Recently, some people were asking me what I sensed God was saying in this season. I referred to an evening in early February, when I was journaling what I was hearing from God’s word at the “Interpreter’s House.” On a porch rocking chair, as the sun was setting, here’s what perceived…looking ahead in 2009+:
1. 2 Pet. 3:18-“But grow in the grace & knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
2. Ps 59:9-10 “The Lord’s Lovingkindnesses” will meet me?
Is. 30: 18-21 Mercy, Compassion & Favor is available…God wants to teach/instruct
and there’s a voice, the voice of the lord speaking behind many Christian leaders and congregations…what HE’s saying, walk in it!
3. Josh 3:4… “keep a distance don’t go near it (ark), so that you can see the way to go, for you have not traveled this way before!”
4. March & July will carry unique spiritual blessings for those who are in devotions and worship – Jn 4, Ps 123, 138:3, Ps 9:10, 25 34:2-9, 50:14-18, 121:1-2.
5. “God is not in a hurry”…-Wait on the Lord –Is. 26, Mic. 7:7.
6. God is sending…allowing a “leanness of soul” among many Christian leaders & congregations! ---narrowing, straightening -Ps 106:15.
7. “Remember!” -Remembrance as & Renewal Readiness –Ps. 77, 103, 42:6-8, 143:5-11, Lam 3:21-24.
8. Ps. 126, Jn 21, 1 Pet 5 – to Christian leaders…
9. 2 Cor 1:5, Ps 90:15, 71:19-21, 103: 13-14. The Heavenly Scales…Providential Balances are beginning to tip… “Justice is coming”… Is . 46:13, 42:3 – Eph 6:8, Gen 45: 27, God’s going to turn it around! Hos 2:14-16, 19-20, 3:5.
10. There’s a “Generational…kingdom thing”--discern & invest yourself in it.
11. “Something Foundational is missing, lacking, wavering.” -Ps. 11, 111, Is 11
It’s the “Cross & Spirit of Christ”= Gal. 3:1-3, Jn 5:19, 30, 15:5, Zech 4:6-7;
-Jesus Christ = Mt. 11, Rev 1, 1 Cor 1:29-31, Col 1:18, 3:11, Eph 1:11-12, 20-25.
12. Col 1:9 “Godly, Heavenly, scriptural-faith Perspectives are essential in this hour!”
May God our Father speak to you as you read, study & pray through these "words of faith & life!"
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Dying to Self
Bill Briton once wrote this about Dying to Self, the Christian way of forsaking selfishness for God's glory. This blesses God & benefits those around us, & is the fruit of Christian faith that works by love.
"When you are forgotten, or neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don’t sting and hurt with insult or the oversight, but your heart is happy, being counted worthy to suffer for Christ, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinion ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart, or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient loving silence, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any impunctuality, or an annoyance; when you can stand face to face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility…and endure it as Jesus endured it, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you are content with any food, any offering, and raiment, any climate, any society, any solitude, any interruption by the will of God, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, or to record your own good works, or itch after commendation, when you can truly love to be unknown, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met, and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy nor question God, while your own needs are far greater and in desperate circumstances, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself, and can humbly submit inwardly as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart, THAT IS DYING TO SELF."
Are you dead yet? In these last days the Spirit would bring us to the Cross. “That I may know Him…being made comfortable to His death.”
Growing Up
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!
–Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!
–Rudyard Kipling
The Cross of Christ
“But as for me, I will never boast of anything except the Cross of our LORD Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, & I to the world…”-Gal.6:14
Christianity is united not by emotion or opinion, but by things that are transcendent & eternal. It is bound together by revelations of reality, principles of truth, & laws that govern life…by a vision of God’s glory, ideals of faith (knowing GOD), mercy (Divine benevolence, loving-kindness, & forgiveness), & justice. These ideals need constant articulation.
Christianity is unique because of Christ & His Cross! On that cross, Jesus did what no other religion or prophet ever did…died for our sins & forgave us. Because of that, the Cross makes Christianity another culture, not just a religion!!!
This Christ & His Cross is the focal apex of human history. It plainly shows the heinousness of sin & nature of man. It makes a way of forgiveness consistent with the justice of God. It clearly demonstrates the character, purpose & love of God. And, it calls…challenges us to daily live & walk with a different perspective, commitment & responsibility.
Jesus Christ was not just a martyr dying for principles; different from a patriot dying for country, & more than a president or king dying for citizens/subjects …He was a man dying for the world, the Savior dying for our souls, God for men!
The Way of Jesus Christ is the way of the cross. Other than the “Spirit of Christ,” there is nothing more missing, lacking or essential to experiential/New Testament Christianity than the revelation & application of the truth of the cross. There at
When the revelation of Jesus opens us to a real working of the power of His cross in our lives, it transforms everything. Our thinking, service, worship & priorities are entirely affected.
Although the cross is claimed & spoken of, its purpose & power in the life of a believer depends upon ones’ apprehension of it. The growth & strength of the Christian life is in the power of Christ’s cross & Spirit. It is Christ that adds to us what’s missing & needed by His Spirit, but it is His cross that subtracts (painfully at times) anything in us that needs to be removed. It is by the working of the cross by faith, that we may receive more of the Spirit of Christ (Gal.3:1-2, 6-14).
It is my great desire & fervent prayer that Christians would come to believe Jesus Christ is our life, & increasingly know that His Cross is the power & wisdom of God. I encourage you to read cross scriptures, meditate on Christ’s passion & pray to understand & experience its reality & blessing. May we follow Christ’s way & daily carry the cross.
“You never conquer the mountain…you only conquer yourself.” -James Whitaker,
(The 1st American to reach the summit of
“Yes, I Will”-by Bebo Norman
In the passion of Your sacrifice…I saw the prophecy fulfilled.
The Healer of the world, the wounded Christ,
I heard You say, come follow me,
So I will, yes I will…
Follow You JESUS
all the way up that hill.
Follow You Jesus, all the way up that hill!
To the cross where the river runs
Crimson even still, yes I will…
Follow You Lord, I will.
On the sacred path, You bled for us…Scored and broken, up that hill.
How terrible the cross, how glorious (how glorious)…
I heard You say, come follow me (follow me),
So I will, yes I will…
In my weakness, when I feel afraid,
Hear me Jesus, when I call Your name.
Won't You help me Lord, won't You help me Lord,
Please help me Lord (please help me Jesus),
Can You help me Lord (please help me Lord)?
Follow You Jesus, all the way up that hill.
Follow You Jesus, all the way up that hill!
(I will follow all the way)
To the cross where the river runs
Crimson even still, yes I will…
Follow You, Lord (follow You),
I will (I will follow), yes I will (I will follow You).
…Help me Jesus, when I feel afraid.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
The Causes of Spiritual Blindness
As we contemplate the state of things in the world today, it becomes clear that our root problem is spiritual blindness. It is a plague that infects our lives and spreads to the nations with incomprehensible speed. It seems apparent that many of the ills and troubles of our time are traceable to this central fact. The masses are blind, most leaders seem blind, and many Christians are blind to spiritual realities and scriptural truths. From both the Bible and personal experience, I see 10 major causes of spiritual blindness:
1. Sin –“Those who have never seen, that need salvation.”
These are blinded by original sin, so as Jesus said, “If the light that’s in you is darkness…how great is that darkness.” They are free to choose what they want, but not free to want what is right or true. In modern terms, “The Matrix is real!” Did you ever think something’s wrong…with me, the world, and you don’t know what it is? It’s sin…the matrix…it is everywhere, it’s all around you, and within you. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes.
2. Satan –“Those that need deliverance.”
Spiritual blindness is spiritual. Wow! 2Cor.4:4 says, “The god of this age has blinded” them. This blindness is not only natural…it is supernatural. And, according to these Bible verses, it pollutes the mind…tainting our views and darkening one’s thoughts. It is the work of the Devil. Satan’s power is directed at men’s view of reality and is purposed to control our minds and blind us to the gospel and glory of God in Christ. We must fight the good fight of faith, and know that it’s a costly thing to seek spiritual understanding. That’s why there’s always spiritual warfare and conflict related to revelation, faith and godly vision.
3. Syncretism –“Those who are not seeing very much, or very clearly.”
These are the cultural Christians that have had a touch from Christ Jesus, but “still see men as trees walking.” A touch is not enough. Mixture and collage of belief systems means seeking the God we want rather than the God who is. This “shortsightedness” blurs everything you see. Tending towards shallow theology while being ½ hearted and culturally relevant…this deception views ultimate things in a “Que sera sera…whatever will be” way. This don’t rock the boat, politically correct ruse simply says “Whatever!” to what matters.
4. Secularism –“Those who assume that this world –the material world –is all that there is.”
It means “this worldly,” and refers to the belief that all that is real is here, now and physical. From Hellenistic Epicureans and Hebrew Sadducees, to our Modern atheists and Darwinian naturalists, these skeptical views deny the supernatural (spiritual) and the immortality of the soul. This endeavor to remove God and Judeo-Christian values and influence from the public arena is the first step on a slippery slope to “unmanageable evil.”
5. Fear & Unbelief –“Those whose perspectives and thinking are tainted by doubt.”
Insecurity and intimidation can twist perceptions until we’re convinced of illusions…haunted by what might happen. Fear is not an absence of faith…it is faith in the wrong thing. It’s clear from the scriptures that the major hindrance to Israel in the days of Moses, religious leaders at the time of Christ, with opposition to Paul’s gospel, and among modern Jews and secularists is the blinding power of unbelief. “If you would believe, you would see!”
6. Pride & Prejudice –“Those who have seen, but have lost spiritual sensitivity and vision.”
What they once had is gone, and like Samson with his shorn locks…they don’t even know what’s missing or lost. To lose spiritual sight is to lose the supernatural and spiritual distinctions of the spiritual life. This is the tragedy of Laodicea. Truly, there is much that needs to be said and seen related to this Laodicean condition that so characterizes the western church today. However, we will simply focus on the roots of this which are: indifference, self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. When this is our state, the Lord says to us, “I counsel you to buy of me…and anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see!”
7. Greed –“Those who are blinded by covetousness and the desire for personal gain.”
This is the “way of Balaam,” and is one of the most powerful influences in our world today. When your attention is constantly bound by thoughts of personal gain or loss, you may quickly become blind to the Lord’s presence and purposes. In Job 2:4, Satan shows both his contempt for and conviction of the nature of humanity and the character of Job. The world and Devil are utterly convinced that humans will only act selfishly! When motivated by supreme self-interest, we are bound by considerations of “What’s in it for me?!?” Ambition and avarice brings addiction to a quality of life mentality. This makes us totally predictable to the enemy, and leads us blindly into the trap of the Evil One. There is more to life than money and things…you cannot serve God and Mammon.
8. Religion –“Those blinded by religious zeal, and performance orientation.”
This was Saul of Tarsus before meeting the Living Christ on the road to Damascus. In Acts 26:9 he said, “I thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus.” What a shocking discovery, to find out that the things you thought (opinions and traditions of men),…and ethically, morally believed you ought to do to please God, be acceptable to HIM, and to have a clean conscience, were actually opposed to God. There is no greater blindness than religion. It substitutes zeal for intimate relationship, soul for Spirit, tradition for truth, works for grace, bondage for freedom, and often leads to meanness or militant inquisitions.
9. Discouragement – “Those so hurt by people or circumstances that they lose hope and the ability to discern accurately.”
This was the condition of the disciples after the cross and burial of Jesus. For them, pulverized by pain, desensitized by the shock of death, and gripped with the debilitating power of despair…Jesus and HIS promises were unrecognizable (Lk.24:16). Grieving loss, shattered dreams (ideals), chronic pain and unrealized expectations have the potential to paralyze and blind you in hopelessness and depression.
10. Hatred –“Those with jealous envy and anger toward another.”
Love is not blind…hatred is! And, it is one of the forces behind the increased violence and murders of today. 1Jn.2:11 says, “Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness…he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
>We will have more on these in the days ahead… "Oh Lord, open our eyes!”
1. Sin –“Those who have never seen, that need salvation.”
These are blinded by original sin, so as Jesus said, “If the light that’s in you is darkness…how great is that darkness.” They are free to choose what they want, but not free to want what is right or true. In modern terms, “The Matrix is real!” Did you ever think something’s wrong…with me, the world, and you don’t know what it is? It’s sin…the matrix…it is everywhere, it’s all around you, and within you. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes.
2. Satan –“Those that need deliverance.”
Spiritual blindness is spiritual. Wow! 2Cor.4:4 says, “The god of this age has blinded” them. This blindness is not only natural…it is supernatural. And, according to these Bible verses, it pollutes the mind…tainting our views and darkening one’s thoughts. It is the work of the Devil. Satan’s power is directed at men’s view of reality and is purposed to control our minds and blind us to the gospel and glory of God in Christ. We must fight the good fight of faith, and know that it’s a costly thing to seek spiritual understanding. That’s why there’s always spiritual warfare and conflict related to revelation, faith and godly vision.
3. Syncretism –“Those who are not seeing very much, or very clearly.”
These are the cultural Christians that have had a touch from Christ Jesus, but “still see men as trees walking.” A touch is not enough. Mixture and collage of belief systems means seeking the God we want rather than the God who is. This “shortsightedness” blurs everything you see. Tending towards shallow theology while being ½ hearted and culturally relevant…this deception views ultimate things in a “Que sera sera…whatever will be” way. This don’t rock the boat, politically correct ruse simply says “Whatever!” to what matters.
4. Secularism –“Those who assume that this world –the material world –is all that there is.”
It means “this worldly,” and refers to the belief that all that is real is here, now and physical. From Hellenistic Epicureans and Hebrew Sadducees, to our Modern atheists and Darwinian naturalists, these skeptical views deny the supernatural (spiritual) and the immortality of the soul. This endeavor to remove God and Judeo-Christian values and influence from the public arena is the first step on a slippery slope to “unmanageable evil.”
5. Fear & Unbelief –“Those whose perspectives and thinking are tainted by doubt.”
Insecurity and intimidation can twist perceptions until we’re convinced of illusions…haunted by what might happen. Fear is not an absence of faith…it is faith in the wrong thing. It’s clear from the scriptures that the major hindrance to Israel in the days of Moses, religious leaders at the time of Christ, with opposition to Paul’s gospel, and among modern Jews and secularists is the blinding power of unbelief. “If you would believe, you would see!”
6. Pride & Prejudice –“Those who have seen, but have lost spiritual sensitivity and vision.”
What they once had is gone, and like Samson with his shorn locks…they don’t even know what’s missing or lost. To lose spiritual sight is to lose the supernatural and spiritual distinctions of the spiritual life. This is the tragedy of Laodicea. Truly, there is much that needs to be said and seen related to this Laodicean condition that so characterizes the western church today. However, we will simply focus on the roots of this which are: indifference, self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. When this is our state, the Lord says to us, “I counsel you to buy of me…and anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see!”
7. Greed –“Those who are blinded by covetousness and the desire for personal gain.”
This is the “way of Balaam,” and is one of the most powerful influences in our world today. When your attention is constantly bound by thoughts of personal gain or loss, you may quickly become blind to the Lord’s presence and purposes. In Job 2:4, Satan shows both his contempt for and conviction of the nature of humanity and the character of Job. The world and Devil are utterly convinced that humans will only act selfishly! When motivated by supreme self-interest, we are bound by considerations of “What’s in it for me?!?” Ambition and avarice brings addiction to a quality of life mentality. This makes us totally predictable to the enemy, and leads us blindly into the trap of the Evil One. There is more to life than money and things…you cannot serve God and Mammon.
8. Religion –“Those blinded by religious zeal, and performance orientation.”
This was Saul of Tarsus before meeting the Living Christ on the road to Damascus. In Acts 26:9 he said, “I thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus.” What a shocking discovery, to find out that the things you thought (opinions and traditions of men),…and ethically, morally believed you ought to do to please God, be acceptable to HIM, and to have a clean conscience, were actually opposed to God. There is no greater blindness than religion. It substitutes zeal for intimate relationship, soul for Spirit, tradition for truth, works for grace, bondage for freedom, and often leads to meanness or militant inquisitions.
9. Discouragement – “Those so hurt by people or circumstances that they lose hope and the ability to discern accurately.”
This was the condition of the disciples after the cross and burial of Jesus. For them, pulverized by pain, desensitized by the shock of death, and gripped with the debilitating power of despair…Jesus and HIS promises were unrecognizable (Lk.24:16). Grieving loss, shattered dreams (ideals), chronic pain and unrealized expectations have the potential to paralyze and blind you in hopelessness and depression.
10. Hatred –“Those with jealous envy and anger toward another.”
Love is not blind…hatred is! And, it is one of the forces behind the increased violence and murders of today. 1Jn.2:11 says, “Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness…he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
>We will have more on these in the days ahead… "Oh Lord, open our eyes!”
The Trajedy of Spiritual Blindness
On March 2, 2003, I was in
How could someone…anyone…you or I lose sight of what’s so valuable? There is nothing stranger today than “the importance of unimportant things; except of course, the unimportance of important things.” Well, that’s it. You lose what you don’t believe is important. If it’s not valuable to you, then it will neither be seen when there, nor be missed when gone. Where and what your treasure is… there your heart’s affection (love and worth-ship) is…there your life’s attention stays. When you think it matters, your appreciation produces a determined pursuit. Job 28 speaks to this amazing yet contradictory point, that man has an almost infinite capacity to overcome insurmountable odds to discover what he deems valuable (mining, engineering and technology feats); but cannot find the lasting riches of wisdom and understanding because they begin with the fear (reverence and worship) of the Lord God.
Do you notice the difference of value produces both a different point of view and pursuit? The Bible speaks to this throughout the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. Is your ultimate value the things of the earth, your efforts and way; or is it to know and worship God…and learn HIS perspective and ways? The first one produces a life of futility (carnality and religion), while the other makes a life of fulfillment. How strange to choose futility over fulfillment, to choose death over life…materialism over spiritual reality…but I see people do it all the time.
In our age of information and day of supposed unequalled education, our blindness to spiritual realities and inability to accurately assess the reasons for our cultural crises has reached epidemic proportions. It ought to be clear by now that we can not educate our way out of something we believed and behaved our way into! The catastrophic effects of denying spiritual and scriptural truths are now plaguing every segment of society. When you take away the supernatural, what remains is the unnatural. When you stop caring for God, you will stop caring for the image of God –your fellow man.
I believe most of the troubles of our time are traceable to the root of spiritual blindness. I am utterly convinced that: 1) There is nothing more important than the spiritual realm. 2) There is nothing more essential or adventurous than faith and family. 3) And, there is nothing more vast and valuable than a human soul. Jude Law’s opening line in the movie “All The King’s Men” applies here, “To find something, anything...a great truth or a lost pair of glasses, you must first believe there would be some advantage in finding it.” If you “see” it (the value, advantage, worth), you will seek it!
Remember, the Holy Spirit is our advantage (Jn.16:7). Isn’t it time we set out once again for the discovery and recovery of the spiritual things that matter most?!?
The Need for The Hour
Q-The need for the hour, the need for our day, the need in this generation…and of every age?
Yes, and we are being made more and more aware in our time of this fundamental and universal need. We could even say that there never was a time when there was a greater need for people who could say, “I see!”… That is the need!
Hope for us hangs on this, that there would be people in this world, this dark world of confusion, self-interest, chaos, tragedy and contradiction; a people that can say, “I see!” In all the geo-political, educational-economic, spiritual-religious, ethnic-environmental, marriage-family, military-energy, youth and leadership crises; there must arise a people that will face these challenges, and meet these needs. And, I dare say, they must be met in a spiritual way with strategic thinking by people of influence that can say, “I see!” It is this “seeing factor” that makes all the difference…and is the great need for our hour.
The initial inspiration for “20Twenty Vision” as a ministry came as God began to open up Jn.9 in the Bible to me. This story of the “man blind from his birth,” arrested my attention, and launched me forth on a mission to “recover spiritual sight.” Elton Trueblood once said, “True recovery is never a matter of going backward for the sake of re-establishing an older pattern, but rather of uncovering (re-discovering) what has been hidden or overlaid and therefore forgotten.” Randall Jarrell said, “Soon we shall know everything the 18th century did not know, and nothing it did, and it will be very hard to live with us.” We have lost some essential things, both culturally and in Christianity, and we desperately need to find them again.
We do not just seek for a new revelation, or even suggest that you have to have extra-Biblical or some new Biblical thing. We do however claim that there is a vast amount of life changing truth and experience in relation to the Spirit of Christ, the Christian life, and the Word of God that we have never seen, which we may yet see. For so many of us, there is a vast realm of Divine thought, scriptural insight and purpose that still waits for a deeper and fuller work of the Spirit within us. We are not seeking to change old truths or have new truths, but for spiritual sight into the truth. And perhaps, most of all, what we are actually missing and seeking is experiential Christianity …personal faith and 1st person perspectives that are God centered.
With that in mind, I am utterly convinced that this blind man encountering Jesus is a modern day parable, loaded with the principles, problems and purposes that are both prophetic and pertinent to the issues and needs of our day.
It is now time for the Christian church and both its’ leadership and people to “recover the testimony of this blind man.” The Christian life begins here, spiritual growth happens here, mature ministry flows from here; and in all facets, through every season of our faith journey…spiritual life must have this secret in it, “I see!” There is no more pressing need today than for men and women who can stand spiritually as this man stood and proclaim, “One thing I know: I was blind, and now I see!”
To keep us going HIS way, to be a part of what HE is doing in the earth, the LORD is constantly bringing us into situations where it is absolutely necessary for us to see HIM! This provokes us to seek HIM that we might experience and know the LORD in a new and Living way. The whole matter is summed up in us seeing, first that we are sinners that can’t see and don’t really know; and, then by us seeing and knowing Jesus Christ. Oh how we need to be aware of the Holy Spirit’s working in our lives in this way. How often God providentially leads us in and through a series of crises to release fresh vision…a series of crises of seeing and seeing yet again, as the LORD opens our eyes and we can say as never before, “I see!”
It is not just our study, our past experiences, our learning or book knowledge, but … “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the (intimate and personal) knowledge of HIM; the eyes of our heart being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of HIS calling, and what are the riches of the glory of HIS inheritance in the saints (you)!”
How effective a witness …how transformative to our world if we once again brought with us this authenticity and authority that is so needed and required today. The need for the hour is for a people to stand and say, “One thing I know: I was blind, but now I see!”
Yes, and we are being made more and more aware in our time of this fundamental and universal need. We could even say that there never was a time when there was a greater need for people who could say, “I see!”… That is the need!
Hope for us hangs on this, that there would be people in this world, this dark world of confusion, self-interest, chaos, tragedy and contradiction; a people that can say, “I see!” In all the geo-political, educational-economic, spiritual-religious, ethnic-environmental, marriage-family, military-energy, youth and leadership crises; there must arise a people that will face these challenges, and meet these needs. And, I dare say, they must be met in a spiritual way with strategic thinking by people of influence that can say, “I see!” It is this “seeing factor” that makes all the difference…and is the great need for our hour.
The initial inspiration for “20Twenty Vision” as a ministry came as God began to open up Jn.9 in the Bible to me. This story of the “man blind from his birth,” arrested my attention, and launched me forth on a mission to “recover spiritual sight.” Elton Trueblood once said, “True recovery is never a matter of going backward for the sake of re-establishing an older pattern, but rather of uncovering (re-discovering) what has been hidden or overlaid and therefore forgotten.” Randall Jarrell said, “Soon we shall know everything the 18th century did not know, and nothing it did, and it will be very hard to live with us.” We have lost some essential things, both culturally and in Christianity, and we desperately need to find them again.
We do not just seek for a new revelation, or even suggest that you have to have extra-Biblical or some new Biblical thing. We do however claim that there is a vast amount of life changing truth and experience in relation to the Spirit of Christ, the Christian life, and the Word of God that we have never seen, which we may yet see. For so many of us, there is a vast realm of Divine thought, scriptural insight and purpose that still waits for a deeper and fuller work of the Spirit within us. We are not seeking to change old truths or have new truths, but for spiritual sight into the truth. And perhaps, most of all, what we are actually missing and seeking is experiential Christianity …personal faith and 1st person perspectives that are God centered.
With that in mind, I am utterly convinced that this blind man encountering Jesus is a modern day parable, loaded with the principles, problems and purposes that are both prophetic and pertinent to the issues and needs of our day.
It is now time for the Christian church and both its’ leadership and people to “recover the testimony of this blind man.” The Christian life begins here, spiritual growth happens here, mature ministry flows from here; and in all facets, through every season of our faith journey…spiritual life must have this secret in it, “I see!” There is no more pressing need today than for men and women who can stand spiritually as this man stood and proclaim, “One thing I know: I was blind, and now I see!”
To keep us going HIS way, to be a part of what HE is doing in the earth, the LORD is constantly bringing us into situations where it is absolutely necessary for us to see HIM! This provokes us to seek HIM that we might experience and know the LORD in a new and Living way. The whole matter is summed up in us seeing, first that we are sinners that can’t see and don’t really know; and, then by us seeing and knowing Jesus Christ. Oh how we need to be aware of the Holy Spirit’s working in our lives in this way. How often God providentially leads us in and through a series of crises to release fresh vision…a series of crises of seeing and seeing yet again, as the LORD opens our eyes and we can say as never before, “I see!”
It is not just our study, our past experiences, our learning or book knowledge, but … “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the (intimate and personal) knowledge of HIM; the eyes of our heart being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of HIS calling, and what are the riches of the glory of HIS inheritance in the saints (you)!”
How effective a witness …how transformative to our world if we once again brought with us this authenticity and authority that is so needed and required today. The need for the hour is for a people to stand and say, “One thing I know: I was blind, but now I see!”
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