FIRST LOVE RECOVERY MINISTRIES ONE EYE 'Two optics become one
when restfully centred on the Lord God Almighty alone whose
supreme will should be done' Matt.6:22-23(KJV) "The light of the
body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole
body shall be full of light." "But if thine eye be evil, thy
whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light
that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" Focus
is important with respect to the issue of divine destiny. While
having the right focus ensures that one will fulfill one's
divine destiny;having no focus or the wrong focus guarantees
failure as far as destiny is concerned. It is not therefore
surprising to note that the devil,the prime enemy of
destiny,seeks to destroy,divert,or defile one's right focus(John
10:10a)! The devil tries to destroy one's right focus so that
one end up with no focus at all! If he does not succeed,he then
tries to divert it;he proceeds to divert it so that one will
have a wrong focus! However if he fails,then he tries to defile
it so that it becomes blurred! He tries these different
strategies during times of temptation which are common to
everyone. Temptations come at 'good times' or 'bad times'. 'The
eye' is the organ of one's inner man concerned with focus. When
one has a right focus,one has a 'single or one eye'(Matt.6:22).
But the focus becomes lost,wrong or blurred,when one's 'one eye'
becomes 'dark or evil'(Matt.6:23)! No one is born into this
world with 'one eye' except for the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of
God. Everyone was born in sin,estranged from God that is why we
naturally walk in spiritual darkness which normally fills us
from an 'evil eye'. But when one receives Jesus Christ as one's
personal Lord and Saviour,the 'evil eye' becomes 'one eye' and
one begins to walk in the light that now fills one from a
'single eye'! This important personal decision makes one singly
for God,a follower of Christ who is a real person having 'one
eye'! Having 'one eye' primarily means that the Lord has becomes
one's first love! Every follower of Christ needs to guard 'the
eye'! so as to maintain the right focus even when facing the
challenges one encounters on the journey of destiny. One who has
and keeps 'one eye' has a focus on the following:- The Lord
himself:- Heb.12:2(KJV) "Looking unto Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the
right hand of the throne of God." Luke 9:51,53(KJV) "And it came
to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up,
he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem," "And they did
not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to
Jerusalem." The Lord God in Christ Jesus is the one and only
person on whom everyone should focus! The Lord is the One that
brought every person in to this world to fulfill his purpose! He
is the only One who reconciles mankind to himself through Jesus
Christ so as to actually fulfill his purposes in and through
anyone who believes in him(John 3:16). And he is the only One
who can help anyone to discover,pursue,and fulfill divine
destiny! The Lord is the best example from whom one can learn
how to have and keep 'one eye' which means having and keeping a
right focus(Luke 9:51-52)! It is only with one's focus on the
Lord that one can then focus on the following:- The vision:-
Hab.2:2-3(KJV) "And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the
vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that
readeth it." "For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but
at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait
for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry." The
vision is that single or collective glimpse that one receives
from the Lord concerning one's divine destiny-this has been
discussed in two earlier articles 'The heavenly vision' and then
'Under the bed'. Until the vision speaks,one should patiently
keep one's focus on the Lord for its fulfillment at his
appointed time(Hab.2:3). The waiting period is an amount of time
when the Lord is preparing one for the important role that one
is to play in fulfilling the vision. The ministry:-
Col.4:17(KJV) "And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry
which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it." A
ministry is one or more ways in which one is ordained by God to
serve him and his purposes so as to serve others. A ministry is
therefore the divine vehicle with which one's unique calling is
fulfilled. In the Christian world,if one favoured by God to
serve him as a leader of a ministry then that ministry is
actually a network of all the ministries of people involved
using different gifts and talents(Rom.12:6-8;Eph.4:7-16;1
Pet.4:10-11) so as to fulfill their individual and collective
destinies. The people:- As one runs with the vision(Hab.2:2),one
in the Lord focuses on two groups of people one is assigned to:-
The first group are people who one is assigned to run with.
Prov.27:17(KJV) "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the
countenance of his friend." This first group of people are those
who have been running with their 'heavenly vision' on the
journey of destiny. At a certain time and place assigned by God
on the journey they need one's help;and at another time and
place,one needs their help! The second group are people who one
is assigned to run for. James 5:19-20(KJV) "Brethren, if any of
you do err from the truth, and one convert him; " "Let him know,
that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way
shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of
sins." Imagine oneself as a competitor in a marathon 'running
for charity':this means that one is running to raise funds for a
charity that concerns itself with a certain set of people having
challenges like poverty and disease. This second group of people
are those who have not been running with their 'heavenly vision'
on the journey of destiny because of different kinds of
challenges that 'imprison' them because they have had an evil
eye. Some of these people might never had 'one eye' having not
known the Lord;others have had 'one eye' but allowed the enemy
to destroy,divert,or defile their 'eye'. But the Lord is
concerned about these folk that walk in darkness so that they
can be saved from their prisons and captors;and then walk in the
light! One runs for these precious souls so that they can be
conquered and delivered by God's love through one's personal
testimony of the Lord as one's first love. As an agent of first
love recovery,one helps these persons so that they can by God's
saving grace have and keep 'one eye' so as to fulfill divine
destiny! The prize:- 1 Cor.9:24(KJV) "Know ye not that they
which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So
run, that ye may obtain." The journey of destiny can be likened
to a marathon full of diverse challenges. At the end of the
journey of destiny lies a prize for every athlete that makes it
to the end! To make it to the end,one should be a person with
'one eye' focused in the Lord on the prize as aided by the Holy
Spirit. It is near or at the end that one can boldly and humbly
say the following words of Paul the apostle:- 2 Tim.4:7-8(KJV)
"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have
kept the faith:" "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give
me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that
love his appearing." 'Two eyes become one when rightly focused
on what is destined to be done before the appointed time is
gone'
About the author:
British-born Nigerian Christian writer living and working in
London,UK with website:www.firstloveministries.org.uk
|
