Faith Walking part 3
Seeing is believing, right? What you see in the mirror is what you be. What's inside is what comes out. So why does our key verse, 2 Corinthians 5:7, "For we walk by faith, not by sight," seem to make that distinction? Well, the short answer is found one chapter earlier. 2 Corinthians 4:18, "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." We look at the things which are not seen, not the things that are seen. We look with Spiritual eyes, not natural eyes. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, right? Because that's where grace is. It's in His eyes. When God looks at us He sees Jesus, and when He looks at Jesus He sees us. And THAT'S how we're supposed to see each other. We're not supposed to judge by appearance. We're supposed to judge righteous judgment. We're supposed to, as Ezekiel 45:9 says, "...remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice..." The judgment was rendered at the cross. Not a death sentence, but an everlasting LIFE sentence. Jesus' sacrifice was giving His life. God's judgment was raising Him from the dead. THAT'S the judgment we are supposed to execute. And if you don't think telling someone who they really are--and loving them without expectation--can't raise them from the dead then you don't understand the true nature of love. Look at 1 John 3:14, "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." What's the difference between death and life? LOVE! What makes an abundant life abundant? LOVE! How do we walk by faith--or live by believing? We receive and release the love of Christ! That's the New Commandment, for the New Man, by the way. Love one another as God loves you. When we talked about sleepwalking we talked about being dead in our trespasses and sins. Unbelief. Not believing that we are loved, or even worthy of love. So the opposite of that--faith walking--is about being alive and walking in newness of life! Knowing and believing that we ARE loved, and loving God by loving each other with that same love. So. Seeing is believing. But in order to see the right thing you need to look at the things that are not seen. For example, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). We don't see the wind. But we see the effects of it. We see the evidence of it. Which is what faith is; the evidence of things not seen. Love is real, and when love is put into action it's charity. But it's not always something you see. Until you look in the right place, with the right eyes. The dove's eyes. The eyes of the Spirit. The eyes of grace. Then you see what's REALLY there, deep down inside, instead of the surface stuff that the world piles on us in order to try to bury us. Guys, I've said it before and I'll say it again: If Jesus is holding you up (and He is) then nothing can drag you down! You can walk and not stumble. You can walk by faith and not by (natural) sight!