Beyond What Meets The Eye
Clearer sight in Jesus, seeing past the surface to God’s larger purpose.
Devotional Credit: His Victorious Indwelling, compiled by Nick Harrison
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Some days I live by what sits right in front of my face. Deadlines. Headlines. My own small circle. Paul nudges me kindly in 2 Corinthians 10:7. Do not stare only at the surface. Look again, and remember, we belong to Jesus. There is more in play than what my eyes can count.
I am thankful for how Nick Harrison gathers voices that widen our view. T. Austin-Sparks warns that even good things can shrink our horizon if we treat them as the whole story. Gifts, routines, and familiar experiences can become the main thing. Sir Robert Anderson adds a fresh word. Our faith is not powerful because we feel it strongly. It is life giving because its object is the living God who has spoken in the gospel.
This helps me repent of smallness without self scolding. The issue is not to muscle up more religious activity. The invitation is to set my gaze where God has set my life, in the risen Jesus. He has joined me to His body, and He is always drawing me beyond the immediate to His larger purpose in Him.
So, friend, lift your eyes. The Lord is not asking you to escape your place. He is asking you to see it in Him. The task on your desk sits inside His kingdom plan. The conversation you fear is part of His redeeming work. Look past the surface, and remember whose you are.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
Look up. Do not judge by appearances. You belong to my Son as surely as any who claim they do. Set your mind on the things above where the Messiah is, and know that your life is hidden with him in me.
I give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of me, that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened to know the hope to which I have called you, the riches of my inheritance in my people, and the greatness of my power toward you who believe. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may discern my will.
Fix your eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. What I prepared for those who love me is revealed by my Spirit, who searches even my depths. I have placed all things under the feet of my Son and made him head over all for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Press on. I have given you everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called you by glory and virtue. Add to your faith what reflects my character. Open your eyes to behold wonderful things in my word. Abide in my Son and bear much fruit. Count yourself dead to sin and alive to me. Live the life you now live by faith in the Son of God. See beyond the surface, and walk in the purposes I set before you in Christ and among his people.
Real-Life Analogy
Think about cleaning smudged glasses. At first you squint and move closer, but the words still blur. Then you wipe the lenses and suddenly the whole page clears. The sentences did not change. Your sight did.
That is what renewed vision in Jesus is like. The Holy Spirit clears the lens so you see past the surface. Today, before you reply to a tense message or step into a meeting, take the posture of dependence. Say in your heart, Lord, I trust you to focus my sight and express your wisdom through me in this conversation. Then listen well, speak plainly, and expect the Lord to frame the moment inside His larger purpose.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank you for lifting my eyes beyond what is near at hand. Thank you that I belong to Jesus and share in your purpose with your people. I praise you for opening the eyes of my heart, renewing my mind, and filling ordinary work with eternal meaning. I receive this day as your assignment, and I move forward resting in the wisdom and power that are already mine in Christ.
Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
2 Corinthians 10:7, Colossians 3:1-3, Ephesians 1:17-19, Romans 12:2, Hebrews 12:2, 1 Corinthians 2:9-12, Ephesians 1:22-23, Philippians 3:12-14, 2 Peter 1:3-8, Psalm 119:18, John 15:5, Romans 6:11, Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Isaiah 55:8-9, Ephesians 4:13-16