Kingdom Gazing

‘So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal’ (2 Corinthians 4:18). I have been kind of enamored by this verse of late, because it basically speaks to me that everything seen in this world is temporary, so gazing at the things of the world is next to useless. I think this is why people want to see more then what is seen, because no person is comfortable with the thought of living in a world that is temporary or in decay (Romans 8:22). Is it just me or does there (maybe because of this uneasiness of mortality) appear to be within people of all walks of life that place in the heart that longs to see eternity, an inward witness that the best things are yet to be seen? Its funny when something really good occurs that it is very often passed off as something that is to good for this world or to be seen; expressions such as “this is out of sight!” or “that’s out of this world!’ seem appropriate.
However what really gets me thinking about this verse is that the Apostle Paul doesn’t just tell us not to fix our eyes on what is seen, but he tells us to fix our eyes on what is unseen! How can we look at something if it can’t be seen? Actually, we’re told not to just ‘look’ or ‘glance’ but to ‘fix our eyes’ on what cannot be seen; nevertheless it seems like an almost contradictory suggestion! However, in recent times, the instruction to fix my eyes on the unseen has actually dramatically improved my sight! Paul mentions ‘We live by faith, not by sight’ (2 Corinthians 7), yet I think I am discovering that by faith we are granted sight.
Recently at a conference in Bordertown the prophetic decree was given that the floodgates of heaven had opened, and that it was raining upon this Church. Incredibly, as many of us looked upwards, we could see with our eyes that it was actually raining indoors (ironic when there was a drought outside!). For the rest of the conference this ‘indoor’ rain could be seen in the building with physical eyes, and it would sometimes change direction and density. It was when the prophet looked at what God was doing in His Kingdom that the rain could be seen inside, and the Kingdom reality became an Earthly one in that church: ‘Your Kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven’ (Matthew 6:10). A secret of the Kingdom is that the Kingdom can be accessed, visited, and prayed down onto Earth today! Kingdom gazing is not looking at the world, not trusting in sight, but looking at the King and seeing what He is doing – it is at this place where the Kingdom can be seen on Earth. When the Kingdom reality of health (there is no sickness in heaven) comes to Earth through prayer and intercession, sickness flees. When the kingdom reality of peace (there is no turmoil in heaven) comes to Earth through prayer and intercession, worry and anxiety is no more. A missionary holding an orphan child – this is Kingdom love descending.
Did you know that we can be vessels of the Kingdom, and unbelievers can see the Kingdom in believers? In His book ‘When Heaven Invades Earth’ Bill Johnson accounts of when his youth group were playing music in a small circle in a shopping centre – the Kingdom was there by way of music and praise; lo and behold some people walking by began to manifest demons, one drug addict walked up to the group, took all his drugs out of his pocked, placed them on the ground, and kept on walking by without a word.
The Lord is showing me that the more we look (or fix our eyes) at His Kingdom reality, the more we talk and listen about the Kingdom, the more real this seemingly invisible Kingdom becomes. It is like those old ‘Magic Eye’ books, the more we gaze, the more the reality will pop out of seemingly nowhere, and the reality will become easier and easier to see next time, though to others we are looking at something that looks to them like a jumbled mess!
Lets fix our eyes on what is unseen, because what is unseen needs to be seen!!

Thy Kingdom Come…..Thy Kingdom be seen… :)

- Paul