God, Open Our Eyes To See

Take a look around you. What do you see? Look closely at the shapes, the textures, the colors, and the people. Now think for a moment of all the things happening around you that you cannot see. The birds flying. The insects crawling. The people driving by. The people flying overhead on planes.

Now think of the all the unseen things beyond the physical realm. The psyche of people, the deep wounds, and fuming anger. Now think on another dimension. Think of all the supernatural activity. The angels, the demons, and the Holy Spirit at work all over the world. All unseen.

There is a little story in II Kings 6 that grabs my attention. Here is the backdrop. The king of Syria makes secret plans to raid and attack Israel. The only problem is the prophet Elisha keeps warning the King of Israel of all Syria's plans. The king of Syria gets enraged. He thinks someone in his cabinet is leading classified military secrets. When he asked who was betraying him here is the response.

2 Kings 6:12 (ESV)
¹²  And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”


How did Elisha know what the king planned?

When I got saved I was rightfully taught God spoke to His people through the scriptures. I have made reading, studying, and meditating on the scriptures a habit for three decades. I cannot even count the numerous times God has spoken to me, counseled me, comforted me, and guided my steps through His word.

How did Elisha know what the king of Syria planned? He could have studies the Torah backward and forward and the law of God would not have helped him to know what the Syrian king planned in his inner chamber. So how did Elisha know this vital information? How did Elisha hear?

God is a communicating God. From Genesis to Revelation God communicated with His people. He still does. So how did He communicate with Elisha? There is no way Elisha came up with those secret military plans on His own. God revealed them through His Spirit. It is my firm conviction He still does the same today.

He still communicates through His word. I cannot over emphasize the importance of that truth. I have poured over the pages of scripture believing God still speaks through the Bible. That was instilled in me after I got saved. Is that the only way God speaks?

There are many who say it is. They are not open to God speaking outside the pages of scripture. They have heard of extreme, bizarre, and outlandish things people testify the Holy Spirit spoke to them. These extremes turn people off. They say the age of miracles ended with the apostles and God no longer communicates with His people except through the word of God.

I d not accept that. I never have. I still believe God speaks through the Holy Spirit. If we have whole groups of denominations who no longer believe this or teach this are we missing out? Are we missing out on vital things God wants to communicate outside the Bible.

I AM NOT SAYING GOD SPEAKING THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A SUBSTITUTE FOR READING AND STUDYING THE BIBE. I know to write that God speaks through the Holy Spirit labels me to some. They will classify as charismatic, a holy roller, a pew jumper, and out of the mainstream.

At this point in my life I don't care what label you put on me. I have read through my every page of my Bible. Over and over again I have circled such phrases as God spoke, God said, and the word of the Lord came and the Holy Spirit said.

Some wil immediately argue that is all Old Testament. Things changed in the New Testament.. They did change. In the New Testament they had the Old Testament to study and read as the word of God. In Acts God sent the Holy Spirit. All through Acts God communicated through the Holy Spirit. Then after Acts scholars say it all changed again. After that many believe God only spoke through the Bible once the full cannon of scripture was completed.

No Old Testament scripture or New Testament scripture study would ever reveal the information Elisha received. And I have read enough biographies to know God spoke to others after the book of Acts through His word as well through the Holy Spirit.

I can testify of a number of times the Holy Spirit prompted me to call someone, make a visit, text, or changed a message right in the middle of the service I had not planned or prepared to preach. We treat the Holy Spirit like He is not even really part of the Trinity.

Some overemphasize the Holy Spirit. Others quench and grieve the Holy Spirit continually. My point is no amount of Bible study could have revealed what was revealed to Elisha.

The story does not end there. The Syrian king wanted Elisha captured. He sent a great army to surround Dothan where Elisha stayed. The next morning when Elisha's servant saw the army he asked, "What are we going to do?"

Read what Elisha said and what he prayed.

 2 Kings 6:16-17 (ESV) 
¹⁶  He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
¹⁷  Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 

How did Elisha know the Syrian army was surrounded by an unseen army? How did he see what his servant could not see? Just like God can speak through the Holy Spirit God can also allow us to see unseen things through His Spirit. 

Again Elisha could have studied the law over and over again and not seen that army of fire sent to protect him. God revealed that to Him supernaturally. 

AGAIN I AM NOT DISCREDITING GOD REVEALING AND SHOWING TRUTH THROUGH HIS SCRIPTURE. Any time God has moved Brenda and I in ministry He used His word to direct us each time. I lean on the scriptures. 

I also cannot deny God has opened my eyes to other things outside the scriptures. Mainly the all the dreams relating to Kermit. Why do people consider that so strange? He spoke to Joseph in dreams and allowed him to interpret other people's dreams in Genesis. He did the same with Jacob in Genesis. He used dreams with Daniel, Joseph, Jesus's earthly father, Ananias in Acts 9, Peter in Acts 10, Paul in Acts 16:9 and John in the whole book of Revelation. 

Again I know many mainstream Christian denominations who do not believe this. I have been accused of my dreams being deception by demons.  People will think what they will think. 

If God could open your spiritual eyes to see the real truth of situations you cannot see in the physical realm, He could comfort, strengthen your faith, produce vision, and offer direction. 

What if we could walk so close to God that He used His word in our lives to show us things? What if He  also spoke to show things in the spiritual realm opening our eyes to see things from His perspective. So my prayer in recent days has been two fold. Lord, please open my ears to hear and open my eyes to see. 

There are things we will never be able to see except through the eyes of faith. An obscure lady prayed God would send D.L. Moody to preach in her home town in England though Moody lived in the United States. She prayed this through the eyes of faith. Eventually Moody did come to England. Another lady prayed God would send Duncan Campbell to preach on her island. Eventually God sent Campbell there. John Hyde prayed for multiple conversions each day while laboring on the mission field and God answered His prayers. Evan Roberts prayed through faith trusting for a great national revival in Wales. God answered those prayers in 1905. He often reported God giving him dreams and visions during that national awakening. God birthed a vision in Hudson Taylor to take the gospel to China and in George Mueller to house and feed orphans. 

Throughout history God produced vision in people's heart and they prayed for those things to become reality. If we are never open to receiving such things from the Spirit of God He will use others. Other people, other churches, and even other denominations. My prayer is that He will open our ears to hear and open our eyes to see. 

Trapped

Like caged animals that lost their freedom there are people also trapped. Trapped in physical pain from injuries, ailments, and diseases they never wanted and cannot escape. There are people trapped in environments they cannot control. They endure each day of misery trying to make the best of a bad situation. There are people trapped in abusive and loveless relationships. They are too scared and too confused to find a way of escape. There are kids trapped in their bodies and the endless ridiculing of classmates who cut and stab with their words, texts, and social media posts. There are people trapped behind a mountain of debt. Others are trapped in dead end jobs with no future for advancement and no hope for providing a better living for their family. There are people trapped in the prison of a dark and distorted mind of depression. Though they grope through pitch dark caverns of their mind they cannot find an exit.

Like caged animals from the wild something on the inside dies when they are trapped. They are broken. They may be put in a zoo  in what is supposed to be their natural habitat. You can see in their eyes something missing. A part of them has died after getting trapped. They pace back and forth nervously and angrily. They get tired of no privacy. They get irritated with the constant taunts. Yet things are beyond their control. They are trapped.

The same for people. It is bad enough to be trapped but when everyone knows you are trapped or knows your very private pain has gone public the soul withers. When others pretend to care but secretly slander you behind your back at first it angers you. Then over time your heart becomes numb. Your attention gets redirected on just trying survive another day.

And when the pretenders come acting like they really care about your plight you learn to fake it. You pretend you are better than you are. They don't really hear the truth about your being trapped. When the wise offer their many solutions like Job's friends you learn not to be honest. You are trapped. You listen politely but keep your true feelings and battles inside.

Some well meaning super saint says you are trapped because you don't have enough faith. Those words sting the most. They do not know the countless hours you have cried out to God for relief, for rescue from the pain, and for deliverance from your less than desirable circumstances. They are unaware of the sleepless nights asking, seeking, and knocking on the doors of heaven for a way out. They do not know how many Bible promises you have memorized and prayed. To question your faith makes you withdraw a little more. Sometimes you even feel trapped by God Himself. He could heal, restore, provide, deliver, and protect with just His spoken word.

When you live in the prison of chronic pain every single day you fight demons in your mind. Demons about giving up, thoughts about God abandoning you, and thoughts about ending it all. When there is never real relief from the pain and you just learn to cope with it. You learn to suffer silently because nobody really wants to hear about how bad you feel. You feel trapped.

O for all the trapped people I do not have  a formula or a quick fix. I turn to the only place I know for help. God's word.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV) 
¹⁶  So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
¹⁷  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
¹⁸  as 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.

Things may never get better down here on planet earth. That is hard to read but is also hard truth. If you are a follower of Jesus things ARE GOING TO GET BETTER IN HEAVEN. So don't lose heart. Set your mind on the joy to come rather than the pain, confusion, frustration, and trials you have to endure here. Just keep seeking, trusting, and persevering from one day to the next. Even as the body wastes away and the physical pain mounts look to Jesus and what He has purchased for you. 

While your afflictions that trap you look anything but light from where you are in comparison to all eternity they are light. And they are momentary, or put another way, they are temporary. When Jesus calls you home, all the pain will be gone. FOREVER. HALLELUJAH. And your Father is preparing you for something beyond all comparison. Keep your mind fixed on that hope. 

Look to the world unseen but more real than what you see all around you. That unseen world is unending, eternal, everlasting, and forever. All else is temporary. You will not be trapped forever. Praise Jesus one day you will be free. Totally free. Free at last free at last praise God Almighty free at last. Free from everything and everyone that ever trapped you. Look forward to that day as I do the same.  

The Day Of Reckoning

A day of reckoning is coming. A day of terror from the Lord as He brings judgment on all those who reject Him, worship idols, and try to exalt themselves. They will be brought low. They will find sheer terror facing holy God.

On that day idols made with human hands will be worthless. They will not be able to help in the day of God's wrath. There will be no hiding place. No cave in a mountain will be high enough. No burrow will be deep enough. There will be no place to escape from God's penetrating gaze and His burning anger.

Isaiah 2:6-22 (ESV)
⁶  For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the east and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
⁷  Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots.
⁸  Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made.
⁹  So man is humbled, and each one is brought low— do not forgive them!
¹⁰  Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty.
¹¹  The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
¹²  For the LORD of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;
¹³  against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up; and against all the oaks of Bashan;
¹⁴  against all the lofty mountains, and against all the uplifted hills;
¹⁵  against every high tower, and against every fortified wall;
¹⁶  against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the beautiful craft.
¹⁷  And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
¹⁸  And the idols shall utterly pass away.
¹⁹  And people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.
²⁰  In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats,
²¹  to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.
²²  Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?



That will be a day of weeping and gnashing of teeth. It will be a day of sorrows. It will be a day of immense fear without hope of escape.No place to run for refuge and no place to hide from day of the Lord. The rich will be vulnerable behind their fortresses. Kings will not be safe behind their palaces. The country folks will find no solace in the woods nor the suburbanites behind their gated communities.

Revelation 6:12-17 (ESV) 
¹²  When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,
¹³  and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.
¹⁴  The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
¹⁵  Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,
¹⁶  calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,
¹⁷  for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” 
And for all left to live through that day our only hope will be JESUS. Our only Deliverer is Jesus. Our only Savior is Jesus. Our only Rescuer is Jesus. [Jn 3:16] [Rom 5:8-9] [II Cor 5:21]

So while people eat, play, marry, work, recreate, and go through life day in and day out does it ever come to mind a day of reckoning is coming. Each will stand before holy God and give an account for their lives. A day of triumphant hope for the saved. A day of terror for unbelievers. It is time to get prepared for that day if you have not done so already.

The time of grace is now. The time of mercy is now. On the day of reckoning when we each stand before God it will be too late. We must repent and cry out to Him for mercy while there is still time.