Have you ever taken that eye examination where you look through various lenses to find the one that gives you the best vision? Having good vision to read a book or to be able to drive at night or see the face of your loved one is important to all of us.
But when it comes to good vision, there is not a more important vision than a clear view of who God is!
You will discover in life that the majority of your problems can be traced back to an inaccurate or inadequate view of God. On the other side, you will discover that the majority of your victories will be traced back to an accurate view of who God is. But here’s what happens, vision blurs at times. We get bumped with a trial and our vision is not what it needs to be and we need to re-focus. I believe at the heart of Hebrews 11:6 is a call to refocus over and over again. It reads, “Without faith it’s impossible to please God and they that come to Him must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him!” In other words, refocussing and seeking God over and over again is rewarded by God.
VISION! I’m praying that this is a season in our church that godly vision is clearer than ever.
Below are nine realities about our heavenly Father that equip you to “diligently seek Him” and by doing so enjoy the blessing of the Lord rewarding your life.
#1 The Father is tender, intimate, and is affectionate toward you (Romans 8:14-15). The Father has adopted you as His child, He is now, “Abba, Father …”
#2 The Father’s love is PERFECT, primarily interested in your HIGHEST GOOD that you are holy! (Heb 12:6; Rom 8:29; Eph 4:13)
#3 The Father is always ready to help (Lk 11:13)
#4 The Father is perfectly holy (Jn 10:9)
#5 There is nothing that compares to the glory of the Father, OUR FATHER! (Mt 6:9)
#6 The Father has your future prepared exceeding all expectations! (John 14:1-6)
#7 There is not a bigger heart toward all men than your heavenly Father’s (demonstrated in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ!)(Acts 2)
#8 The Father is blessed when you demonstrate compassion in helping the needy, and when you win the war on worldliness (James 1:27)
# 9 The Father never shames, only saves, restores and affirms your identity as His child in Christ (Luke 15:22-24)
When you take into account that God has made us in a way that our thinking has a physiological impact — that repeated thinking actually puts grooves in the brain — how important it is that we’re worshipping God in Truth over and over again.
I am so very glad that you are teaching on Sundays about the characteristics of our Heavenly Father. Sometimes it’s hard for me, and I’m sure for others, to understand how He really is because I did not grow up with a father like that. My father was an alcoholic and he just had no time for the kids. He never paid us any attention or showed us much of anything except for discipline. So thank you, Pastor Greg, for preaching on this subject. If you have any suggestions for me to read from the Bible to help this to sink in better, please let me know.
Agape,
Barbara
Sin’s deceit by John Newton
Sin, when viewed by scripture light,
Is a horrid, hateful sight;
But when seen in Satan’s glass,
Then it wears a pleasing face.
When the gospel trumpet sounds,
When I think how grace abounds,
When I feel sweet peace within,
Then I’d rather die than sin.
When the cross I view by faith,
Sin is madness, poison, death;
Tempt me not, ’tis all in vain,
Sure I ne’er can yield again.
Satan, for awhile debarred,
When he finds me off my guard,
Puts his glass before my eyes,
Quickly other thoughts arise.
What before excited fears,
Rather pleasing now appears;
If a sin, it seems so small,
Or, perhaps, no sin at all.
Often thus, through sin’s deceit,
Grief, and shame, and loss I meet,
Like a fish, my soul mistook,
Saw the bait, but not the hook.
O my Lord, what shall I say?
How can I presume to pray?
Not a word have I to plead,
Sins, like mine, are black indeed!
Made, by past experience, wise,
Let me learn thy word to prize;
Taught by what I’ve felt before,
Let me Satan’s glass abhor.
Wow! The Father’s Love, so sweet, so patient, so kind and understanding. It is so great to abide in His love and know He is always there for us. When I think of His love and how many blessings I have, I am so grateful for a Papa that loves so deeply. My heart is heavy for our brothers and sisters who are persecuted so heavily for their beliefs. So many have lost their lives and are still losing them for the gospel. Some would say “How can a loving God allow such atrocities?” Terrible things happening keep many from coming to a loving God, through His Son. Man is responsible for this hate and sin ignites the fire of this hatrid. One day, our loving Father will take care of everything. It won’t be long now. My job is to show the love of Christ in deed and in word. And if my life is ever taken for His cause, I will be in glory with Him. I pray I would have the strenth of the Lord to never deny Him. Thank you for leading us to the love of our Father. How we all need to re-focus, re-focus, and re-focus. Love to everyone, Pat
When i think about a vision of God, I am drawn to the book of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 1:1 Now it came about in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the river Chebar among the exiles, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God
God’s plan for Ezekiel in this 30th year would radically change the course of his life.
Solomon records that “the mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9) — it is one thing to know this truth and quite another thing to walk out in complete confidence in that truth and to do so all the days of one’s life as Ezekiel did.
You might be able to identify with Ezekiel.
Even as Ezekiel thought he was being prepared for the priesthood, you may have felt you were being prepared for a certain course in your life, only to have those plans radically altered by unexpected circumstances which God allowed or sent.
Jehovah is also El Elyon, the Most High God and as such He is in absolute sovereign control of all the events of our life.
He is the Potter and we are but clay.
As believers we must remember that our “body is a temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in (us), Whom (we) have from God, and that (we) are not (our) own” but that we “have been bought with a price” and we should seek to “therefore glorify God in (our) body” (1Cor 6:19 20) regardless of what God calls us to do.
Ezekiel may have been looking forward to the prestige of a priest even in exile, but is now called to be God’s prophet to the exiles.
Note that Ezekiel’s prophetic ministry begins not with serving, but with seeing God’s glory.
This is always God’s pattern in preparing a man or woman — knowing always precedes doing – seeing comes before serving – worship comes before work.
Before Ezekiel is given a ministry for God, He’s given a vision of God.
God has a ministry for every believer (1 Peter 4:10).
Be patient.
First catch a vision of God and His glory!
You’ll never be the same and your ministry for His Name will be transformed forever as was Ezekiel’s.
Over 20 years later Ezekiel still remembered this encounter as he described the vision in Chapter 40 as like the appearance of the vision which I saw, like the vision which I saw when He came to destroy the city.
And the visions were like the vision which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face. (Ezek 40:3)
Ezekiel is one of the most often slighted books in Scripture and is undoubtedly the most neglected prophetic book.
When was the last time you read Ezekiel “cover to cover”?.
How will you feel one day in eternity, when you bump into Ezekiel, and he says “Hello brother, how did you like my book?”
That is one concept that consumes me.
When Mosab Yousef came to visit us- if I had the chance I wanted to be able to look him in the eye and say- I read your book.
Isn’t that what drives you- when you see Daniel or Hosea, or Paul- don;t you want to be able to run up to them and say -I read your book?
How about Jesus- He is the Word of God! And as the Word, don’t you want to look into His face knowing- I read You- I know You, I’ve seen You
It is surprising that a book as exciting as Ezekiel is as neglected as it is. Well, maybe not, the Bible is neglected – so it should not surprise us that Ezekiel or any other book is neglected.
But; whereas Jeremiah saw through sobbing eyes,
Ezekiel saw through surreal eyes, eyes of a visionary and a biblical mystic who possessed a spiritually-sensitive, other-worldly focus.
Pray and read and then pause and ponder so that you can practice and apply the truths found in this great book.
Then you will come to experience in a real way the repeated promise God gave in Ezekiel:
You will know that I am the LORD and when we all come to take our last breath, isn’t this the most glorious, rewarding and fulfilling experience we could ever have!
Jesus said And this is eternal life, that they may know (by personal, intimate experience) Thee, the Only True God and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent. (John 17:3)
In Ezekiel 1:1; Ezekiel says: “I SAW VISIONS OF GOD”:
Visions of God here includes visions given by God and visions in which God was seen and is always in the plural and always with the word “God” (not “LORD”).
This exact phrase “Visions of God” occurs only three times in the NASB, all in Ezekiel,` this verse, Ezekiel 8:3 and Ezekiel 40:2 and its occurrence is a marker in a sense, as it divides Ezekiel’s prophecy into three sections.
You remember that Saul of Tarsus had a somewhat similar life changing encounter as he journeyed…approaching Damascus and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
Like Ezekiel, Saul of Tarsus’ was never the same after that encounter. (Acts 9:3 9:4 9:5 9:6 9:15 9:16 9:20)
Ray Stedman adds that
“The story of this book is the story of human life and the book begins with a tremendous vision of God, because all life starts with God.
God is the greatest fact in existence, in history.
If you are going to think about anything, you have to start somewhere.
Anyone who wants to think logically about life must always begin with God.
That is where the Bible begins. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
This book of Ezekiel begins, then, with a mystic vision of God.
The glory of the prophet Ezekiel was that he saw God more clearly than any of the other prophets.
If your heart needs to be set on fire by the revelation of the character and glory of God, read Ezekiel. { Paul told Timothy to re-light his life with God]
Ezekiel is a great prophet who saw the glory of God.”
And we can to- is that our desire to be re-ignited with a vision of God?
He is waiting, Paul, Ezekiel, and many others could not impact or influence their world for God, until they had a vision of God.
Have you seen a vision of God?
Then you are ready to influence and impact our World!
These comments are beautiful….and I’ve started reading Ezekiel! Thank you, my Dear Family!
With God’s Love,
Barb