Through God's Eyes
Who are you? Do you know? Many times we think less of ourselves than Jesus sees in us.
God fashioned our hearts. God knows more about what's inside of us than we could ourselves. God designed us to discover who we are in the light of who He designed us to be. God designed each of us for some "facet" of greatness. Together, we will form the family God wants. It isn't arrogant to want to be important or impactful... It is arrogant to pretend you don't care about being impactful, yet secretly want that, and then quietly try to manage your life into it apart from a growing conversation with God. Everyone was designed to want to be impactful...few will choose to let God lead them into it forever. To this day we still read about those who chose greatness, even thousands of years ago, in the way that pleases God.
God sees beginning from end, so He knows what could be extracted from our hearts if we would just simply live in agreement with him, and His plan to satisfy our heart forever.
When GOD designed your mind, will, and emotions.... You heart.... He gave you a mix of desires that the world needs to be the fullness of the garden GOD wants to live in.
Psalms 33:13-15 The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks On all the inhabitants of the earth; He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works.
Without you becoming great in the way you were designed for, the garden is less than God wanted. BUT, people only generally find out after the fact just how impactful there lives could be on the earth. There is only one formula in the Bible for getting those secret desires in your heart not just understood, but satisfied which is what lets your greatness blossom and God's brilliant design be shown:
Psalms 37:4-6 Delight yourself also in the Lord , And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord , Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.
Your life emerges most in the light, or glory, of God, but many mistakenly value the glorying of other people's evaluation. What people think of you will never lead you into greatness.
God's presence is where the light of His glory is...a light much brighter than the sun. Everything grows better the closer it draws near to God. BUT, God won't violate your desire to give you what you want! For love, you have to ask Him to reveal your desire and then to start fulfilling it. Then you do your best to obey His strange leadership that often seems backward to getting what you really crave! John the Baptist is literally the perfect example of this concept. John lived unlike those around him, and became the greatest. John knew a little about the impact he could have on the world, but he didn't realize how important and prophetic his life really was:
John 1:19-23 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord ,” ’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
John had spent years fasting and praying in the wilderness at the point he made this statement... He was operating in his ministry... Crowds were coming to experience his light...And John knew a little about why....but He didn't realize his call was much more impactful than what he could sense... Elijah was promised to come...And John was the promise of Elijah, but it was too big for Him to see....
Matthew 11:11-15 “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
There are things hidden in our hearts that we feel the hunger of, but that we can't see where they will take us, good and bad. David said it required an ongoing conversation with God to search his heart and find the secret things and where they would lead him:
Psalms 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
This is not the default mode of man's existence... For love you have to pick this level of interaction with the one who made you.... the one who really knows you.
James said most people, even in the church, are unsatisfied because they won't initiate THIS one conversation, and then act on the revelations of His still small voice:
James 4:1-4 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
There is only one worthy to have the "who am I, and how do I become him" conversation with... There is only one qualified to tell you who you are, what you want, and how to gain it without forfeiting your soul in the process... He is the one longing to give you the desires of your heart in a way that will permanently mark creation in a way that satisfied HIS desires for all of creation! To ask GOD to search you with spiritual violence is to really search Him!
Jeremiah 29:11-14 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord , thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord , and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord , and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
This is what you were literally formed for:
Psalms 139:1, 13-18 O Lord , You have searched me and known me. For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.
Voluntarily choosing to make this reality the purpose of your life is the violence of desire that will produce an entire generation of love sick, uncompromised, wholehearted lovers of God, through whom the kingdom will come like a flood:
Luke 17:20-21 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
When you know who God says you are, you will start to see that no one else could ever take your place:
Psalms 16:5-9 O Lord , You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.
Do you know who you are?
God fashioned our hearts. God knows more about what's inside of us than we could ourselves. God designed us to discover who we are in the light of who He designed us to be. God designed each of us for some "facet" of greatness. Together, we will form the family God wants. It isn't arrogant to want to be important or impactful... It is arrogant to pretend you don't care about being impactful, yet secretly want that, and then quietly try to manage your life into it apart from a growing conversation with God. Everyone was designed to want to be impactful...few will choose to let God lead them into it forever. To this day we still read about those who chose greatness, even thousands of years ago, in the way that pleases God.
God sees beginning from end, so He knows what could be extracted from our hearts if we would just simply live in agreement with him, and His plan to satisfy our heart forever.
When GOD designed your mind, will, and emotions.... You heart.... He gave you a mix of desires that the world needs to be the fullness of the garden GOD wants to live in.
Psalms 33:13-15 The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks On all the inhabitants of the earth; He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works.
Without you becoming great in the way you were designed for, the garden is less than God wanted. BUT, people only generally find out after the fact just how impactful there lives could be on the earth. There is only one formula in the Bible for getting those secret desires in your heart not just understood, but satisfied which is what lets your greatness blossom and God's brilliant design be shown:
Psalms 37:4-6 Delight yourself also in the Lord , And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord , Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.
Your life emerges most in the light, or glory, of God, but many mistakenly value the glorying of other people's evaluation. What people think of you will never lead you into greatness.
God's presence is where the light of His glory is...a light much brighter than the sun. Everything grows better the closer it draws near to God. BUT, God won't violate your desire to give you what you want! For love, you have to ask Him to reveal your desire and then to start fulfilling it. Then you do your best to obey His strange leadership that often seems backward to getting what you really crave! John the Baptist is literally the perfect example of this concept. John lived unlike those around him, and became the greatest. John knew a little about the impact he could have on the world, but he didn't realize how important and prophetic his life really was:
John 1:19-23 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord ,” ’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
John had spent years fasting and praying in the wilderness at the point he made this statement... He was operating in his ministry... Crowds were coming to experience his light...And John knew a little about why....but He didn't realize his call was much more impactful than what he could sense... Elijah was promised to come...And John was the promise of Elijah, but it was too big for Him to see....
Matthew 11:11-15 “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
There are things hidden in our hearts that we feel the hunger of, but that we can't see where they will take us, good and bad. David said it required an ongoing conversation with God to search his heart and find the secret things and where they would lead him:
Psalms 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
This is not the default mode of man's existence... For love you have to pick this level of interaction with the one who made you.... the one who really knows you.
James said most people, even in the church, are unsatisfied because they won't initiate THIS one conversation, and then act on the revelations of His still small voice:
James 4:1-4 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
There is only one worthy to have the "who am I, and how do I become him" conversation with... There is only one qualified to tell you who you are, what you want, and how to gain it without forfeiting your soul in the process... He is the one longing to give you the desires of your heart in a way that will permanently mark creation in a way that satisfied HIS desires for all of creation! To ask GOD to search you with spiritual violence is to really search Him!
Jeremiah 29:11-14 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord , thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord , and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord , and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
This is what you were literally formed for:
Psalms 139:1, 13-18 O Lord , You have searched me and known me. For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.
Voluntarily choosing to make this reality the purpose of your life is the violence of desire that will produce an entire generation of love sick, uncompromised, wholehearted lovers of God, through whom the kingdom will come like a flood:
Luke 17:20-21 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
When you know who God says you are, you will start to see that no one else could ever take your place:
Psalms 16:5-9 O Lord , You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.
Do you know who you are?
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