LUKE 11:34-36.
This may seem like a confusing scripture but I think it is extremely important. I don’t believe that this is talking about our physical eyes notice it says “eye” not eyes.
And in verse 35 it says take heed or watch out that the light that is in you is not darkness. This is talking about our perspective or how we see or understand things. Pro.23:7 says, “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.” think- that is our understanding, how do we understand or conceive a situation that’s how you will react. Many times the same circumstances will cause various reactions by different people-why? Because of the way each person perceives or understands the situation. One day, the father of a very wealthy family sent his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. The son spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
Upon the son’s return, the father asked, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.
"Oh yeah," said the son.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered:
"I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.
Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.
We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.
We buy our food, but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."
The boy’s father was speechless: Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."
I like this way of looking at things.
When other people take a long time to do something, they’re slow; when we take a long time, we’re thorough. When they don’t do something, they’re lazy; when we don’t, we’re too busy. When they succeed, they’re lucky; when we do, we deserve it.
Look at LUKE 11:36. This means that if we have the right perspective we will make right choices. Life is all about our choices. Probably all of us can look back at situations in our lives and realize if we would have chosen differently, things could have been better or we wouldn’t have made a series of bad mistakes.
Dr. Pierce Harris, a pastor from Atlanta, Georgia, preached to some prisoners. One of the prisoners got up and introduced him th the others with these words: “Several years ago, two boys lived in a town in north Georgia. They went to the same school, played together and attended the same Sunday School. One dropped out of Sunday School and said that it was ‘sissy stuff.’ The other boy kept on going. One rejected Christ; the other accepted Him. The boy who rejected Christ is making this introduction today. The boy who accepted Christ is the honored preacher who will speak to us today!”
Of course the perspective we need is God’s perspective. When we look at things through God’s revelation and perspective we respond in ways that bless us.
LUKE 7:36-50.
I love this story. There is a lot we can see in it. What we are going to look at today is the two different perspectives shown by the Pharisee and the woman and the resulting actions caused by their perspectives. This Pharisee had such an opportunity, he had Jesus Christ at his home for dinner. But because of his perspective he really missed out. What wonderful things could have happened because Jesus was at his house for dinner. We know that in the case of Zacchaeus, dinner with Jesus changed his life. Jesus declared that salvation had come to his house. Once when Jesus was at Peter’s house Peter’s mother-in-law was healed. When Jesus was at Mary and Martha’s house, Mary sat at His feet listening to the word and Jesus said she had received the needful thing: to hear the word of God. Mary got to listen to Jesus teach at her house. Wow!! As we look at this story of the Pharisee we can think of lots of wonderful things that could have been. Even though this Pharisee had such a great opportunity, he missed out.
So, what Were the perspectives in this story?
HIMSELF: This Pharisee obviously thought he was “all right” as he was. That he was a good guy. According to the world’s way of looking at things he probably was.
HERSELF: This woman knew that she was sinful and needed a savior.
What is the true perspective-God’s perspective. ROM.3:23, EPH.2:1-8. This is very important because until someone realizes that they need a savior they will not want Jesus. MARK 2:17. This doesn’t mean that some people are not sinners it means that people must recognize that they are and that they need a Savior.
LUKE 18:9-14. God is ready though the blood of Jesus to save anyone who will realize that they are sinful and in need of saving. If anyone thinks that they are good enough on their own they make it impossible to for God to save them because they reject Jesus. We must never forget that without Christ we would be lost.
ETERNITY: This Pharisee thought he could make it to heaven on his own. There are many twists on this today. Many people feel that since God is good , He would not send any one to hell. In reality God doesn’t send them, people choose to go when they reject God’s plan of salvation. Some people think there is no eternity, you just die. This Pharisee must have thought that his being a Pharisee would get keep him to heaven. There are lots of religions today that teach that if you are baptized a member of their church that you will go to heaven. This woman on the other hand knew her only hope was God’s mercy and God’s way. She was looking to Jesus for hope.
Again this is so important. You can find all kinds of opinions that will tickle your ears but here is the bottom line God is the one who makes those decisions. Isn’t it smart to look to Him to find the truth. Is there a heaven and hell? MARK 9:43-48. Jesus was the biggest hell fire and brimstone preacher in the Bible because He doesn’t want anyone to go there. Two very important things we can see here is that there definitely is a real place of torment called hell. And that it is worth whatever it takes not to go there. Kenneth Hagin died when he was 16 years old. He was a church goer but not a Christian. He experienced hell. When he came back to life he accepted Jesus as his Savior. REV.21:3-5. 1PET.1:3-5. These words are faithful and true, that means we can bank on these words being true. Heaven is real according to God’s word. Why would anyone want to miss out on heaven. Jesse Duplantis had a trip to heaven in which God showed him beautiful things. One of the things that he shared that really touched my heart was an encounter with Jesus where Jesus told him how sad for Him it will be at judgement day because that’s it. Those who rejected God’s offer of heaven will have to go to hell. The souls that He loves that reject Him will not have another chance. Jesus told Jesse tell people, “ I’m coming.” JOHN 14:1-3. God made the earth in six days, and He has been working on heaven this long, it’s going to be great.
JESUS: The Pharisee thought of Jesus as just a man. Our scripture says he didn’t even treat Him with the same respect that other guests of those days received. The woman saw Him as her Savior. What a difference it makes. What does God say about it? JOHN 14:6, JOHN 11:25, ISA.9:6, JOHN 8:58, JOHN 8:24,
1JOHN 5:11-13
MATT. 16:13-18. God’s revelation or perspective is very important. We have the choice to believe whatever we choose but if we choose to look at things with God’s view point we are blessed. Blessed means, “empowered to prosper.”
Let’s look at the responses caused by their perspectives.
The Pharisee took his acquaintance with Jesus very lightly. He didn’t have a desire to serve Him. He didn’t consider it very special to be around Jesus. He was critical of Jesus. He was prideful when it came to others. He didn’t put any effort into getting to know Jesus. He didn’t consider being with Jesus as special. The woman on the other hand found being with Jesus so precious that she risked ridicule and insult to be with Him. She pursued Jesus. This woman loved Jesus. She brought Him costly perfume. She humbled herself before Him. What she did was beautiful worship. Her concern wasn’t in someone seeing her or what others thought of her. Her desire was to worship and please Jesus.
My question is, what is our perspective? Our lives will show the view we hold. We might say we love Jesus but are we like this Pharisee. Many times people who call themselves Christians are very much like this Pharisee. What place do the things of God hold in Our lives. Do we have a desire to worship? Do we love spending time with Jesus? Is His word important to us? Do we look down on others because we feel we are better? How much time do we give to the Lord? Will we take ridicule to be associated with Jesus? Will we serve Him? Will we worship Him even when others don’t? Do we love Him much? What are we doing for Jesus? Are we just living for ourselves? Are we willing to change for Him? Are we taking opportunities to draw close to Him, or are we more interested in what’s on T.V. than spending time with Him. Our lives will show our love for Him.
We need to ask ourselves do we have God’s perspective when it comes to ourselves. I am not saying that as Christians we should see ourselves as sinners, but we should see ourselves as God sees us, saved by the precious blood of Jesus and if we do our appreciation will be evident. The more I learn what God has done for me the more I desire Him and love Him. What is our perspective when it comes to eternity? Do we really believe there is a heaven and a hell? Is it a reality in our lives? Col.3: tells us then to set our minds on thing above. How do we see Jesus. Do we see Him as our only Savior?
REV.3:20.
Jesus wants to spend time with you! He is knocking will you let Him come in and dine with you?
