Change Your Lens: How to Connect Beyond What You Can See | The Blessing of Connecting Pt. 2

Have you found Luke chapter 24 yet?

Luke 24 · chapter mention

Let me set this up for us this afternoon.

We're about to read a portion of scripture directly after the crucifixion of Jesus.

So Jesus has lived 33 and a half years, and at the end of his life, he was accused by the Sanhedrin for something that was false.

And so, because of this, a mob turned on him that once cried Hosanna, they began to cry, crucify him.

And as they cried, crucify him, Pontius Pilate determined to turn him over to be flawed and beaten and eventually crucified.

Jesus Christ died a gruesome death.

He's already bled tremendously.

The centurion comes over and sticks him in the side with a spear, and out from his side flows blood and water.

And they realize, oh, this man is already dead.

They take him off the cross, and a man by the name of Joseph of Arimathea goes to Pontius Pilate, and he asks Pilate, Can I please have the body of Jesus Christ?

I would like to put him in a tomb that has never been used before.

And the woman in our company will embalm him and we will take care of his body.

Pontius Pilate said, Yes, that's fine.

And so they laid him in a tomb right at the time of Passover.

So they prepare the body quickly, speedily, because they, if you know Jewish culture, they have to get inside before the sun goes down.

And Jesus is laid in a tomb for three days with the stone rolled over his tomb.

Three days go by, and the women who embalmed him are excited to go check in on him.

The Bible says when they get here that the stone has been rolled away, and there are angels standing at the mouth of the tomb.

And the angels say, Why do you look for the living among the dead?

Do you not know that Jesus is not here, He is alive?

That's all some of y'all needed this morning.

My goodness.

My God.

I mean, you're already in a quick mood anyway.

Why not?

You know.

So these women go back to the disciples, the men, and tell them everything that had happened.

And that is where we pick up in this story this morning in Luke chapter 24 in verse 13.

Luke 24 · chapter mention

It says this that very day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about these things that had happened.

While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.

But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

I want you, if you're able to, to underline that verse in your Bible, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

You might say, Pastor Aaron, why am I underlined that?

I'll tell you in just a second.

And he said to them, Jesus said to them, What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?

And they stood still, looking sad.

Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there these days?

And he said to them, What things?

And they said to him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty indeed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him.

But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.

Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happen.

Moreover, some women of our company amazed us, they were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen visions of angels who said that he was alive.

Some of those who are with us went down to the tomb and found it just as the woman had sent, but him they did not see.

Verse 25.

And he said to them, Oh, foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.

Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?

And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them all the scriptures, the things concerning himself.

So they drew near to a village to which they were going, and he acted as if he was going further, but they urged him strongly, saying, Stay with us, for it's towards evening, and the day is now far spent.

So he went in to stay with them, and when he was at the table with them, he took the bread and he blessed and broke it and gave it to them.

Verse 31 I want you to underline this in your Bible, whether you're on your phone or physical Bible, watch what it says, and their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight.

They said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures.

Let's pray, Heavenly Father, this morning I thank you for the power of your word.

Lord, let it accomplish what has been sent out to accomplish today.

Cutting what needs to cut, healing what needs to be healed, lifting what needs to be lifted, destroying what needs to be destroyed.

Lord, I thank you that there is a voice within the voice today, that you speak beyond the natural ears, and you speak beyond my natural mouth, God, and that I'm asking you that you would deliver an oracle from heaven today.

We need you, God.

We have to have you.

So may our hearts be open, may our ears hear, may our eyes see all that you want us to hear and see today.

In the mighty name of Jesus, we thank you.

Come on, someone say amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

For those of you who know, thank you, Donnie.

Appreciate you.

I'm continuing a series today entitled The Blessing of Connecting.

The Blessing of Connecting.

And today I want to talk to you about how to see beyond what you can see.

How to see beyond what you can see.

Because listen, if if you if you lean in, pay attention over the next several weeks, my hope and my prayer for you is that I by the grace of God that I would be able to help you with your relationships with people and your relationship with God.

Cannot get an amen, somebody.

Does that make sense?

You ever you ever try to love your kids whenever this isn't right?

No, you have it because you can't love them kids without a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Can I get an amen, somebody?

Even the best of kids, I'm telling you, you gotta have this right.

You ever try to to to to love your spouse whenever this wasn't right?

Let me tell you right now, my goodness, I I need Jesus.

Not because of her, but because of me.

Hello, you understand what I'm talking about?

Don't get quiet on me now this morning in the room.

Okay, I'm gonna drop some nuggets here and there.

Your job is to amen through the pain.

Can I get amen, somebody?

Okay, your job is just to say amen through it all, all right?

And so understand this.

Uh we all have a lens that we live our life through.

Whether you realize it or not.

What's a lens, Pastor Aaron?

A lens is something that has happened to you, a circumstance, a situation, maybe the way you were raised, or maybe somebody abandoned you, or somebody maybe walked out on you, or maybe you you you had a really good life, but this, that, or the other happened.

Let me tell you, everybody has a lens.

And if you do not know how to get past your lens, you'll never be able to see the blessing.

And if you can't see the blessing, you can't enter into the blessing.

My father-in-law used to say it like this insight precedes entrance.

I like to say it like this: when you see more, you can be more.

So you have to be able to see if you're ever going to seize.

So we have to come to the place where we get past our own lens beyond beyond our own filters, that way we can see what God wants us to see, that way we can have what God wants us to have.

But everybody underneath the sound of my voice, you have a lens.

But this morning, come on, I want you to change the lens today.

Change the come on, just put your hand and say, I'm changing the lens today.

Go ahead.

Just wave your hand over your neighbor and say, change their lens too, Lord.

Go ahead.

Just tell them, change, change.

There you go.

Uh-huh.

I saw some married folk over there get way too happy whenever I said that right now, okay?

Yes, Lord Jesus.

My God.

We gotta change the lens.

And so today I want to help you change the lens.

Can I do that today?

Cool.

So let's let's get into the scripture context today.

So here we are.

We read this story.

After the resurrection, these two men are on a journey down a road to a land called Emmaus.

And let me tell you, while they're on this journey, we read some things and insights about their lives.

They had just seen and witnessed and heard a brutal murder of somebody that they loved and somebody that they followed.

The Bible tells us that at one point they stopped in the road because they were sad.

My friend, let me let me encourage you, no matter where you're at today, you're on a journey, and there's people who have also taken a journey.

There's other people who have walked through what you have walked through.

There's other people, and let me well, hallelujah.

And I don't know who needs to hear this today, but those people who walk through the same thing that you have walked through, they have come out on the other side and they have grown, they have developed, they have been blessed, and they have not been killed, they have not been broken, they have been processed and they have been blessed.

And so this morning, I declared to you no matter what you're walking through today, there is hope on the other side.

Whatever you're walking through today, there is strength for the middle.

Whatever you're walking through today, I came here this morning to declare to you that everything is gonna work out and everything's gonna be alright.

Why?

Because just like these men, they were sad and walking on this on the road, and then all of a sudden, Jesus Christ Himself pulls up next to him and is walking right beside them.

My friend, let me declare this to you.

He is on the journey with you, he is walking beside you.

How do I know that?

Because the Bible tells me that we are not forgotten and we are not forsaken, that he is the same God yesterday, today, and forever, and that he watches now.

Oh my god, I feel the Spirit of the Lord this morning.

That the Bible tells us in Isaiah chapter 61 that he is near the brokenhearted.

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

So, no matter what you're walking through, no matter what journey you are on, my friend, let me tell you something.

You have somebody right alongside of you, you have somebody walking this journey with you.

There is somebody on the road with you, and my friend, they will not leave you, they will not forsake you, and even though you might not feel him, he's there, even though you might not see him, he's there, even though you might not sense him, he is there.

Why?

Because Jesus Christ is on the road and this journey with you.

Amen.

Thank you, Lord.

Come on, I thank you.

I'm gonna praise them all by myself.

Thank you, Lord.

Thank you that I'm not forsaken.

Thank you that I'm not forgotten.

Thank you, God, no matter whatever it is that I walk through, that you are right there by me, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

Hallelujah.

Your rod and your staff, they come for me.

Hallelujah, God.

I thank you that I'm not alone.

I thank you, God, that you take this walk with me.

Thank you, mighty God.

It's my own little conniption by myself, okay, my God.

So here they are walking on this journey, and Jesus shows up, and here's a powerful line that we read in there.

It says this in verse 16.

But their eyes were kept from recognizing him, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

Understand this Jesus did not change form, he was still the same, but because they had a lens, they could not see him, because they had a not proper filter, they could not see him.

My friend, I'm telling you right now, he is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

He still heals, he still saves, he still delivers, he still makes a way where there seems to be no way, he still has a better word, even though the doctors might say something, even though the spouse might say something, even though the lawyer might say something.

My friend, let me tell you, he is still the same God yesterday, today, and forever.

He is so much still the same, even in eternity right now.

They cry out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

Watch this, who was, who is, and who is to come.

My friend, Jesus Christ is still the same.

But you got a lens, he's right there beside you.

But you have a lens, and because you have a lens, it's hard to recognize him.

Matthew chapter 6 says this your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your whole body.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light.

But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness.

What does that mean?

Whatever lens you are lensing through, it's gonna be the result of your life.

If the light of your eye is good, everything's gonna be good.

But if the light of your eye is bad, you'll only know darkness, my friend.

It's time to change the lens.

It's time to change the lens, it's time to change the lens.

Why do we need to change the lens?

Because I'm telling you, there is a blessing in every season, there is peace in every season, there is strength in every season, there is healing in every season, there is direction in every season, there is fresh faith in every season.

But my friend, if all you can see is this, all you're going to get is this.

If all you can see is broke, busted, disgusted, messed up, tore up, I'm telling you, that's all you're gonna get in your life.

Look at these men.

Here they are, they're walking down a road.

They heard the testimony of somebody else.

These women who said, The tomb is empty, and the angels say, Jesus is alive.

I hear that not even on Good Friday or Easter, and I get excited.

Come on, somebody.

But here these two men were, they heard this and they could not believe it.

Why could they not believe it?

Because the thing that had happened to them became the filter in which they were living their life.

Now I'm not stupid, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'm not a bowling ball either.

Can I get amen, somebody?

So I'm not telling you that stuff isn't gonna happen in your life because stuff happens, and sometimes it's not stuff, sometimes it's stuff.

Stuff, you get that one on the car right home, okay, my God.

But what I am telling you is this if you allow that stuff to become your paradigm, you'll never be able to apprehend what God says you can apprehend.

And so today, let's let's address some some lenses and some filters that keep us from connecting.

Lenses and filters that keep us from connecting, watch this, with God, and keep us from connecting with people.

I don't know if you know this or not.

You need people.

And a father somewhere.

I said father, not daddy, because it takes a special kind of man to be a daddy.

Can I get an amen, somebody?

You need people in your life, and so you have to be able to connect with people and to connect with God in order to walk in the fullness of what he has for your life.

Amen.

So let's talk about three lenses that keep us from connecting that we can read right here from this scripture.

The first lens, you ready for this?

The first lens is the lens of pain.

Pain.

The lens of pain.

Luke chapter twenty.

Luke chapter twenty-four, verse twenty.

Watch it, it says this.

And how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified.

What a way to talk about your friend.

You know, we had followed this guy, we had given everything up, and we saw him perform miracles, we saw him do things that had never been done before.

Some people said he walked on water.

I was there whenever he fed us, and there was 5,000 men there, and not included women and children.

I I was there for it all.

I mean, I I gave my life to serve this man.

I left my home, I left my business, I left everything I had to follow after this man, and I was sure that he was the Messiah.

I was sure he was the one.

To come and to get us out of this mess with this Roman occupation.

I was sure that it was gonna happen.

But I woke up several days ago with the commotion of the city, and people were saying they have Jesus on trial, and they're accusing him, and they're taking him to court, and Pontius Pilate just turned him over to be flogged, beaten beyond recognition.

So I got out of bed and I went down to that place where they said he was gonna pass by after they had beaten him, and I was there seeing him bloodied and battered as they were marching him from inside the city to the mountain of Golgotha, the place of the skull.

I was there whenever he was too weak to carry the cross they put on him.

So they had this foreign man by the name of Peter come and assist him carry this cross.

I was there.

I was there when the centurions threw him on the ground and they stripped him naked.

I was there when they stapled him to the cross, his wrists on one side, his wrists on the other, and his feet together on the on the end on the bottom.

I was there when they nailed the inscription over his head.

Behold the king of the Jews.

I was there whenever the religious people got mad because they put that over him, and whenever they still kept it up there, and they said, We have written what we have written.

I was there whenever he was hanging on the cross for all those hours, and he was thirsty, and they didn't give him water to drink, they gave him sour wine to drink.

I was there when he was on the cross, and he's crying out to his father, Eli, Eli, Lama Sabactani, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

I was there when he said to Telestai, it is finished, and he gave up his final breath, and there was a darkness over the earth, and an earthquake happened.

I was there when they brought him off of that tree, and they put him in the tomb.

Don't talk to me about pain, you know nothing of what I've gone through.

I have lost more than what you can imagine.

I have given my life for this man, and all I have left is a disappointment.

I have left my family for this man, and I have nothing to show for it.

Of course, these men had gone through something horrendous, they had experienced trauma, I think, at the highest level.

They saw their best friend be murdered.

My God, that's rough, y'all.

These men were in deep pain and sorrow because of loss.

You might be here today, and maybe you are in deep pain and sorrow as well.

Maybe your best friend wasn't murdered, but maybe that spouse walked out on you.

Maybe that business partner just closed the books and said, I'm going my own way.

Maybe you, man, my God, I didn't mean to take it this deep in the in the room this morning.

You know, just look at your neighbor and just kind of give him a fake smile right there.

Ease the tension a little bit, just ease the tension.

My goodness.

Cut that sucker with a knife.

My God.

Let's just cut it right there.

My God.

But listen, maybe you're in the room and you have experienced loss.

And you haven't just lost a spouse, you've lost a helpmate.

You haven't just lost a helpmate in the spouse because whatever's whenever someone leaves you, divorces you, it's not just I don't have a husband anymore.

I don't, I maybe don't have someone who can provide like I can provide anymore.

I don't have somebody who can help me raise these kids anymore.

So a loss is not just singularity, it's multifaceted.

These men didn't just lose a friend, they lost what they thought was a messiah, they lost what their hopes were for ministry, they lost what they thought their future was gonna be in one moment, and of course they had a lens of pain.

Of course, you have a lens of pain.

But understand this, pain doesn't just hurt, pain distracts.

Hear these men living life through the lens of pain, and Jesus Christ Himself is right there on the road beside him, and they can't even recognize God.

Why?

Because the lens of pain is so strong.

When looking through the lens of pain, even God can become a stranger.

Oh man, I wasn't planning on going this deep this morning.

You know, I could people are just sitting there, like I could tell you you're hitting right between the eyes.

That's all right.

Because we're coming out this pit together.

We're coming out this pit together.

You're changing your lens, and you don't have to change your lens by yourself.

God is bringing you out of this thing.

Come on now.

Even whenever you look through life through the lens of pain, the lens of pain causes you to be distracted from what's all around you.

Jesus Christ in the flesh is right besides these guys, but because they are so hurt, because they are so sad, they can't tap into joy, they can't tap into peace, they can't tap into strength.

Why?

Because the pain has become the loudest thing, the pain has become the loudest voice, the pain has become the only thing that they can see.

My friend, let me tell you, this morning, it's time to change the lens of pain in our lives.

It's time to change the lens of pain in our lives.

Come on now, because some of y'all have been walking around wounded and hurt and broken and sad for far too long.

Can I tell it to you like this?

It was not God who hurt you, it was not God who brought the pain.

It was not, I'm telling you, and what happens because oh how Jesus, you begin to rehearse it over and over and over.

Think of these guys whenever Jesus asks them, What are you talking about?

Are you the only person who hasn't heard?

Gossips, right?

Meditating on all this mess over and over.

I know they didn't have the national choir back then, but I mean these guys was trying to start it up.

Why?

Because they rehearsed it over and over, my friend.

If you're gonna connect to the things of God, you have got to change the lens of pain.

I'm not saying it didn't happen, it did.

What I am saying is this there is hope for you to get beyond the pain that has been caused to you.

Amen.

The second lens that we needed that we need that that that keeps us from connecting, watch this, is the lens of preconceptions, preconceived ideas.

Verse 21, it says this, these guys are talking, but we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.

They had a preconceived idea of what the Messiah should do, what the uh what the messiah should sound like, look like, smell like, how he was supposed to come on the scene and turn everything around for them.

They had a fixed idea of how the mess uh uh idea of what the messiah should look like, they had a fixed idea of how the messiah should operate, they had a fixed idea of how the outcome should have happened.

He's supposed to be a conquering king, he's supposed to be our political deliverer, the messiah, he's supposed to overthrow the Roman government.

Watch this now.

These men had a preconceived idea of how God was supposed to come through.

And because they had a preconceived idea of how they thought God should come through, when God was coming through, they still missed it.

Oh man.

Help me, Holy Ghost.

This one that messages, ain't it?

That's good.

I'm trying to help some people out in the room today.

Because some of y'all are trying to connect with people, but every time you try to connect with people, it's the same thing over and over and over again.

You have pain that you're dealing with, you have preconceived ideas that you're dealing with, and you can't connect with people because you haven't dealt with your past.

And because you haven't dealt with your past, you even have a hard time connecting with God.

But my friend, let me tell you, even this morning, there is freedom for you today, there is hope for you today.

There, come on now, there is deliverance for you here today.

It's time to change the lens, it's time to change the lens, amen.

Pre-conceived ideas, watch this now.

People have these preconceived ideas.

Well, you know, I was in a relationship before and and they cheated on me, so now everybody's just a cheater.

Well, you know, I was in a I was in a business before and they left me.

Maybe I'm not just maybe I'm I'm just not worthy of being in business.

Well, you know, I prayed prayers before and God didn't answer my prayers, and so maybe he just doesn't want to answer any of my prayers.

My friend, that's a preconceived idea.

Just because old knucklehead cheated on you doesn't mean the next person who comes is gonna cheat on you.

Just because your business partner couldn't recognize the eroditeness of who you were in the in the community with which you were in, doesn't mean you should hang up the towel and say, I could never start a business again.

Just because oh, I'm about I feel I feel that I'm gonna say this thing because I can.

I have the microphone, and you will listen to every word that comes out of my mouth.

Just because that relationship didn't work out, because they could not recognize the royalty that was in front of them called you.

Come on, man of God, you are a king in the kingdom, woman of God, you are a queen in the kingdom, and just because that stupid knucklehead, idiotic, moranic person, that's kind of harsh.

Yeah, well, because you know what?

They don't got eyes to see.

Hello?

Just because they they left you doesn't mean that you're not worthy to be loved, just because they couldn't recognize what was in front of them doesn't mean that there was nothing in front of them.

Let me tell you, you are the whole package, baby.

Come on now.

But you gotta get over your preconceived ideas.

Just because they were that way doesn't mean everybody's that way.

Just because it hasn't worked out yet doesn't mean it's not gonna work out.

I like that when my wife shouts me down.

She says, That's good, Pastor.

Amen.

These men had a preconceived idea of what the Messiah should look like, sound like, come across as.

But understand this you cannot receive revelation, and you cannot receive the blessing of God when you are married to your own conclusions.

You cannot receive the revelation and the blessing that God has for you when you are married to your own conclusions.

Can I make this practical?

I don't have to figure out how he's gonna heal me.

I just know he's gonna heal me.

I don't have to figure out how he's gonna provide, I just know he's gonna provide.

Make sense?

I don't know how he's gonna save, I just know he's gonna save.

Our job is not to have all the answers, our job is to believe.

Make sense?

But if you have to work everything out in your own self, in your own mind, in order for it to work out, let me tell you, you're gonna miss out on what God has right in front of you.

These two men are walking, they're in pain, they have these preconceived ideas of what the Messiah should look like, and little did they know that the messiah was still on the journey with them.

My friend, God is still on the journey with you.

He's still on the journey with you.

It might not look how you thought it should look, it might not feel like how you thought it should feel, it might not sound like how you thought it should sound, but he's there for you.

The third lens, you ready for this?

The third lens.

The first one is pain, the second one is preconceptions, the third lens that that we have to overcome in order to connect, the third lens that we have to get over to see beyond what we can see is this it's the lens of perspective, perspective.

Verse 25 says this, and Jesus said to them, Oh foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.

I'm gonna unpack this here in just a minute, okay?

Oh foolish ones, oh foolish ones, oh foolish ones.

I was reading this and praying for you all this week and preparing.

I said, Man, that that's to me that's a little harsh.

To me, because I want to give somebody the benefit of the doubt.

You know what I'm talking about?

Okay, they're hurt, that's why they're they're operating the way they are.

Okay, yeah, they've gone through some stuff.

All right, yeah, it didn't happen the way they thought it should happen.

That's why, okay, yeah, I get it.

But Jesus wasn't like that, and I was praying like, man, Jesus, like it kind of it kind of comes across like I don't want to say this almost like you're a jerk.

Can you not relate to humanity in the depth of what they're walking through?

They just saw you die, they're sad, and they're disappointed.

And when they express their sadness and disappointment to you, I look at this and say, Man, where's the sympathy and compassion?

I begin to pray and I say, God, what's up?

Because I have there's a revelation here that I don't I don't see right now, but I need to see because I know you're not a jerk, and I know you have compassion, and I know you know the human condition so much so that the king left his throne to become like one of us.

That way we we could not have a high priest that did not know how to sympathize with us in all things.

So you actually became a man, Jesus, so that way you can relate to people.

So I know you're not a jerk in this situation, so tell me what I'm missing.

I begin to pray and meditate and ask the Lord, and it's right here.

Watch, he says to them, Oh, foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.

See, y'all missed it.

Why did he call them foolish?

Watch.

What were what what did the prophets speak?

The prophets spoke the word of God.

The prophets declared the promises from heaven.

So when the prophets declared a thing, it was because God told them to declare the thing, and if God declares a thing, that thing will come to pass.

So Jesus looked at these two men and was upset at them.

Watch, because they took their eyes off of the promise and they only focused on the problem.

He was upset with them because he would have he thought by now you would understand Numbers chapter 23 that says he is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should turn away from him.

Numbers 23 · chapter mention

If he has said it, it is good.

I've already declared to you through the prophets that everything's gonna be all right.

I've already declared to you through the prophets that though you slay me, I will trust you.

I've already declared through my prophets my promise, and my promise is this: even though I was led to the slaughter like a lamb, I will still be called the Son of Man, and I will come riding on the clouds one day, and I will have all authority of the ancient of days, and I will give the authority that's been given to me to mankind.

Why did he say, Oh, foolish and unbelieving people?

Because they put their eyes on the problem and they forgot the promise.

My friend, you gotta get over the lens of your perspective.

And perspective is not what you look at, it's how you look at it.

What if I just ran around this entire thing right now?

You know what I mean?

Y'all wouldn't even know what hits you right now, you know.

Don't test me.

Perspective is not what you look at, it's how you look at it.

They were looking at the events of the last few days, and they were looking at it as God might be a liar.

So he's like, Okay, so y'all weren't ready for that one.

What?

If they hung out with Jesus, watch this now.

For any amount of time, Jesus, oh man, I'm gonna just teach this real quick because you already hear.

You took a shower already, and you already mess that thing up.

You're gonna have to take a shower anyway, so you just move those dinner reservations back a little bit.

Is that okay?

Okay, yeah, I could do that.

Thanks very much.

Okay, yeah, let's do it.

Watch this.

If they hung out with Jesus for any amount of time, I'm let's just go here and we'll come right back.

One of the names that Jesus called himself was Son of Man.

If you read the life of Jesus, okay, he would say the Son of Man has to be sent, has to be turned over, and he'll be lifted up, and he'll be dead for three days, but whenever he can he'll he'll rise again after three days, the son of man this, the son of man that, the son of man this, the son of man that.

You and I read that and just kind of breeze over it.

Okay, that's another title of Jesus.

But whenever Jesus called himself the Son of Man, he was referring to the book of Daniel in Daniel chapter seven.

Whenever Daniel had a revelation of the end of days, and Daniel said, I saw one like the Son of Man who worked with the ancients of days, and the Son of Man came back riding on the clouds with all authority taken from the beasts, and this was a prophetic vision he was having.

So basically, he Daniel was having a vision of Jesus having victory over the devil.

But the way Daniel called the Messiah was the Son of Man.

So when Jesus talked about himself and called himself the Son of Man, he was telling everyone around him, I am the Messiah, I am the Christ, I am the one that Daniel prophesied about in Daniel chapter 7.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

I am the one who is the conquering king, I am the one you've been waiting for, I am the one who will deliver you, I am the one who will who will cause you.

Come on, to be taken out of the pit that you're in right now.

So watch these two guys when they did when they could not believe the events that happened, they were inadvertently saying, God is a liar.

Jesus really isn't the Messiah.

God really won't fulfill his word.

He really doesn't stand true to his promises.

And Jesus got mad at them because they did not believe God.

My friend, even when it doesn't look God's gonna come through, he's gonna come through.

Even if it looks like he's not gonna heal, he's gonna heal.

Even if it looks like he can't save, he will save.

Are you understand what I'm saying?

But you have to get over your perspective.

Why?

Because the Bible tells us this that his ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts.

Meaning he can see far beyond what you can see.

So Jesus got mad at these guys because they did not believe the promises of God.

He wasn't mad because he was uncompassionate.

He got mad because he he thought you would have gotten this by now.

My friend, the lens you and I have to get over is the perspective that we hold on to.

Let me move on.

Can I move on?

You guys got that?

You need to choose the word over your opinion, choose the word over your experience, choose the word over your perspective, choose the word over the report, choose the word over what's been told to you.

You understand what I'm saying?

You have to get to the point where you make the decision that I believe this beyond anything I can see, I believe this beyond anything I feel, I believe this beyond anything I experience.

Does that make sense?

Lastly, I close with this.

Come on up, Brother Dony.

How do we connect beyond the lens?

How do we change the lens?

How do we change the lens?

So Jesus is on the road with them, they're talking, he's opening up the scripture to them everywhere from it says from Moses all the way up into his life.

They go inside, the night's almost there.

Jesus acts like he's gonna keep on walking.

They say, Hey, just hang out with us.

Come into the house, we'll prepare some food for you.

You can eat, you can hang out.

I put like this in first service.

I'm grateful that somebody in that house cleaned before Jesus got there.

Come on now, somebody.

I would have freaked out if someone tried to invite someone over to my house and it wasn't clean.

Come on, somebody, you know, somehow.

So Jesus said, Yeah, I'm gonna hang out with him.

Watch this.

They didn't recognize Jesus when he opened up the word to them.

They didn't recognize Jesus when he talked with them on the road.

The Bible says this, it wasn't until Jesus took the bread, blessed the bread, broke the bread, and gave the bread.

It wasn't until then that their eyes were open.

And keep in mind the context of what we just read, Jesus didn't change form, their eyes were open.

The lens was removed.

When did the lens get removed?

Watch this now.

Oh, hallelujah.

Help me, Holy Ghost.

The lens was removed when they rehearsed the faithfulness of God.

The lens was removed when they rehearsed the faithfulness of God.

How is it the faithfulness of God?

Whenever Jesus takes the bread, blesses the bread, breaks the bread, gives the bread.

I'm glad you asked.

In the four synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Like I just did that with my hand right now.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.

If you want to know how to chop the devil, you just chop him, stab him right there.

In the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.

Not every gospel records every miracle that Jesus ever did.

Did you know that?

But one miracle that is recorded in every one of the gospels is the feeding of the 5,000.

And how does Jesus display the faithfulness of God in a miraculous way?

He took the bread, he blessed the bread, he broke the bread, and he gave the bread.

I'm not going to teach you on the breaking and the blessing and the giving of the bread.

I've already way over my time.

But throughout scripture, that's the pattern of God.

He takes, he blesses, he breaks, and then he gives.

With Abraham.

He took Abram, he blessed Abram, he broke Abram, he gave Abram.

Joseph, he took Joseph, he blessed Joseph, he broke Joseph, and he gave Joseph.

Moses, the same, David the same, Hezekiah, the same, John the Baptist, the same.

The feeding of the five thousand, he did the same thing.

He took it, he blessed it, he broke it, he gave it.

With the calling of his disciples, he called the disciples, or he took the disciples, he blessed the disciples, he broke the disciples, he gave the disciples.

Why?

Because that's how God expressed his faithfulness.

And when they saw how Jesus took the bread, blessed the bread, broke the bread, and gave the bread, the lens was lifted.

Why?

Because Jesus was modeling, watch this now, the faithfulness of God.

He was modeling the faithfulness of God.

What's the faithfulness of God?

I take a thing, but I also bless that thing.

And after I bless that thing, I gotta break that thing, but I can't give it until it's broken.

God was telling these guys, you might be in the middle of a breaking right now, but your testimony is gonna be used to go around the world.

I might have been broken on that cross, but I'm about to be given to the entire world.

My friend, how do you change your lens?

Don't rehearse the pain, don't rehearse the preconception, don't rehearse your perspective.

You change the lens by rehearsing the faithfulness of God.

I know there's people underneath the sound of my voice.

You've walked through some crazy junk.

I know there's people under the sound of my voice, it did not happen the way you thought it should happen.

I know there's people underneath the sound of my voice that all you can see is one thing.

Can I encourage you today?

Change your lens, change your lens, change your lens, change your lens, change your lens, and the way you change that lens is by looking at the faithfulness of God.

I know he's gonna make a way now.

I have I have put my trust in him and he has never let me down, so I know he won't ever let me down.

Come on, my friend, even now, even now, change your lens.