Of all the senses, sight is the one we most rely on.
Sound, touch, smell and taste add another dimension to our reality check, but we give more credibility to what we see.
Other senses are magnified for those who were born blind or have lost their sight.
For them, sound, touch, smell and taste become their eyes.
For the rest of us, sight is our number one checkpoint for verification.
For instance, a low battery warning in a fire alarm can be mistaken for a cricket, so sound can confuse us.
Forced to identify something by touch alone (as in a popular game) can be very difficult.
Perfume may smell like a flower, but it is not the flower itself.
Chefs are expert in making food taste like something else, to please our palate.
However, unless we are watching an illusionist perform, what we see, we believe.
This tendency to only believe what we see presents a problem for some people as far as a relationship with God.
That may be the reason some people are comfortable with an idol.
People often state they cannot believe in a God they cannot see.
God, our creator, knows this is a human characteristic.
He knows people want to see Him.
He expects those who are looking for Him - who have spiritual eyes as well as physical ones - will find Him.
God's creation is a visible witness of an invisible God.
"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse" (Romans 1:20 NIV).
Moses, one the men who walked and talked with God in Old Testament times, asked permission to see Him in His glory.
For Moses' protection, God was only willing to allow Moses to see His back for no man could see His face and live.
Job, a godly man who loved God, endured many trials at the hand of Satan who wanted to turn Job from his worship of God.
After Job passed the test, he gave a great testimony of seeing with spiritual eyes when he told God that before he had heard of Him, but now he saw Him and repented.
God's greatest gift to mankind came when He revealed Himself in the form of a Man - the ultimate Word picture.
The coming of Jesus was His plan from the beginning.
When Jesus came, those who had spiritual eyes recognized the gift of God with their physical eyes.
He was the one they had been looking for.
Even one of His followers would not accept the testimony of the other disciples when He had risen from the dead.
Thomas told them he would not believe it unless he saw the nail wounds in His hands for himself.
Jesus appeared before Thomas and presented the evidence he asked for, but declared that those who believed without actually seeing Him with their eyes were blessed.
Multitudes who did see Jesus in His lifetime on earth did not believe in Him, even when they saw the miracles He performed.
For them, seeing was not believing because their hearts were hard.
Jesus spoke of this disbelief many times as He talked about those who have eyes, but do not see.
There are many throughout history, though, who have believed in God's Savior with only their spiritual eyes.
They did not have the advantage Thomas had, but knew in their hearts that the promise God made for redemption was real.
Like Job, seeing God with spiritual eyes caused them to repent.
Visualization comes through not only seeing something with our eyes, but words can also paint a picture for us.
The same words may not create the same picture for you that it does for me, because we approach a book, story or poem from our own viewpoint, including our background, education and faith.
The picture created in my mind from the words I read is mine alone therefore sometimes making describing it to someone else a difficult task.
God, however, does not have a problem putting into words the picture that He wants me to see.
He knows each of us intimately and is aware of the word picture that will meet our need and bring us to Him.
The Bible, the written word of God, can speak to each of us in different ways - just the words we need to hear when we need to hear them.
God the Father sent His Son, the Word of God, so that we could see Him.
Jesus is the very image of God.
If you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father.
It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words.
Jesus gave us all the evidence we would ever need - His life as the Word of God.
Would you, like Moses, like to see God's glory.
You can.
Look at Jesus.
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).
Sound, touch, smell and taste add another dimension to our reality check, but we give more credibility to what we see.
Other senses are magnified for those who were born blind or have lost their sight.
For them, sound, touch, smell and taste become their eyes.
For the rest of us, sight is our number one checkpoint for verification.
For instance, a low battery warning in a fire alarm can be mistaken for a cricket, so sound can confuse us.
Forced to identify something by touch alone (as in a popular game) can be very difficult.
Perfume may smell like a flower, but it is not the flower itself.
Chefs are expert in making food taste like something else, to please our palate.
However, unless we are watching an illusionist perform, what we see, we believe.
This tendency to only believe what we see presents a problem for some people as far as a relationship with God.
That may be the reason some people are comfortable with an idol.
People often state they cannot believe in a God they cannot see.
God, our creator, knows this is a human characteristic.
He knows people want to see Him.
He expects those who are looking for Him - who have spiritual eyes as well as physical ones - will find Him.
God's creation is a visible witness of an invisible God.
"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse" (Romans 1:20 NIV).
Moses, one the men who walked and talked with God in Old Testament times, asked permission to see Him in His glory.
For Moses' protection, God was only willing to allow Moses to see His back for no man could see His face and live.
Job, a godly man who loved God, endured many trials at the hand of Satan who wanted to turn Job from his worship of God.
After Job passed the test, he gave a great testimony of seeing with spiritual eyes when he told God that before he had heard of Him, but now he saw Him and repented.
God's greatest gift to mankind came when He revealed Himself in the form of a Man - the ultimate Word picture.
The coming of Jesus was His plan from the beginning.
When Jesus came, those who had spiritual eyes recognized the gift of God with their physical eyes.
He was the one they had been looking for.
Even one of His followers would not accept the testimony of the other disciples when He had risen from the dead.
Thomas told them he would not believe it unless he saw the nail wounds in His hands for himself.
Jesus appeared before Thomas and presented the evidence he asked for, but declared that those who believed without actually seeing Him with their eyes were blessed.
Multitudes who did see Jesus in His lifetime on earth did not believe in Him, even when they saw the miracles He performed.
For them, seeing was not believing because their hearts were hard.
Jesus spoke of this disbelief many times as He talked about those who have eyes, but do not see.
There are many throughout history, though, who have believed in God's Savior with only their spiritual eyes.
They did not have the advantage Thomas had, but knew in their hearts that the promise God made for redemption was real.
Like Job, seeing God with spiritual eyes caused them to repent.
Visualization comes through not only seeing something with our eyes, but words can also paint a picture for us.
The same words may not create the same picture for you that it does for me, because we approach a book, story or poem from our own viewpoint, including our background, education and faith.
The picture created in my mind from the words I read is mine alone therefore sometimes making describing it to someone else a difficult task.
God, however, does not have a problem putting into words the picture that He wants me to see.
He knows each of us intimately and is aware of the word picture that will meet our need and bring us to Him.
The Bible, the written word of God, can speak to each of us in different ways - just the words we need to hear when we need to hear them.
God the Father sent His Son, the Word of God, so that we could see Him.
Jesus is the very image of God.
If you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father.
It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words.
Jesus gave us all the evidence we would ever need - His life as the Word of God.
Would you, like Moses, like to see God's glory.
You can.
Look at Jesus.
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).
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