Pastor Stephanie
COLOSSIANS 3:1-2 MSG
So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it.
Pursue the things over which Christ presides.
Don’t shuffle along, EYES to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you.
Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is.
SEE things from HIS PERSPECTIVE.
Baptism-
In the spirit we experience the old man being buried.
When we come out from the water, we experience the resurrection life.
There is a spiritual realm that we can leave it.
All of us belong to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
We receive the blessings by faith.
It's time for Christ to come back to this world as the King of Kings.
To be a blessing to save more souls.
Everything in our body that is not normal is the old thing in the past.
We are to live the abundant life that Jesus give us.
When we see things from God's perspective, wonderful things will happen.
An interesting thing about perspective is that it’s subjective.
The glass of water is there, but whether it’s seen as half-full or half-empty is a matter of choice.
A Joke that illustrate this :-
Two women were catching up with each other.
“Nu, how’s your daughter and her new husband?”
“Oh, he’s such a prince.
He takes her out to dinner, lets her shop as much as she wants, and treats her like a princess.”
“And how’s your son and his new wife?”
“Oy, what a situation.
She makes him order her dinner, spends all his money shopping, and expects to be treated like royalty."
See what’s going on here?
The implication is that the couples are exhibiting identical behaviour, but due to perspective, there are two starkly different attitudes.
MATTHEW 6:22-23 MSG
“Your eyes are windows into your body.
If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light.
If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a musty cellar.
If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!
Ayin is the sixteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet
Numerical value: 70
Meaning:
1. EYES
2. SALVATION
Story:
Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah was asked to become the Nasi (head)
of a prestigious Torah Academy.
After discussing the opportunity with his wife, she said, “But you have no white hair (i.e., you’re only eighteen years old)! It’s disrespectful for such a young man to lead the entire Academy.”
Now, what is a sign of someone old enough to be worthy of respect?
White hair.
That day, a miracle occurred and eighteen rows of hair in Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah’s beard turned white.
This is why, after accepting the position, R. Elazar ben Azaryah began his opening address with the words, “I am like seventy years old,” and not “I am seventy years old.”
ISAIAH 30:20-21 AMP
Though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of oppression, yet your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will [constantly] SEE your Teacher.
Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.
The Jews followed the Torah and they were blessed.
Today, we are not following by law, but when we realised we are born again, God's desire and ways are put inside our heart (New Covenant).
ISAIAH 33:17 KJV
Thine EYES shall SEE the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.
Today, we will see the king inside our heart and in our spirit.
God has put visions (rapture, blessed hope) inside our hearts so that we can see afar.
Unbelievers cannot see the plans and purposes of God.
Old men shall dream dreams and young men shall see visions.
ISAIAH 40:5 KJV
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall SEE it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Only one who is “like seventy”—one who has refined each of the seven emotional attributes,—can reach the level of SEEING G‑dliness in this world.
The ten building blocks of Creation.
Three of the ten levels reside in the dimension of the intellect—Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge—
and seven occupy the dimension of the emotions—Love, Fear, Mercy, Victory, Praise (Acknowledgment), Foundation (Bonding), and Sovereignty (Speech).
With this quality of insight, one can lead a nation to Redemption.
Furthermore, ayin also stands for SALVATION, eizer, עזר .
Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah’s name itself intimates a special salvation from G‑d.
Elazar (in Hebrew, E-l eizer), אלעזר , means “G‑d is [my] salvation.”
Azaryah עזרי-ה means “[My] salvation is G‑d.”
This explains Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah’s statement, “I am like seventy years old.”
For Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah had acquired all the qualities needed for leadership because G‑d was his help and salvation.
He was therefore endowed with this rare quality of leadership at such an early age.
This then is the meaning of being a leader:
to VISUALIZE —SEE —Redemption and convey this message to others.
As such, one thereby transforms the ayin of miyaar to the ayin of the Shema—where one can “Lift up [one’s] eyes and see G‑d.”
Our eyes now no longer look at the physical realm but in the spiritual realm.
MATTHEW 5:8 TPT
“What bliss you experience when your heart is pure!
For then your EYES will open to SEE MORE and MORE of GOD.
As we grow in the spirit, our spiritual eyes will be open.
Ministry of Jesus: To open blind eyes (not also physical blindness but also spiritual blindness)
All of us have been given a new heart.
We are made pure and holy.
When our spiritual eyes are opened, we see more and more of God.
See God first.
See more and more of God.
PSALM 34:8 KJV
O taste and SEE that the LORD is GOOD: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
To see our God is good.
PSALM 33:5 KJV
He loveth righteousness and judgment: the EARTH is FULL of the GOODNESS of the LORD.
H2617 goodness
Original: חסד
Transliteration: chêsêd
Phonetic: kheh'-sed
goodness, kindness, faithfulness
From H2616; KINDNESS, beauty:- favour, good deed lovingkindness, merciful, mercy
The earth that we are living in are full of goodness.
David saw the goodness of the Lord while he was in trouble.
See the goodness of the Lord.
PSALM 84:11 EASY
The Lord God is like a sun and a shield for his people.
He is kind to his people and he gives glory to them.
To those who do what is right, he gives every good thing that they need.
CHOOSING to SEE..
We choose what we want to see.
Redemption has already been done.
Jesus Christ paid for the curses to be removed from all of our lives.
Soren Kierkegaard tells the story of two young portrait artists who both sought to capture the essence of beauty in their paintings.
One artist looked high and low for the "perfect face of beauty" but never found it.
Tragically, he later gave up painting and lived in despair.
The other artist, however, simply painted every face he saw and found beauty in each one.
Now here's your question:
Which of the two was the sincere artist?
As Anthony de Mello once astutely noted, we cannot see goodness and beauty outside of ourselves if we fail to see it inside of ourselves first....
The way we CHOOSE to SEE is ultimately a SPIRITUAL DECISION.
The sages say, "Whoever has the following three traits is among the disciples of our father Abraham; and whoever has three different traits is among the disciples of the wicked Balaam.
Those who have a good eye עַיִן טוֹבָה) ), a humble spirit רוּחַ נְמוּכָה) ),
and a lowly soulנֶפֶשׁ שְׁפָלָה) ) are the disciples of our forefather Abraham;
[but] those who have an evil eyeעַיִן רָעָה) ), an arrogant spirit (רוּחַ גְּבוֹהָה ), and an greedy soul נֶפֶשׁ רְחָבָה) ) are the disciples of Balaam the wicked" (Mishnah: PirkeAvot 5:22).
According to these early sages, the difference between the disciples of Abraham and the disciples of Balaam turns on the presence (or absence) of these three middot ha-lev (qualities of the heart), though the most important of these is ayin hatovah - the good eye.
What makes a person good or evil is their eyes. How they see things.
The Eye of Abraham...
But what is the good eye?
Is this a metaphor for a "Pollyanish" outlook on life -- to play the "Glad Game" by finding the good in every circumstance, no matter how difficult?
Is it the practice of a sunny disposition that believes that everything will turn out all right in the end -- reinterpreting all the facts of experience to support the notion that this is the "best of all possible worlds"?
The world tells us to think positive, to see good.
In order to overcome these, they have to hide themselves up with their mind to think positively.
Mind is connected to emotions.
All of our problems are solved if we have Jesus Christ.
Rashi says that one with a good eye esteems another's honor as his own:
It's an eye that respects and values what it sees.
The Rambam says that the good eye is the ability of being satisfied with one's lot in life and being happy over the successes of others:
It's an eye free from a spirit of envy or greed.
Religion is trying to be good to reach God.
Being a Christian is not trying to be good, but is knowing we have been made good in our spirit.
Only Jesus Christ can remove the sins and make us good.
Human love is selfish.
God's love is Agape love - unconditional.
Jesus said "Love one another as I have love you."
Other sages have said that the good eye indicates a generous spirit toward others:
It's an outwardly directed eye that shines forth comfort and care to those in need.
We all have been born again with a generous heart.
Giving from our heart is because we want to, not because we have to.
A person with a "good eye" looks at things from the perspective of love.
Ayinhatovah looks at circumstances -- and especially at other people -- and finds something beautiful....
There is no trace of competition, no envy, no malice in the good eye; there is no harbouring of resentment or bitterness.
We meditate on God's love for us.
A person with ayintovah does not speak ill of others nor inwardly wish them any harm.
The good eye overlooks the defects of others and sees the virtue and value of the person created b'tzelem Elohim (in the image of God).
Don't preach Christianity as a religion.
We have been recreated in Christ with a new nature.
The Scriptures declare:
Tov-ayin hu yevorakh - "The one with a good eye will be blessed" (Prov. 22:9).
PROVERBS 22:9 TPT
When you are generous to the poor, you are enriched with blessings in return.
2 PETER 1:3 TPT
Everything we could ever NEED for LIFE and GODLINESS has already been deposited in us by HIS DIVINE POWER.
For all this was lavished upon us through the rich experience of KNOWING HIM who has called us BY NAME and invited us to COME to HIM through a glorious manifestation of HIS GOODNESS.
Our bank account is in Heaven.
God's goodness brings one to repentance.
If our eyes are closed, we cannot see that God is a good God.
PSALM 27:13 AMP
I would have despaired had I not believed that I would SEE the GOODNESS of the LORD In the land of the living.
PSALM 27:13 EASY
But I surely believe that I WILL SEE how GOOD the LORD IS!
I will know his love while I still live in this world.
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