Open our eyes Lord

25th March 2012 Eltham Baptist Church

No. 370

Have you seen that ad on TV where a man is watching a childrens running race and thinks his son is winning, he jumps up and down ecstatically, shouting his sons name and cheering him on? The people around him are laughing at him? Why? Because of his bad eye sight he thinks the winner is his son when actually his son was coming last and was stopping to wave at him. The advert concludes with the slogan; He should have gone to Spec Savers. Bad eye sight can cause lots of problems especially as you get older, for you keep getting it all wrong. I was at our Church Beach Camp a couple of years ago and was walking down for a swim (without my glasses) and went past a friends house and thought the wife was putting out the washing so I called out to her, making conversation but got no response, for it was the husband and he didnt know what I was talking about. Some family members nearby were laughing to themselves and I soon realised what was going on and felt a real idiot. Having bad eye sight can be dangerous. I have prescription transition glasses and when I first put out the washing on the clothes line the trousers just fell to the ground as I missed the line by an inch because of my bad sight. It must have looked really funny. I was hanging the clothes on nothing. God has plans for His Churchs eyesight in these days. Peter said on the day of Pentecost that God will raise up a Prophetic People in these last days, both young and old who are anointed by God.
"'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Acts 2:7

Both these anointings on the young and old are in the seeing realm. God is going to open eyes so that they see things clearer. I was reading the ministry of Elisha this week and was struck by these verses in 2 Kings Chapter 6. Bryon also spoke about this in the leaders meeting.
Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, I will set up my camp in such and such a place. 9The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there. 10So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places. 11This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel? 12None of us, my lord the king, said one of his officers, but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom. 13Go, find out where he is, the king ordered, so I can send men and capture him. The report came back: He is in Dothan. 14Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.15When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. Oh, my lord, what shall we do? the servant asked. 16Dont be afraid, the prophet answered. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them. 17And Elisha prayed, O Lord, open his eyes so he may see. Then the Lord opened the servants eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, Strike these people with blindness. So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked. 19Elisha told them, This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for. And he led them to Samaria. 20After they entered the city, Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see. Then the Lord opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria. 21When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them? 22Do not kill them, he answered. Would you kill men you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master. 23So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israels territory. 2 Kings 6:8-23

Elisha asked God to open the servants eyes for he was afraid of the armies that he was seeing all around him. When his eyes were opened he then saw the angels of God and fear left him. If we dont have our eyes opened in these days we too will live in fear for that which is coming on the earth. We too will get it all wrong because of our bad eye sight and even cheer for the wrong crowd and make an idiot of ourselves. We need to have our eyes opened first of all so that we might see Jesus. If He is not our ultimate focus then we will stumble and fall into error. There are many Christians out there who have only

the End Times as their focus or just Deliverance, Revival or finances. These are all good in themselves, but they need to be in there right place. We also need our eyes opened, not just to see clearer and be fear free but to then start doing something about the situation that we are in. Its not just all about living fear free, but changing things around us as well. Elisha spoke into the situation that he was in, commanding the enemy to go blind and then led them down the garden path so to speak. He later spoke again and blessed them with food, as well. The power of life and death was in his tongue and so is it with us.
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

Elisha was a thermostat and not just a thermometer. In other words he had the power to change the situation around him like a thermostat rather than just read it as it appeared to be like a thermometer. God wants us to be thermostats as well and change situations like Elisha did. It requires more than just having your eyes opened but also speaking into situations. One thing Ive realised is that when it comes to the speaking part its not just a one off confession; for it can be a long hard battle of faith. It sometimes takes years for the enemy to be taken down. I just watched an amazing testimony of a Christian woman called Anita Siddiki who after she got pregnant with her first child started to become paralysed down her right side and was eventually diagnosed with MS and became bed ridden. Her husband and her were really into the faith teachings of Hagin and Copeland and bought a continuous play tape recorder. They played faith building healing messages along with all the healing scriptures of the bible all day long and all night as she lay in bed. Amazingly after two and a half years she was completely healed. It wasnt a one night confession. If you want to watch these testimonies go to http://wisdomministries.org/wisdomtvplayer.html its a video at the bottom left hand side of the page. God wants to raise up a prophetic people today whose eyes are opened, speaking forth the word of God into situations, countries, towns, churches and families. We first need to have our eyes opened to the truth. You may not see very clearly at first but as you believe Gods word, things will become clearer and clearer. When Jesus opened the eyes of a blind man it wasnt an instant healing for the man only saw men as trees walking but it soon it became complete. Mark 8:23-25 Recently I was with someone who had a really bad throat infection and a day or so later my throat was becoming sore too. I had a list of healing scriptures that I fell to my knees with and read them 3 times a day or more. In the day we were meant to take medicine 3 times a day so I figured that the word of God is even more powerful and should be taken no less than that. I prayed over these verses and meditated on them and the next day when I woke up and the sore throat was gone. I know that this is not as bad as MS, but I want to share with you the need to get back to Gods word. Blind people hate change. A completely blind person likes to have their house all laid out in the same way every day so they dont trip up on random items lying around. Spiritually blind people dont like change either and find anything new hard to digest. We need to fight our way out of the rut that we are in and have our eyes opened. I have also noticed that when a Christian backslides they soon lose their spiritual eyesight and start cheering for the wrong side. I have even seen them siding with the new age types and the worldly people, despising Christians and all they stand for. We need our eyes opened. Isnt it amazing how you can feel so bleak and in the dark and suddenly come out of it when you see a scripture that speaks to you, it turns your night into day. God opens your eyes to see truth. Isaiah 60:1-3 tells us that there will be a lot of darkness in the world in these last days, but God says h\He will open His Childrens eyes to see the light. We need our eyes opened so that we can not only be set free from fear but also see as God sees. Once we know His agenda, lets speak out His word and turn the wilderness into a garden. http://ghotter.blogspot.com