If you accept only what your eyes tell you, particularly about people, you’ll soon wonder why the thrill of being a son or daughter of God has seemingly leaked from your heart. In my years of pastoring, that is one of the top reasons wonderful, holy, perfect sons and daughters begin to lose vigor—they believe what their eyes say about their neighbors. When they do, they cannot approach them in faith, so their Christianity becomes relatively impractical and paralyzed. They’re drying out because they’re out of focus.
2 Cor 4:18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
This is why we set our hearts and minds on things above, not on earthly things (Colossians 3:1-3). We don’t focus upon the unseen so we’ll feel better and have a happy day; we do it because that’s where we find ourselves in relation to God and to each other—really well off. From that focus, our lying eyes cannot lead us astray and foul our approach to life.
Grow accustomed to relying upon the unseen when you’re with people. They probably won’t see what you do, but they can—they need to.
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Amen to that Ralph, so true, meditating on what is good and honourable...seeing the best in everyone!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!!
God bless
Super Word....I love this!! Thanks Ralph!
ReplyDeleteI think God wants us to look at others with a open mind to how God looks at them for me that broughr big change
ReplyDeleteI think you're right, Astria. When Paul came amongst the Corinthians, he wanted to know nothing "except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor 2:2). Knowing Jesus, right in front of people, is enormously invigorating, and we lack nothing as we do. Further, knowing He was crucified reminds us that no one needs to die for sin because in Him, we already have. That changes our approach to people because we see them through the eyes of faith in Christ Jesus.
ReplyDeleteOne of the additional benefits of "gatherings"....you get to see, or at least sense very strongly the invisible inside that brother you'd just passed off as useless.
ReplyDelete