Things Not Seen

This past Sunday we started a new Sunday School Series based on Jon Blooms book “Things Not Seen”.

It is a cry to re-center our lives, our hearts and our focus on the unseen things of His Kingdom. You see, it is the unseen things that survive the fires in our lives. 

Love, Relationships, Worship, Prayer, Communion, Giving – only those things that are unseen and centered in Christ will survive the storms we go through.

We live in a world driven by accomplishments and accolades but Jesus is demanding that our priority be those things unseen.

“Again, today, that’s always the call: slay the idol of the seen.” Jon Bloom

We have to continually choose to slay the idol of focusing on only what can be seen, praised and noticed. Our souls are always prone to wander so Jesus himself reminds us in

Matthew 6:6 NIV But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

Only when our hearts and minds focus on the unseen things of Christ – will a change in us become visible.

Jonathan Edwards said “In truth, the ideas and images in men’s minds are the invisible powers that constantly govern them.”

As we focus on the unseen, we become more and more like Jesus
.

Rick Warren says “If you want to become more like Jesus, fill your thoughts with Him.”

Jesus doesn’t just want us on Sunday, He wants our everyday lives, lived with His Kingdom in mind. He wants the unseen things of God weaved into all of our life – all of our work – all of our moments.

Only then in our most difficult and trying circumstances can we survive the fire with a stronger faith. Just like the heroes of Hebrews 11. This chapter is full of people who remind us by their faith to trust Gods promises more than our perceptions.

“Promises will hold us up when perceptions make us sink.” Jon Bloom

We began by studying the life and trials of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis.

You know the story; Joseph is his father’s favorite. Joseph has a dream that his family will bow down to him, he tells his family, his brothers sell him into slavery and he is taken to Egypt. Joseph prospers in captivity – then he’s accused of rape(falsely) and thrown into prison. He prospers in prison but is still forgotten by men. Finally, Joseph is asked to interpret a dream for Pharaoh and God helps him prepare Egypt for 7 years of famine. Joseph is made 2^nd in charge.  His dream is finally fulfilled and his brothers show up looking for food because of the famine and bow down before him.

The time has arrived. He could have sought revenge but instead Joseph says

Gen 45:7-8 God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here but God.

Gen 50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me but God meant it for good – to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

From the beginning of Josephs story to the end – God was in it – taking what the enemy intended for evil and turning it around for good. Joseph himself testified that God did it to him.

The lesson for us is what Joseph did during his prisons years. He submitted, prayed and waited for God to fulfill His purpose. He let the prison years purify his heart. How do we know this?  Because when the time finally arrived (13 years later) and he was brought before Pharaoh, he was able to interpret the dream on the spot. Josephs heart was right before God. He had not allowed his innocent imprisonment to embitter his soul, but he had kept his heart pure before God and he was able to hear from God in the moment of necessity.

Psalm 105:16-19 ESV When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply^[a] of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron until  what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him. 

Joseph carried a dream, a Word from God, in his heart. While the manifestation of that Word was delayed – that Word tested him. It was a fire of delayed answers. His affliction and darkness were to prepare him to be a vessel who could handle leading an entire nation.

Gods first priority in our lives is to make us fruitful and mature – it is not first and foremost to make us comfortable.

So in every circumstance of your life – the good and the bad – keep your eyes focused on the unseen. Think about Jesus, think about others and think about eternity.

1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.

“When you start focusing on truths like that, all of your problems are going to seem inferior compared to the glory, the joy, and the pleasure of the things you have to look forward to in eternity." Rick Warren

Sources

Jon Bloom, Things Not Seen, Crossway 2015, Desiring God

Bob Sorge, The Fire of Delayed Answers, Bob Sorge, 1996

Rick Warren, This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren.