Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.

 

“When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as he did John. Then Peter said, ‘Look at us!”

What a powerful turning point for this man. He had lived his whole life as a beggar. He was drawing out generosity from others as he sat in front of the temple gate and was in need. In this way, he was drawing on resources of the Lord through others.

But what he was begging for was the wrong thing. He was looking for money from people rather than looking for help from the Lord. Money had been what he thought he needed but did not have the power to earn it. What are we gazing at? What are we looking to fill us?

Gaze here is the Greek word atenizó, Strongs # G0867. It means to gaze with intention, fixed gaze, or look steadily. Initially the man was looking down as he asked for money. He was probably humiliated with his situation so he just didn’t want to look up. Most people probably looked at him with pity or disgust for his situation. Back then, people believed that if a person was lame, blind or crippled, it was because of their sin.

The man was in an endless cycle of need, shame and hopelessness and he begged for the money to live on. He didn’t see any way out. But money was not His answer. He needed to shift his eyes up higher and away from money as his source of support and provision.

Makes me think of my littlest when I first got him. I would call him ‘my little steam pot.’ He lacked cognitive abilities and motor skills that others his age had partially due to severe neglect and partially due to a medical syndrome he was born with. He was angry, frustrated and felt hopeless at times as he didn’t measure up in his own eyes. But as he learned, grew and sometimes trusted others [his new parents] to help him, he received from God what he needed at the time.

God has done no small miracle in his life. And the more he trusts and shifts to look to God, the more God has for him. Rather than falling further behind, he has fallen ahead in the arms of God. And I am surely unashamed of petitioning the Lord on his behalf. God has done miracle after miracle in his life and he now is physically further along that some his age athletically and making strides cognitively.

For the lame man, there was a moment of shift for this man. Peter and John looked at him intently. Not with pity or shame but with value. They told him, “Look at us!” As the man turned his gaze from money and his humble situation to Peter and John with anticipation of receiving something, it was the mustard seed of faith they needed. They pulled him up on his feet and he began to walk.

Matthew 21:22 says that if we believe, we will receive whatever we ask for in prayer. This man had a small moment of belief through the eyes of Peter and John and he let them pull him up. With that sliver of belief, he stepped into the amazing wonder of God and the miracle of walking.

What an incredible story of bringing life to others. This man, who was living in obscurity and judged as sinful, suddenly became part of this huge story of the gospel. His name and situation is forever remembered not as a poor crippled sinner, but as a man leaping for joy that caught everyone’s attention.

He created such a stir that people came running to them in astonishment. Peter preached to the people about Jesus and told them, “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.” (Acts 3:16)

When we are born again, we are given this new nature that is outward focused towards others, sees them, and has hope for them as we know the incredible wonder of God. This is the opposite of the world who looks at what is fair, covets things and makes getting ahead of others their priority. Isaiah 32:8 says about this new nature that generous people plan how they can give, as they desire to see others flourish and live.

In Joshua 7:1, starts a story of the people of God sinning, as one person in particular put his eyes on things as his source and covets them. It says that the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to devoted things [the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord] as Achan took and hid some. As a result, the people lost a battle at Ai (Joshua 7:4-12).

Achan struggled with greed and covetousness. He hid things even after receiving a warning that taking any of the devoted things would bring about their destruction. The Lord wanted the people to be free from attachment to things and look to Him as their source. He knew that people could easily get attached to possessions and crave/want more in their sinful nature. After the sin, the Lord told the people of God, “You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them [devoted things that were coveted and taken]” (Joshua 7:13).

Such a powerful statement that we need to understand in the New Testament as well. We cannot win a battle while we are holding on to sin [in covetousness]. It will pull us down and drag us around. It also warns us that when we are locked into bondage because we have coveted and taken what was meant to glorify God, there is a battle going on in our hearts.

While God paid the whole price for our sin, we have to look to Him to get the freedom we need and not to the thing we are holding onto to give us the freedom we desire. The way we win the battle is to let go, surrender and trust God. Don’t try to keep things but rather lift your hands in praise and thanksgiving.

We need to relinquish our power to His power. Psalm 62:11-12 says, God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times: Power, O God, belongs to you; unfailing love, O Lord, is yours."

Holding onto or coveting things makes me think of the scripture about bringing the whole tithe into the storehouse and seeing if He will not pour out a blessing we can’t contain. Sometimes money is causing us stress because our heart is holding onto what we think it will provide – safety, security, provision, and even acknowledgement or recognition of success. We may even try to use it, like the world does, as a measure of success. Psalm 62:10 says that if your wealth increases, don't make it the center of your life.

It is not the money that brings the blessing into our lives. Like with the crippled beggar, God brings blessings into our lives as we shift from the place in our hearts of grasping and coveting to faith. When we hold onto what we have in our poverty, we are crippled and need to shift. If we do shift to faith for even a slight moment, the Lord desires to pull us up into more—walking by faith in His provision. He promises to pour out a blessing that we cannot contain.

What is interesting in this story in Joshua with Achan is that coveting and taking devoted things was a community sin. It was one man, Achan, who took the possessions by his own will but the whole community suffered from his greed and lost the battle at Ai. It was the responsibility of the whole community to keep everyone devoted to the Lord in one heart and mind verses devoted to things.

It gets back to this question that Cain asked when he murdered his brother, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” God answers this over and over again with a resounding ‘YES’. Galatians 6:2 says that we are to carry each other’s burdens and in this way, we will fulfill the law of Christ.

This brings me to the story of Acts when the church was forming. People were selling their property and giving it to the Apostles to distribute and meet needs of others. There was a community sharing and unity that was powerful as it reflected a full devotion to the Lord. As a result, there was this overpowering blessing on their lives so that none were and need. Not only this, but God was moving powerfully in the midst with signs wonders and miracles.

When a couple tried to join the movement by pretending and holding back half of what they were devoting to the Lord, they were both struck dead instantly. Not the ‘everyone gets a juice box’ story of grace that we are used to hearing. They [Ananias and Sapphira] were taking special vows and giving up their things to be completely devoted to the Lord. In stepping in to that level of powerful devotion and commitment while clinging to and coveting things, they were struck dead.

While this sounds terrifying and awful, we need to remember that death is not the end of our story. Our journey goes on into eternity. I once knew someone that stepped out and participated in [had a significant influence on] quenching a powerful revival that was stirring among some of the youth at the UofM campus. Shortly after, this person was struck with a terminal illness and died. Who knows if the two are related. I wouldn’t want to make that leap in judgement.

But what I needed to know, after this, the Lord confirmed for me that he was in heaven. For me, being involved in revivals, it was important to know that even if we mess up terribly and quench something significant God is doing, we are always forgiven and planted in His mercy when we receive Christ as our Savior. We need not fear that our eternal destiny is at risk if we keep turning to Him. We have a glorious home in heaven where we will experience ‘joy unspeakable and full of glory.’

Perhaps in both these cases with Ananias and Sapphira along with this man that quenched a powerful revival, if they would have stayed on the earth after mocking and opposing God, they would have lost their faith and be left in unbelief. Perhaps God whisked them away to protect them from losing their faith. He works all things for our good.

My father also went home to the Lord early. When he retired, the Lord took him home. While I was sad he went home early, I knew in my heart it was best. The Lord showed me in a dream and then later spoke to me about my dad being “planted in His mercy” in heaven. How grateful I am for that! He came to know the Lord only 3 days before he went home. The Lord knows what is best and staying alive on earth is an incredible blessing but not our end goal. When we surrender our lives to Him, we can trust that He will take us along the best path, working all things for our good, even if it leads to an early destination.

While enjoying the earth and what is has to offer is a gift from God, it is not our purpose on earth. We see this with the rich man who had everything fine handed to him. While he dined at his table in luxury, a poor man named Lazarus sat outside his gate longing for the scraps from his table. Then later, we see a scene where the rich man is in hell longing for a taste of water and can see Lazarus in Abraham's lap. All this to say that privilege, wealth and luxury make it more difficult to enter heaven, not easier.

This brings up another point, not all go to heaven and spend eternity with God. Some choose to follow another way and, while they enjoy the gift of life, eternal life is stolen away from them by the deceit of the enemy. And when we let Satin in our lives freely, his purpose is to kill, steal and destroy. He does not have an objective to give us a long and flourishing life as a gift. We see this with the man who lived in the caves and was tormented. When the legion of demons came out of him and went into pigs, the pigs immediately committed suicide. We see this with Judas too who committed suicide after Satin entered him. Also, King Herod who did not give glory to God but took it for himself being "the voice of a god," and was struck dead and died.

Our purpose in life is to live to honor God and partner with Him on the work of His Kingdom. Paul tells the church in 2 Corinthians 6:1, "As God's partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God's kindness [salvation] and then ignore it." Paul then goes on to share how he lives close to death and is poor but freely gives away spiritual riches to others (2 Corinthians 6:9-10).

Going back to making special vows of devotion, the Lord takes special vows seriously and is very much in the midst of them. This is why the Bible warns us not to make vows needlessly or thoughtlessly. Let our yes be yes and our no be no. When we make vows and completely devote ourselves to the Lord, the Holy Spirit’s power is present and going to help us to do this.

2 Chronicles 16:9 says that the eyes of the Lord roam to and fro over the entire earth to support, strengthen, and show Himself strong on behalf of those who are fully committed to Him.

I also saw this in a women’s event that I went to years ago. After hearing a message about being completely devoted to the Lord and making vows of special dedication and devotion, people had the opportunity to sign a document to this effect and took this little ring as a symbol. As people started doing this [I was one of the first], the power of God fell at the table as people signed these vows. People just started stumbling and falling over on the floor after they signed. So I started helping people walk afterward from the table, escorting them. The presence of God was so weighty, I could barely stand in it. But It was amazing.

Just last night I had a dream about this ring I kept as a symbol. An angel was holding it, polished it off and was holding it. It looked beautiful and I was gazing on it. I used to keep it framed with the document in my prayer room. But then when we moved, it got jumbled in boxes and lost. I don’t remember what it said anymore and would love to find it.

Meanwhile, I feel like God has been speaking to be about devotion. Lately, I have had some financial stress and pressure. Some unexpected large expenses have come my way. Some things in our home need to be adjusted and repaired. It is becoming very expensive. Fortunately, I have savings to cover it. However, I didn’t want to dip in my savings account so I have thought about cutting back on giving here and there. Yet, I felt God speak not to hold back. That has been tough on me. I realize that finances still have a hook in my heart as it relates to my security. I know God is showing this and helping me get greater freedom but it is a little painful.

All that to say, I can’t imagine if He was asking me to drain my whole savings and give it to others like he did at the time of Acts. I like having it there. But I know the day will come as my boys graduate and need college and cars as that is what I have primarily saved up for. IT is not for me to hold for security but to use to love others and provide for needs.

Some people think or expect that if they give away their funds, they will get more money back. Like an ATM that you put your money in as you ‘loan it’ to God and then you get it back from Him with interest. Ever heard that taught? The problem with that theology is that our eyes are on the money and not on the Lord. Our blessing is in the freedom.

There is a verse that says, that the Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain if you obey the commands of the Lord and walk in His ways. One might ty to walk in His ways to get the blessing from Him but that is not what He is asking. That is manipulation. r

We see this with the initial Christians. They shared all that they had, then then while the power of God moved more freely, so did their pain. Wealth was not their end goal but worship and spreading the gospel. Persecution started and many lost their homes and properties as they were scattered everywhere. But as they were scattered, the gospel message and power of God went with them. People everywhere were coming to know Christ and the disciples were filled with joy.

Paul proclaims in 2 Corinthians 6:10, "We own nothing, and yet we have everything."

Those who hope in the Lord are never disappointed. But there is always a temptation to hope in something else, coveting it, or use something as a means of escape in the midst of God trying to set us free. It is for freedom that Christ set us free.

Lord, it is easy to get caught up in so many things. Help us to walk in the fullness of Your freedom with our eyes upon You. When we have pressures and difficulties in our lives, help us to surrender and look to You and not anything else as our source and support.