Heavenly Perspective: Seeing Through the Eyes of Faith

“If you don’t know who you are, you will live like someone else.” - Unknown

What we think about ourself matters.

Proverbs 23:7a (NKJV)

7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

We don’t see correctly without the eyes of faith.

1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

We are most familiar with our past.

God is most familiar with our destiny & has overcome our past.

As long as we live according to our history, we will never make it to our destiny!

1 John 3:2 NKJV

2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

It takes faith to see our history defeated and our destiny completed!

2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV

7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Hebrews 11:1 AMP

1 NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

Faith is the confident assurance of the outcome!

How God Sees:

God sees through the eyes of Faith!

Genesis 1:1–3 NKJV

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

God was not defeated by the lack of raw materials to work with.

God had the material substance of faith!

Hebrews 11:3 NKJV

3 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.

If the worlds were framed by the word of God, do you think His words are powerful enough to frame your life?

God’s Advantage:

Isaiah 46:10 NKJV

10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’

God sees and declares the end all the way from the beginning & sees the precise way to get there.

Revelation 1:8 NKJV

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

He sees both the beginning and the ending because He IS both the beginning and the ending.

Much like a maze- we are in it, but He is above it.

Can you see how God sees?

God Sees you through the Eyes of Faith!

(That’s how He sees everything)

Can you see yourself how God sees you?

Romans 4:3 NKJV

3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

You can see yourself how God sees you when you see yourself through God’s eyes.

He wrote down who you are in the Bible.

Will you choose to believe it?

The surest sign you believe something is when you live it!

Jeremiah 17:14 NKJV

14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For You are my praise.

Will you allow God to define who you are?

When you see how God sees you, you will be tempted to doubt it.

Oftentimes, doubt is rooted in fear.

Fear that we can’t live up to God’s standards or views of us and our destiny - so why even try?!

Gideon - a quick case Study:

Gideon was hiding from the Midianites

Judges 6:11–12 NKJV

11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

Gideon’s actions did not display him as a mighty man of valor, but he was!

God called Gideon something he was not acting like - a mighty man of valor.

Can you believe God, after all - it is impossible for God to lie (Heb. 6:18)?

Will you fight to believe and be who God said He created you to be?

A Few Great Things God Says About You:

Blessed coming in and going out (Deuteronomy 28:6)

Redeemed from the hand of the enemy (Psalms 107:2)

Free (John 8:36)

A new creature (II Corinthians 5:17)

Getting all my needs met by Jesus (Philippians 4:19)

Healed by His stripes (I Peter 2:24)

An imitator of Jesus (Ephesians 5:1)

Daily overcoming the devil (I John 4:4)

Just One Thing:

Let God tell you who you are, believe it, fight for it, become it, live it!

Discussion Questions:

What is your favorite thing about being a part of a Connect Group?

What most impacted you from the sermon this week? Please share why that thing impacted you so much and how you can respond practically to it.

Please read Hebrews 11:1 in as many translations as you can and share in your own words what faith is & how you know when you are walking by faith (a.k.a. -“living in the Faith-zone”)

What is the part of your history that fights hardest against you believing the plan and destiny for your life from God?