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God’s overall vision for the church is for it to be a mature body that is joined together bone to bone so that it represents His fullness in the earth. As a result the gospel will go forth to all the nations bringing multitudes to Christ.
Ezekiel 37:1-11 is a passage of scripture that speaks of the faith picture or vision of what God has in store for the Body of Christ…and the bones came together, bone to bone…
Ephesians 4:11-16 speaks of the church coming to the measure of the stature of Christ to a perfect man being joined and knit together by what every joint supplies for the growth of the body.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14
This is the bigger picture of all that we are to do in Jesus and of which must fit into our corporate vision as a body and our personal vision in Jesus Christ. Whatever measure of faith that God has given to me relates to the bigger picture. You need to be continually reminded and refreshed in the big picture so that your own personal vision is renewed accordingly.
Ways in which Satan tries to dim your vision
It is important to understand that we have an adversary who wants to keep us from doing God’s will and he knows if he can blind us or dim our vision in God, he can render us ineffective in God.
But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of, God should shine on them.2 Corinthians. 4:3-4
We are told that we are not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices.
…Lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. 2 Corinthians 2:11.
In this portion of the message I want to share with you some of the ways in which Satan tries to dim our vision in God.
Unrepented sin causes vision to grow dim
Isaiah 59:9-12 It says here, they grope for the wall like the blind and stumble at noonday as at twilight, because of their sins being multiplied before God.
The reason their sins are multiplied before God is that there is not an ongoing repentance. When there is an ongoing repentance for our sins, God is able to forgive them one by one.
Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Acts 3:19
Broken relationships in the body cause spiritual blindness
When we allow offenses from a brother or sister to turn to bitterness rather than dealing with it and forgiving one another, we open ourselves up to the devices of the devil and our spiritual eyes become blinded.
He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. I John 2:9-11
Too Much Focus on Carnality or the Lust of the Eyes Causes loss of vision.
When Eve saw that the tree was good for food, and pleasant to the eyes, she partook of the fruit and her eyes were opened to their carnal state rather and closed to their spiritual state. Genesis 3:6
Lot’s desire for earthly and carnal things caused him to lose his vision in God and as a result he became a very carnal person with no vision in God. Genesis 13:10
Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things and revive me in your way. Psalm 119:37
Too much focus on the past can cause dimness of vision.
When Lot and his family came out of Sodom His wife looked back because her affections and concerns were still very much focused on the past. As a result she turned into a pillar of salt and was prevented from seeing what God would have had for her in the future.
But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:26
Remember what the apostle Paul said, “but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.”
Spending too much time looking at difficulties causes blindness
Satan tries to point our focus on the difficulties that lie ahead rather than the promise of God’s Word that builds faith and vision into our hearts.
In Numbers 13:27-33 there we have the story of the spies who came back with a bad report because their focus was on the natural, which represented insurmountable and devastating difficulties.
Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who had their focus right. Their focus was on what they new God was able to do and what His promise towards them was. As a result of the nation of Israel focusing their attention on the difficulties before them, their vision in God was dimmed and they failed to accomplish what God had set before them.
Peter attempted to walk on water, because of the spiritual vision he had, but when he began to focus on the problem around him, he lost his vision and began to sink. Matthew 14:29-30
