We humans have 5 senses in which to contact the physical world. They are the senses of seeing, smelling, touching, tasting and hearing. One of the most powerful senses of them all is that of sight. The reason I say this is that in the Garden of Eden, it was sight that caused Eve to originally fall into sin.
“When the woman ‘saw’ that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” Genesis 3:6-7
“When she SAW that the fruit ..” The power of sight can be used for and against us in this life. God and the Devil both know how powerful our sense of sight is and how it can influence us for both good and evil.
We are all aware of how the Devil uses the ‘lust of the eyes’ to destroy people’s lives, especially in the area of pornography. On television and in magazines the advertisers also use ‘eye candy’ to attract us to buy their products, but all that glitters are not always gold.
They used to use ‘subliminal advertising’ to get people to buy products years ago. It was so powerful, that it’s now banned. Using the power of sight in a picture theatre, they would flash on the screen an image of an ice cream or some other confectionery. It was flashed so fast across the screen that you were hardly aware of seeing it. The power of sight was so strong that at half time there would be people queuing for an ice cream. It proves that the power of sight is amazing. Look at how many a man has had a road accident after a pretty girl walked by. Look at how many woman have spent far too much in the clothing store on things she didn’t really need, all through the power of sight. Today we are literally being bombarded by images through the media like no other generation before us.
God knows the power that there is in sight and how we can also harness it for good. We see Him using sight in scripture to lead us to blessings and not temptation. It was the power of sight that God used to invite Abram to choose the Land of Promise.
“The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” Genesis 13:14-17
This principle of how we can be changed by what we see runs through the whole bible. Jacob and the spotted sheep is a good example. It’s a very strange story but true if we believe God’s word. It shows how sight has the power to change us. What you look at all the time influences you. The sheep and goats that kept looking at the spotted and speckled sticks gave birth to spotted and speckled lambs.
“Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban’s flock. Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.” Genesis 30:37- 43
Moses and the brazen serpent is another example. In the wilderness many were being bitten by snakes and were dying but when they looked at the brazen serpent on the pole they were healed.
“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.” Numbers 21:8-9
In negative sense we see how Lot was tempted to go into Sodom and eventually live there by facing his tent towards it. It wasn’t his original intention, but by looking there every day he eventually ended up living there.
“Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.” Genesis 13:10
For God to achieve His best for us we need to be careful what we are looking at. Praise God He has given us a 6th sense which is the power of Faith and faith has 5 senses too. Faith can see, taste, smell, touch and hear. For example, the bible says that we are too taste and see that the Lord is good. We are to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We are to hear the voice of the Spirit and feel God’s presence.
Paul knew the power of sight for he said in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that we are changed into the image we reflect. We are invited to behold God’s glory and as we do we are changed from one level of glory to another. For this to happen we need our minds renewed. We need to see differently with our mind’s eye.
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” NIV
“And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendour and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit. “ Amplified
“But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.” Living Bible
As we behold the Lord in the word, His image is reflected on us like a mirror and we are changed to become like that image. Much like the older computer screens. If you didn’t have a screen saver and an image stayed too long on the screen it burned the image permanently onto the screen. By constantly looking at Jesus an image is burned into our inner man.
If there is power in sight then we need to be careful what we are looking at. We also need to change the image that we see of ourselves and as well as the Lord and what comes out of our mouths is so important in this process. You can’t decide to change and say the complete opposite to what you believe expecting a good result.
For instance, if you want healing in your body you need to ‘see’ yourself well and not say the opposite all the time. Keep saying that Jesus Christ is the Healer, believing what the word says about Him. Keep your eyes on this image. You first need to see the truth of who He is in the word. Then you need to speak what the word says about Him and also about you. It’s so true that every time you speak your faith it creates a stronger image inside of you. Eventually the image is perfected in you and you begin to see yourself well. It comes by the continual confession of the word. The word begins to paint a picture inside you. You also need to see yourself as a victor and not a victim. You need to see yourself prosperous and not in poverty. What comes out of your mouth comes from your heart. If your heart hasn’t changed then you will always be saying how weak you are or how poor you are. Only the word of God can change your heart. We need to be seeing it and meditating on it day and night. It takes time. It took you 30 odd years to get into the condition that you are in so it will take time to change you out of it.
You may say that you don’t know how to meditate. Yes, you do know. Remember how you lay awake the other night thinking over and over about the problem? That is meditation in a negative sense.
Paul said “But we see Jesus.” This wasn’t literally. It was the image that had been painted in their minds by the word of God. I have found that the quickest way to change and become more like Jesus, is to have our spiritual eyes opened to see Him. “But we see Jesus – crowned with glory and honour.” “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”
The bible is full of words describing God and we are invited to think about them. Meditate on them. Not only are we invited to see the Lord, but also see who we are and what Christ has done for us. We need to see ourselves crucified with Christ, ascended with Christ and seated in Heavenly Places with Christ. For so many Christians they see themselves as ‘worms.’ This may have the appearance of being humble but it belittles all that Christ did for us on the cross. The more you look at Christ and what He did for us at the cross you begin to see how He has made us one with Him through His death. Seeing Christ and what He has done for us is so powerful.
We waste so much time nowadays looking at stuff in magazines and on television that is in violation to what we want to happen in our lives. Hollywood is the complete opposite to what the bible says most of the time and what we encouraged to believe. I used to watch a lot of movies and think that I could just spit out the bones when it came to swearing and bed scenes. Praise God the Holy Spirit finally set me free and I’m very careful about what I watch now. I have had a vision of Jesus through His word and I don’t want anything to smudge that vision. It’s all to do with our affections and what we look at, for it can capture our heart. Proverbs 4:23 says that we should guard our heart (affections) for they can influence the rest of our lives, so we are too guard what we look at.
“Above all else, guard your affections. For they influence everything else in your life.” Proverbs 4:23
When I was at Bible College there was an arcade game called ‘Space Invaders’ that I really enjoyed and dedicated myself to beating it. The trouble was that later when I wanted to pray and closed my eyes all I could see were the ‘invaders’ before my eyes and it took ages for them to go away. Even after watching a graphic movie, which more and more are becoming nowadays, I can’t get the images from before my eyes for ages afterwards – and definitely can’t worship.
If you have never really seen the Lord and worshipped Him then this won’t bother you. But once you have seen His face you don’t want anything to ruin that image that is growing in your heart. It has nothing to do with your salvation but more to do with the closeness of your relationship with Him. Some think that my new stance is being legalistic but it’s not that. Once you have ‘seen’ the Lord you value that image and don’t want anything to pollute it. My conclusion is that we need to set the Lord always before our eyes, and as we do so we will be changed.
It says that one day we will be changed when we see Jesus as He is. I am convinced that the principle applies in this life in the here and now. You are changed as a result of seeing Him as He is. Do you see Jesus? How do you see Jesus? Is He your Healer, your Provider, Your Deliverer? How you see Him affects your life.
“Yes, dear friends, we are already God’s children, right now, and we can’t even imagine what it is going to be like later on. But we do know this, that when he comes we will be like him, as a result of seeing him as he really is.” 1 John 3:2-3
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