Filtered Light

In our last study, we talked about FAITH being like a LENS.

There are lots of different kinds of lenses for different purposes. But, the fact is, a lens is an optical device—it doesn’t change the viewed object. It doesn’t change TRUTH— or what IS. A lens only changes the perspective and perception of the one looking through it. Depending on the type of lens, it might make an object appear larger or appear smaller than it actually is; it might bring it into clearer focus or frame it in a different light; or it may bring out details that were THERE all along, but that you couldn’t see before.

FAITH is a LENS. When I look through the lens of faith—TRUSTING Him—God is magnified! My needs and desires become smaller! God’s Will is clearer! I see others in a different light! Details of inspiration, revelation, and beauty that I never saw before suddenly appear before my eyes!

Let’s take this application a bit deeper: there are filters that we can apply to a lens to further manage and adjust our vision—like wearing polarized sunglasses over contact lenses. Likewise, in addition to our LENS of FAITH, God has given us additional tools—filters—through which our “faith vision” becomes more defined:

• The WORD: When we filter our thoughts, what we see, read and hear, through the light of God’s Word, it allows us to discern more easily between TRUTH and error—between sound wisdom and unsound foolishness. “For ever, O LORD, thy WORD is settled in heaven.” (Psalm 119:89 KJV) His promises are absolutely true, and His Word stands forever. (Matthew 24:35)    
• The SPIRIT: By the power of the Holy Ghost, God allows us to see what our natural eyes cannot. Like using night goggles, God gives us clearer vision through the darkness into the way things truly are according to God’s plan, work, and purposes. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6 KJV)                                                                 
• The NAME: Because of the POWER of the Name of JESUS, we are able to see what once seemed impossible—as POSSIBLE! It is because of HIM—the Mighty God in Christ—that His NAME represents His AUTHORITY. “Through FAITH in the name of Jesus, this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ NAME has healed him before your very eyes.” (Acts 3:16 NLT)   
• The BLOOD: Because GOD sees our iniquities as forgiven THROUGH the shed blood of Jesus, He says, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18 KJV)  My stepdad was a lithographer and a master at color separation for the purpose of making fine quality artists’ He used to tell me, “When you look at the color red on white paper through a red filter, the red is absorbed into the white and the red disappears!” When our sins are forgiven and viewed through the BLOOD, they are absorbed into His pure holiness, and they vanish forever!

By fixing our eyes forward, through the LENS of FAITH, and filtering our vision through the WORD, the SPIRIT, the NAME, and the BLOOD of Jesus, “we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18 CSB)

Dear God, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” (Psalm 119:18 ESV)