We cannot talk about spiritual vision without talking about faith. Faith is seeing through spiritual lenses when our human eyes see nothing. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand the power of faith in human terms. He told them that if they had faith the size of a little, tiny mustard seed, it could move a mountain. Imagine the contrast of a mustard seed to a mountain! In his creative masterpiece, The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis uses  ctional demons to offer

Paul gave his powerful testimony to King Agrippa. He told the king how he was blinded by an incredible light and heard the voice of Jesus speaking directly to him while he was on his way to Damascus to kill and persecute more Christians. This vision from God changed Paul drastically, and ultimately accelerated the spread of Christianity. But it wasn’t just the vision that changed Paul.

Through God’s divine revelation, the prophet Elisha told the King of Israel that Syria was planning to overtake Israel. The Syrian King was pretty ticked off about it and sent mighty armies to surround the city of Dothan and capture Elisha. Elisha’s servant was very afraid, and he said, “Oh no, master! What shall we do?” Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, that he may

I wonder what the disciples thought when they saw the crowds? Oh great! We’ll be here all day, and my feet are already killing me! How in the world will we move Jesus through this crowd? I wonder if He’ll want us to  nd food for everyone? Perhaps they were much more generous than some of us would be. However, Matthew tells us what Jesus thought when he saw the crowds. He thought about how much these helpless people needed Him. He could heal them, save them, change their

Jesus told his disciples to open their eyes, to look at the fields. He was not speaking literally about the agriculture surrounding them. He was making an analogy to lost humanity. Jesus went on to say, “The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life” [NLT]. Day to day living makes us very

Zacchaeus was a “sinner” but he wanted to see Jesus. He was small in stature and was forced to climb a tree to see Him. What is most important in this story is that Jesus saw Zacchaeus! What was the result of this encounter with Jesus? Zacchaeus was willing to give - to give generously to the causes close to Jesus’ heart. A true encounter with Jesus makes sacri ce easy! Zacchaeus was generous because

There is a group of missionaries who serve through an organization called Live Dead. This missionary group is unique because they go to various countries around the globe that are not “missionary-friendly.” In fact, in many cases, these under-cover missionaries’ lives are at risk - thus the name Live Dead. But the reality is that all followers of Jesus are called to live dead. “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11).

Yesterday we considered the rich young ruler. We can be pretty hard on this fellow, but let’s be honest, how easy would it be to sell everything we owned if Jesus asked us? And why would Jesus ask so much from a person He sees through eyes of love? The answer must be that Jesus knows true freedom comes from total surrender. Jesus didn’t hesitate to ask for

Let’s think about the “rich young ruler” from Mark 10:17-27. He asked Jesus how to attain eternal life. The Bible says that Jesus looked at him and loved him. Through His love, Jesus asked for sacrifice. (Interesting...quite the opposite of what we would probably ask from someone we love.) Jesus asked him to sell everything he had, give it to the poor, and follow Him. This young man left because

Jesus is asking anyone who follows Him to share in His sacrifice. You see, there is no manipulation with Jesus. He is quite honest: “lose life to find life;” “Take up your cross and follow me;” “Love enemies;” “Blessed are the persecuted.” He let His followers know from the get-go that following Him may make others - even family - hate them. Jesus’ approach is