In Part 1, we saw that our eyes are to be flooded with God’s spiritual light, just as a mighty laser can focus photons into a brilliant stream of power and energy. We also learned that humility opens our eyes to see what the Father has for us to learn. And we saw how to keep His light in our hearts.
Now let’s look at the great understanding, healing, and enlightenment that come when we see things the way that God sees them. Like David, Solomon, and especially Jesus Christ, we can have an understanding heart so that we are enlightened to do God’s will and see ourselves and others the way that He sees them.
We will find that as we keep our eyes on God and His Word, our hearts will hold fast the truth so that we can teach it to those we love. Next, we’ll explore how keeping our eyes and ears on God allows us to change our hearts so that we are healed in every way. Finally, we’ll look at the lives of David, Solomon, and Jesus Christ so that we can have an understanding heart. Then, we will be able to see others as God sees them, and appreciate who our Father has made us to be in Christ.
Remember, Keep, Teach
I am thankful each day to see what my heavenly Father has in store for me in that day. In my few years on this earth, my eyes have beheld amazing blessings and seen God’s power manifested to bring healing and deliverance to many people. I still remember the miracles involved in being born again, meeting my wife, seeing “incurable” diseases removed as well as evil spirits and their heavy gloom cast out, and having my own body healed time and time again.
Not to mention God’s grace in being able to minister across the United States, in Australia, Guam, the Philippines, other countries in Asia, and most lately in California. I keep my soul, my thoughts, diligently so that I don’t forget these things. Sometimes, keeping a journal of God’s goodness in your life is a simple way not to forget what He has done for you.
Deuteronomy 4:9:
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons.
Teaching our children and grandchildren is an amazing way to not forget God’s goodness to us. One thing I’ve found to work as a teacher is to start where a student already has interest. I remember when our son, Elijah, was in elementary school and very interested in archaeology and fossils. We had a grand time finding some in a local stream and learning more about God’s plan for creation.
Later, when he was interested in “all things Egyptian,” we read together, wrote together, built Legos and race cars together—all with Pharaohs and pyramids. My wife even made him two birthday cakes for his Egyptian party that were very fine replicas of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid!
Deuteronomy 11:18-21:
Therefore shall ye lay up [put for yourself] these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.
You can keep God’s Word in your heart and soul when you keep them in front of your eyes. Then you can teach the truth to your children. Even if you don’t have biological children, there are plenty of “young at heart” people who could use a good dose of the spiritual “light” that has flooded your eyes! Then their days, like yours, will be “heaven upon the earth.” What a wonderful way to live.
Hear, See, Understand, Turn to God, Be Healed
Keeping the Word in your eyesight so that you are enlightened allows the truth to get into your heart. Teaching others helps cement the good things that God has done for us into our memories. When people hear, see, understand, and turn to God for help, they are healed. Isaiah knew this well.
Isaiah 6:8-10:
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert [return, turn again to God], and be healed.
Sadly, God had to warn Isaiah that the words he spoke would not have a very warm reception at that time. But healing was and still is our Father’s desire for His people. God gives people the free will to see and to believe in their hearts. He sent His only begotten Son to make known His good heart for all people. But some decided to stay blind and hardhearted. It was their choice to do so.
John 12:40:
He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
God gave Isaiah a vision of how glorious the coming Messiah would be. Isaiah’s prophecy is filled with remarkably clear references to Jesus Christ’s powerful ministry, his horrible death, and the great accomplishments that his life would bring. That revelation included that not everyone would accept the savior and the healing that he brings.
John 12:41-43:
These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.
Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
When people love the adulation and glory of men more than the true heart-praise that comes from God, they turn away from Him and His Son.
Our heavenly Father intends for His children to have our eyes flooded with the light of His Word. Then we can live the “mystery” of the one body of Christ and enjoy living together and loving one another. This mystery was so amazing that God hid it for ages until He revealed it to the Apostle Paul. No eye had seen nor ear had heard—so it did not enter into any human heart. This is the greatness of what God has prepared for us who love Him!
I Corinthians 2:7-9:
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
Which none of the princes of this world [Satan and the evil spirits behind the wicked deeds of men] knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things [of the mystery] which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Learning to See the Way God Sees
The Prophet Samuel was a spiritual man. But at times, he walked by the five-senses information he received. When selecting a new king for Israel, he thought that Jesse’s eldest son would be the perfect man for the job. But God told Samuel that he should anoint “whom I name unto thee.” That would take spiritual insight, not looking only with the physical eyes.
I Samuel 16:3,6:
And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.
And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.
Like Samuel, how often have I fought with this challenge in my life! Three of my favorite heroes growing up were Zorro, James Bond, and Sherlock Holmes. Before even going to elementary school, I wore my Zorro costume (complete with hat, mask, sword, and guitar) and rode my hobby horse to fight villains and save the day.
Later, I so admired and wanted to be like Commander Bond that I would dress up in my suit and bowtie as a youngster and “spy” around the house. After reading about Holmes and Watson, I wore my version of a smoking jacket and strolled about Graham Hall at the University of Missouri with my pipe. I was perhaps the only freshman student there to speak with an attempted London accent.
What did I admire about these fictional characters? They were clever and had a great ability to use their seeing, hearing, and other senses to figure out what was going on around them. In Sherlock Holmes’s first story, “A Study in Scarlet,” Dr. Watson was amazed at what his new roommate (and later lifelong friend) had written in a magazine article.
“Its somewhat ambitious title was ‘The Book of Life,’ and it attempted to show how much an observant man might learn by an accurate and systematic examination of all that came in his way. It struck me as being a remarkable mixture of shrewdness and of absurdity. The reasoning was close and intense, but the deductions appeared to me to be far-fetched and exaggerated. The writer claimed by a momentary expression, a twitch of a muscle or a glance of an eye, to fathom a man’s inmost thoughts. Deceit, according to him, was an impossibility in the case of one trained to observation and analysis. His conclusions were as infallible as so many propositions of Euclid.”
Soon thereafter, Watson became a “believer” when he saw Holmes deduce that a total stranger was a sergeant in the Royal Marine Light Infantry by noting his physical appearance (tattoo, haircut) and the way in which he walked. Holmes was good at seeing with his physical eyes. Similarly, Samuel looked at Eliab and thought he had found God’s anointed. But that’s not how God sees. He is the great heart searcher.
I Samuel 16:7:
But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance [the Hebrew text says, “with the eye”], but the Lord looketh on the heart.
God looks on the heart; He is the heart searcher (I Chronicles 28:9; Psalms 44:21; 139:23; Jeremiah 17:10; Romans 8:27). Even though David wasn’t the tallest or biggest in the family, he had the biggest heart for God.
Acts 13:22:
And when he had removed him [King Saul], he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.
An Understanding Heart
David was a man after God’s own heart because he would fulfill God’s will. He taught his son, Solomon, many truths about intimately knowing God. Solomon wrote that “I was my father’s son…He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live” (Proverbs 4:3,4). When it was time for Solomon to be king, he remembered how important it is to have a heart that understands God.
I Kings 3:9-12:
Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;
Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
Shouldn’t this be our prayer each day? As husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children, grandparents, employers, employees, citizens, and ministers—we all need an understanding heart to “discern between good and bad.” That is what Solomon asked for, not for a long life, wealth, or revenge upon those who hurt him.
I’ve found that the greatest gain in life is fellowship with the Father and having my need met. Then I can enjoy a long earthly life with physical blessings and protection from the evil one. It has great promise now and throughout eternity.
I Timothy 6:6-8; 4:8:
But godliness [a true, vital relationship with the Father] with contentment is great gain.
For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
For bodily exercise profiteth little [for a little time, while we are alive on earth]: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
Even fools, who turn to God, can get His wisdom and understanding in their hearts.
Proverbs 8:5:
O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.
As we saw in Part 1 of “The Eyes of Your Heart Flooded with Light,” humility opens the eyes and the heart. The Psalmist eagerly sought out God and His Word. That is how he was enlightened.
Psalms 119:130,131 [Moffatt Translation]:
The interpretation of thy words enlightens and instructs the open-minded;
And I am open, eager, panting for thy commands.
Jesus Christ: Enlightened to Do God’s Will
Like his ancestor, Jesus Christ was a man after God’s own heart. As the “son of David,” he always did the will of the Father (Mark 12:35; John 4:34; 8:39). Jesus did not go by his five senses alone. He learned to see the way that his Father sees. Isaiah foretold this.
Isaiah 11:1-3:
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear [respect] of the Lord;
And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear [respect] of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.
John 5:19:
Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
Jesus Christ read what God had David write in Psalm 40. He believed that he could do all that his Father would give him to do.
Psalms 40:7,8:
Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume [scroll] of the book it is written of me,
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
When he opened his ministry, he went to the scroll and boldly told others what he came to do!
Luke 4:16-21:
And he [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
And there was delivered unto him the book [scroll] of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book [unrolled the scroll], he found the place where it was written,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
And he closed the book [rolled up the scroll], and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Jesus Christ completed all that God had asked him to do so that he could redeem mankind. His final words were “It is finished” (John 19:30). Today we are sanctified, set apart and made righteous, by the completed work of our savior, Jesus Christ. He paid the price for our sins once and for all.
Hebrews 10:7-10:
Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Learning to See Others the Way God Sees Them
We, too, can do all that our heavenly Father asks us to do. In the “volume of the book” written to Christians today, we have plenty to live up to. Built upon the Old Testament and the gospels, we have the Book of Acts and epistles to show us how to live. One way to see others as God does, is to not despise them by our personal judgment and limited senses perception.
Luke 18:9-14:
And he [Jesus Christ] spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Humility toward God is still the key to having the eyes of our hearts enlightened. It’s not your public exhibition of prayer and tithing that pleases God. Remember that He isn’t pleased with “sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings.” Like the publican in Jesus’ parable, having a heart to love and serve the Father gives Him joy.
Psalms 51:17:
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Without eyes enlightened to God’s Word, people do evil things. Look at what Herod and his men thought of God’s only begotten Son.
Luke 23:11
And Herod with his men of war set him at nought [despised him], and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.
They despised this captured and seemingly “broken” man before them. Yet, God had a different opinion of our savior.
Acts 4:11
This is the stone which was set at nought [despised] of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
Jesus Christ is the head of the corner, the foundation of our lives. Our brothers and sisters in Christ have the same salvation as we do. We are all God’s children when we get born again of God’s spirit (Romans 10:9,10). But when believers walk by their physical eyes and not by the spirit, they can despise those whom God loves and cherishes.
Romans 14:3,10:
Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought [despise] thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat [Greek, bēma, reward stand] of Christ.
Every believer will stand before the reward stand of Christ. That’s the opinion that really matters. So until then, perhaps we can do our best to love our brothers and sisters in Christ and see them the way God does. We may not be the greatest men and women from a “fleshly” point of view, but we are wise, mighty, and noble in what God has made us in Christ!
I Corinthians 1:26-31:
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
And base things of the world, and things which are despised [by people’s senses opinion], hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
That no flesh should glory in his presence.
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
That, according as it is written, He that glorieth [boasts], let him glory in the Lord.
Eyes of Your Heart Flooded with Light
God has made us in Christ to be wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We don’t boast in our foolishness, weakness, and baseness—all that we seem to be with worldly eyes. Our boasting is in the Lord Jesus Christ and all that we have in him. That is having the eyes of our hearts truly enlightened by God!
We have seen that our hearts can hold fast the truth so that we can teach it to those we love. Keeping our eyes and ears on God, our hearts are changed for the better and we are healed. David, Solomon, and Jesus Christ had the humility to go to God with an understanding heart. As we keep our eyes on focused on who we are in Christ, we will see others as God sees them and enjoy a life of joy and peace.
