Seeing as God Sees. ~ Rabqa

(All Scriptures are from N.L.T unless otherwise stated)

Last time we looked at thinking as God thinks, today we learn to see how God sees.

Psalm 119:130. The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand.

The entrance of God’s Word brings light, which is something we all need. We do not always know or see what we need to do, & many times we do not recognise our own problems. We need God’s light to understand ourselves & to see how we need to change & how we can cooperate with God to make things better. Reading God’s Word is like looking in a mirror. It enables us to see what needs to be cleaned up in our lives.


God’s Word brings entrance of light. It shines to illuminate who God is & who we are. Through its enlightment we become all He wants us to be & overcome whatever we have to go through. His Word is a brilliant candle. Casting light into every corner of our lives. The world & the devil conspire to corrupt our thinking. Our minds are like computers. Paul says that those who don’t know
God are futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (NKJ)Rom 1:21 & in Eph 4:18 (AMP) Their moral understanding is darkened and their reasoning is beclouded. [They are] alienated (estranged, self-banished) from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the ignorance (the want of knowledge and perception, the wilful blindness) that is deep-seated in them, due to their hardness of heart [to the insensitiveness of their moral nature].
Unbelievers can be so callous & hard that they are past feeling but they live by their feelings in unbridled sensuality & carnality.


God gives people feelings for a specific purpose & use in their walk with Him. But people have alienated themselves from God & are hardened to the place where they are beyond using their feelings for the right purpose. Satan moves them into an area where they live riotous lives, doing whatever they feel like doing.


What is the world’s philosophy today? “If it feels good do it! You & I are not to live that way, but to
make the truth of God’s Word our standard & to obey it by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Five traits of a worldly walk are summed up in the word futility which is emptiness & purposelessness: darkened understanding, alienation from God, ignorance of God’s way, hardened heart, & unfeeling state. (The Greek word means to have cessed to care.)

Dark minds & dark hearts that describes every one of us. But God is light (1John:5b) & when we are born again, our eyes are opened. We can see again!


In the light of the Word we can see the world as God sees it. We see ourselves as God sees us. Above all, we see God as He really is. Renewing our mind means training our brain to see as God sees.

God sees from the vantage point of heaven as we see in Psalm 33:14 From his throne he observes all who live on the earth.

God has a heaven’s eye view & so do we! As His Children, we are sitting with Christ in heavenly places (Eph 2:6). We can now view everything from that wonderful, unimaginably high place. & the Holy Spirit whispers to us, “What do you see?”


The key thing in renewing the mind is to get revelation of who God really is & who we are in Christ. We need to see God rightly & see ourselves rightly.

2 Cor 4:18 a. So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.

This verse teaches us that we must come to God with an unveiled face in order to receive the benefit from His new covenant.

To me this means that I stop being religious & legalist & just come to Jesus, when I lay aside all my works & begin to see Him, & when I allow Him to remove the veil from my eyes, then He & I can enter into a personal relationship that will ultimately change me into His image.

When we speak & attend to God’s Word, we connect with the spiritual realm & call things from that realm into our lives. We bring the seen that is our life in line with the unseen which is the things of eternity


Training our brain to see as God sees means training to see the invisible. We train our brains to see the unseen realities God has established in heaven as more real than the temporary seen realities of our lives now (because they are more real). We train our brain to see the things God wants for us even before those things are evident in our lives.


The unseen realm is more real because it deals with what God has already done. It is fixed & permanent (2Cor 4:18). God has thrown open a window so we can see into the unseen with spiritual eyes

Heb 11:1 N K J. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
By faith we see more than the outward & more than the present. That is faith is it is grasping the unrealities of hope & bringing them into the realm of reality. Faith is the title deed to things we hope for as ours.


The context in which Paul said we look at things that are unseen is striking he wrote in 2 Cor 4:16-18a. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.

Paul was imprisoned, beaten, whipped & shipwrecked! But he understood that these were but for a moment. He has his eyes fixed instead on the eternal. In other words He was seeing as God sees.
Heb 11:3 J K J) By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Our belief concerning God’s creative act exemplifies the evidence of things not seen.
The Greek word for framed is katartizo. Means to arrange, set in order adjust & complete, what is lacking, make fully ready, repair & prepare. The word is a combination kata which mans down & artios meaning complete or fitted. It is used for the disciples mending their nets (Matt 4:21) & restoring a fallen brother. (Heb 13:21)


It is when we speak the truth of God’s Word that we reprogram our minds to see how God sees. Our lives are already framed by our words in bad ways; therefore, we need to reframe them by speaking God’s Word which frames our world just as God framed His world by His Word.

God has made us masters of our own destiny. How we think creates our future & takes us into it.
What you are saying today is what you will be tomorrow.


In Romans 4 Paul talks about Abraham, who God promised would be the father of many nations’. He received that promise by faith. In other words, Abraham famed his destiny by choosing to trust God. Likewise we receive God’s promise of salvation by faith. In this sense, Paul is saying that Abraham is the father of us all. In Verse 17 (NKJ). In the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.

I encourage you to take a positive look at possibilities of the future & speak of those things that are not as though they were. Think & speak about your future in a positive way according to what God has placed in your heart~not according to what you have seen in the past or are seeing even now in the present. He has given you a great future. Believe it & confess it!


Think on the good, Philippians 4:8 tells us to
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.


Do you ever think about what you are thinking about? If you are not careful your thoughts can lead into problems. It is so important to think before you act, & to concentrate on things that are true, worthy of praise & honourable, just pure lovely, kind & admirable. Remember your actions will reflect God’s character & heart.


When we think like this we are thinking on things that will build us up, not tear us down.
Our thoughts certainly affect our attitudes & moods. Everything the Lord tells us to do is for our own good. He knows what makes us happy & what makes us miserable. When people are full of wrong thoughts, they are miserable, & I have learnt from personal experience that miserable people usually end up making others miserable too.

Take a personal inventory on a regular basis & ask yourself, what have I been thinking about? Spend some time examining your thought life.


Thinking about what you are thinking about is very valuable because satan usually deceives people into thinking that the source of their misery or trouble is something other what it really is. He wants them to think they are unhappy due to what is going on around them, but the misery is actually due to what is going on inside them that is their thoughts.


I urge you to think about what you are thinking about; & when you change the things you allow your mind to dwell on, you are on your way to the greater freedom, wholeness & victory.


All things listed in Philippians 4 bring us nothing but good. We need to speak them as favour & blessing over ourselves. Think on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Take them into your life.
spirit is in change so use it to bring your mind into subjection. Tell your negative mind to keep quite & say: mind stop it! You think in line with the Word of God. You line up with the Word & Spirit of God. When we meditate on God’s Word it enables us to make the right confessions like these. Fill your mind with God’s truth & you will fill it with the positive.


When we came into the kingdom of love, God placed His own nature within us. We have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16) & Col 1:12 says ...He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.

Just as God honoured Israel by giving that nation Canaan an earthly allotment. So He has honoured each member of the Church with the potential of obtaining the inheritance of spiritual Canaan.

I Jn :5b says that God is light & in Him there is no darkness at all. Renewing our mind starts with renewing how we see God. The natural mind doesn’t see God as He really is.


God gets the blame for so many things. For instance something bad happens like an earthquake or a cyclone, many people ask why did God do that? Why did He kill all those people?


In our personal lives we do the same. Something hard happens & we think, either subconsciously or consciously, “Why is God doing this to me?” People are taught, particularly in religion, “God will get you!”This is faulty programming that has created a distorted picture of who God is.


God is not doing bad things that happen to us or the world God is a God of love, not a God who wants to do you harm. Discouragement & depression are not from Him. He is not going to put cancer on you or break your arm.


People from a religious background often speak about the fear of God. What they seem to mean is that God is out to get you. This is a misunderstanding on more than one level. First, the fear of God isn’t about being scared of God doing mean things to you. The fear of God is about
the awesomeness of God, & our appropriate response to Him of deep reverence. The fear of the Lord is something beautiful to those who understand it; God gives goodness, not punishment, to those who fear Him.


Psalm 31:19. How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.
This verse teaches that God has stored up goodness or rewards for those who fear & trust Him. This is also confirmed by Jesus in Matthew 5:11, 12.


Second, God teaches & corrects us through His Word, not by making bad things happen to us: All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. 2 Tim 3:16-17.

Though Scripture was penned men, all of Scripture is divinely inspired (literally God breathed). & it is our authority & rule for faith & life. You can become a more serious student of God’s Word by sharing your faith with someone. The truth of the matter is that there may not always be the perfectly right time to share, but it is so important to be ready to take advantage of every opportunity that God gives to share your faith & to proclaim & teach His Word. Pray that God will help you recognise every opportunity & give you boldness to share!


God will not hit us over the head with sickness to teach us something that would be just like a father hitting his children over the head with a cricket bat to teach them a lesson. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman, always encouraging & always moving in love.


We can learn to think rightly about God, though John 1:18 says No one has ever seen God. We can think rightly about God because He has provided a way so we can see the invisible this verse goes on to say But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us. If you look at the life of Jesus you see the unseen God in Colossians 1:15. What did Jesus do? He restored deaf ears. He opened blind eyes. God is full of love & compassion & mercy. God is good all the time.


Our wrong ideas of God need to be uprooted. His love nature has been poured out in our hearts (Romans 5:5). It is His goodness that leads us to repentance, not fear (Romans 2:4). His love is so personal that He knows every hair on our head Luke 12:7). The Word of God overflows with indications of His love like these.


We need to brainwash ourselves with that Word, speaking it & turning it into thanksgiving & praise for instance “Thank you Father! You love me so much. Your grace is sufficient for me. There’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Your love is poured out in my heart.” Get the particular Word from the Holy Spirit that speaks to your heart & wash yourself in it, over & over.
You are not trying to get His love; you already have it, totally. If you consistently meditate on that, it will revolutionise your life. John 1:16 AMP) For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favour upon favour and gift [heaped] upon gift.

You already have it. It is the already’s of God that crate our firm foundation. What has God already done for you? What has He already given you. After learning to see God as He is the next important thing is to train our brain to see ourselves as we truly are.


I am convinced that the greatest need in the Church today is for us to know who we are in Christ, how the Father looks on us & what He considers us to be. God wants His people to stand up on the inside & know their identity. We are already positioned in the place of victory~we just need to know it & release it.


Grace means steeping into the realm of what Jesus has already fulfilled for us. Through His work on the cross, God has supplied us with everything we need for both now & eternity. Grace upon grace. Spiritual blessings upon spiritual blessings. Favour upon favour. Gift heaped upon gift. We need to train our minds to meditate on this grace so we have the fullness & revelation of it. Paul says in Ephesians 1:3. All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ

You may have read this verse before but missed its full significance. It means that you came into God’s kingdom through salvation; you were placed in a position. It’s a position where you have all the blessings that belong to Christ. You don’t have to wait for them until later. & you never have to work to get them.


Spiritual blessings in this verse refers to divine privileges & resources available now, that is, chosen, adopted & forgiven 1Cor 12:1 uses the same Greek word for spiritual in referring to the
gifts of the Holy Spirit, evidencing that they are among the blessings included.


This has startling implications. It means you already have the grace you need. All the acceptance by God. All the faith. All the forgiveness. All the deliverance & all the healing. That is because Jesus won it all at the cross. Now you just need to learn to rest in it & walk in it.


Both Jesus & Paul were at rest in there standing with God Jesus had no sense of lack. He walked through the earth, completely settled in His relationship with His Father. Likewise, Paul, despite a history of persecuting Christians, learned that God’s grace was completely sufficient for him. Although he was in prison when he wrote a letter to the Philippians, he mentions joy in it sixteen times! He received a revelation of who he was in Christ.


To rest in our position, we too need a revelation of it. Meditate on the Word, commune with Him in prayer, & you will come to the place where your hear Him say, “The right standing is yours! It is your inheritance. I have already given it to you. I have already paid the price. It is a done deal. Now thank me for it! & rest in it.


There are many Christians who are still living with guilt & condemnation from the past. It still has a grip on them. The key to getting free is to grasp that Jesus has acquitted you of everything you have ever done. I myself learnt this very valuable lesson at Victory life Church in Perth where Dr Margaret Court is the senior pastor, I had lived my whole life thinking I would never amount to anything & That no one would love me, I heard this from my mother form a very early age, But when I learnt this key I held on to it & it set me free.


In the Old Testament sin was only covered but in the New Testament sin was wiped out. Imagine I wrote on a blackboard all the things that have a hold on you & then took a blackboard duster & wiped them off. That is what Jesus has done with your past. He has taken it as far as the east is from the west (Ps 103:12).


Jesus has done everything for us to exchange your old life for a new life. You might say, “Well, I’m not walking in it.” Your need is to grow in the knowledge & revelation of it. Start by simply Thanking God for everything He has done for you & declaring that you receive it; “Thank you Father. I receive your righteousness; I receive your healing power. I receive your freedom.
Faith is the confident expectation that God has really done all He says He has done.


Psalm 33:4. For the word of the LORD holds true, and we can trust everything he does. Just receive & start to drink it in!


Let’s look at some of things that God has already done for us. As you go through them, make the choice to train your brain in your understanding of yourself as God sees you. Do this by thanking Him for all these things, declaring that you receive them & speaking out the truth of them over your life.


We have been:
1. Delivered from darkness Col 1;13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,
This verse conveys the idea of salvation rescuing us from the tyranny of darkness. Drawing on an important Old Testament theme (Ex 6:6, 14:30). It includes rescue from such negatives as danger, death, sickness & hostile situations in general (Ps 33:18,19). These rescues include both present deliverances & future. Consummated deliverances in the world to come.
1Thess 5:5. For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night.

Walking in the light of God’s Word ensures protection against satan’s lies & deception.
In my past this verse was most helpful to me, I can never stop praising God for who He is, He always, but, always has a Word when we need it. We can write it out & confess it & meditate on it. Say Father I thank you that you have delivered me out of the powers of darkness & transferred me into
the kingdom of your dear Son. Then you will start to sense that you are in His kingdom.
2. Liberated by grace. Gal 5:18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

The person who is directed by the Spirit will do what is right freely, & not by the compulsion of the law. So in other words is not under the law’s bondage & condemnation.


In the Old Testament God gave the Israelites the Law of Moses in order to reveal his holiness. It showed them they were sinners. If anyone could have kept the Law perfectly, it would have given them life (Romans 10:5). But since it was impossible, the law was powerless to make anyone right with God. Instead it was a curse on all who failed to keep it.


As the New Testament talks about Law, it is more than just the Mosaic Law. It refers to a whole way of trying to get right with God by personal performance. This effort is futile & leads only to the curse of condemnation. But we see in Galatians 3:13. That Jesus broke this curse. But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

God has poured out an abundance of grace as a free gift. Grace is what God is to you. Whenever you are conscious of what God is to you, you are under grace. The law says, “I am working for God”. But the grace says, “God is working for me.


If someone gives you a beautiful Christmas present you would say “thank you” Likewise say “Lord I thank you that you have made me righteous. I thank you that I do not have to strive for your approval.” When you speak like that you will get greater revelations of how God sees you.

3. 2 Cor 5:17 A M P). Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has
passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

Appropriate the fact that God has called you to live for Him. Avoid any selfishness or personal ambition. Godly living may result in disfavour with others because it warns of judgement for the ungodly. Godly individuals live by the ethic of love, selflessly asking, “How can I live for the benefit of others?” They are not lawless or sloppy in the way they live; rather, they seek to do right in everything.

4. Son & heirs Rom 8:15. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”

This verse teaches us that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of adoption. Here the word adoption means that we have been brought into God’s family even though we were previously outsiders, unrelated to Him in any way. We were sinners serving satan, but God in His great mercy redeemed us & purchased us with the blood of His own Son. Think of yourself as a child of God: loved accepted& empowered by His unconditional love for you.


5. Righteous consciousness 2Cor 5:21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

The statement is the positive counterpart to v19 that God does not impute our trespasses to us He imputed them instead to Christ who was sinless in every respect (Heb 4:15). He bore our sins on the cross & endured the penalty that we deserved, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.


6. No More Blinkers. Ps 36:9 For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.
The light is further revealed in Jesus (John 8:12).If you awaken to righteousness, it will remove the blinkers that stop you seeing with God’s eyes. In His light, your entire world will be illuminated. Awakening to righteousness clears out the mind & establishes a kingdom mentality.
When we carry this presence of God we are His power houses. We are the most awesome beings on earth.

Acknowledgements Dr. Margaret Court.