[i]"And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the God of this world (and who is that—Satan himself) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." [/i]

Here is the bottom line. People's eyes are blinded. They cannot see. If they don't have Christ, they cannot see. They can't receive spiritual truth. They can't respond to spiritual truth unless God opens their eyes to see.

So you may have a mate who is not a believer. You may have a child who is not a believer. Somebody at work who is just really, really hard to deal with. If that person does not have the spirit of Christ living in them, they are blind and they cannot see. Satan has blinded their eyes. He has blinded their minds. They can't see.

And so it doesn't do any good to shake them and say, "Don't you get it." No, they don't get it. And if we will recognize the problem of spiritual blindness, it will help us to be longsuffering with others, realizing that if God had not opened our eyes, we could not see either.

And that's what we see in verse 6, "For God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.'" The only reason we can see is because God gave us sight, because God opened our eyes.

So what do you do with those that you love who are making your life miserable—they don't get it, they don't see? You PRAY. You call out to the Lord. You wait for God to turn on the light. You can't make them see. That should take some pressure off of you. It's not your job to make them see. It's God's job to make them see. So pray against the enemy who is blinding their eyes. Pray that the blinders will be removed. Pray that God will grant spiritual sight.
(N. DeMoss)


I have to remind myself of this over and over again. I get so frustrated sometimes: "how do I get through to this person!? Why can't they 'get it'?" Especially when they are stuck inside "Christian City".
Only God can open their eyes- not anything we do or say in our own efforts. PRAY for eyes to be open, ears to hear.

Walking with Him, chanin

_________________
Chanin

I don't know why I am going to say this but it is probably in response to someone's questions.

Not only are unbelievers blinded but also believers. There are many areas of our lives where the enemy has put a veil over certain aspects of our lives- I like to call them "lies"-that we have believed and we keep believing- which in turn keeps us in in bondage to our strongholds, etc...

If the enemy can keep us believing the lies then he has us in captivity to something. The biggest lie I have found is that if we "give this up"- it will be too painful- I won't be able to handle it.

Example: when I knew I had the stronghold of vanity and self-image. I knew I was to break it off but I also knew it was almost too painful to let go of. What would happen to me IF- if I wasn't thin anymore, iF I wasn't the prettiest one in the room anymore, IF, IF, IF,- there was a time that I would rather DIE than find out the "What-IF".

The problem is that I didn't trust God. The enemy had put these lies in my head and in turn I was in fear of what IF. The lies can come in the form of past experiences, or the world around us, etc...

Almost all strongholds or bondages are rooted in fear: Fear of rejection, fear of abandonment, fear of man (what man thinks about us), fear of loss of control, fear of certain feelings (pain, uncomfortableness, hurt).

The opposite of fear is trust.
Fearing is "not trusting".

We need to admit to ourselves and to God that we are not trusting Him completely with everything and every part of our lives. When we don't trust Him in a certain area- we are in control in that area.


There is more behind the stronhold than just the stronghold itself. They are there for a reason. They are a substitute for God in that area. When we need comfort, or when we need to feel better, or when we need to be at peace, or when we need love- we turn to the "thing" instead of getting it from God. Hence- telling God- "Your'e not enough for me". That is also the lie we believe, God is not sufficient to be my peace, be my anti-anxiety, be my worth.

It is very important for our selves to be spititually un-blinded- but that is only by recognizing the TRUTH.

What is the lie that you are believing? What is the TRUTH, then? You can usually find the truth in the scriptures and use it to counter the LIE or lies.


The only way we can "see' through the lies is
1. scripture that applies
2. surrendering everything to God
3.spend quiet time with Him and let the Holy Spirit speak to you about these things- write them down. Once they are on paper, you can't ignore them- you can't push them back into the closet anymore.

_________________
Chanin

_________________
Ron Halverson

One more thing I must add:

In our quiet time it is very important to ask God "what do you want me to surrender?" list everything that comes to mind.

If you say 'but I can't'- that is a lie. The enemy has you believing that you can't.

It is only the perceived pain that we think is so bad- not the reality of it.

He has us so decieved that it's going to be so bad that we can't handle it- it's all an ILLUSION. He has us seeing things in our minds that are just not true. We have to press through that illusion (if anyone saw the Matrix- it is very similar to this) what we are seeing in our minds eye is not the truth. only the TRUTH is the truth and it's truth whether we feel like it is, see it like it is, etc...

If we STAND and BELIEVE and not pay attention to what we are "seeing" with our natural eyes for a little while- then we will be delivered. We have to show God that we have the faith to trust Him.

Standing and believing with you, Chanin

_________________
Chanin

In the past three weeks we have been looking for a new church. We have been to two churches full of the flesh. I don't want to sound critical but I sit and listen and there is nothing but dryness and lack of understanding. A thousand people sit week after week in these two churches.
I just keep hearing that one preacher on the revival hymn, Awake! Awake! You sleepy christians.

I believe after listening to preachers like David Wilkerson and Carter Conlon that there are spirit led congregations. They speak of things I have experienced. They speak of the relationship with our Lord and Savior. The same precepts and ordinances, the same judgements and commands, the same voice is there when they preach.

I am frustrated as you with my inability to communicate with those who do not know. I believe much of it comes down to this question. Do you love the truth more than you fear men?

In Christ
Jeff

_________________
Jeff Marshalek

I moved this post to "surrender series" post. Thought it was more appropriate. sorry for this extra.

_________________
Jina