Lord I Want to See
- Safe House Church
- 5 days ago
- 23 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Pastor Stan Mons
Sermon Transcription:
This is the title of our message today: Lord, I want to see. See, church, only one thing matters. When I was just brought face to face with those two things again this week — how many people, and how quickly and how easily the people called to freedom, called to know Jesus, turn to deception in our day. And when I was confronted with how many, and how quickly and how often people die, it all brings it back again to the fact that only one thing really matters. Only one thing really matters. Do you know Jesus? Do you know Jesus? I'm reminded of that scripture where Jesus says, "Many will come to me and say, 'Did we not prophesy and do miracles and cast out demons in your name?' And I will tell them, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.'"
Jesus didn't say, "I'm going to tell these people: you didn't do enough," or, "You, at times, tried to cast something out in the name of Jesus when my Spirit was not moving. You went ahead of me. You weren't a good follower." He doesn't say, "Well, you were a member of the wrong denomination. I'm sorry." He doesn't say, "Your faith was too small. When I said faith like a mustard seed, I didn't mean as small as your faith." No, He said, "I never knew you. I never knew you." Not, "I knew you at first and then you fell away." Not, "You were very close, and I spoke with you many times, but you never turned from a believer into a follower." He says, "I never knew you. Who? Who are you? I don't know you. I know my name has power. I know demons tremble at my name. You don't have to tell me what I already know. But I don't know "you."
And I believe with all my heart that for many — as Jesus said, "many will come to me" — I believe for many it will be an incredible surprise when they stand before Jesus. I believe with all my heart that the Bible clearly indicates that these people are fully convinced that they are on Jesus' side. It is the definition of being deceived.
When you are deceived, you are fully convinced. You can be fully at peace — it's false peace. You can have all of these things. A deceived person has all of these things, but they have lost the ability to measure their experience and their knowledge by truth. That's what they've lost.
And so, it doesn't matter how much the truth comes forth. They can read the Bible and they cannot see anymore that their thinking, their life, their journey — it doesn't line up with the Word. And no alarm bells are ringing. That's the definition of being deceived. You cannot see that what you believe and do don't line up with the truth. You can't see that anymore. Now, you don't get there easy, church. Don't — don't get all alarmed. You don't get there easy. It's — it's many choices, and they're not small ones, for a person to get to that place. But many, the Word says, in the last days, will be deceived.
If there's one thing that Jesus has placed on my heart since the day that He rescued me — and I didn't know the Scriptures when He already began to put these things on my heart — but He put it on my heart so clearly: Stan, I am so willing, and people do not know. They don't know how willing I am to take them in, to forgive them, to give them a new life, new strength through my Holy Spirit, a new direction, a new journey, a new family — whatever it may be. They do not know how willing I am to forgive and to take them into my family. Lord, I want to see. Zechariah 9:9, the New King James Version — the prophecy: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey." It is prophetic word that comes forth far before Jesus would make His entry into Jerusalem. And the cry goes forth from the Spirit of God, trying to prepare humankind for Jesus entering into their life: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!"
There's no coincidence that the Word says Zion and afterwards Jerusalem. It's referring to the same geographical place, but it is also a reference to something spiritual. Zion is the reference to Jerusalem, but what it really means symbolically — it is the place where God would reconcile His people, where God would deliver His people, and where God would have fellowship — where God would meet His people. Now, Jerusalem was a representation of that, and the name Zion points to that spiritual truth that Jerusalem was supposed to represent. And so it doubles up right here: "O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold — look unto this — your King is coming to you." That's the first one. So many people in the pews of the churches — I'm not talking about the unbeliever — so many people that, if you would ask them, "Are you — are you Buddhist, or are you a Hindu?" — "Oh no, I'm a Christian." So many people that would answer, "I'm a Christian," whether they only come to church around Easter time, or Christmas, or all the year round — people calling themselves after the name of the Lord Jesus Christ — so many of them feel they have to get to the King. "How are you doing with Jesus?" — "Well, I — I got to pray more. I got to — I got to get closer to the Lord. I got to get closer to the King." Even though the Word calls our attention to this truth: "Your King is coming to you."
Your King makes His way to you. Your King seeks you out. He's just — yes. He doesn't do away with sin. He's just. We have to fear Him. And having salvation — He's just and having salvation. Not only does He uphold what is right, not only is He to be feared — He brings with Him salvation for your and my life. Not just forgiveness, but absolutely everything that God ever wanted to give you or anyone else under the blood of Jesus Christ. He wants to give you everything. He wants to give you justification — you forever being right with God. He wants to give you forgiveness. He wants to cleanse you through sanctification. He wants to give you all these things. And your King comes to you. Your King gets up and comes to you. You don't have to get up and try to make your way to Him. That's what this prophetic word is trying to call the attention to. You don't have to make your way to Him. You don't have to bring anything. You don't even have to be afraid of His justice — because He doesn't come only in justice. He brings with Him salvation and humility. Lowly, God approaches you and I with humility.
He doesn't come to you in your mistakes and your wrongs, and he wants you to worship him as king. He comes to you lowly as a servant, carrying something. Just because he is so just, he carries salvation with him into your life, 'cuz he wants to serve you and bring that salvation upon your life — lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. I believe with all my heart that the Lord Jesus Christ wants to carry something into your life today that maybe you thought you already had. 'Cuz that's what was happening on Palm Sunday. Luke 19:29–42: And it came to pass, when he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that he sent two of his disciples, saying, "Go into the village opposite you, where, as you enter, you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, 'Why are you loosing it?' thus you shall say to him, 'Because the Lord has need of it.'"
So those who were sent went their way and found it just as he had said to them. But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, "Why are you loosing the colt?" And they said, "The Lord has need of him."
Now the people that tried to, for a moment at the very least, question — maybe stop — what the disciples were doing, knew exactly what the disciples were saying. I've heard many things preached on this donkey. And I went to the Lord, and I — I asked about this donkey. What can we learn from this, Lord? There's — there's no coincidence. It wasn't, Lord, like you couldn't walk. He walked all of the time. Why this donkey? And that's because Jesus is a good communicator. That's why he picked a donkey. Because in that time, a king would be carried by a donkey that no one had sat on into the gates of the city that they were going to be crowned king over. And in this situation, the Romans were occupying their city. And here, somebody comes to knock on your door — you have a donkey that has not yet carried any load — and there's a couple of guys standing there, and they say, "Lord" — they're talking about someone of renown — they say, "The Lord needs this donkey."
In other words, if you were at all not happy with the Romans being there, that would have kindled a fire in your heart, because you're saying an uproar is coming. So we have somebody that is going to take our city back? Of course — take the donkey. Let it go. I want to see where this goes. The Lord has need of him. Verse 35 And then they brought him to Jesus. All of that to say — there's nothing special with the donkey. That's Jesus communicating. And they brought him to Jesus, and they threw their clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. That shows you how excited the people were with this nonverbal communication. And they understood exactly what was being done right here. They set him on the colt. They put their clothes on it. Jesus didn't give instructions. The disciples didn't need to help. Everybody there — there was an uproar. Everybody was excited. And as he went, many spread their clothes on the road.
Then, as he was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" And some of the Pharisees called to him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" It's one thing — they're trying to crown you king. It's another thing that they're crying out — that it impacts heaven. Put them in their place, Jesus. Verse 40 But he answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out." Now as he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, if you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!
But now they are hidden from your eyes." Now as he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes." Here Jesus is approaching the place of reconciliation between God and man. The people are shouting, "Glory, Hosanna! Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord." The people are rejoicing. They're taking down the palm branches. They're spreading their clothes. They're excited. They're calling him king. They're worshiping him—and all Jesus can do is weep. And he's saying, "You don't know. You're worshiping me and you don't know the things that make for your peace. You're crying out my name and you don't know the things that make for your peace. You follow me on this road and you don't know the things that make for your peace. They are hidden from your eyes." And Jesus weeps over that city. Later on he looks at the same city and he says, "How many times I was willing to gather you, and you would not."
Even though he paid for the lives of everyone in that city, everyone in our city, everyone in our church, everyone in every church—even though he pays—how many is he allowed to gather unto himself? How many know? How many see? How many are worshiping with all of their heart, all of their joy, while Jesus weeps? How many cry out his name while Jesus says, "If you would only know the things that make for your freedom, the things that make for your peace. If you would only know! But now these things are hidden from you." Has Jesus been allowed to reconcile you? Church, this is a one-time thing. There's one time you got your driver's license. You maybe didn't know how to drive very well, but you got it. There's one time that your name is written in the Book of Life. And you may not know how to walk with Jesus very well, but you begin to learn from that point on. But when your name is written in the Book of Life, and God's peace has settled upon your heart, and the things that make for your peace—the things that bring about the peace—are now being made known to you.
You know them now. You'll never be the same. You may forget the date that it happened, but you'll never forget what actually happened. You'll never forget what actually changed. You'll never forget what was made known to you. Has he been allowed to reconcile you? Have you been? Has that happened? Have you been reconciled to God? Do you know Jesus? Are you close to God? When people think of you, do they think, “Yes, he or she is close to God”? And forget what people think—when you look at your own life, do you experience, do you feel, and do you know that you are close to God again? Close to a person? Are you bearing fruit? I love the parable that Jesus gives us: The righteous is as a tree planted by the waters. See, a tree doesn't do anything to bear fruit—it's just a tree. And if it's planted by water, it's just going to bear fruit. The sun comes up, the rain comes down—the tree just bears fruit.
That's what Jesus says: If you have my righteousness and I've planted you by the living water, there's just going to be fruit. It doesn't matter how much you read your Bible, how hard you pray—if I have filled you with my Spirit, if I have rescued you, if I have purchased you, I'm going to see fruit in your life. I will cause it to grow. I will cause the streams of waters to flow. I will cause the sun to rise over you—and fruit will be in your life. Are you bearing fruit? Is God doing that miracle in your life? Are you being picked up by God any time that you are down? Are you reconciled to the place where you know no hopelessness? See, one thing that I could never imagine after meeting Jesus is to ever experience hopelessness again. When hope has filled your heart, there is no room for hopelessness. Hopelessness simply means, I don't see a way forward in this area of my life, so I'm going to stop it. I'm going to quit and we'll try again.
That's hopelessness. It's not the unwillingness to try again—hopelessness says, I have to give up on this journey and then maybe do it, try it a different way or a different time. Hopelessness says, There is no hope. There is no way. There is no possibility for this to still work out. Even death is filled with hope for the believer. How could there be hopelessness in any other area of our life ever—if you can see, if you know the things that make for your peace—that are working continually? The blood. The Spirit. The presence of God. The Word of God. The people of God. Everything God placed in your life, all working together to make about and bring about the peace that God has purchased for you. Because your King comes to you. You don't have to go to your King. And your King carries salvation. Even though he is just—just for you—he brings it with him. And he is lowly and gentle at heart in the way that he approaches you. Are you reconciled to the place where you know no hopelessness?
No hopelessness when you look at your marriage. No hopelessness when you look at character traits that come out from time to time. No hopelessness when you look at a lost loved one that you would love to see saved. No hopelessness when you look at your calling. No hopelessness when you look at your city. No hopelessness when you disagree or don't like the government. No hopelessness when you see sickness going around in the world. No hopelessness when you get laid off at the job. No hopelessness. No hopelessness. No room for it in your life. Have you been reconciled to that place, or can you not see it? Now as he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known—even you," he's speaking to the love of his life, "especially in this your day..." In other words, this is your time. This is the time to know. It doesn't matter—tomorrow is not promised. It doesn't matter—yesterday has been spent. "Especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes." If you had known—that word known is a little bit of a special word that is not often used in the Greek. It is an absolute knowing. It is a God-word. It is an absolute knowing—something God has brought about in our understanding and our perception and our ability to see.
If you had known—in other words, if God had shown you, if the Spirit had revealed it to you, if you had accessed absolutely into the truth of this. And here he is, speaking over the children of Abraham—every single one of them called—and so many of them on this day crying out:
"Hosanna! Blessed be the Lord! Blessed be the Lord! The King is coming!" It is the people that say, "Oh, but I already know Jesus. I know who you are. I'm worshiping you as you come into this city. Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest." And yet Jesus weeps and says, "If you had only known the things that make for your peace." And today, in so many churches—whether I get to visit or sometimes hear about it from other pastors—so many churches, it's no different. Today, Church, at one point or another, every person I meet, I like to ask them the same question: "Do you know Jesus? Does Jesus live in your heart? Are you saved? Forgiven?"
Something along those lines. And the amount of times that people say, "Oh yes! Oh yes! Oh, I'm forgiven! Oh, I know Jesus! Oh, I understand the things of Jesus! Yes, I've been made righteous! Yes, I'm forgiven!"—whatever the question may have been, I almost always get the answer: Yes. Here are the people lined up the street as Jesus makes his entry into Jerusalem. And they're all singing like they know. And they're all worshiping him like they know. And they're all behaving as if they're with him—like they know. And Jesus says, "If you had only known the things that make for your peace." And so many in the church today: "Oh, I'm forgiven. Oh, I know Jesus." Well, if you know Jesus, then how come the relationship has no effect on you? How come you're still struggling in your anger and trying to hide it and make yourself look better in front of people? How come you have no peace? How come sin still is attached to you? Shame is still attached to you?
How come—if you know—how come Jesus weeps over his church and says, "If you would only know the things that make for your peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes"? And the people go, "I don't know who you're talking about. I'm singing hosanna right here." To only a couple of days later say, "Crucify him!" We don't want this Jesus. We don't want to follow a Jesus like this. We don't want to lay down our life. We didn't come here for a weak king. One day they're worshiping him and they say, we know. And just a couple of days later, there's no power in that worship. There's no effect of that worship. There's no nearness to Jesus left. No recognition of Jesus left. They can't see him. They can't recognize him. They shove him aside as fast as they welcomed him in. That's the life of so many believers today. Anytime they say, "Oh, that's Jesus," they welcome him in. And the moment that they're done, they can just shove him out of their life as quick as they can—to move on with their life on Monday and begin to do again what they want to do, or to sin again, or to run away again, or to hide again, or to lie again.
If you know Jesus, then how come the relationship has no effect on you? That's not the Jesus I know. That's not the Jesus that met the woman at the well. That's not the Jesus that met Paul.
Jesus, just a little later in the temple, said—another prophetic word: "My house shall be called a house of prayer." You see, that is a reconciled place of intimacy. It's not prayer as a work. It is a people that run to God because when they speak to Him, He speaks to them. They run to God because they know Him. That's what Jesus said: "My house shall be called..." And He wasn't talking about churches. He wasn't talking about the temple. Remember—why did Jesus use the donkey? Because He is a good communicator. Why did Jesus come into the temple and make a whip and clean the temple out? Because He cared that much about the temple? No. Because He is a good communicator.
What does the Bible tell us? You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. You are now the building of God—not built with man's hands, but built by the Spirit, built by the blood, built by the gospel.
Does the temple of God—does the house of God—do you, as the temple of the Holy Spirit, have that? Do you have reconciled intimacy? Jesus said—and it's a promise—Jesus said, "My house, where I live, shall be called a house of prayer." Where I live, people will recognize that there's reconciled intimacy. Where I live, people are going to see that men and women are brought back into relationship with my Father. Where I live, it will be called a house of communication with heaven. Is that you? Are you, as the temple of the Holy Spirit, recognized as the place where people one more time have relationship intimately with the Father because Jesus came to live here? Do you have that reconciled intimacy—the things that make for your peace? Or are they hidden from your eyes? Church, don't be deceived.
You can be near to Jesus and be absolutely blind. You can be called by Jesus, and you can be blind. You can hear something in your heart when you get around people whose hearts are filled with the Spirit of Jesus. You can hear something in your heart, and you can be blind. I personally have known believers that went their entire life hearing something. Their eyes never opened. And they had a false peace because they said, "But I can hear something." And I always like to say—just because you hear the knocking doesn't mean you open the door. I've known people that are not with us anymore. And I cannot say, not with an ounce of certainty, that they are with Jesus. The only way anyone here on earth can say, "I know they are with the Lord," is because right after that sentence they say: "Let me tell you about the fruit that God caused that old dry tree to bear when He planted that tree by the living waters. When He caused the rain to come. When He caused the growth to come. Let me tell you about the fruit of what God did in this person." All that fruit was never there. But when God replanted that tree into His own vineyard, let me tell you what God has done.
That person I can talk with. But unless there is fruit, don't come and tell me you know somebody's in heaven just because they said the right words—just because they sang "Hosanna" when Jesus showed up from time to time. The blindness I'm talking about is mentioned in the Word of God. Let me read it to you—2 Corinthians 3 verse 18 to the fourth verse of chapter 4: But we all, with unveiled face—talking about those that can see—beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. In other words, if your eyes have been opened, you're not doing anything. You can't help this process. It's just going to happen, because this is what happens where Jesus lives. You're going to change from glory to glory, more and more into the image of the Lord. It's just going to happen. The fruit is just going to be there.
Verse one of chapter 4: Therefore, since we have this ministry—we don't have to do the work—we've been given this ministry. We just, one degree at a time, are being changed. We made ourselves completely available to Jesus. What He does is change us from degree to degree so that the world can see what God can do. That's the ministry we have. We do nothing. Since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we don't lose heart. We're never discouraged. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame—not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully, trying to use the Word of God to make my point—but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But even if our gospel is veiled—or hidden—it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age (that's a reference to Satan), the god of this age has blinded. Whose minds the god of this age has blinded.
How come the devil was able to do that? Here it comes: who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. Now, in English, this verse is—forgive me for saying it this way—is poorly translated. If you look at the Greek, it would make a little more sense, and some other translations do this as well. It refers to these people as who do not believe and gave room for the devil to blind their minds so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the image of God, that it should shine on them. See, the enemy doesn't need to blind a mind if that mind is not in the presence of truth. The only mind, the only eyes of the heart that need to be deceived are the eyes that are actually—unless they are deceived—seeing something. If someone is in a poor environment, you just keep them there. But if the enemy sees some people in an environment of truth—truth is near, so to speak—that person needs to be deceived or else they may see the truth.
Now, the only way that your eyes can be opened is to believe on Christ Jesus. And believe, as much as it happens in the heart, is a small—it is a very small action. An action of faith to believe on Jesus. You're going to see it in the Word in a minute. But there's people all around you, church—people all around you—that are falling prey to the enemy's goal to get them blinded where they cannot see. And here Jesus is, on His way to Jerusalem. He's surrounded with people that, to the best of their ability—let's even say with the right motives—are worshiping Him, are trying to worship Him, are trying to even make a way for Him into their life. They're trying to help make a way into their situation. And Jesus weeps, says, "If you could only know the things that actually make for your peace." Let me take you to the story of a man. He was a part of God's people. He was called—and blind. Luke 18, verse 35 to 43, from the NIV version: As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. That's the believer, church. That's that person in the church. They believe God is real. They believe Jesus needs to be welcomed into their life. They would raise their hands. They'd even sing Him a song. But they're sitting there begging. They're trying to live off of the overflow of other people's lives. There's many people in the church that try to spiritually stay alive by eating off the overflow of the lives of other people, but they themselves don't have enough to survive on. He's sitting there—blind.
Verse 36: When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." And he cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Those who led the way—they were worshiping. These were the people laying down their clothes, laying down the palm leaves—those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped and ordered that the man be brought to Him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want Me to do for you?" "Lord, I want to see," he replied. And Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight. Your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. And when all the people saw it, they also praised God. See, this man can hear something is happening, and he's asking what is really going on. And people tell him Jesus is passing by. But this man was not content to stay where he was. This man believed with all of his heart that Jesus could make a difference. This man believed, "There is more for me to receive if Jesus is coming into my life." And that's where most of the church people break down—because of their pride, their inability to humble themselves before the Lord. They say: "I already know Jesus. I already gave my life to Him. I already love Him. I already follow Him. I'm already changed enough. I'm already touched enough."
And Jesus weeps. He says, "If you would have only known the things that make for your peace."
But there's a blind man that can hear something in his heart and realizes, "If Jesus is coming into my life, there must be more. There must be a difference that can be made. There must be a miracle that can take place—that I may see beyond what I can see today, that I may no longer live off of what other people may throw into my life." And he cannot let it go. And he cries out. And then, when Jesus says, "What do you want from me? What do you want me to do for you?" he says, "Lord, I want to see you. I can see you, Jesus." When God finds a man or a woman that says, "I cannot see you, Jesus, but I so want to," immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God. Do you see that? These people, who didn’t need to be healed in their eyes—they couldn’t see it either. And when they saw it, they also praised God.
I'm telling you, Church, none of us are far from being saved. None of us are far from receiving opened eyes—divinely opened eyes. But so many of us are content to just live close and to say in our heart, "I know. I know Jesus." Oh, the amount of days that I go on my knees and I say, "Jesus, I want to see you." I think of the Apostle Paul who said, "Forgetting what lays behind, stretching forward as if I didn't have anything yet, as if God didn't give me anything yet—Lord, I want everything you offer today. Jesus, I want to see you." I believe with all my heart, Church, that the Church of Jesus Christ has stopped praying this prayer. When I go to conferences—and all these people mean well, don’t get me wrong—but they all talk about how to see your church more filled up, how to see your team more effective, how to plant a church. All of these things that the Church would want to see. But to say, "Jesus, I can't see you, and I just want to see you today." I'm telling you now—when you humble yourself before the Lord and you pray that prayer—the Holy Spirit will always do a miracle. And you may not be able to explain it to people, but they'll see it. They'll see it on your life. They'll see it on your life, and they will become attracted to Jesus Christ, who can open their eyes too.
If you would stand with me for a moment—verse 42—saying, "If you had known, if you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace… but now they are hidden from your eyes." I want to invite you in this place. I want to invite you online as well, but right here in the church—if you can't see your forgiveness, if you can't see the things that make for your peace, if you can't see the hopefulness in your situation—and if you say, "Jesus, I want to see," if that is in your heart, if the Holy Spirit is touching your heart for that prayer, I want to invite you to come forward and to allow me to pray with you. Because I'm telling you now, if you cry out together with me at this altar, "Jesus, I want to see," He’ll open your eyes. He’ll give you vision. And you will never be the same. You may not know how to explain it, but people will see what Jesus has done.
If that is you, I want you to meet me here at the altar. And if that is you online, I want to invite you to very simply pray with me. It’s a very humbling prayer. It is the Church of Jesus. You may have been raised in church, and you may hear in your heart but not see. It is the Church of Jesus saying, "Lord, I'm begging. I'm living off of the relationship with God that other people have—but I'm barely getting by on my own. I'm like that beggar. I can hear something, but I can't fully see it. Jesus, I don't want to live off of other people's relationship. Jesus, I don't just want to be close to the people of God and hear something in my heart. Jesus, I want to see. I want to see. I want to know you. I want to see you. I want to be changed by your presence. I want to be changed from glory to glory. I want to be that tree that is replanted by you, by your living water, bearing your fruit. I want to be in your hands. But Jesus, more than anything—I want to see you with the eyes of my heart."
-Pastor Stan Mons