Eyes of Faith
1 Corinthians 13:12
"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."
Right now we see Jesus with our hearts: through the eyes of faith. As I am able to see you face to face now and hear your voice in my ears, someday I will see Jesus face to face and hear His voice in my ears. Until then, I will view Him with the eyes of my heart, my spiritual heart. For to worship Christ I must worship Him in spirit and in truth, as the Bible tells me so: "God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." John 4:24
The eye of the body is connected to the brain. The eye of faith is connected to the heart. The information bouncing back and forth between the eye and the brain at even speeds I cannot wrap my mind around is manifold. But this much information would not be possible without light first entering the eye. If the eye is impaired, the brain cannot comprehend the light, and so remains in darkness.
These statements remain true even when speaking of the eye of faith which is connected to the heart. The dark cannot comprehend the light because the eye of faith is impaired. How does the eye of faith heal that the light may shine in the dark and send the darkness fleeing?
First, we have to know what Faith is. Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith is substance, it is matter. Faith is the foundation upon which hope is built. Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Faith is necessary to pleasing God. Those who think they are making God happy but lack the faith required to do so are sorely mistaken. They stumble in the dark and cause others to wobble and fall.
And the second thing we need is Belief, as stated in the second part of Hebrews 11:6. We Must Believe in God: His existence, His Word, His Son. John 3:16-19 "For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."
We must Believe that God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place. For only God can defeat the devil and win. My part in the battle of salvation through Jesus Christ is to stand and fight. Fight for the souls of my family and friends. My part is to have enough faith to believe that God will move mountains on their behalf. First I must believe, then I must pray for my family and my friends to believe. I must pray not only for their salvation, but for their growth: growth in their relationship with Christ, growth in their walk with God, growth in their hunger and thirst for more of the Word of God to take root in them and prosper their souls.
Diligence. Perseverance. Endurance. From beginning to end. Start to finish. Basic Math:
A proper garden must first have the soil tilled. Tilling is cultivating the ground, digging up the surface and bringing to the surface the fertile soil beneath. While the verbs used to further describe the word TILL are Dig, Cultivate and farm, even these can have clearer meaning to help us understand: prepare, pierce, subdue; to name a few.
1 Corinthians 13:12
"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."
Right now we see Jesus with our hearts: through the eyes of faith. As I am able to see you face to face now and hear your voice in my ears, someday I will see Jesus face to face and hear His voice in my ears. Until then, I will view Him with the eyes of my heart, my spiritual heart. For to worship Christ I must worship Him in spirit and in truth, as the Bible tells me so: "God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." John 4:24
The eye of the body is connected to the brain. The eye of faith is connected to the heart. The information bouncing back and forth between the eye and the brain at even speeds I cannot wrap my mind around is manifold. But this much information would not be possible without light first entering the eye. If the eye is impaired, the brain cannot comprehend the light, and so remains in darkness.
These statements remain true even when speaking of the eye of faith which is connected to the heart. The dark cannot comprehend the light because the eye of faith is impaired. How does the eye of faith heal that the light may shine in the dark and send the darkness fleeing?
First, we have to know what Faith is. Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith is substance, it is matter. Faith is the foundation upon which hope is built. Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Faith is necessary to pleasing God. Those who think they are making God happy but lack the faith required to do so are sorely mistaken. They stumble in the dark and cause others to wobble and fall.
We must Believe that God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place. For only God can defeat the devil and win. My part in the battle of salvation through Jesus Christ is to stand and fight. Fight for the souls of my family and friends. My part is to have enough faith to believe that God will move mountains on their behalf. First I must believe, then I must pray for my family and my friends to believe. I must pray not only for their salvation, but for their growth: growth in their relationship with Christ, growth in their walk with God, growth in their hunger and thirst for more of the Word of God to take root in them and prosper their souls.
Diligence. Perseverance. Endurance. From beginning to end. Start to finish. Basic Math:
Faith is the substance of things hoped for
+
he that comes to God must Believe that He is
+
He rewards them that Diligently seek Him
Evidence of things not seen
Diligently seek Him means to keep on praying while reading His Word. Keep on studying. While reading the Bible all the way through is commendable and shows an ability to persevere, it is not enough to just read the surface of the Word. God encourages us to dig deeper. Not in regards to digging holes out of which we cannot climb, but digging up buried treasure and sharing it with everyone we know. When a garden is being built, a person must first prepare the ground. You cannot just fling seed hither and yon and hope it grows.
A proper garden must first have the soil tilled. Tilling is cultivating the ground, digging up the surface and bringing to the surface the fertile soil beneath. While the verbs used to further describe the word TILL are Dig, Cultivate and farm, even these can have clearer meaning to help us understand: prepare, pierce, subdue; to name a few.
God prepares our hearts to receive His Son. Men and women preach the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. We walk the walk and talk the talk.The life we live is not ours. We have surrendered our lives to God and to His service. Our words should be words of love and life, not words of hate and death.
Walking in darkness is dangerous. There are people who prefer to walk in the dark (John 1:5 & 3:19) and there are people who wish only for the light to shine. But at this time, while we are on this earth and until Jesus returns, the light shines in the darkness. The love of God tenders our hearts with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The light of Christ pierces the dark hearts of men and reveals the evil, the darkness within. The love of God is planted as a seed in our waiting hearts. The light of Christ shines on the seed of faith and causes it to grow and blossom within us.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is our faith in the transforming power of God which allows us to receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is our faith in God's Word that brings us to our knees and causes our hearts to break from the weight of our guilt and shame. It is our faith in the promises of God that turn our hearts to a repentant state, bringing the fertile soil to the surface while sending the superficial surface underground.
The eyes of faith are healed; the blind heart can see. John 3:21 "But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is our faith in the transforming power of God which allows us to receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is our faith in God's Word that brings us to our knees and causes our hearts to break from the weight of our guilt and shame. It is our faith in the promises of God that turn our hearts to a repentant state, bringing the fertile soil to the surface while sending the superficial surface underground.
The eyes of faith are healed; the blind heart can see. John 3:21 "But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."
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