MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE KING

MEMORY VERSE: Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Isaiah 6:5

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Exodus 5-8

Why do we measure? We measure for various purposes. We measure to keep track of things. For instance we measure time to keep track of it. Psalm 90:12 says, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” We gauge our health based upon all sorts of measurements. Some common examples include height, weight, pulse, and blood pressure. These measurements can tell a doctor a lot about one’s general health. We measure to know the size or the amount of something. We measure so that we can have a point of reference that allows us to compare things. The tallest man living, by Guinness, is Sultan Kosen from Turkey who measured 251 cm (8ft 3in). How did Guinness book of records reach that conclusion that Mr Sultan Kosen is the tallest living man? By measuring tall people.

If we could not or did not measure and measure to a standard consistently and to a high degree of accuracy our modern world would ‘not’ exist. To get accurate results, there is a need to measure using the right yardstick. Imagine a person measuring room temperature with a barometer or measuring wind pressure with stethoscope. The results will never be accurate because barometers are built to measure atmospheric pressure not room temperature. Using the wrong yardstick to measure will always generate inaccurate results. This is exactly what happened to prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 6:1-6. Prior to the death of king Uzziah and his vision of heaven, he had always seen himself as a righteous man because he was using the people around him, individuals who practiced sexual immoralities, rich men who oppressed the poor, workers who stole from their masters, judges who pervert judgement, as a yardstick to measure his walk with God.

He was always quick to castigate and reprimand people. He literally went about saying 'woe to this fellow for this , woe to that fellow for doing that.' Isaiah 6:11 says, “woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with them, for what their hands have done shall be done to them”. One day the Lord showed him a vision of heaven and he saw himself. Isaiah 6:5 says, “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” For the first time, his unclean lips became obvious to him. When one uses the people around him or her, probably brothers and sisters who come to church late or are not punctual, as a yardstick to measure one's walk with the Lord, it will appear as if one has reached perfection. If care is not taking, one may even go round boasting about one's righteousness. The moment Prophet Isaiah saw himself before the Lord, he became sober. He suddenly realized that there were issues in his own life that he needed to work on. The good thing is immediately Isaiah saw his unclean lips and became sober, the Lord sent an angel who used hot coals to burn his lips thereby cleansing his lips. Not until we see ourselves and ask the Lord for grace to make amendments, we will not become who the Lord wants us to be. Not until we hold our lives against the living Word of God, we will not see our true state. Not until we use Christ as our yardstick, we may not truly appreciate the work required to become rapturable. Not until God opens our eyes to see our current state and helps us too, as He helped Isaiah, we may do all the hard work here on earth and miss heaven. I pray that will not be our portion in Jesus name.

NOTE: Christ is our yardstick to measure our life with.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please open my eyes see my state and give me the grace to make amendments.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

CRITERIA FOR SEEING GOD

MEMORY VERSE: Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God, Matthew 5:8

BIBLE VERSE: Josh 14-15, Ps 146-147, Jer 7, Matt 21

God is absolutely pure. He is as pure as light. 1 John 1:5 says God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. The bible records in Isaiah 6:3 that the angels are always saying Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. We all know the Lord is powerful. Psalm 62:11 says all power belong to Him. Matthew 19:26 says with God all things are possible. The question is why are the angels not saying Powerful, powerful, powerful is the Lord of hosts? Everyone knows God is love. 1 John 4:8 says God is love. The question is why are the angels not saying Loving, loving, loving is the Lord of hosts? We will all agree that the Lord is merciful. According to Psalm 103:8 God is rich in mercy. The question is why are the angels not saying Merciful, merciful, merciful is the Lord? The reason is that the only thing the Lord wants to be associated with is holiness. That is why the angels are always saying Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

Around the throne of God are twenty four elders dressed in white garments, praising God day and night, Revelations 4:3. These elders could have been dressed in pink because pink symbolizes love and God is love. These elders could have been dressed in purple because purple symbolizes royalty and our God is the King of kings. They could have been dressed in blue because blue symbolizes peace one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit but they are dressed in white, why? White symbolizes purity and that’s the condition for seeing God.

Matthew 5:8 says blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. In other words if your purity is on the outside and not on the inside, you are wasting your time. From time to time, we hear people say what matters is the inside not the outside. Please stop fooling yourself. Whatever is on the inside will show on the outside. When a fellow is mad on the inside, does it show outside? Yes of course. How do you know a plantain is ripe on the inside? It is by checking the outside. If it is green on the outside, you know it is unripe but if it is yellow you know it is ripe. How do you know an orange is ripe on the inside? It is by checking the outside. What is inside will reflect on the outside. Luke 6:45 says out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speak. When you see a lady dressed like a prostitute you know what is on the inside. When you see a man dressed like a thug, you know what is on the inside. Once you hear the words coming out of a fellow, you don’t need to be told the thoughts going through his heart. When we talk of purity, we are talking of all through purity. Purity right from inside unto the outside.

PONDER: What is inside will reflect on the outside.

THE SEEING EYE

Proverbs 29:18a says where there is no vision, the people perish.

There are different levels of seeing. There are those who cannot see at all, we call them blind. There are people who can see which constitutes the majority of us. There are people who can see through skill for example sculptors. A sculptor looks at a rock and sees an object; he gets his chisel and other tools and carves out the object. Without the skill one will see nothing but a rock. There are people who can see with their mind, they imagine things. There are people who can see through experience. Because of experience in certain areas they can see what ordinary people cannot see. Sometimes back I went to buy bananas in a shop. On coming out of the shop , an elderly woman met me and said ‘young man those bananas are not good , by this time tomorrow they will be all be rotten’. I looked at the banana they were very fresh. I said thanks ma but I was too tired to walk back and change them so I went home. I ate two out of five and by the time I got to the kitchen the next morning the three left were completely rotten. This woman from experience saw what I could not see. 

There are also people who can see with their spiritual eyes. In 2 Kings 6:15-17, Gehazi saw the whole town been surrounded by an army and He began to panic. He ran to call Elisha the anointed man of God and when that one got there, he just began to smile. Why? Because he saw the host of heaven in their millions protecting them. Two of them saw the same thing; while one was panicking the other began to rejoice. In 1 Samuel 17:1-58, while the whole army of Israel saw Goliath and his stature and began to panic, because of the anointing on David he saw the unprotected skull of Goliath and began to rejoice. Notice this, the whole army of Israel stood before Goliath and saw nothing but a young anointed boy saw an exposed skull. Whether we believe it or not, the spiritual runs the physical. Anyone who is blind spiritually is equivalent to a man blind physically. With all the gadgets in this world, we know a blind man is still limited in a lot of ways. How easy is it for a blind man to defend himself when he is been attacked. How fast can a blind man run? How much can he achieve and at rate will he achieved them? If a physically blind man is this limited how much more a spiritually blind man? Many have entered into wrong relationships, accepted wrong contracts, partnered with wrong people because they cannot see the spiritual. According to Proverbs 29:18a, the lack of vision i.e. spiritually blind can lead to physical harm or loss.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please open my spiritual eyes.