When we have trouble seeing well, we make an appointment with an eye doctor. He or she will “fit” us with the correct lens through which everything will become more clear and easier to distinguish. But what about our spiritual lens? It matters what lens you have fitted on your spiritual eyes because that lens filters everything as to how you perceive it―in your heart and in your mind. In this teaching, we will briefly examine seven of those lenses.
- Doubt & Fear vs Faith: If you have a lens of doubt (which often springs from unbelief) that lens will create fear, worry, anxiety, and stress. You will see every situation through the filter of “negative faith,” which is believing the worst possible thing that can happen. The Bible tells us in Psalm 37:8, “Do not fret; it only causes harm.” In Matt. 6:31, Jesus tells us not to worry, SAYING… It’s what we say when we are fearful and worried that can cause harm. Why? Two reasons: 1) Because it opens a door to the enemy and gives him access, and 2) Because the stress in our bodies and minds caused by fear, worry, and anxiousness begins to take its toll on us physically and can have a cumulative effect over the years.
- Woundedness vs Healed and Whole: Jesus said He came to heal the broken-hearted, but it seems so many do not allow Him to come in and touch those broken areas of their hearts (one at a time) until they are all healed. If a person has not allowed Him to do that, they are generally hypersensitive to many things that are said and can easily take offense. It’s like you have to walk on eggshells around them. They often distort what another person is saying because they are constantly looking through a lens of woundedness that is still covering their eyes and ears. We have witnessed a wounded person get healed and delivered and then they are able to see things 180 degrees differently than they could before.
- Religious vs Holy Spirit: Do you have a “religious” lens or are you able to most often perceive spiritual matters through the eyes of the Holy Spirit? How do you know if you are looking through a religious lens? You will often try to put God in a religious box. Chances are, you will limit Him to whatever you can envision or imagine with your natural eyes and thoughts. You may limit what you think He is able to do and perhaps you won’t be able to imagine how much He loves and cares for you. On the other hand, if you have God’s perspective and you are able to see through the eyes of the Holy Spirit, you will be able to have the mind of Christ in every situation, both concerning you and others. You will know in your heart that all things are possible to those who believe!
- Error vs truth: This one should be fairly obvious. If a person has a lens of error rather than God’s truth, he or she will hear everything, but it will be filtered through error. There are evil spirits that are assigned against us to cause error, and these spirits of error have introduced “doctrines of demons” which have gained ground in many parts of the church. With some of these doctrines, such as cessationism, those who have succumbed to them have all but taken the power of the Holy Spirit out of the church. They haven’t intentionally done that, but they have done it because of what they believe. If we want to have a close relationship with the Lord (who is the person of Truth) we must believe and rightly interpret the whole counsel of His Word, rather than heed some evil spirit that has been used by the devil to sway Christians away from the truth.
- New Age vs Book of Acts: The New Age beliefs that have seductively filtered into the church have created the “gospel of self.” It is NOT the same gospel as the Book of Acts, which is all about Jesus and the advancement of His kingdom. I (Pat) actually heard a remark recently from a promotion of a certain New Age product that many Christians are using and some are selling, which declared, “I am sovereign in my god self.” I thought, Yes, that is the essence of the New Age gospel which has invaded the church that Jesus Himself established―polluted and deceived it―and in some instances effectively displaced the true gospel altogether. It has been very subtle and very gradual, but, dear saints, it’s not too late to turn the tide on this demonic invasion.
- Presumption vs. Faith: This one is a ripple effect of #5, the New Age invasion. If New Age beliefs are essentially rooted in the gospel of self, it stands to reason that true faith would then be turned into presumption. This a counterfeit faith which is actually faith in “self” rather than God―what self desires, what self envisions, and what self is able to declare and accomplish―all through the distorted lens of presumption. Some Christians come up with their own plans and then ask God to bless them, rather than seeking God’s plans and purposes. It is the opposite of true faith, which, first of all, denies self and always seeks God’s will above one’s own will in all things. Presumption is the result of taking God off the throne of one’s heart and putting “self” on the throne instead! This has been so widespread, we probably ought to ask ourselves, not has this counterfeit gospel affected me, but rather “to what degree” has it affected me?
- Human Wisdom vs God’s Wisdom: The apostle Paul makes it clear that there is a big distinction between human wisdom and the wisdom that comes from God (See 1 Cor. 2:4-14.) Human wisdom is the result of one thinking he knows better than God. The louder the voice of self is, the more likely it will drown out God’s voice in our lives. Human wisdom is our own intellect, our own reasoning, our own natural knowledge without the input of the Holy Spirit with His guidance, His promptings, His knowledge, His wisdom and understanding. Many believers are still operating in human wisdom, which we sometimes refer to as intellectualism, or humanism. What’s really dangerous is this: The structure of humanism (and technology) is the platform that will allow the first beast (the Antichrist) and the second beast (the False Prophet) to exalt themselves and take full control of our world at the mid-point of the 7-year Tribulation. Beware! We are in the pre-conditioning and warm-up phases already and some believers have already allowed themselves to be influenced! We need to trust in, rely on, and be led by God’s wisdom as never before.
What a plan of the enemy! Do you think any of these things have to do with the great apostasy (falling away) we see all around us? When we consider all these different lenses and filters (or veils) that are over the eyes of many who name the name of Christ, is it any wonder it is often very difficult to come into agreement and unity in the body of Christ? Are we willing to simply recognize and remove the lenses and filters that have distorted and blinded us to the whole counsel of the Word of God? If so, that alone will enable us to be transformed into a unified, powerful force that will cause the hordes of hell to bow down and back out of our lives, as well as the church!