"while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:18).
What do you see? What are you looking at? These are the questions I heard in my spirit this morning. Holy Spirit is asking two questions today:
"Church, where are your eyes looking?"
"Church, what do you see?"
If we are honest with ourselves, our answer to the first question can be quite illuminating. Where am I looking? What are my eyes seeking out? What are my eyes focused on? Heaven or Earth? Am I looking at the cable news, getting my understanding from people who may or may not know God? Am I looking at what's happening in the world from the point of view of ground level?
If I am looking from ground level, I am seeing as the chicken sees, and there is not much pleasant to look at on the ground. To find something worth eating, you have to overlook a lot of "other" stuff!
The Sky is Falling!
I am reminded of the children's tale of Henny-penny and her unfortunate friends. Here's a recap: One day Henney-penney is hit on the head by an acorn falling from a tree. She concludes that the sky is falling, and she must warn the king immediately. On her way, others join her in her mission, and so Henney-penney, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey all set about to warn the king of the impending doom. On their way, they are intercepted by Fox-woxy, who says he knows a short-cut to the king's castle. In their fear and their haste, they mindlessly follow the fox, their natural enemy, to his lair where all but Henny-penny becomes his dinner. She, the last one to enter the lair, only escapes because day is dawning, and at the last minute she decides she must return to her home to lay her eggs! A silly story.
Or Is It?
I see lot of instruction here, for the discerning. Today there are a lot of Henny-pennys declaring that the sky is falling and drastic measures must be taken. They run about spreading their news of doom and gloom: Covid-19 is going to kill us all! Trump is going to destroy this nation! Racism is rampant! White people, Christians, and conservatives are the enemy! The United States is the great satan and must be brought down! Capitalism is evil!
Woe! Woe! Woe!
Look at any cable news channel and read any large metropolitan newspaper and you will read the message of Henny-penny. Look a little deeper and you will see the presence of the fox, who says, "I will show you a better way. Follow me. I will take you to the government who can solve every problem." Many millions of people, seduced by fear and panic, blindly follow the lying, manipulating fox to their doom, voluntarily surrendering their freedoms, their destinies, and ultimately their lives and the futures of their children and descendants; they are at the door of the fox's lair, looking to him for salvation. What they will find is not salvation, but slavation. (Holy Spirit just gave me that word!)
So Holy Spirit asks, "What do you see? Are your eyes on Covid-19? Are your eyes on civil unrest? Are you seeing the future with eyes of fear? If so, beware, for the fox will deceive you and make promises to you that will lead to your destruction!"
Where Should We Be Looking?
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).
I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth" (Psalm 121:1-2 NIV).
We should be looking to Heaven, to Jesus. He is the answer to every problem, from uniquely personal to universally global. Not only is He our help, He helps us see things clearly, from His perspective.
"Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:2).
It is only when we set our minds and our affections on things above, that we know how to respond to what is happening on earth. Jesus does not want us to be ignorant of what is happening on the earth or its significance. He left us here on Earth for a reason, and He is very distressed when His people do not discern the signs of the times and their hours of visitation (see Luke 19:44; Matthew 23:37–39). It is only when we spend time being with Jesus, which Jesus Himself called the One Thing needed (Luke 10:42), that we learn to see what He sees. But even that isn't enough; we need His help to understand what we see.
Church, What Do You See?
Once we are looking in the right place, Holy Spirit asks, "What do you see?" This is so important, and something I am just learning. In the last two years I have come to an awareness that the Lord speaks to me in pictures. I shudder to think how many lessons and revelations I missed, because I didn't hear the voice of the Lord saying, "Syandra, what do you see?" Because when the Lord shows us something, whether with our spiritual eyes, or He quickens something we see with our natural eyes, He is asking, "What do you see?" And He is asking BECAUSE He wants to tell us something about what we are seeing! He has instruction, revelation, or insight for us. And it rarely is just for us alone--it is also for the Church, the body of Christ.
"The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints" (Ephesians 1:18 NKJV).
Look Up, Saint! Look Up, Sinner!
How thankful I am for God's love, mercy and patience! He loves all people, and He would have every person become His child! It is He who seeks us, not we who seek Him! How heartbreaking to the Father who desires nothing but good and blessing for mankind that so many choose to listen to the voice of the fox rather than to the voice of God. GOD offers life and blessings, but many refuse to look into the heavenlies to discern what GOD is offering. Instead, they are earth-bound, pecking around on the ground and seeing only what's there; and seeing what's there, they still choose death and cursings over life and blessings.
Today, Holy Spirit is speaking to all people, Christians and non-Christians alike. "Where are you looking? What do you see?" These are perilous times in the world and perilous times in our nation. In truth, all times have been perilous since the beginning, because the choice has always been serve Yahweh or serve satan. To serve Yahweh is life and blessing. To serve satan is death and cursing.
"but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17).
"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live" Deut. 30:19 "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
Choose!
The LORD is speaking as much to those who are blind in the Church as those who are blind in the world. He is reaching out to us in powerful ways to get our attention: "Where are you looking? What are you seeing?" If we are not seeing Him in this hour, we are spiritually blind, and very possibly, spiritually dead. But we are still in the time of Grace, ask Him, and He will help you see.
The LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down," (Psalm 146:8).
We are still in the time of Grace, though I believe the time of Judgment is not far off. God is beseeching us to discern the times and recognize this time of our visitation. This is no less critical for the lukewarm and the compromising believer as it is for the agnostic and the unbeliever. In these waning moments of the Age of Grace, GOD is still reaching out His hand...
"Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:6-7).
I pray that we may all hear Him say to us,
"blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear;" (Matt. 13:16, NKJV).
Love, Hugs, and Blessings,
Syandra
All scripture references are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.