Rodney Howard Browne Your Eyes

Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.  Ephesians 1:15-23 NKJV

Rodney Howard Browne shows us that when the Bible talks about your “eyes” as it does in this passage of scripture, it means “eyes” in a figurative sense. It is referring to your attitudes and opinions – the way you see God, yourself and others. Your attitudes toward God, the world around you and other people, is colored by your experiences and the information your have received through your five physical senses. You are what you know and you are what you believe. In a sense you do not and cannot choose what information comes to you to try to influence you, but you can choose what you will receive. You can’t stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from making a nest in your hair! You can decide what to hear and what to see out of all the information that comes your way. You can close your eyes and ears to the negative and all that is bad and open your eyes and ears to all that is pure and good.

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Genesis 3:4-11 NKJV

Adam and Eve had the most wonderful relationship with the Father, at first. They had not known or experienced evil in any form. Disobedience opened their eyes to know evil. They were naked before they sinned, but they were not ashamed. Their “eyes” saw only the good in everything. Sin changed their focus. Their eyes were suddenly opened to shame and guilt.

Rodney Howard Browne teaches us that the Father wants us to be restored to Him in our attitudes and outlook. He wants us to see the awesome things that we have in Him and where we are in relationship to Him. He wants the eyes of our heart and our understanding to be enlightened so that we might know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe.

You chose the way you see things. You choose the way you see your world by what you feed yourself on – what you see, hear and meditate on. You need to feed yourself on God’s word so that your eyes will be enlightened to what you have in Christ Jesus. The Father wants us to open our eyes to understand and know Him and His kingdom. He wants us to understand what He has done in us and for us and to understand the relationship He desires to have with us. Open your eyes to see Him! 

Rodney Howard Browne points us to Hebrews 11:6 (NKJ)But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Matthew 7:7-11 (NKJ)

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

Earthly parents take good care of their children. They give good gifts to their children. Pastor Rodney Howard Browne explains that the law of the land punishes parents who are cruel to their children. If we, as earthly, imperfect parents, would not dream of causing harm and distress to our children, then why do we even imagine that God would want to harm us in any way? We discipline and correct our own children, but we do not injure or kill them. God is so much more perfect than we are – what would He accomplish by hurting us? God chastises and corrects us by His word and His Spirit not by sickness, injury or poverty.

People choose to blame God for misfortune, sickness and disease in their lives because they don’t want to take the responsibility for their own sin. It is a pride thing – they put all the responsibility on God so that they can play the martyr. They would rather bear the “punishment” than repent for their sin and disobedience. Rodney Howard Browne teaches that we need to face up to our own responsibility, humble our hearts and receive God’s forgiveness. The same pride that stops you from repenting will stop you from humbling your heart to receive God’s forgiveness. God wants our obedience not our sacrifice.

Proverbs 21:2-3 (NIV)

All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart. To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

You can be stubborn and rebellious and God will leave you to do your own thing until you end up in the pigpen. The moment you come home to Him in repentance, He will forgive you. The fact is that your own children are safe while they remain in your home, but if they venture out to live on the streets and in the alleyways they become a prime target for injury or death. You can only protect them if they stay in your house! If you want to experience life and blessing, you must stay in God’s “house”. Rodney Howard Browne teaches that if you remain in God’s house then the devil has no access to us, but if you wander into the “streets” and the devil’s turf, then you will be a target for the devil.

John 10:10 (NKJ)

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Jesus is the good shepherd sent to love and save us. The devil is the thief who comes to try to kill us, steal from us and destroy us. As a thief he may try to break into your house with sickness and calamity, but you can remind him that he is there illegally and you can throw him out!

John 14:9-10 (NKJ)

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.

Jesus spoke and acted according to what He saw and heard from the Father. He was not acting alone. As He went about doing good and destroying the works of the devil, He acted on direct authority given to Him by the Father (Acts 10:38). Sickness and sin are from the devil and God and the devil are not pals! They are not working together to destroy us. The devil is in the destruction business, but God is in the construction business! The Father desires to bless us and He will bless us if we will obey and serve Him.

Psalm 30:4-5 (NIV)

Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Philippians 2:12-16 (NKJ)12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.14 Do all things without complaining and disputing,15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

Rodney Howard Browne teaches that some people believe that your salvation is completely God’s responsibility and others believe that it comes by your own efforts. However we can see from God’s Word that although He did all the hard work, it is still up to us to allow that work of salvation to take place in our lives. God will do great things in us—with our cooperation.

Rodney Howard Browne shows us from the moment that you accept God’s incredible blessings of grace and mercy that come to us by the sacrifice of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and you receive Him as your Lord and Savior, you are born-again! You are saved from hell, eternal damnation, and all of the penalties of sin. Your spirit is made brand-new and you receive eternal life immediately. There will never be any death for your spirit again. Your body will eventually cease to exist in its present form when your spirit leaves your body and your body dies, but your spirit—the real you—will live on in God’s presence. Rodney Howard Browne teaches that your soul (mind, will, intellect and emotions) and your body are not instantly redeemed at the moment you were saved as your spirit was. That is the salvation you have to work out “with fear and trembling.” When you were born-again, it was not the end of your salvation, but the beginning. Fortunately for us, God is working in us to bring about His will and His good pleasure. All we have to do is yield to His working and submit ourselves to His will.

Titus 2:11-14 (NKJ)11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

Rodney Howard Browne instructs us that in order to inherit the salvation of our body and soul, we must depart from sin and ungodliness and we must live soberly, righteously and godly, keeping our eyes and hearts open for Jesus’ return and eager to do what is good. Romans 12:1-2 (NKJ)1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. If you present your body unto the Lord as a living sacrifice, then you will not be likely to yield it to the lusts of your flesh—which is the root of all your sin problems. Your flesh desires the pleasure of sin, but unfortunately sin has very unpleasurable consequences, both here and in eternity. The only way you can cease conforming to the world and begin to be transformed and recognize God’s will for you is to renew your mind to the Word of God.You did not earn the salvation of your spirit—it was a free gift purchased in the blood of Jesus that you received. God’s grace and mercy is still working in your life for the salvation of your soul and body. It is your responsibility to work out this salvation, by continuing to allow God to do the work in you that He desires to do—until you see Him face-to-face!