“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.

Hebrews 11:1-3  (NIV)

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Every created thing that we see with our eyes has its origin in God and the things we cannot see. God is a Spirit (John 4:24) and He brought the entire universe into existence by His spoken word. This realm we know existed first in God and He caused it to manifest on this plane of existence of which we are conscious. Just because you cannot see God or the spirit realm with your eye, does not mean that they do not exist.

2 Corinthians 4:5-9  (NIV)

For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Just as God, the Creator of the universe, spoke out saying, “Let there be light” and there was light (Genesis 1:3), so has He shone His light into the darkness of our sinful hearts and illuminated our hearts in order that the knowledge of His glory may be revealed in and to us through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even though we live in frail, human vessels of earth, this precious treasure of God’s power and grace and glory can even more clearly be seen to be of God and not of us. While our mortal flesh limits us, the unlimitedness of God’s great glory abides on the inside of us. Even though we are persecuted and attacked, we cannot be crushed or destroyed. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).

2 Corinthians 4:13-18  (NIV)

It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

We do not lose heart in the midst of our adverse circumstances because we fix our eyes on those things that we cannot see. Even though our outer man (our body) is wasting away, our inner man (our spirit) is everyday growing and being renewed and strengthened. We must realize that this earthly realm and what we see is temporary and subject to change, but the spirit realm is unchanging, deathless and everlasting for all eternity. Therefore we must take our eyes off of what we can see and stop trusting in it because it is unstable and it will not last. The things we cannot see will stand secure. Put your trust in God and in the mighty work that He is doing on the inside of you. Do not just focus on your earthly existence. Change your focus to the everlasting realms of God. Lift up your eyes and see those things that really are important to your spirit life and your eternal existence.

Stop looking at the little clay pot you live in and see the glory of God that shines out from the inside of you. Become more conscious of the great work that God is doing in you and the treasure that is within you. Spend your time becoming acquainted with God and His glory. He wants you to come to know His glory. God is not hiding from you; He is working in you. You have to lay aside the things of the flesh and count them as nothing compared to the great things that God is doing in and through you. You will not live here on this earth, in this body, forever. But you will step out of this body into an eternal body and you will continue to live on in Gods mighty and awesome presence forever!