doesn't realize He's for real and works in us. We shouldn't be saying that we see the devil at work in the world and ask "why?" but Jesus at work through the church and ask "why not?" As the hymn by William Cowper goes: "God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform."(Cf. Isa. 45:15, NLT).
The faith we have is the faith we show--we must learn to become contagious Christians because of our fixation on the Lord, though we are not fanatics who have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, because the clearer our vision of Christ, the more useful in the mission to the world and ministry in the church, as it becomes obvious that we have been in the presence of Jesus!
Bear in mind that to see Jesus with our physical eyes may not do any good spiritually, we must behold him with our spiritual eyes and not only with our intellect but with our whole heart. We need a real-life personal encounter with God that will change us from the inside out so that we can walk with Christ through faith. To see Jesus is to know Him and to know Him is to love Him.
In sum, let's follow on to know the Lord (cf. Hos. 6:3) as Richard of Chichester said, "To know Him more clearly, to follow Him more nearly, to love Him more dearly."
CAVEAT: TO THE PERSON WHO DOES NOT SEE, HE SHOULD ASK HIMSELF: WHERE IS HIS HEART? Jesus Himself said that the person who is really blind is the person who thinks he sees and doesn't. Soli Deo Gloria!