I trust you are well and experiencing God’s continued goodness and favor in your life. Last month, I shared with you about the importance of building an image on the inside of you for what you’re believing to see manifest in your life. If you are doing that, then hold onto it, and don’t let that image go. There is a blessing that awaits the one who believes, and I want to share with you a key that will help you in receiving your blessing.
When Jesus appeared to His disciples after He rose from the dead, they must have been ecstatic to see Him alive and well. He had already rehearsed with the disciples what would take place regarding Him, and that after three days, He would rise again. As you know, Thomas doubted His resurrection, and Jesus spoke some monumental words to him as a result.
John 20:29, …Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
There is a blessing in store for the person who though they have not seen with their natural eyes, they STILL BELIEVE. This truth speaks to something regarding your eyes. Oftentimes (not exclusively), Satan’s way into a person’s life is through the eyes. If you look back through the Scriptures, you find this to be true in numerous cases. When the children of Israel had the opportunity to move into the land of Canaan, by their own admission, they saw giants and equated themselves with grasshoppers as a result of what they saw. As you know, this prevented them from moving into the land that God promised them. Then going all the way back to the very beginning when Satan deceived Eve in the garden of Eden, it was the fruit that Eve could see with her eyes that Satan used to deceive her into doubting what God told her about eating the fruit.
God, on the other hand, lends Himself toward your ears. Romans 10:17 tells us, So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Hearing the Word is what will build your faith more than anything else. There is a condition that feeding on God’s Word will produce in you. It will give you the ability to see what your natural eyes cannot see. God’s Word will work on your inner image, and that’s exactly what it was designed to do. Then when Satan attempts to deceive you, it is the Word that will keep you grounded and steady.
Your natural eyes can only tell you what’s happening right now, but when your ears are engaged in hearing the Word, you have the ability to put your inner man to work, showing you all kinds of things. When you hear things like, I shall not die but live and declare the works of God, that image of living a long satisfied life begins to form within you. Or how about, let the Lord be magnified who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant. When you chew on that and meditate on that, you can see yourself prospering, no matter what your natural eyes see today, because God has great pleasure in that.
Back in the 1920’s and 1930’s before television was around, people would gather around the radio and listen to programs from people like Jack Benny for entertainment. Though the listeners had never seen the people in the story before, through their ears they formed an image of them. As the story was being told, the listener used their imagination to see it played out. Now, since television has come along, you don’t imagine the details that surround a story because you actually see it played out.
The beautiful thing about your imagination when hearing a story is that you can actually leap beyond what is being told in the story, but you can’t do that when you’re watching something with your natural eyes. With your imagination you could dress the people in that story any way you wanted to dress them. You can put them in the kind of vehicle you want to put them in. You can even put yourself in the car with them if you want to. That’s the advantage of the hearing gate–it works our imagination, building an image inside of us. Of course we are to keep the Word before our eyes as Proverbs 4 tells us, but even then when we do that, we are hearing it with our heart.
This is how the believing process works–as you hear the Word of God and begin confessing it with your mouth, that image builds inside of you. Eventually, you’ll behold it with your natural eyes. When you hear what 3 John 2 says, Beloved I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers, and you begin to say that over yourself, you’re building an image of yourself prosperous and healthy.
I John 2:16 gives us a warning about the eyes, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. Be vigilant about your eyes, and give no place to Satan. If you see your investments going down, don’t allow Satan to begin talking to you about your finances. Put the Word of God on it, for God takes pleasure in your prosperity! If you see a family member going the wrong direction, don’t allow Satan to take a field trip in your mind. Preach the Word over that situation, build the image of that person turning on the inside of you, and you will see the turn!
Friend, remember, the blessing belongs to the person who has not seen and yet believes. Keep that image growing on the inside by hearing and speaking God’s Word. As you’re faithful to do so, you’ll see that desire come to pass!
We have some special meetings coming up at the end of this month in Mattoon, Illinois. We would love for you to join us if you can. It’s always a great time of refreshing in the Holy Ghost!
