"Single Eye" Focus on Jesus
In the Song of Solomon, the Lord compliments His Bride, for He sees within her a quality that He intensely desires to cultivate and use.
"Behold, you are fair, my love! behold, you are fair! You have dove's eyes." (Song of Solomon 1:15, emphasis added)
When a dove fixes its gaze upon its mate, it is not distracted by any activities around it. Therefore, a dove is often referred to as being a "love bird," as it has what appears to be a "single eye" toward another dove.
Our Lord complimenting us for having this "dove's eye" indicates that we have cultivated a spiritual sensitivity that will lift us above the pulls and distractions of the earthly, so we can respond to the Lord's presence in obedience to His desire and purpose.
The Lord's approbation (divine favor) rests upon those who have this "single eye" toward Him.
He Will Guide Us with His Eye
"If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land." (Isaiah 1:19)
This is possible only in those who have cultivated a close personal relationship with the Lord. These can be easily led by Him, for they are close enough to see which way His "eye" is looking, in relation to His intention for them.
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye." (Psalm 32:8, emphasis added)
This "eye" guidance is silent and is beyond any "word" that we might hear or receive. Our being led by the gaze of our Lord's eye is dependent on our living very close to Him. It means that we have made a total commitment to live and walk in His presence and have an active personal relationship with Him. (Photo via Flickr)
Be Like a Dove, Not a Horse or Mule
In contrast, the eye of a horse has a very different characteristic. A horse is distracted by side vision. Therefore, it must have "blinders" placed beside each eye and a "bit" set within its mouth. Only then can it be kept on the path. Therefore, we are admonished:
"Be you not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near to you." (Psalm 32:9)
Once we have developed this "single eye" toward the Lord, we will no longer respond to Him as being like a horse or mule (according to our desires). Instead, we will have become responsive to guidance by the Lord alone and can ask of Him knowledge and wisdom.
Prepare to Function with Him at a Higher Level
We will be lifted into a higher level of personal relationship with the Lord in which we can share with Him in the outworking of His redemptive purposes. We have progressed from working for the Lord to working with Him. Only now could we (His Bride) say to the Lord, "We have a little sister, and she has no breasts (she is spiritually immature): what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?" (Song of Solomon 8:8, parentheses mine).
Now the Lord can further instruct us in order to prepare us to function with Him in this higher level of a cooperative relationship with Him. He responded and said, "If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar" (Song of Solomon 8:9).
Being a "wall" means that her spiritual experience is established on a firm foundation. Therefore, she can be brought into a higher level of spiritual substance and integrity (a palace of silver). But if she is a swinging door (spiritually unstable, sometimes in and at other times out), her spirituality must be protected (enclosed in boards of cedar).
This is the quality (her "single desire" toward Him) that so moved the Lord with a desire to be with His Bride in the outworking of this cooperative relationship. Therefore, when she cried out, "Tell me, O You whom my soul loves, where You feed, where You make your flock to rest at noon: For why should I be as one that turns aside by the flocks of Your companions" (Song of Solomon 1:7). "Tell me." This intense desire that she expresses is singularly toward her Lord, and she seeks to gaze upon Him, alone.
The Lord quickly responded, "If you know not, O you fairest among women, go your way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed your kids beside the shepherds' tents" (Song of Solomon 1:8). "Go your way forth by the footsteps of the flock." That is, find those who know the Lord, and they will lead you to the Lord Himself, not to some program or purpose.
She can no longer be satisfied with only the knowledge of things about Him. The ministries, abilities, or personalities of His servants are no longer enough, for now she must intimately know Jesus. An intense reduction of all her ambitions, desires, and dreams has brought her to this place. (Photo via Pexels)
Now that her vision has become single, the Lord is ready to lead her on: "My beloved spoke, and said to me, Rise up, My love, My fair one, and come away" (Song of Solomon 2:10).
A Single Vision—One Desire
Psalm 27 was written by David about his experience with the Lord during the time when he was hiding in a cave, while Saul's armies were outside seeking to kill him.
In the darkness of his present circumstances, David's dreams about sitting on the throne of an earthly kingdom with all its grandeur faded in the light of the eternal Kingdom, which he now saw.
"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear..." (Psalm 27:1–3)
In this seemingly hopeless situation, David realized that only that which is of God has any lasting value. All else vanished in the darkness of the cave, including the hope of his sitting on the throne of Israel, according to the prophecy that was given to him by Samuel.
David, now reduced to a single vision, has but one desire—to abide in the presence of the Lord. The dark, musty cave has become a cathedral, for now he has "the eye of a dove" and sees only the Lord. Only now could David say, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock" (Psalm 27:4–5 KJV).
The values in David's life are now in divine order, as the Lord has first place in his life. Now, the Lord, in His time and way, can lead David to the throne of Israel.
"But seek you first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33)
If we will respond and seek the Lord above all of the other pressures and demands on our time, and tell Him that we desire Him with "a single eye," He will then respond and say to us, "Behold, you are fair, you have dove's eyes." Now, we are ready to be led into a further experience of union with Jesus in the outworking of His Kingdom purposes upon the earth.
Today, the Lord is seeking those who are willing to be reduced to having this singleness of vision. Are you one of these?
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Wade Taylor
Parousia Ministries | Wade Taylor Ministries |
Wade Taylor Publications
Email:Â ministry@wadetaylor.org
Websites:Â www.wadetaylor.orgÂ
|Â www.wadetaylorpublications.org
Wade Taylor graduated to Heaven on February 29, 2012. He served others as a teacher and spiritual father for over fifty years. He was respected and loved by many for his quality of spirit and walk with his Lord. He was an anointed author, bringing forth deep truths of the Spirit with a clarity and simplicity that drew the reader up into a closer walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. For more of his writings please visit www.wadetaylor.org.
Nancy Taylor Tate serves in Parousia Ministries, carrying the vision passed on from her father, Wade Taylor. Her books, "That I Might Know Him," and "Walking in His Ways," are readily available on Amazon. In addition, Nancy hosts Parousia Ministries Gatherings and travels, from time to time, to speak and pray with others. Nancy's special gift of relating to and loving people stems from her own love for Jesus and His Kingdom. Her spiritual life messages flow into the hearts of those to whom she ministers. Nancy has an expectation for visitation and carries a prophetic word that speaks into that which the Lord is doing today. For deeper life teachings and to learn more about the vision of Wade Taylor Ministries/Parousia Ministries, please visit www.wadetaylor.org.
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