What Are You Looking At?

By Don Vess

What we see with our eyes will determine our direction.

Prov. 29:18 JJV- Where there is no vision the people perish…

There are some who cannot see past today. No vision for the future or clear direction of where they are going. God wants us to have a KINGDOM VISION and mindset.

Jesus made some startling statements concerning direction to His disciples. One day Jesus decided to leave Judea and go back to Galilee. He had to go through Samaria on the way there. As he was traveling, he came upon a Samaritan village called Sychar. Jacob’s well was there and Jesus was tired and sat down sat down for a rest. It was around noon time and soon a woman came to draw some water from the well. Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone because he had sent the Disciples into the village to buy some food. The woman was surprised because Jews didn’t normally have anything to do with a Samaritan, especially a Samaritan woman.

Jesus spent some time with the woman and after some back-and-forth dialog, he revealed himself to her as Messiah. While he was still speaking to her: John 4:27-35 NLT- Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” 28 The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” 30 So the people came streaming from the village to see him. 31Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.” 33 “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other. 34 Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. 35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.

With all that is going on in our world it is easy to lose focus on what we are commissioned to do. Matt. 28:18-19 NLT …Jesus told His disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations (ethnos: ethnic groups), baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given to you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

His last commandment should be our first priority!

If you’ve ever been out in farm country and saw the wheat when it was ready for harvest. It is a golden color. But if the wheat begins to turn white then it is to the point of being lost.

Jesus had just sown some good seed into the fertile soul of a spiritually thirsty and hungry Samaritan woman. He would reap that harvest in just a few short hours as this woman left her water jar and ran into her village declaring, “Come and see a man who me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So, the people came streaming from the village to Him.

Jesus explained, “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing His work. You know the saying, “Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, “WAKE UP AND LOOK AROUND. THE FIELDS ARE ALREADY RIPE FOR HARVEST!”

36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is PEOPLE BROUGHT TO ETERNAL LIFE. What joy awaits both planter and harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”

In this case it was Jesus that sowed the seed into the heart of the Samaritan woman, but now the disciples were going to reap a harvest from the seed the woman sowed. John 4:39-42 NLT-Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus BECAUSE THE WOMAN HAD SAID, “He told me everything I ever did!” 40 When they came to see Him, they begged Him to stay in their village. So, he stayed for two days, 41 long enough for many more to hear His message and believe. 42 Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we heard Him ourselves. Now we know that He is indeed the Savoir of the world.”

What are you looking at? Where is your focus? We can get so focused on the temporal things of life that we become totally blind to the harvest. Especially if we are unwilling to lift up our eyes and see the harvest field.

If you want to know what moves the heart of God, I will tell you! If you want to see the church grow, then allow what moves the heart of God move your heart too!

Matt. 9:35-38 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in their synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And He healed every kind of disease and illness. 36 When He SAW the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 He said to His disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest: ask Him to send more workers into the field.”

I shared the meaning of the word ‘compassion’ a few weeks back. It is Grk: “splagchnos: which means “Bowels.” Please allow me a little latitude here: The movement of the bowels produces action, doesn’t it! In the same way, Compassion always produces action!

Jesus was moved with compassion! What moves you to action? If we see people through the eyes of Jesus it will cause us to think and act differently. When Jesus saw the woman at the well, He didn’t see her as a ‘Samaritan Woman.’ He saw her as a person in need of a Savior. We should see people the same way.

How do you see our “enemies”?

Do you pray that God will destroy them? Is that His will for them? No!

John 3:16-17 NLT- “For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that EVERYONE who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal ife. 17 God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him. Peter wrote: 2 Peter 3:8-9 NLT- But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

Jesus seized an opportunity to sow the seeds of life into the Samaritan woman and instantly reaped a great harvest. God desires the same from us. When we LIFT UP OUR EYES from our own circumstances and look upon the fields of humanity, we will see fields that are ripe for harvest and when we begin to pray, we will be moved with compassion to enter the harvest fields to gather them in before they are lost for eternity.

Action Steps: In just a few weeks we are going to work together in a harvest endeavor. We have a great opportunity to both Sow and Reap through the drama Heaven’s Gates and Hell’s Flames.

We can Sow by:

1. PRAYING! Pray that we can effectively get the word out about the drama. Pray that God’s Spirit will begin to work upon the hearts of those that we will be inviting so that the gospel will be received into their hearts. Pray for the those who will be participating in all facets of the drama. We will be having corporate prayer several Sundays leading up to the Drama beginning Sunday, March 17, 630 P.M., each Sunday leading up the drama. I am also encouraging individual times of prayer and fasting for the event.

2. INVITE: Invite all your family, friends, and associates and by distributing flyers, and invitations. We will have the invitations, posters, and flyers available hopefully by next Sunday.

3. FOCUS: ask the Lord to give you a vision of what He desires for this event. Ask Him to show you individuals to invite. He will put faces in your mind of people that the Holy Spirit is drawing provide opportunity to invite them.

4. Ask God to lead you to people to share His love with who are “ripe” for harvest.