What are you looking at?

What are you looking at?

by Patte Smith on Monday, November 21, 2011 at 11:21am ·

When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, LORD, I will seek."
~ Psalm 27:8

What are we putting before our eyes?

"I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes:
I hate the work of them that turn aside;
it shall not cleave to me."
 ~ Psalm 101:3

Do you hate the work of them that turn aside from the truth, or do you waste hours watching it?

Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;
and quicken Thou me in Thy way.
~ Psalm 119:37

Don't be deceived. If you spend much time watching a television, you are being affected spiritually.
At the very least, you are wasting time God has given you for more noble pursuits,
and at the worst, you are being trained by the devil's children to think the way they do.

Satan is only too happy to keep you chained to his flashing images.

Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt...
~ I Corinthians. 15:33

"I only watch sports..."
You participate in the idolatries of this world, squandering the time God has given you for greater things--such as active fatherhood, being the active priest of your home, and other ministries you could pursue with the wasted time.
~ Melissa Bannan Robinson

Remove far from me vanity and lies..lest I...
take the Name of my God in vain.
~ Proverbs 30:7-9

We'll be filled with whatever we fill ourselves with!
Fill yourself with the junk of the world and reap the rottenness and darkness of it.
Fill yourself with God's Word, praise and worship and reap the joy and light of it!
Media has a stronger influence on us than we realize and if it's not specifically godly, it's just clutter at best! ~ Rachel Giarrizzo

Lightening hit our tv years ago and I sang in my heart when it happened.
We will never replace it.
~ Deb Maxwell

If the eyes do not see, perhaps the heart may not desire:
at any rate, one door of temptation is closed when we do not even look at the painted bauble.
Sin first entered man's mind by the eye, and it is still a favorite gate for the incoming of Satan's allurements: hence the need of a double watch upon that portal.
The prayer is not so much that the eyes may be shut as "turned away";
for we need to have them open, but directed to right objects.
Perhaps we are now gazing upon folly, we need to have our eyes turned away;
and if we are beholding heavenly things we shall be wise to beg that our eyes may be kept away from vanity. Why should we look on vanity? - it melts away as a vapor. Why not look upon things eternal?
Sin is vanity, unjust gain is vanity, self conceit is vanity,
and, indeed, all that is not of God comes under the same head.
From all this we must turn away.
~ Charles Spurgeon

I don't think Christians understand the impact filthy, useless vanity and empty religion has on their souls. It's a faith & holiness drain. Spurgeon gets it! Why do we settle for painted baubles when we can have our eyes on the all-glorious One? If our eyes and hearts are directed towards our Beloved, we are filled with His beauty and goodness and a burning hatred of sin and evil. The more we drink of the living waters of life and eternity the more we will want more of the the Truth and the more we will spurn and abhor the counterfeit and lies of the world and worldly, hollow religion.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Romans 8:14

A person who has never been healthy and strong will not know how poorly they are. They will come to believe that malaise and fatigue is 'normal'. It is the same with spiritual health. I am afraid that most church-goers are content with so very little and only have a vague sense of the impoverishment of their souls. They are suckling from the tainted milk of the world, even IN the church, and never develop a taste for strong meat. These are perpetual infants or, at best, adolescents ~ including the pulpiteers.

For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the Word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
~ Hebrews 5:14

Milk is the food of children. Those who are immature neither desire, nor can digest, anything else. We need grown men & women who are not addicted to the artificial non-dairy creamers of the world. It would be wonderful if the heads of the home were desperately hungry for spiritual meat instead of craving worldly fare. It would be such a blessing if the leaders of the various gatherings of the Body (under-shepherds) were the most spiritually-minded meaty people in their fellowship. Sadly, this is often not the case. They too are on a steady diet of vanity & unredemptive entertainment. Do not follow such men.

Yes, they are greedy dogs Which never have enough.
And they are shepherds who cannot understand;
they all look to their own way,
every one for his own gain, from his own territory.
 ~ Isaiah 56:11

Beware. This is the way and life of the hypocrite. The churchlings may not notice it, but you can be sure the worldlings recognize their own and mark them well. Those who are without observe that the affections of the professing Christian are worldly and they see how he minds earthly things, and how his way and walk are sensual and carnal. Joseph Alleine describes the wondrous way of true spiritual conversion:
It makes a new man in a new world.
It extends to the whole man—to the
mind, to the members, to the motions of the whole life.
Conversion turns the balance of the judgment, so that God
and His glory outweigh all carnal and worldly interests.You can hear Pastor John Piper's concern for the souls of professing Christians as he writes:
There is a kind of cavalier attitude toward our security today. There is little trembling. Little vigilance and earnestness and caution and watchfulness over our souls. There is a kind of casual, slack, careless attitude toward the possibility that we might make shipwreck of our faith and fail to lay hold on eternal life. We have the notion that security is a kind of mechanical, automatic thing. We prayed once to receive Jesus. We are safe and there is not place for "working out your salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12)....I plead with you, to "keep the presence of God." It is not automatic.

2 Chronicles 15:1-2 "The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you." Since we do not want God to forsake us, we must be watchful over our souls lest we forsake Him. It is true that God will never forsake His own children. But the proof that we are His children is that He works in us the vigilance not to forsake Him. God's not forsaking us is the work He does in us to keep us from forsaking Him (Philippians 2:12-13).

In 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul says, "We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another." In other words, seeing the glory of Christ in the gospel is a great means of becoming like Jesus. This is how we are sanctified — seeing Christ.
~ John Piper


The Holy Spirit warns God's people:

Love not the world,
neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world,
the love of the Father is not in him...
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God...
 And be not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable,
and perfect, will of God.

~ I John 2:15, James 4:4, Romans 12:2


C. S. Lewis observed: “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

We are settling for cotton candy when we should be looking to the Cross. We look to the carnal when we can embrace the Incarnate.  Look to Jesus! They looked unto Him, and were lightened:
and their faces were not ashamed.
~ Psalm 34:5

Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:
for I am God, and there is none else.
~ Isaiah 45:22

Thomas Watson admonished his brethren against chasing other lovers:

All the danger is when the world gets into the heart.
The water is useful for the sailing of the ship;
all the danger is when the water gets into the ship;
so the fear is when the world gets into the heart.

Let us repent of our 'inch deep, mile wide' Christianity.

Brethren,
be not children in understanding:
...but in understanding
be men.
1 Corinthians 14:20

Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding,
but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
~ Proverbs 17:24

Follow the Lamb! Jesus is all glorious! Christ's ways are perfect!

Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore!
~ Psalm 105:4

Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness,
you who seek the LORD:
look to the Rock from which you were hewn...
~ Isaiah 51:1

Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy;
Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD,
Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.
~ Hosea 10:12

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected;
but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind;
and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
~ Philippians 3:12-15

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
~ Colossians 3:1-4


Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens.
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters,
as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God, Until He has mercy on us.
Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us!
~ Psalm 123:1-3