{"id":6508,"date":"2024-06-23T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-23T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=6508"},"modified":"2024-06-19T17:32:39","modified_gmt":"2024-06-19T22:32:39","slug":"transcendent-eyesight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=6508","title":{"rendered":"Transcendent Eyesight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>From God comes\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-9.25-churchartpro.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-9.25-churchartpro-937x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6509\" width=\"209\" height=\"228\" srcset=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-9.25-churchartpro-937x1024.jpg 937w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-9.25-churchartpro-275x300.jpg 275w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-9.25-churchartpro-768x839.jpg 768w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-9.25-churchartpro-600x655.jpg 600w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-9.25-churchartpro-1406x1536.jpg 1406w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-9.25-churchartpro-1320x1442.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-9.25-churchartpro.jpg 1635w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 209px) 100vw, 209px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>From God comes transcendent eyesight. Transcendent means above and beyond the range of normal or merely human experience. In other words, the ability to view the world, our circumstances, or people we meet from a spiritual perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Paul\u2019s letter to the Ephesians, he asks God to give them a Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so they can know God better. He prays that the eyes of their hearts may be enlightened so they can realize the riches of God\u2019s glorious inheritance for them. (Ephesians 1:17-21) It\u2019s a powerful passage pointing us towards God\u2019s strength, power, might, and promises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Paul wants their hearts to be enlightened which is another way of saying to open the eyes of their hearts. We have a legally blind woman in our congregation and I\u2019m sometimes moved to tears when I see her raising her hands in worship as she sings, \u201cOpen the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart.\u201d Her physical eyesight might be weak, but her spiritual eyesight is 20\/20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This kind of vision or perspective can only come from God. We want to see God as He is, not what others perceive He is. We want to see circumstance through God\u2019s eyes, not human eyes. We want to see the spiritual meaning behind the physical situation. Prayer and relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is the only way to achieve this sort of transcendent eyesight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Physically speaking, we have a limited view of the world, a two-dimensional understanding. God\u2019s view gives us spiritual depth perception. It opens our minds, hearts, and eyes to the miracles all around us that may be there, but we don\u2019t recognize them. As Jacob once said, \u201cSurely the Lord is in the place; and I knew it not\u201d (Genesis 28:16). We need spiritual insight to be aware of where God is working all around us, so we can allow Him to work through us to help others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the King of Aram sent armies to capture the prophet Elisha, the city was surrounded. His servant was frightened at the site of so many soldiers. Then Elisha said, \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.\u201d Then Elisha asked God to \u201cOpen his eyes, Lord, so he may see.\u201d Then God opened his servant\u2019s eyes and he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:17-18)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, God may not deliver us out of every dire situation the way we wish. However, without this spiritual transcendent eyesight, we forget that what we experience on earth is not as important as the eternal hope we have in Jesus Christ. Inviting Him to be part of every aspect of our physical lives gives Him the opportunity to grant us deeper spiritual understanding. Only God can open the eyes of our hearts to see Him everywhere we go and be present in everything we do.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>\u201cWhatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God\u2026\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>~James 1:17 (NLT)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From God comes\u2026 From God comes transcendent eyesight. Transcendent means above and beyond the range of normal or merely human experience. In other words, the ability to view the world, our circumstances, or people we meet from a spiritual perspective. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=6508\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6508"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6508"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6510,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6508\/revisions\/6510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}