Look Up

Jesus gave us the assignment of “On earth as it is in heaven” when he taught the disciples to pray. If this is true, then Jesus is giving us a mandate that is spiritual with no natural parallel. He is offering us spiritual territory that defies that natural order. He is calling us to a supernatural or “superior natural” lifestyle not bound by natural principles.

So what am I talking about? Historically in Christianity we have tried to understand spiritual things through natural principles. We have been conditioned Sunday after Sunday to believe that this is how we learn spiritual truth, taking what is supernatural and making it natural so we can try and understand it. Jesus is calling us to do the exact opposite, to bring the superior reality of heaven to earth.

A great example is how we have learned about evangelism through the principles of the harvest. We are familiar with the process and steps of plowing a field, getting the dirt prepared to receive the seed, planting, watering, tending, and then finally harvesting. Those are the natural principles of the harvest. But Jesus is calling us to a place to understand spiritual realities that have no natural picture. Jesus gave a revelation that defies nature when He said, “… Behold, I say to you lift up your eyes and look at the field, for they are already white for harvest!” (John 4:35).

What Jesus was saying is that every day is harvest day if you look up. There is no waiting for the right season or taking people through the proper process. Those who seem impossible to reach will be transformed instantly if our anointing is equal to the revelation Jesus has for us in John 4:35. When we are satisfied with natural revelation, we have to live by natural principles and restrictions to get spiritual results because we are not seeking anything different. But Jesus brings a revelation that is almost frightening when He says, “Lift up your eyes,” meaning, “With the way you see things right now, you cannot operate in the revelation I want to give you, so look up.” There is a superior natural available. All you have to do is lift up your eyes.

Recently a CEO of a company called me looking for $5MM in funding for an acquisition of another company, which would double the size of his business. He could acquire the business for 50 cents on the dollar for payment of the back debt. The opportunity was amazing, but because of the financial condition of both companies no traditional financing or investment offerings would work. So we prayed for supernatural fund raising and financing. We prayed for a funding source that would be unconventional, that could only be from God and that it would surpass their expectations of what was possible and be a blessing for everyone. 5 minutes later, he visits the President’s office who was finishing up a conversation with a customer. The customer asked how things were going and the President jokingly said, well do you have an extra $5MM? The customer says, tell me more about that. After a brief conversation, the customer has an interest in seeing the company expand and be successful, so he is pulling together options to help facilitate the funding of this acquisition. 5 minutes after we collectively lifted our eyes, the Father brought an unexpected solution and hope to a situation where there was no hope.

Jesus instantly defied the natural principles that illustrated spiritual truths when He demonstrated the Kingdom of Heaven. He refused to be bound by natural constraints, but only did and said what the Father was saying and doing. We need to “look up” and reprogram our thinking from developing principles to developing a value for His presence and His superior revelation.

Blake Schellenberg – Co-Labor Ministries