Click on the title to hear the music, read the lyric, and sing along. Prepare your heart to worship
Opening Prayer
Our Father and Mother who are in heaven
and around us and within us,
we come together this Sabbath to worship You and to seek Your face.
You created us in Your image but too often that image is blurred by our own inadequacies
and hidden under layers of self-imposed prejudices and illusions.
Help us today, to break through the veil that separates us from you.
Help us to see Your face and remind us of who we are.
Scripture Reading
15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked.
16 "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
17 And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
18 As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, "Strike these people with blindness." So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.
2 Kings 6:15-18
1 See, a king will reign in righteousness
and rulers will rule with justice.
2 Each man will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from the storm,
like streams of water in the desert
and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.
3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4 The mind of the rash will know and understand,
and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.
5 No longer will the fool be called noble
nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
6 For the fool speaks folly,
his mind is busy with evil:
He practices ungodliness
and spreads error concerning the LORD;
the hungry he leaves empty
and from the thirsty he withholds water.
7 The scoundrel's methods are wicked,
he makes up evil schemes
to destroy the poor with lies,
even when the plea of the needy is just.
8 But the noble man makes noble plans,
and by noble deeds he stands.
Isaiah 32:1-8
10The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
11He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
" 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.'16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
Matthew 13:10-17
Message
Today, I want to talk about having 20/20 spiritual vision. One of the favorite cliches in our culture is the phrase " I see". In conversations, when people want you to believe that they understand you, they will almost reflexively say, "I see, I see" whether they really understand you or not. But do they really see? I believe most people don't. They live their lives blinded in one way or another. Some don't even know they are blind. Some know they are blind and are searching for ways to improve their vision. Others know they are blind but just really don't want to bother to improve their vision. It takes work to really, really see.
How do we get spiritual vision? Well, first you have to have eyes to see. Simple fact - without eyes you cannot see. In scripture, Yeshua often said that "those who have eyes to see, let him see." This implies that only some of the audience had eyes and the rest did not. How do you get your eyes? You acquire your spiritual eyes in the same way you acquired your physical eyes. Eyes and ears are a part of your body when you are born. Your spiritual eyes and the ability to see are given to you in your spiritual birth into the family of God.
In Hebrews 11 it states "faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see....By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." Faith is the birthing process of spiritual life. It is how we enter into the family. When we accept God in faith, our spiritual eyes are opened. It is when we begin to recognize that there is a dimension to creation that goes beyond what is physically visible.
Once we have eyes, however, we still have to develop our vision. Just like newborn babies, we see the world through our new eyes but we still have a lot to learn in how we process and understand what we see. This maturing process is a very crucial time. Many factors can affect the vision of a child of God. Sadly, many of God's children are blinded by prejudices, biases, or learned hatreds before their vision can even develop. Their well meaning family or society threw this acid into their eyes before they could be come mature enough to protect their own vision. Others have their vision severely obscured by religious dogma. Like the veil in the temple, some religious traditions have kept us from coming face to face with God. In ancient Judah, the priest kept their power by building barriers between God and man. They were the only ones who could go into the "holy of holies" and offer the sacrifices. Today, many religious dogmas serve the same purpose. They strengthen the power of the religious authority while obscuring the vision of God's children.
Other children grow in God's word and develop beautiful eyes at first. They view the world just exactly as God intended with love and joy and spiritual insight. Then slowly they lose their vision to worry and stress and all the demands of our modern culture. They become busy with the urgency of life and slowly their spiritual essence is sapped away. Other very sensitive souls, put blinders on themselves. Though they appreciate the clarity of Divine sight, they do not like the pain of recognizing injustice and suffering. So instead of using their gift of sight to help right what is wrong, they choose to ignore it. They choose not to explore things that they don't like. Others see with unusual clarity but hide what they know from the world behind sunglasses. Like Jonah in the scriptures, they are running from their calling. They feel being a prophet in a modern world just is too much work or too scary or maybe just not cool !
Then there are those few beautiful souls who choose to use their gift of sight to better themselves and others. They actively search for new things to see and constantly petition the Mother and Father for new light to see even better. Then they use what they learn to follow the path the Mother and Father have laid out for their lives. These are the lucky ones. They are using their vision to find glimpses of God in this world and within themselves.
Finally, there are a very elite few whom the Mother and Father have allowed to see beyond. These
enlightened souls see and act upon what they see. Then, they go a step further and act as beacons of light to the rest of us who are seeking.They light the path of the Way to the Father and Mother. This is the calling for all of God's children - to not only have spiritual vision but to be lights in the darkness. Yeshua said we are to all be lights in the darkness, to be cities set on a hill. Many are called but few are chosen. Why? Because to be a light, we have to keep our eyes on THE Light. We have to lift our eyes out of this world and on to the One who made the world. Let's take some time now to renew our spirits and sharpen our vision. Lift your eyes to the One who made you now.
Hymns of Reflection and Dedication
Will Lift My Eyes - Psalm 121
Click on site above and just listen and watch quietly. Remind yourself of Father Yahweh's Strength. Ground yourself once more in what is truly important.
Click on the title to hear the music, read the lyrics, and sing along. Make this your own prayer.
Let Shekkinah, our Holy Spirit Mother recreate the spirit of God within you.
Discussion of the Message
Those of you who are participating in this service by reading this message on line, can take this time to quietly reflect on the concept of seeing life through spiritual eyes. If you have any comments or if questions come to your mind, you are welcome to write them in the comments section below.
Closing Prayer
Our Father and Mother in Heaven, around us and within us,
Holy is your name,
Let us be holy as You are holy. Give us the eyes to see as You see.
Keep that vision clear. Light the Way with your word.
Then allow us to become lights for others as Your son Yeshua was our light.
In His Name,
Amen
Closing Hymn
