Do you "perceive?"

“And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:” Matt 13:14

I can understand not understanding if I didn’t hear.  I can even understand hearing and still not understanding… ‘cause some stuff is just tough.

But to see and not perceive… what does that mean?

To perceive is to fully grasp; to take hold of; to receive.

In order to perceive you must first believe… that is… you must act according to what you say to be true (your confession).

If you do not believe you will never reach out to take hold of.

“Did you see that?!?!” You may hear.

But will you answer, “It’s just an illusion.”

We cannot take hold of what Christ has taken hold of for us, if we do not confess that He has done it!

And when we fully grasp something, when we take hold of it, when we receive it… it is ours, and it changes us…

“lest at any time they should see with [their] eyes, and hear with [their] ears, and should understand with [their] heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” V15

In the kingdom of heaven believing is seeing.  We first believe… then we see…

And we are converted and healed.

Lord, that you would give us perception. That we would not just see… but that we would fully grasp and take hold of all of your promises.

SDG