For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed (Isaiah 50:7).
God wants us to set our hearts on His Word and not be distracted by circumstances, experiences, or adversity. It brings to mind the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 119:69 (MSG): “The godless spread lies about me, but I focus my attention on what you are saying.” Also, Romans 4:19 (MSG) says, “Abraham didn’t focus on his own impotence and say, ‘It’s hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child.’ Nor did he survey Sarah’s decades of infertility and give up.”
In the New Testament, the Bible talks about Jesus in Luke 9:51: “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Why was His face set steadfastly on His destination? He knew that was His last visit to Jerusalem, and this time, it was for His life; He was going to the Cross to die for the sins of the world, and He wasn’t going to let anyone distract Him from it.
In our world today, there are so many distractions, but you must remain focused on the dream, the vision that the Lord has put in your heart. Have tunnel vision towards God’s agenda. It’s the way to win. Many years ago, the Lord said to me, “Son, don’t look around. Be focused; refuse to be distracted.”
Some Christians have found themselves being distracted by too many things. They’re distracted by the state of the economy and several other happenings around them. They can’t accomplish much in life that way. When you’re a man or woman of purpose and vision, you’re not perturbed about the economics or economies of this world, because you know that you’re not of this world.
Nothing in, and of this world can place a limit on you or cause you to be disadvantaged, because you won before you came. You were already a success before you started. Therefore, set your sail and rule your world.
Be sensible and don’t tell everything you know… (Proverbs 12:23 CEV)
When you walk with the Lord, He gives you visions for your future; visions about your life, the things He wants to accomplish with you and through you. He causes you to see into the future so you can head for that future. Everybody may not see what you see, or know the future God is guiding you into. But some people try to tell everybody what God is showing them about their future. That’ll be a mistake, except if He’s the one leading you to talk about it.
Understand that Satan doesn’t know what you see, until you tell him; he doesn’t know everything. When he hears about what you see, then he starts scheming how to work out a plan to try to stop you. There’re people who, because they couldn’t keep certain things to themselves, lost the beautiful idea they received from the Spirit. Once they got the idea for something, they started telling people about it, and Satan got wind of it and devised means to stop the idea from materializing. Don’t give him that chance.
Our theme verse says, “Be sensible and don’t tell everything you know….” Don’t always tell your plans to non-Christians. Whatever idea God gives you, get started with it first before talking about it; or else you may never start. It’s not because the people that know about your vision or even the devil can stop you; no. It’s because there’s a spirit that works with them; they may exude a certain kind of negativism that could dampen your zeal for what God wants you to do, if you’re not careful. So, be spiritually smart. The Bible says, “Watch your words and hold your tongue; you’ll save yourself a lot of grief” (Proverbs 21:23 MSG)
Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter (Revelation 4:1). *
In life, what you see determines how you live. So it’s important that you see spiritually; you see by the Spirit. Seeing by the Spirit is seeing through the Word, seeing with the eyes of faith. Many are ruled by fear and anxiety because they’re seeing from the valley; they look at things from the human or earthly perspective.
But when you see by the Word through the Spirit, you realize that you’re neither the sick trying to get healed nor the poor trying to be rich. You’re not the defeated trying to become victorious. Rather, you see that you’re the glory of God, a victor in Christ Jesus, the perfection of divine excellence. Hallelujah!
The Word of God gives you spiritual elevation. It lifts your perspective and vision above the mundane and lets you see from God’s vantage point. This is what John experienced: he heard a voice saying, *“Come up hither,”* and when he did, he was transported in the spirit to see divine realities.
God has called us to function by revelation. We walk by faith, not by sight. And faith is living by the Word, acting on the basis of God’s Word and not on impulses or sensory perceptions. That’s how you live above limitations. That’s how you stay ahead of the world. That’s how you dominate circumstances and triumph over the adversary and adversities.
You may have been diagnosed with some terrible ailments without hope for a cure; see yourself through the Word, and you’d discover that the sickness or disease is a mirage. You’re whole, perfect, and sound in Christ. You’re the perfection of divine beauty. This is the truth.
In John 8:32, the Lord said, *“And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”* In Christ Jesus, you’re in the vantage position of health, prosperity and victory. This is why you have to develop yourself in the Word. Consciously increase your knowledge of the Word. The Bible says, *“…grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ…”* (2 Peter 3:18).