Seeing With the Eyes
of Our Heart
"Now faith is
confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see"
(Hebrews 11:1 NIV).
This is likely the best known Bible verse describing faith; the different English translations use different words in their effort to be
true to the original Greek New Testament. I like the NIV because of its
clarity, and also the Amplified because it speaks, then speaks again.
In essence, faith can be said to be our ability to believe.
When a person has faith we say he or she believes.
"While all believers exercise faith to
some extent, the 'gift of faith', (1 Corinthians 12:9a) is distinct: it is a
special empowerment by the Holy Spirit enabling a person to believe that God
will act, often in extraordinary ways" (Biblehub.com).
Some say that Peter spoke from a "gift of faith" (Acts 3:6)
when he told the lame man to "get up
and walk"; certainly, we see that a miracle occurred.
In my Christian walk I have been hugely blessed with
experiences and testimonies. I have seen faith in action, both from my own
prayer, and from others'.
Trish and I were present when a man was restored to life
after he had a heart attack during a Christian conference in our state capital.
A doctor, present with us, told us that the man had died. Our conference leader
declared how wrong it was that a life should be taken as we were together
worshipping our God of all Creation, praying, singing and learning. When we
prayed together, the man came back to life. We were thrilled to see God's hand
working amongst us.
Was this an instance of our combined faith bringing a
miracle? Or, was it a "gift of faith" to our conference teacher (or
an unknown "other") for the man's life? I do not know. (Neither do I know
how to distinguish between Christian’s saving faith and Holy Spirit gifts of
faith). Or, did God arrange this as a present-day demonstration of His love,
power and might (John 9:3), for us who were asking God by faith (John 14:14; 1
John 5:14)?
Praise Jesus that He leads us to pray as He wills, for His
purposes. Faith is complicated, it seems to me. We can "know" faith
from time to time, but I find it difficult to understand and explain - another
of God's mysteries. God’s fullness is found in Jesus, and through Him, in us. Many times our theology teacher assured us: "the answer to every question is 'Jesus'".
"To the Lord's people, God has chosen
to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
"And in Christ
you have been brought to fullness. [Jesus] is the head over every power and
authority" (Colossians 2:10).
"His divine power
has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him
who called us by his own glory and goodness" (2 Peter 1:3). By faith
we see our God working this out in our lives
My prayer: "Dear Jesus, I pray that what you and I are writing here is clear to others and helps them in their walk of faith with you.
Amen"
Faith is about belief, our faith shows our ability to
believe, it is about what we "know" in our inner person to be true, then we "see" in our heart and in our spirit, and therefore, in our worldview.
"We look not to
the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that
are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal" (2
Corinthians 4:18).
We grow trust: "Trust
in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our
refuge" (Psalm 62:8)
My heart truths have their foundation in what I know to be
true. I can trust our God whom I know as my Savior and Lord Jesus (John 1:16;
Colossians 1:16-17) because of what I have seen and learned of Him and of His
Creation in which I rejoice every day (1 John 1:1-3).
Jesus is always
with us (Deuteronomy 31:8; Isaiah 60:19-20; Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5). When
we are with a brother or sister, or spouse, or dear friend, we tend to
communicate more-or-less continuously. It is no different with Jesus and us.
Intimacy and friendship with Jesus (John 15:15) are part of our salvation and
our "full life" (John
10:10) in Him under the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6). Relationships like this
grow trust, and from that, faith.
(Intimacy with Jesus - see PsalmsOfJohn.com post
"Greatest Gift"
• Permalink https://www.psalmsofjohn.com/2010/05/t-01-greatest-gift.html
• Podcast link https://open.spotify.com/episode/1vKKkxPKv0you75hmF6zj4
)
For me, this is the very foundation of faith. This God who
is there is eternal and without measure, nothing is beyond Him. My Bible
College studies included "systematic theology" with lots of big words
which, all together, try to describe the love and vastness and kindness and
completeness and complexity of our God. Our teachers showed us that even all
the big words were insufficient; the concepts are outside our human experience:
Infinite (without any limit). Immutable (never changing).
Omnipotent (all powerful). Omniscient (all-knowing). Omnipresent (always
everywhere).
Also loving, wise, creative, faithful, glorious and more.
God's bigness is a mystery (Psalm 147:4; Isaiah 40:12) we
will only grasp when we go and live with Jesus in Heaven (John 14:2).
When I think about faith I ponder the Creation and God's
attributes. I completely believe the Bible account of those first seven days,
and also the biblical history of all humankind. My eyes can see the work of God's
hands, my mind assures me that the world and all life must have been made by an
all powerful, loving, purposeful, pre-existing intelligence. It all makes
sense.
Jesus was all the light that was needed for the first three
days (Genesis 1:1-4; John 1:10) - and will be all the light for the new heaven
and new earth He will create after this one is "rolled up like an old garment" (Isaiah 51:6; Revelation
21:1).
Then, on the fourth day, God created the galaxies, the
constellations (Job 9:9), the billions of stars (Isaiah 45:12); He reached out
His hand and placed each one where He wanted it (Psalm 8:3), and gave them all
names (Psalm 147:4) Then He created our sun and moon, so that they would be
there for us (Genesis 1:14-17).
Big. Creative. Capable. Forward thinking. Love in action.
God made the Creation so we would have a glorious place to live, then He made
us. (I'm writing this at a favourite camp-site by the sea in our South-west, I
am "close to nature" here, so lovely - with every breath I know that
I am in God's Creation).
"The heavens
declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands"
(Psalm 19:1). I hear His declaration and His proclamation; I know that our God knows all things and
can do all things, I can trust Him.
Because we see and acknowledge what God has done in the
past, our spiritual eyes are able to see and our ears are able to hear what God
is saying and doing now; we can have "the
assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen"
(Hebrews 11:1 ESV), the "evidence"
(KJV) of a certain faith.
Jesus asks us to be available (Matthew 16:24). When I was
still a "young" Christian we were in a fellowship where one person
could begin singing a song and the whole congregation would join in and sing it
through - sometimes I would start "Here am I, Send me!" (a hymn from
Isaiah 6:8 and Luke 1:38). I was available to Jesus' prompting in my heart, at
the same time, obedient (Matthew 7:21) to the passion He had given me. The entire congregation happily joined in; as one in the Spirit.
Our obedience comes from Jesus' call: "follow me" (Matthew 4:19; John 21:22). God's great plan
includes us, each one: "For we are
God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared
in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10). (See also Matthew 28:19-20;
2 Timothy 4:2; 1 Corinthians 9:25; Philippians 4:9; Colossians 3:23-24; 2
Timothy 2:15).
Jesus acknowledges our works: "I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance,
and that you are now doing more than you did at first" (Revelation
2:19). Our hearts can know our Lord's
approval. Our faith grows.
Seeing With Our
Awakened Spirit
The new thing I've found in Hebrews 11:1 is "see". The writer is talking
about us not seeing. But, truly,
faith is seeing - seeing in our
spirit what we "do not see"
with our physical self.
Jesus said, "The
knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to
others I speak in parables, so that, 'though seeing, they may not see; though
hearing, they may not understand'" (Luke 8:10).
Our spirit "wakes up" when Jesus takes hold of us,
and makes us "born again"
(1 Peter 1:23), and "a new
creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17). We begin to learn to "see" spiritual things
(Ephesians 1:18-19).
For me, the mystery is: how do I discern God's plans at any
time? How do I align with His will? How do I bring my faith into line with
God's moving, here and now?
By faith - this is what our Bible is telling us - "Jesus said, 'only believe'"
(Mark 5:36). I have known teaching along these lines, it is clear and fully
supported in our Bible. But I am able only sometimes to "believe". I struggle, perhaps that is why Jesus has had
me pondering "faith". It is good to remember Mark 9:24: "help my unbelief!"
It seems to me that we almost never talk in terms of things
being spiritual. We mostly talk and behave as though our "reality" is
the physical world around us, our health, work, untellectual and physical abilities, social circle, the
political situation in our country, what is in the news or on social media. You
know, what we all see and experience of life.
Truth is, the highest part of us is our spirit; the
spiritual is greater than our body, our soul and our mind, always. God is Spirit (John
4:24); He spoke and His Word created the Universe, our world and all life all that is physical.
Pray - Read Your Bible
So many times I have sought God's help in prayer. I look to
my faith so that I can stand on the promises of God and can see the truth of
His Word, Jesus. Reading my Bible always helps, it affirms that we are God's
people. Jesus is always with us
(Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5), and always
for us (Romans 8:28). There are so many accounts of Him saving, rescuing,
healing and setting free when people are in need (John 14:14).
When my heart's desire for a person or situation is not met, when my faith seems to be insufficient, Jesus does give me peace when I pray. I love to pray with Trish; we will spend time together, some of it praising our Lord, some in silent prayer, some in conversational prayer and some pouring out our hearts.
We have carried some prayer burdens for years; we continue in faith; we "persevere" (Hebrews 10:36). Always we find a deep sense of shalom; "the kingdom of God has come near" (Mark 1:15).
A miracle is a "supernatural" event, meaning
"something greater than natural laws would allow", it will have a
spiritual source. I have seen hundreds of miracles; that I am alive today is
the result of miracles - praise Jesus. All those miracles were stronger than
accident or disease or death.
God has a plan, we read about it from Genesis 1 to
Revelation 22. "God is spirit"
(John 4:24); by His Spirit He is ultimately over everything that is, and
everything that happens, the precious, the beautiful, even the ugly and hurtful
things which come as a result of sin (2 Chronicles 7:13).
Paul's words: "I
pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know
[1] the hope to which he has called you, [2] the riches of his glorious
inheritance in his holy people, and [3] his incomparably great power for us who
believe" (Ephesians 1:18-19). Father God wants us to see who we are in
Jesus by His Spirit.
When faced with a problem, we men, (I believe this is a very
"man" thing), jump right in to find solutions; logic demands and our
flesh cries out "show me, I can help". But by Holy Spirit and our spirit,
we can see deeper. Then we will have the "assurance
of things hoped for, proof of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1 WEB).
When we seek the will of God, we align our self with Him - we look to see what
He sees, His reality.
Gifts to Help People
Jesus gives us spiritual gifts to help people: "gifts of the Holy Spirit" (1
Corinthians 12:1-13). These enable us to do more than ever we could by our self
with our own strength, thoughts, skills and resources.
Jesus told His disciples what to expect: "But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
John Baptist foretold this blessing in Matthew 3:11,
Mark 1:7-8, Luke 3:16, and John 1:33. Baptism in Holy Spirit is for all
Christians and enables us to do what is explained in Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's handiwork, created in
Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do".
This is true today, we are "God's
handiwork", just as were young Timothy and John Mark in Bible times.
My testimony is that spiritual gifts are widespread in
Jesus' church today. Trish and I have been blessed by Jesus' spiritual gifts
for decades; some givings are long-lasting and others especially for a person
or event.
The spiritual gifts I see most often are gifts of prophecy,
knowledge, and discerning of spirits.
Gifts of "speaking
in different kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues" (1
Corinthians 12:10) are also widespread. Some people feel
uncomfortable with this. I have heard people say that the Christian is losing
control. "Tongues" are
"spiritual languages". My experience and observation is the opposite of loss and confusion; we are
able to pray and sing in harmony with our Lord Jesus and the heavenly host. For
myself, this gift helps me to "fix
my eyes on Jesus" (Hebrews 12:2); later I will be aware that things I
have been pondering are now clearer; my spiritual conversation in "tongues" will bear much
fruit. Please consider this: Would Jesus, in His Word, tell us to seek something which is not of Himself?
"Not that we are
competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence
comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant - not
of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives
life" (2 Corinthians 3:5-6).
My testimony is that Jesus often gives me a prophetic
understanding, (also Trish and others we know). He speaks and I will be able to
see something, a Bible phrase, an idea or thought or picture, at other times
Jesus will instruct me, simply and clearly in my mind. Sometimes Jesus’ word
will be for another; Trish and I have been truly blessed to hear God’s thoughts
toward us expressed by a Christian brother or sister.
We can be ready for Jesus to give a practical "word" or spiritual
"glimpse" of what He is doing or planning to do. This will be His
doing; Jesus is "truth"
(John 1:17, 14:6, 18:37); He will always reveal truth. We can ask Holy Spirit
to help us; He always reveals Jesus (Psalm 19:1; Daniel 2:28; Amos 3:7; Amos
4:13; John 14:17).
I have vivid dreams. Sometimes Trish will interpret them;
they are clearly Jesus speaking by His Holy Spirit. Her interpretations enrich
our life together; they are "seen" by her spirit.
After I began work on this piece I awoke one morning and
Jesus told me: "Get your hot drink John, pray, then review what we have
written. After that, focus on your taxes", (our tax returns were due the
next week); Jesus wanted me to work to his priorities. My testimony is that
Jesus leads and encourages in all the work of PsalmsOfJohn. Last night I awoke
briefly and "saw" a sentence which truly completed a paragraph I had
written the previous day.
Many times I have been interrupted with His conversation
about family and household things, always with love, I know He is smiling as He
speaks, He is always gentle, I know I am safe with Him. This grows my faith.
Because Jesus is a man and human, just as I am, I can easily relate to Him. I
know He is God. I find this very encouraging. Old Testament people like Abraham
and Elijah heard Him as a distant and un-seeable Lord.
For me, words of knowledge are less frequent; I will be
praying and "know" to pray in a certain way, with a particular
emphasis. After my prayer I'll experience a deep satisfaction; there will be an
answer to that prayer: "the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen"
(Hebrews 11:1 KJV).
"Yet Abraham did
not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened
in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to
do what he had promised" (Romans 4:20-21).
Every day I "press
on" with what I know to do, with my life and work (Philippians 3:12).
Mostly we do not need constant guidance because we have been taught and trained
(Hebrews 12:11), other times Jesus' leading is minute-by-minute.
A week or two ago I was walking for exercise in our
community pool, two women shared my lane. I heard one say "This problem is
so big, I'm glad that I can talk every night to God about it. I know that we
can't know if God is real but I certainly feel better".
I apologised for overhearing and asked if I could say
something; my spirit believed that Jesus wanted me to speak. I shared the truth
that we can know that God is real and
that He is approachable in Jesus, the same Jesus who is the centre of
Christmas, the One who came to set us free and Who is always ready to help
people who look to him. The woman was thrilled and thanked me, grinning,
understanding, relieved. Her friend was amazed, her expression said
"Really? I did not know". Our God is the God who reveals Himself
(Psalm 19:1; Daniel 2:28; Amos 3:7; John 14:17). Our lovely Jesus brings
comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) and help (Matthew 11:28). "He is not far from any one of us" (Acts 17:27).
I spoke what I know by faith to be true; I am shy and often
stumble over words, but at these times I and am so grateful when Holy Spirit
gives me words and puts them into clear sentences. Those words were for the
two women. Jesus wanted the praying woman to know that her prayers are being heard in love. Holy Spirit gave me what Jesus wanted them to hear. Holy Spirit always reveals Jesus (John 15:26; 1 John
4:2).
The word "prophesy" describes our being able to
hear God's voice, and then to share His thoughts with others, (regardless if it
is Father God speaking, or Jesus the Son, Saviour and Lord, or Holy Spirit, our
teacher, counselor, comforter and guide).
Jesus spoke about "eyes
to see" and "ears to
hear" (Mark 8:18). In 1st Corinthians 14 Paul tells us about God's
prophetic gifting; he says "Follow
the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy ..
the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging
and comfort ... the one who prophesies edifies the church ... I would like
every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy"
(1 Corinthians 14:1,3,5).
Trish and I were blessed to meet a couple who were led to start a school of Christian prophecy, (Holy Spirit's prophetic gifting). Wonderful. At first I found it scary, but soon saw that throughout the Bible, God speaks to people all the time. Then I truly wanted to learn.
(The phrase: "the word of the Lord came" is more than 100 times in the Old Testament).
"Behold",
we are in the family of God, God's children (1 John 3:1), we are able to call
our Father "Abba", just as
Jesus does; that intimate Hebrew name for a loving father one fully trusts,
(Romans 8:15). It is natural that our Father wants to talk to us and guide us.
When Jesus told His disciples that they were His friends, He
was teaching all of us, all His disciples through all time (John 15:12-17). The Bible is alive,
it is Jesus, the living Word of God (John 1:1), in written form. This truth is
for us, each one. As Jesus' "friends"
we can expect to communicate freely, just as we do with our family and friends
in the world.
Like many aspects of Christian life, some find the idea of
us receiving, and being empowered by ministry gifts from Holy Spirit easier to
accept than others.
(Some believe that the giving of spiritual gifts ended when
the Holy Bible was completed. Perhaps you have been taught this? I ask that you examine this teaching in the light of what you know of our God, and what you
see in your Bible study. I see nothing in Scripture to support this belief, and
so much which tells us that Jesus' ministry work in the world is still needed,
and we are being equipped and led to participate and continue with Him as He
leads us and empowers us by His Holy Spirit from His place in Heaven, and that this will continue until Jesus
returns. Hallelujah).
My testimony is that I often talk with Jesus and gladly
receive His gifts. Others say that they communicate with Holy Spirit. (I
believe that such distinction is unimportant and comes from our individual
growing knowledge of who God is, and our self in relation to Him, Father, Son
and Spirit). At Bible College we learned that where our Father is, there are
Jesus and Holy Spirit too, and what Jesus is doing, Father God and Holy Spirit
are also doing - the Holy Trinity is always united in all things).
I see that many Christian people are conforming into their "born again-ness" (Galatians
5:22-23) and showing more fruit from being "filled
with the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:1-11), particularly in their
ability to hear what God is saying through Jesus and by His Spirit (Matthew
10:20, Mark 13:11, John 16:13, 1 Corinthians 2:13). This can be called
"hearing God's prophetic voice" and, Scripture tells us, is a normal
part of the life Jesus wants for us. This is good, it helps us, individually
and as the body of Christ, to "stand"
(Ephesians 6:11,13,14) and to "do"
(James 1:22) "But prove yourselves
doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves".
Some years ago when I was a struggling Christian, Jesus gave
me a series of visions to show me how sure and "faith filled" He was
of how He was growing me. I wrote about it and called the
piece "Jesus’ Faith in Me", It seems to me that today I am saying much
the same thing with different words:
• Permalink to web page
https://www.psalmsofjohn.com/2010/06/jesus-faith-in-me.html
"Jesus’ Faith in Me" is now a podcast on Spotify
under PsalmsOfJohn
• Public link to podcast
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6o9LlqVi6RRzfNtaok0EM5
Jesus is our source: "Faith
comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). Let
us stay close to Him.
I have come to believe that we can grow our faith only by
drawing near to Jesus (Matthew 11:28). He has given us so much teaching on how
to grow as Christians, in "devotion"
(Matthew 22:37; 1Co 7:35), in "following
Him" (John 21:22), in "humility"
(Luke 18:14) and "service"
(John 12:26), in "caring"
(Matthew 10:8), in "generosity"
(Luke 12:22-32) and one-anothering "one
another" (Romans 12:10).
As we grow in Jesus, so we will grow in "seeing God" (Ephesians 1:17) in all His love, beauty,
foresight, justice, wisdom and power. We will also learn to see and hear God, what He is
doing and what He is saying. Thus our faith also grows.
We cannot make miracles happen, but it is the glorious grace
of God that we can participate with Jesus as He works our Father's will in this
very troubled world.
I know that I have faith. Jesus leads me, He asks me to
participate with Him in His work, and I love to do this. How does my faith
compare with that of Abraham, Elijah or Elisha or George Muller or John Lake? There is no point comparing - I am uniquely me. You are uniquely you. This is one of the blessings of being
human, and especially of being Christian; we are each hand-made by God,
intentionally for His glory and His purposes.
I am not perfect in my seeing, my availability or my
obedience, but I know that my Lord Jesus loves me completely and is happy with
my growing towards "the unity of the
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure
of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). This is
good!
"Our God who
began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ
Jesus" (Philippians 1:6). I am so grateful.
And grateful too, that Jesus "helps me with my unbelief" (Mark 9:24), and, praise His
name, He has enough faith for both of us (Mark 11:22)
Remember: the
answer is always "Jesus".
Amen.
I am reminded of a favourite old hymn:
"I Know Whom I
Have Believed"
by Daniel Whittle, 1883
From 2 Timothy 1:12 and Jude 1:24 I know not why God’s wondrous graceTo me He hath made known,Nor why, unworthy, Christ in loveRedeemed me for His own. Refrain:But "I know Whom I have believed,And am persuaded that He is ableTo keep that which I’ve committedUnto Him against that day". I know not how this saving faithTo me He did impart,Nor how believing in His WordWrought peace within my heart. I know not how the Spirit moves,Convincing men of sin,Revealing Jesus through the Word,Creating faith in Him. I know not what of good or illMay be reserved for me,Of weary ways or golden days,Before His face I see. I know not when my Lord may come,At night or noonday fair,Nor if I walk the vale with Him,Or meet Him in the air.
"Now faith is the
assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being
the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith
perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]" (Hebrews
11:1 Amplified).
Praise Jesus. Amen.
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