There is a song by U2; I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” Even though experiencing all that life offers both good and bad there has been no sense of fulfillment. The last verse states; You broke the bonds And you loosed the chains Carried the cross Of my shame Oh my shame You know I believe it
But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for? Is the songwriter saying I look to the cross at what Christ has done for me and yet I don’t see it? Why after looking at the cross, saying he believes it, he sings “I haven’t found what I was looking for?” Sounds a little confusing? Maybe we can acknowledge and believe with our heads but not with our hearts. Let’s look at Matthew 5:27-28 (NKJV) -7 “You have heard that it was said to those of old,’ You shall not commit adultery.’28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust ( has a strong desire ) for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Jesus was saying that the act of adultery begins in the heart and the mind. You mentally in your mind see yourself committing adultery. You imagine it, you talk about it to yourself. It takes place in your mind. Jesus is also saying that if you do not want to commit adultery you have to stop it in the mind first. I like the saying, “You can’t be tempted by what you don’t constantly think about.” The word look in Greek is to behold, perceive, regard, or take heed. The word lust in Greek is to set the heart upon, i.e. long for (rightfully or otherwise):- covet, desire, would fain, lust (after). Matthew 15:18-19 (NKJV) –18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. This is why we need a new heart, a regeneration of the heart, and a new spirit within. Then we must correct our thinking. The renewing of our minds. ( Rom 12:1-2).
This look is not just a casual look, it is not a glance but it is a look that is intense and steady, that is perceptive, taking it all in. It is a look that won’t let go mentally of what it sees. You may look at something but what do you see? The religious Pharisees looked at the outward acts of sin one way but Jesus saw it as an inward heart issue. Jesus got to the root of our problems. Let’s look at Hebrews 12:2 (NKJV) –2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. The Amplified says this was-Hebrews 12:2 (AMP) -2 Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. The Greek meaning for the word looking is “to look away from one thing so as to see another” and “to concentrate the gaze upon,” Sometimes when I’m listening to my wife I get distracted and my gaze turns away from her. Then she responds thinking, “You’re not looking at me, therefore you not really listening to what I’m saying.” “Can you see how that hurts me when you don’t pay attention?” There can be times when I’m looking right at her yet my mind is wandering. You know it takes a lot to focus and pay attention when someone is talking to you. Especially when it’s your wife.
To look is to see properly. When I think about this whole idea it is really about revelation. What is it about this looking and what am I receiving? What kind of revelation is the Holy Spirit trying to tell me? You can look at scripture and not really see what it is saying. This looking as stated in the Amplified, is “looking away from all that would distract” Who are we setting our gaze upon? Jesus right! Not letting anything distract us from looking at Him. What can distract us? Fear, doubt, unbelief, or indifference. It can be disappointment, disillusionment, or hopelessness. The look that matters is free from these things. If we are going to receive revelation, inspiration, life-changing choices, and decisions that impact our lives. We have to look the right way, We have to see the right way. People get in trouble when they have the wrong or distorted view. They just aren’t seeing things the right way. We see this in the book of Revelations concerning the Church at Laodicea. Revelation 3:17-18 (NKJV)
17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’–and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked–18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. Jesus said, ” Revelation 3:15-16 (NKJV) -15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Did you see that they needed to change how they saw things? Their perception was wrong. They were indifferent, apathetic, detached, and complacent. All these things affect how we see.
Let’s look at Numbers 21:7-8 (NKJV) –7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” The serpents came as a judgment for their disobedience. Moses prayed and God directed him to a solution to the problem. God is always our answer to the problems in life. Even when we sin. Notice that they had to look at or behold this pole. The Hebrew means to scan, i.e. look intently at; by implication to regard with pleasure, favor, or care:- (cause to) behold, consider, look (down), regard, have respect, see. It wasn’t a casual gaze or a quick look. It wasn’t being distracted by other things. It wasn’t focusing on the serpents trying to bite them. It was a look that mattered. A look that will make a difference. When they looked the right way they were healed. They had to stop what they were doing, stop trying to defend themselves from the snakes, stop trying to look for other answers, and look at the pole that Moses had made.
Jesus makes reference to this in John 3:14-15 (KJV) –14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. The look that matters is the look of belief. I believe what I am seeing will make a difference even though it doesn’t make sense in the natural. This seeing is a revelation in our hearts. So much so that we take ownership of it through obeying. We can see better with our hearts than with our natural eyes. 2 Corinthians 5:7 (AMP) -7 For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance. The look that matters is the look of faith. You may have serpents, IE: physical symptoms biting at your body, financial problems biting at your checkbook, or relational and emotional problems biting at your mind. Filling you with worry, anxiety, and fear. Where do you turn to? Where do you look?
The answer is to look to the Word of God. Look to the Author of the Word. Look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Not the author of what we see in the natural but what we see in the spirit. ( 2 Kings 6:14-17 ). Jesus said in John 6:63 (NKJV) -63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. Faith is of the heart. It is the look of faith. Learn to look without distractions of this world and of the flesh. Don’t let your look be distracted by fear, doubt, unbelief, and indifference. Don’t be double-minded, constantly having different opinions that sway you every time. (James 1:6-8 ) If we are looking the right way, seeing as we should it will produce the right behavior in our lives. Part of seeing and looking the right way is thinking the right way. Thinking scripturally and not being distracted by carnal, fleshy thinking. Learn to be single-minded, with a single focus on God and His Word. It is the look that saves, heals, delivers, and sets free. The look that matters is the look that makes all the difference.
I have finally found what I was looking for! How about you?
In Christ’s love;
Brent and Linda
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