What is perception? How are we to understand reality? Is your perception the reality that you live in?
First, we will need to define what perception means.
Perception has to do with the ability of being aware of the world around you; like using all of your known physical senses to understand the surroundings you live in.
It also has to do with your emotional understanding of thoughts, intentions, and motives of others around you.
Your perception could be flawed either through a mental blocker such as alcohol, drug or previous experienced trauma or even of past events.
You see a physical world as you look around. You can see events playing out, you see the rising of the Sun in the morning with the setting of the moon. And you may not be aware that there is a dimensional world operating simultaneously with ours.
The Reality
You may be an individual who blissfully moves through life with experiences and dies without understanding that there’s more to life than what you see.
There are laws that govern our physical universe and the interaction with the dimensional world beyond ours.
We are brought to existence and as a living being, we are a free moral agent with the ability to make choices in our life.
For many that freedom is short-lived. Something seems to take over our lives and now you feel like you can’t even control your own destiny.
The Lord, our God gave us a mandate to choose either life or death, obedience or disobedience to his direction. This has led many to choose poorly and the consequence of that choice lives with them and drives them into a sad death.
The first thing that goes in making the wrong decision is our spiritual life. Then your emotions, followed by your physical life, it is all being ruined over living the wrong decision.
Look around and you see a world full of misery and people living miserable lives. It’s not because they are physically poor, it is because they are spiritually poor and alienated in this world without the true God. There is no deliverance that can save them accept the Christ. Acts 3:20-21
The Warning
Christ warned us about the attack from the wicked one and how he would try to bring about our demise. There would be a stealing away from us the truth. There would be tribulation, persecution and stumbling’s. Followed up by the pursuit of power, riches and anxieties of life that would try to choke us. Mark 4:3-20
Christ warned about pursuing the inheritance of the earthly things but for us to seek continually his kingdom. We are too quit being anxious about our souls as to what we should eat or about our bodies as to what we will wear. We are to be given the things to take care of our lives from day to day. Luke 12:13-40
Christ said for us to store up treasure in heaven, to keep our eye simple, to slave for God not men. Stop being anxious but seek the kingdom and God’s righteousness. Matthew 6:19-34
The Apostle Paul said that a married person is anxious for the things of the world, how he may gain the approval of their mate, so it is important that your mate is a spiritual person also, that we are not distracted but being able to serve the Lord together. 1 Corinthians 7: 29-35
The Cry for Help
Christ spoke about being anxious and the anxiety of life, are they not the same thing?
No, being anxious is an uneasiness, nervousness of some upcoming event. Whereas anxiety is a feeling, like dread or being afraid and this is a reaction to stress.
We have the story about Job and the events he went through. The wicked one tried to get God to test Job. Then he tried to get Job to blame God for his plight in life. Job did not put his trust in man but in God alone. Jeremiah 17:5-8
David felt anxiety and his perception was that his enemies had become stronger, more hateful, and were attacking him, so he called out to God for help. Psalms 38:17-23
The Encouragements
Jeremiah 17:5-8… The man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed. He will be like a tree planted by water: it sends its roots out toward a stream, it doesn’t fear when heat comes, and its foliage remains green. It will not worry in a year of drought or cease producing fruit.
Isaiah 35:3-4… Strengthen the weak hands, steady the shaking knees! Say to the fearful of heart: “Be strong; do not fear! Here is your God; vengeance is coming. God’s retribution is coming; He will save you.
Philippians 4:4-7… Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Colossians 1:21-23… Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. But now He has reconciled you by His physical bod through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him, if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard…
Ephesians 2:12-14… At that time, you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For He is our peace…
Ephesians 4:17-18…Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts. They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts.
My Reality
I am aware of the world beyond that of our physical eyes can see. I choose to make the decisions to live a life of God’s mandates. My life may seem lonely to you, but I have all kinds of spiritual association that you’re unaware of.
Hebrews 12:18-26… For you have not come to what could be touched, to a blazing fire, to darkness, gloom, and storm, to the blast of a trumpet, and the sound of words. (Those who heard it begged that not another word be spoken to them, for they could not bear what was commanded: And if even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned. The appearance was so terrifying that Moses said, I am terrified and trembling.) Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels in festive gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to God who is the Judge of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect, to Jesus (the mediator of a new covenant), and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel.
Have you forgotten what Christ had told us at Matthew 7:13-27?
Matthew 7:13-27…Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it…
21… Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name? ’Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!
24… Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. And its collapse was great!”
Do you not hear the call of the angel flying in midheaven announcing the good tidings and the righteous decrees of God?
Revelation 14:6-7… Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, having the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth, to every nation, tribe, language, and people. He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
Yes, Lord Jesus come O Emmanuel…
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