GAZING INTENTLY INTO HEAVEN

[Albert Finch]

Matthew 6:22 : "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."

MIRRORS OF THE SOUL

The eyes are the literal mirrors of a person's soul and reveals much about a person's deep inner man.
In that deep place of the heart, the eye of the body that is full of light, can also reveal secrets into the unseen realm depending upon a person's intimate connection or transparency with God. Our eyes are portals of Heaven that we many times overlook within ourselves and within others.

THE FACE OF AN ANGEL

In the case of Steven in the New Testament, he was a man who was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:5). He was so full of grace and power that he performed great wonders and signs among the people during his day (Acts 6:8). In the synagogues of Asia, they disputed with Stephen because of their own stubborn misperception and blindness of spiritual sight (Acts 6:9). Stephen preached with boldness and they were not able to resist the wisdom and spirit by which he spoke (Acts 6:10). Even to the point of death, he had no fear to speak God's truth because his "eye" saw something beyond this natural world.

All that sat in the council, looking steadfastly and intently at him, saw his face and countenance "as it had been the face of an angel" (Acts 6:15).

Seeing that Stephen was "full of the Holy Spirit… he gazed intently into Heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God," saying, 'Behold, I see the Heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God'" (Acts 7:55-56).

A LIFESTYLE OF GAZING

When Stephen "gazed" (NAS) or "looked up steadfastly" (KJV) into Heaven, the Greek definition and meaning of this was not only that he fixed his "eyes" but also purposed his "mind" into Heaven. The eyes of his mind and the eyes of his heart went into auto-focus by the power of the Holy Spirit, as in the sense of stretching his eye sight towards the face of God that gave him the supernatural power to endure the kind of death he was about to experience.

This reveals that Stephen had a "lifestyle of gazing" into the eyes and heart of God and is the reason why he was so filled with the glory of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. He gave himself over to locking his eyesight on the Lord Jesus Christ, and it caused everything else to either become dim or disappear in his perception of reality. He was so overtaken by the Holy Spirit that the unseen realm at that moment was more real to him than the seen realm of the excruciating pain of being stoned to death.

In these last days we are going to need this kind of supernatural strength and power to be able to endure the days ahead of us with a lifestyle of gazing.

CAUSE OF SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS

The enemy continues to try to bring disgrace and discredit the people of God through spiritual blindness – blindness that is caused by the lack of looking and gazing into the face of God as a regular exercise of intimate worship or the lack of CONFESSING and MEDITATING on the Scriptures to find food for the soul and nourishment for the spiritual eyes.

Ephesians 1:18 - " I pray that your inward eyes may be illumined, so that you may know what is the hope to which He calls you..."

Ephesians 6:17 - "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God."

Because of life's distractions, sin and self-righteous pride, this was one of the stumbling blocks of the Pharisees that prevented them from seeing that Jesus was really who He said He was, God. Because they couldn't see, they couldn't believe. If they couldn't see, they had no vision and they missed out on entering into the Kingdom of God.

THE EYE OF THE LORD IS MOVING

So now the Lord is reminding us in 2 Chronicles 16:9 which says, "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His." God is on the move, running and eagerly searching with the laser beam of His eyes, looking for those who are filled with His light to see that He is ready to strongly support those whose eye lenses of the heart and mind are turned completely towards Him. He is inviting us into the journey of His heart – into the journey of the unseen realm. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). No one has seen God at any time (John 1:18), yet Jesus tells us in the beatitudes that the pure in heart will see God (Matthew 5:8).

If God is wanting us to look and gaze intently at Him, isn't it because He is looking and gazing intently at us? The eyes of God reveal intimacy and longing and a strong desire to be with us now and forevermore. God is longing for those who are longing for Him.

If you are experiencing an indescribable longing in your heart toward God, that means He is drawing you.

PRAYER OF RESTORATION AND VISION:

God, thank You for saving my life and thank You for restoring my soul. God, open my eyes to see You like never before. Help me to see and perceive through Your eyes. Restore my vision that may have become dull or blinded through discouragement, circumstances, sin, hardship or even neglect. Forgive me for not responding to Your voice when You are calling me. Draw me, God, and I will run to You. Open the eyes of my heart, God, that I may see You face to face. I come boldly to Your throne to worship You in Spirit and in truth and to love You sincerely with all my heart, mind, soul and strength by CONFESSING and MEDITATING on your Word. I thank You for hearing my prayer and my heart's cry to be closer to You. I give You honor and glory and praise this day, in Jesus name I pray, Amen!

ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY