Looking at God Through "Dead Colored Glasses"

by David A. DePra

     Have you ever put on a pair of those toy glasses -- the ones with

the cardboard frames and the red, plastic lenses? Most kids get

them at one time or another. They are fun. Everything you look at

through those red glasses looks different than normal. Everything

looks, well, sort of red. Except stuff that was already red. That stuff

looks white.

     Everyone has heard the phrase "looking at the world through

rose-colored glasses." This is nothing but another way of saying

that the color of your glasses determine what you see. In other

words, what is OUTSIDE of you doesn't determine what you see.

No. YOU determine it. You determine it by who and what you are.

By your attitude. By your will and agenda. By your subjective

condition.

     We have examples of this everyday. An event happens. To

us, it may be a clear as a bell as to what happened. But then we

hear someone else who witnessed it tell what they saw, and we

cannot even imagine that they could be so blind, so bias, or so

totally inept. Yet perhaps they believe what they are saying.

     One thing, however, is for sure. It does not matter whether a

thousand people tell a thousand different versions of the same

event. The event nevertheless happened, and it simply could not

happen a thousand different ways. It happened ONE way. Thus,

the perception of lots of people is wrong lots of times. It is wrong,

despite the fact that those people THINK they are right.

     Now, all of that has to do with THIS world. But how about God's

world? I mean, the kingdom of God. God Himself. The Truth that

is in Jesus Christ? This is something that has to do -- not with our

physical perception -- but with our moral and spiritual perception.

But the dangers are the same as the physical. It is quite possible

to think you see the Truth, but to be wrong. It is possible that what

you are seeing, you are looking at through -- not "red" colored

glasses -- but DEAD colored glasses.

A Moral Issue

     DEAD colored glasses are what we are born with. Through

them we view, not just the world, but God Himself. But this "dead"

color is not physical. It is MORAL. We view life and God from a

moral perspective which makes it impossible for us to see Truth.

     By "moral," I am not talking about stealing, killing, or lust. I am

talking about our personal relationship and accountability to God.

If I am in rebellion against God, I may never actually steal, kill, or

commit some other act of immorality. But in the eyes of God, I am

utterly AMORAL. Why? Because I am living in sin. What sin?

THE sin -- the sin of self-ownership. THE sin of unbelief. The sin

of self-righteousness. The moral condition of SELF-OWNERSHIP

colors all that we see, hear, and do -- colors it with the tint of

death. It makes us unable to see the Truth of Jesus Christ.

     Now, the deception is that you think "dead" IS normal. Get that. If

all you have ever did was wear those "red glasses," you would think

that "red" is normal. But, of course, you won't call it "red." You'll call

it "normal." The same goes for DEAD colored glasses. If they are

all you've ever looked through, to you, what you see is NORMAL.

But you will never realize how ABNORMAL you are.

     Deception is a condition wherein you believe that error is the

Truth -- and are governed by it. And until God Himself begins to

show us that we are deceived, we will continue thinking that what we

see is right. But gladly, He already has sent Light into the world. He

has already begun to show everyone of us that there is Truth which

can set us free.

Getting New Glasses

     When I become converted to Christ, I begin to see things from

a different moral perspective. This is for certain. It is for certain,

because the WAY I become converted is through precisely that

change. A fundamental characteristic of conversion is that I have

a changed moral perspective through repentance and surrender.

Without that, it is NOT true conversion.

     Therefore, when I become converted to Christ, I do start to see

things differently. If I have not started seeing things differently, I

ought to question my conversion. I will see things in a new light

because I see God in a new light. I have become a new creation.

All of this results in a changed perspective.

     However, this is only the beginning. I cannot have my mind

renewed according to the Truth all at once. That is because I

would cease to be who I am. No. The renewal of my mind, which

IS my perspective, must occur progressively, and voluntarily. This

take TIME.

     The thing to remember is that the reason we cannot see things

the way God wants us to see them is NOT because of brains. It is

NOT because of education. It is because of the need for a moral

and spiritual adjustment. We have things IN US which are not

compatible with the Truth. And they must be cleared and dealt

with. There is sin, yes, but also ignorance and weakness of the

flesh. God must deal with these so that we can see Him.

     God often deals with these things by putting us into trials and

circumstances which will expose them. Or by putting us into a

situation where the revelation under which we have been living will

no longer do. Then, having shown us our need, He is able to begin

to show us Jesus Christ. And as we yield to Him, our spiritual

perception is enlarged and made clear.

The COST

     Now, having said that, and all of that being true, it almost sounds

like it is an easy process to go through. It sounds like a wonderful

experience which is much to be enjoyed. I would not want to say

that it is not wonderful or to be enjoyed -- in it's outcome. Truth does

set us free. But if you think for one moment that the process of

coming to see the Truth, and then seeing the Truth, and then being

made conformable to the Truth, is going to be enjoyable, you are

in for a surprise. It is NOT fun. It will, in fact, cost you everything you

are.

     Really? How can this be? Isn't grace free? Yep. You don't have

to pay for grace. It costs you nothing. BUT -- despite the fact that

eternal life and grace cost you nothing to receive, it may cost you

everything BECAUSE you have received it.

     Get that. It costs you nothing TO receive what God has for you.

But it may cost you everything BECAUSE you have received it.

     Why? Because what you have received is NOT of this world. It

is not. It is of another realm -- an eternal realm. And just because

you have received it, it does not mean that there is anything about

you that is adjusted to it. No. Your very being -- the core of who

you are -- must become adjusted. And THAT is going to cause

much suffering, and many emotional, spiritual, and intellectual

upheavals.

     For instance, what if God wants to get you to stop trusting in your

own understanding of what He is doing in your life, and to begin

trusting HIM? To some of us, we cannot see the difference

between trusting OUR understanding of God, and trusting God

Himself. But we are going to have to see the difference if we are

going to learn to walk by faith. So what does God do? He puts us

in a trial where our understanding OF God will not suffice. Then, if

we stand in faith, we will eventually begin trusting in God Himself.

Yet it is right here, in these issues, that we find our new pair of

glasses. We find glasses through which we can see reality. But

it can be terrifying to our faith.

     There are going to be times, because of the color of the glasses

through which we know God, that it will be impossible for us to know

what He is doing, recognize Him, or discern Him. There is no use

saying it should be possible, or that we ought to be able to see

Him. We WON'T be able to. It will not matter -- in the immediate

sense -- how sincere we are, how hard we pray, how much we fast,

or how desperate we think we are. The question is NOT our

sincerity, or even our faith. The problem is that, right now, we do

not have the ability to understand. We CAN'T understand.

     What is the solution? To believe without knowing. To believe

without seeing. For as ironic as it may seem, once I do that, I AM

SEEING! I DO have those new glasses on. The glasses of faith

in God Himself.

Pure in Heart

     All God asks us to do, when all is said and done, is to keep

surrendered to Him. This is, of course, faith and obedience. He

says that if we will embrace and obey what we KNOW, that in time,

we will come to see the things we do not know. We will grow to have

our minds renewed according to the Truth.

     Why does it work this way? It goes back to the kind of "glasses"

we wear. The more we yield to God, the more we are becoming

one with Him -- morally and spiritually. Thus, the more we will be

able to see things from His viewpoint -- because we are then

putting on "new glasses" -- the glasses of faith and surrender.

     Purity of heart means that I am single-minded towards the will

of God. I am surrendered to His will even if I do not know how to

work His will out. This purity of heart results in what? Jesus said,

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

     Natural thinking might suggest that we come to see God by

adjusting our thinking. Brain power. But while we must eventually

have our minds renewed according to the Truth, and will come to

understand some wonderful things, we do not come to see God

by dealing with our thinking. No. We can only see God through

the "eyes" of a pure heart. Our heart is the real "glasses" through

which we view God.

     Jesus said so. He said:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust

corrupts, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up

for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust

corrupts, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For

where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the

body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall

be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of

darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great

is that darkness. No man can serve two masters: for either he will

hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and

despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Matt. 6:

19-24)

     Here we see that the intent of our heart -- what our goal is, i.e.,

what we are really looking for -- determines the condition of our

heart: Of light or darkness. But then the condition of our heart will

then determine what we see and how we see it.

     Our hearts are purified through obedience to the Truth -- which

begins with a yielding faith and surrender -- we are able to see

things more the way God sees them. But more importantly, we will

be able to see GOD HIMSELF. This will take time, but it will happen

to anyone who allows God to trash those "dead colored glasses,"

and give them new ones which are according to Jesus Christ.