Seeing With Eyes Of Faith

By Jorge Parrott

(All Scriptures from the Amplified Bible)

As I sat down to write this, I prayed and felt a gentle breeze in the Spirit. I then saw an impression of the Lord’s breath blowing over the news headlines. He wasn’t making the news disappear. He wanted me to see what He sees. The Lord is clearly not in heaven wringing His hands.

How do we shield our peace from the bad news and media manipulation? With man’s eyes we see chaos and darkness spreading. With our eyes of faith and His Spirit alive in us, we will see the glory of the Lord shining brighter and brighter upon His people (see Isaiah 60:1).

We are all given a measure of faith. What we do with our faith determines the fulfillment of our God-ordained purpose. This faith impacts those the Lord destined for us to impact with His heart as well. Only heaven knows how many are waiting for us to “arise and shine” for their life’s fulfillment. Pray we do not miss the Holy Spirit’s leading even once. Every moment holds a key to eternity. May we choose our focus wisely in the moments we are given.

^“For everyone born of God is victorious and overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has conquered and overcome the world—our [continuing, persistent] faith [in Jesus the Son of God]” (I John 5:4).

The Lord loves each of us in a very real and unfolding revelatory way. He is the God of love, peace, redemption, hope, and so much more. We are His chosen vessels on earth in this chaotic time. He created us to be His messengers (see Acts 2:39). As we remember and act on the two most important commandments, we get delivered from self-centeredness. One key here is to act on faith, the only way to please the Lord.

We Have All We Need In Our Hearts and Hands

There’s much work to do for His glory. “The work of the Father is to believe.” In John 6:29 we read, “Jesus answered, ‘This is the work of God: that you believe [adhere to, trust in, rely on, and have faith] in the One whom He has sent.’” By faith, we have all we need in our hearts and hands to impact whatever sphere of influence the Lord has placed us in—follow the Spirit’s leading step by step. Now is a great time to start with a fresh sense of God’s heart.

We have dear friends working across Europe with the refugees fleeing bombs, destruction, and hopelessness. In Germany, Italy, and Greece, I met face-to-face with many refugees who fled horrible war zones. We have other great friends working with refugees in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria, etc. Your prayers and generous support have helped to bring Jesus and meaningful, urgent, and real help and hope to many people. Many are getting saved and discipled into a deep relationship with our Lord Jesus. We will need sharper discernment in the days ahead to spot those intent on taking innocent life.

This article is not about the causes of increased terrorism, nor about our own positions on enforcing current immigration laws. This is written from a spiritual perspective and how we see the reality of the large exodus and mass migration we are facing.

To hear of young and old alike going deaf from the bombs, or maimed, raped, tortured, brutalized, or even killed is something we think is not possible in the 21^st century. One refugee said, “Yes, we are here but you don’t know how many with us died trying to get here.” Their voices resound in my mind and heart, and I will never forget them. As we listen to their stories and dreams, these encounters stick in your memory.

The Church is Awakening

We have taken our Fast Track teams to visit refugee centers across Europe. Each team member had their lives changed forever after sitting face-to-face with refugees, looking into their eyes and listen to their stories. Many Muslims are receiving Jesus. Our friends who live in Europe are seeing their churches wake up and thrive as their members get involved in sharing Jesus. Revival tools abound if we only look.

In every instance, the churches engaging the refugees are seeing revival come. Surprising changes await as we get past the fear, paralysis, and politics and enter into greater hunger for the Lord and knowing the Father’s heart.

At the same time, we need members in the global body of Christ to be real watchmen. We need them to intercede, get involved in local, state, and national politics, fight abortion and slavery, the gay agenda, vote as a duty, get involved in public and private education, and stand for righteousness on a massive scale in every sector of society in every nation. It is an all hands on deck time. We, as the sleeping giant, must awaken! Everyone has a passion and a voice that yearns to be ignited. In Hebrews 3 and 4, we read how the Hebrews did not enter into their promised land because they did not have faith mixed with their rest in the Lord. Faith and love compel us to step up and be boldly obedient. Jesus did.

The Great Harvest is upon us. We must pray for the strategies of the evil one to be exposed and destroyed. Many that don’t know the Lord are being duped and misled to blow themselves up and kill as many as they can. It is no surprise that most of the terrorism arises in the 10/40 window, and this is the least evangelized region on earth. What evil lurks in innocent throngs in public places, concerts, malls, and transit hubs while terrorism spreads. We know we can ask the Lord for more wisdom and He will grant it. Pray for sharp discernment and against the fear paralyzing us from standing up to the bullying, manipulation, and control in the physical and spiritual realms.

These refugees did not choose to be born in Iran, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, or Turkey. Here we are today. Seeing beyond the news, media manipulation, and corrupt governmental leadership in almost every nation on the earth, we look to the Lord of light and eternity for wisdom and discernment to see what He sees. Prophetic vision and revelatory understanding are needed to bring the light into the darkness. This starts when we peer into the eyes and hearts of many, one by one.

Europe and the West are in a mess, but never without hope. What will it take to repair the mistakes of leaders and nations who helped cause this crisis? What can we do to make the best of this tragedy brought on by the vacuum of leadership, the dangers of political correctness, and lack of courage? Only the supernatural intervention of the Lord and obedience by His “oaks of righteousness” will bring hope and transformation to our lives the others’ lives.

One man we met from Syria showed us a photo of his family’s thriving modern furniture store in Damascus. Then he showed us a photo after bombs had obliterated their livelihood. Fortunately, their family was not injured or killed. They don’t understand the war and why there is so much hatred. Another young man was about to finish his master’s degree in water chemistry. He knew the Lord had a good future for him and fled to pursue that promise. Many Muslims are hungry to know the Lord of hope that is Jesus.

Three men from northern Nigeria fled from Boko Haram. Their parents wanted them to escape the terrorists and live a better life. While in Libya, some were kidnapped and robbed, and they even had guns fired at them at close range. They testified how the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had saved them. They were Christians in Nigeria and now they are so thankful for a chance at the life their God and families want them to live.

Bubbles of Joy and Laughter

All our team traveling to Germany prayed and received revelation. Our God who surprises—or as Larry Randolph said a few years ago, Jehovah Sneaky—met them head-on as they made themselves available to be poured out.

The Lord had shown me prior to the Germany trip to give them hope, joy, and laughter. Proverbs 17:22 says that “A happy heart is good medicine and a joyful mind causes healing, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.” Our teams are trained to bring the oil, wine, and joy of the Holy Spirit to dry and parched lands. We simply have to show up, listen, and love as the Holy Spirit shows us what to do. We offer in-depth teaching and training along the way.

Our objective was to step out and trust the Lord’s Spirit to give us everything we needed. He did this in a truly amazing way! Our hosts said some of the refugees had been there for up to nine months, and our hosts had never seen them laugh and smile so much. Grown men blowing bubbles and drawing with crayons like young children sounds simple, but even this childlike faith can bring healing, deliverance, and salvation. We have seen and heard of many who gave their hearts to the Lord.

We spoke in churches, and an increasing number of churches are involved in our school, training, or equipping methods. Ongoing weekly discipleship and our “boots on the ground” teams take the time to visit them in their refugee camps and at church services.

Building deep and lasting relationships and friendships is the heart of the Lord. It takes time, trust, and listening to get to know those who the Lord sends our way. It is not rocket science. Often in the West, we over-intellectualize the Great Commission. We must guard our hearts to not let our heads get in the way.

Prophetic words, words of knowledge, and wisdom flow freely in the Lord’s presence. First we must focus on our own walk into greater intimacy with the Lord, and then take as many as we can into the heavenly throne room with faith and the help of the Holy Spirit. We are taking the living Word and the Holy Spirit, along with His hope and passion. The Holy Spirit leads us in His ways, helping us go from the head to the heart to affect real and lasting transformation.

We are working with our Missions Network members currently ministering to refugees in Germany, Greece, Syria, Pakistan and Iraq. We are preparing teams and resources to go into more nations, and we covet your prayers and support. As the Lord leads, pray and send in your investment in global futures today or give online (make your checks out to CMM). Call or email the Missions Office to find out more. Visit our website for more information and sign up for our free online newsletters at https://cmm.world.

Email: missionsbase@gmail.com

Phone 803-802-5544 ext 392

Below: Our Fast Track Team with a few of the refugees in their apartment. Many nights our team would minister into early hours of the morning, there was such hunger.

Below: Our Fast Track Team at a big church in Cologne, Germany. All of our Fast Track Team Members are Graduates of MSU College of Theology (msutheology.org).