Waking Up With Dysfunctional Vision
(5 minutes)
"What's your appetite look like? What's controlling your appetites? Is it the Kingdom of God or is it you? What we feed from is what we reflect. So if we're feeding from this world and we're listening to the doubt, fear, and anxiety that this world provides, this is what we reflect, this is what we reproduce. Whatever you're intimate with is what you reproduce. So think about this for a moment: am I exclusively intimate with Him or am I intimate with a multitude of things? The issue is when you become intimate with something that's dysfunctional, when you become intimate with something that's not of His kingdom, you lose your ability to see that it's dysfunctional. This is why Jacob thinks he's marrying Rachel, and wakes up with Leah." (Pastor Tim)
We've all walked through moments where we couldn't see the dysfunction right in front of us. We all have things in our past that we look back at and say, "Why couldn't I see it?" This is why we couldn't see it: because when you become intimate with and start staring at something dysfunctional, you lose your ability to see correctly. Your perspective is twisted. It's called delusional thinking.
When you're right in the middle of delusional thinking, Jesus will even have a hard time convincing you otherwise. We literally become blind to the truth. And like Pastor Tim mentioned on Sunday, there's only one way to wake yourself up from this kind of deception: you have to look at what your life is producing. Fruit doesn't lie. It's always a truthful witness to where it came from.
"Is what I'm reproducing in God's kingdom? So if I'm experiencing doubt about a situation, fear, anger, or any of these things, I ask myself the question: is this going on in God's kingdom?" (Pastor Tim)
If what you're producing can't be found in God's kingdom, you've become intimate with dysfunctional vision.
This is why Jesus' invitation is, "Metanoia! Change the way you think, because God's kingdom is here and available to you right now." But it can't be accessed while you're still feeding from the kingdom of this world. We've already established that our relationship with Yahweh has been patterned after a covenant marriage. And just like us, He doesn't want there to be any mixture in this union. He's after exclusivity, our whole heart. He's patient with us, but He's also jealous and constantly pursuing His beloved Bride. He's coming after everything that hinders the love affair between us and Him. He's coming after our delusional thinking.
If He's lured you into the wilderness, that's a sure sign that by the time this is over you're going to be transformed into a radiant Bride, and His name will no longer be "Master," but "Husband." Let Him pull you even deeper into this intimate, exclusive union. His kingdom is already expanding within you!
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Worship: "I Love Your Presence" by UPPERROOM
Honor: Give Online to The Wilderness Place
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