March 2012

Welcome to abounding love, which is an outreach from prison, where I teach a weekly class. Recently, I've been led to open the class with 2 Chronicles 16:9, which states:

"The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him."

When you read the above verse in context (vs. 7-10), you'll see that the prophet Hanani rebuked King Asa of Judah for depending on Syria's army, instead of trusting in God, as the King had done in earlier battles. No matter what battle you are going through today, you must learn that the eyes of the LORD are upon you for deliverance from your dependencies.

There are an array of programs and people to help us deal with our problems, but none of these are sufficient without God's help. We must put our trust in God. Many people in recovery don't want to hear about God. King Asa threw Hanani in prison, and put him in stocks. Either we humbly acknowledge our failures when someone points out a problem, or we become angry. If we do the latter, our efforts in recovery will ultimately fail.

The Eyes of the LORD...

Since "The eyes of the LORD" search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him," you need to know what "the eyes of the LORD" represent. This is what the Apostle John saw as recorded in Revelation 5:6, which states:

"Then I saw a Lamb [Jesus] that looked as if it had been
slaughtered, now standing between the throne and the four 
living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had 
seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold
Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth."

The Sevenfold Spirit...

The seven eyes are the sevenfold Spirit of God sent out into every part of the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. According to Isaiah 11:1-5, the sevenfold Spirit is wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge of the LORD, fear of the LORD, and righteousness (for additional study, see Zechariah 4:1-14).

The purpose of the sevenfold Spirit is to reunite us with the LORD for salvation.

"God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit
God made Him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us 
right with God; He made us pure and holy, and He freed
us from sin."1

The Seven Horns...

The seven horns denote complete and perfect power, now providing authority for those in Christ. Since creation, the LORD has never taken His eyes off His children. He gave His children wisdom at creation in the Garden, understanding of our sinfulness by giving the Law, counsel through the priesthood at the wilderness tabernacle, might (strength) in Christ, knowledge of our resurrection in the LORD, the fear [reverence] of the LORD through regeneration, and the gift of righteousness in Christ.

When God finds you, and you commit to the LORD, you will find a new strength in your life. The Apostle Paul writes:

"We now have this light shining in our hearts,
but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing
this great treasure. This makes it clear that our
great power is from God, not from ourselves."2

This new strength brings authority into your life from the Lamb of the throne with the seven horns. As you grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, you'll find more assertiveness in your life. This comes as you renew your mind to the mind of Christ.3

The Spirit of Grace...

All this talk about the eyes of the LORD, the sevenfold Spirit, and the seven horns may be a whole lot to swallow in one setting. But the purpose of the monthly view is to give you God's view; the way He sees things. Besides, it is good to renew our minds with the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Simply put, I'm sharing with you the Spirit of Grace from Genesis to Revelation. There are many definitions of grace, but here are a couple that I like:

God's willingness to use His power and ability
on our behalf even though we don't deserve it.

God's ability to do by His Spirit what we cannot
do in our flesh.

We are saved by faith in God's grace.4 Jesus died to provide righteousness through His blood and rose again to give us life. Then, as promised, He poured out the Spirit of grace. There is no grace without Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus said, "No man comes to the Father, but by Me."5 Won't you receive Him today? He's waiting for you!

A Prayer for You...

Heavenly Father, I turn from trusting in myself and my own works for salvation, to Jesus Christ. I confess that Jesus is my LORD. I believe in my heart that You raised Jesus from the dead, and I receive Your gift of salvation right now by faith. Thank You for revealing Your love and grace to me. I recognize that I need Your power to understand Your Word and to live this new life. I desire to receive Your revelation knowledge. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit. By faith, I receive the Sevenfold Spirit to overflowing, so I can be a blessing to those I come into contact with from day to day. In Jesus Name, Amen

Ministry Recommendation: Andrew Wommack Ministries

Scripture References:

1 1 Cor. 1:30
2 2 Cor. 4:7
3 Phil. 2:5
4 Eph. 2:8, 9
5 John 14:6

Acknowledgement: A special thanks to Sherry for transcribing this months view!