Mensa Otabil - Lift Your Eyes
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Welcome to day number 26 of our 40 days of power. We’re gradually getting to the end of it. Uh, very soon we’ll be getting into the Greater Works Conference, and this week we are focusing on possessing territories. We’re going to look at issues related to Abraham and to Israel, and we’re going to learn some lessons.
So, Genesis chapter 13, verses 14 and 15: «And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, 'Lift up your eyes now and look from the place where you are, northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.'»
If you can see it, you can work towards it, and if you can work towards it, you can possess it. That’s the principle. God wants us to see it, we work towards it, and then we possess it. If you can’t see it, you can’t even work towards it. So, God wants to give Abraham land, and He wants Abraham to go through the process of acquiring the land, starting with what Abraham sees. Because if you cannot see it in your mind, you cannot receive it from God.
There are two phrases that I want you to pay attention to. God says to Abraham, «Lift up your eyes.» To lift up your eyes simply means don’t look down, don’t be discouraged, and don’t be depressed. It’s interesting because God says this to Abraham after Lot had departed from him. Lot himself had earlier lifted up his eyes and seen the land of Sodom. After Lot departed, probably Abraham was discouraged or depressed; his nephew, whom he was mentoring, had just taken off and become very selfish.
So, God says to Abraham, «Lift up your eyes.» First, it means don’t be discouraged, but also it’s a call to action. God is now telling Abraham, «I want to do something with you. Don’t dwell on what has happened with Lot. I want you to also lift up your eyes; I want to do something with you.»
I don’t know what you’ve gone through in your life, but I believe God is telling somebody, «Lift up your eyes! Don’t look down, don’t be depressed, don’t be in despair. God wants to do something with you; lift up your eyes.»
The second thing He said to Abraham was «look from where you are.» He didn’t say «look at where you are,» but «from where you are.» We’re always located somewhere; I’m located here, and you are located somewhere. If you look at where you are, it means you fix all your attention on your current situation. But if you look from where you are, it means although you may be living in squalor, in pain, or in despair, you can look beyond where you are.
So, «look from where you are» simply means you’re looking beyond your current situation. God says to Abraham, «You’re going to look beyond where you are, and you’re going to look to the north, the south, the east, and the west because all the land you see, I will give to you.» Of course, Abraham’s natural sight could not see all the land, so in seeing, he also had to imagine the land; he had to see it in his mind’s eye.
If we’re going to do great things for God and achieve something with our lives, God takes us through the same process with Abraham. You have to lift up your eyes, and you have to look from where you are. Don’t allow where you are to define your vision; let that be your standing place, but your vision must be beyond you. It must be ahead of you.
Look from where you are; look out of your poverty, look out of your pain-look beyond it! God says, «If you can see it, I will give it to you.» And I believe that this week we are possessing our territories, and we start by looking from where we are to where God wants us to be.
Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, today I lift up my eyes above every limitation. I see the fullness of Your blessing upon my life. In Jesus' name, Amen.»