Seeing Life with Mashiach Eyes | Land of Israel Fellowship

And there's just a principle in life that's really at the heart of this teaching. And this is the line. It's not the things that happen to us that determine our experience of reality. It's our judgment about those things. And so, the walls of Canaan were real, the giants were real, the risk was real, but the conclusion, we're like grasshoppers, we can't do this. That was a judgment. Caleb stood before the people and said, "We can absolutely go up and take possession of the land. We can surely do it." It's the same facts, it's the opposite judgment. What made the difference? Caleb and Joshua were seeing through different set of eyes. They shined the light of the menorah, of God's purpose, of our mission. They saw the way that the world should be seen, where blessing will reside. They were seeing Israel through Mashiach's eyes. In that capacity to see the present moment, it's the it's only possible if we see it in light of God's purpose for our life on a personal level, on a national level, on an international level. That's the way we have to see reality cuz only then can we interpret it in the right way. That would be the only way that will guide us to the promised land. I mean, living with Mashiach's eyes doesn't mean that we deny the difficulty. It's not pretending the walls aren't there. It means interpreting the difficulty through a lens of God's purpose. It means asking not, can we survive this? Is this going to be okay? It's like, what is God doing here? What is being asked of me now? How can I grow from this? How will this make me better? How will this make me stronger? And the people of Israel had just watched the most powerful empire in the world crumble. They'd seen the Red Sea split before their feet, and they were afraid of walled cities. I mean, it tells us something really important. It's like, faith can't just be a one-time experience. It's like a discipline of seeing. You have to see your tzitzit all the time. And I mean, you have witnessed miracles after miracles, and then you might revert right back to seeing the world through a paradigm of fear. Only if you train yourself to consistently see the world with eyes of emunah, interpret reality through the paradigm of Hashem's faithfulness and purpose. That's why the Torah commands us to remember, zachor, remember the Exodus, remember the miracles, see the tzitzit, and remember, write these words on your doorpost, put them on your arm, between your eyes, teach them to your children, because the work of faith, it's ongoing, daily, it's a discipline, and aligning our vision with God's perspective is the key to everything. And so, I mean, every single one of us has had miracles in our life, moments of just absolute gratitude for the good fortune, for the answered prayers, but we're being taught that it it's not one-time miracles in our lives, it's remembering them and consistently working to interpret reality through the paradigm of God's faithfulness. The tzitzit, they're all all four corners. It's like, wherever we go, we have constant reminders to see them, to remember, to see heaven wherever we go. That's why the menorah's light never goes out. And so, how do we come back? How do we reorient our vision? And the answer is in the first parsha, Balak. Every day, Aaron tends the menorah, trimming the wicks, replenishing the oil, ensuring the flame burned clean and constant. It wasn't a one-time sacrifice, and it wasn't a one-time event. It's a daily practice of maintenance. That is the truth about godly vision. It requires daily tending. People ask, "Why do the Jews pray every day? I mean, come on. I mean, that just can't be from their heart every day." It's like it's not just about trying to change God. When we pray, we're changing ourselves. We're praying for ourselves to be aligned with God's vision. That's why the leader of Jewish prayer is called chazzan, which means the man who gives us vision from the word chazzon. And the tzitzit, it's not once a day, it's with us all day. It's like every turn we make. It's like Parshat Shlach, you look at them, you remember all of God's commandments. They're like a physical anchor for our eyes. Prayers every day. It's reorienting us every day. It's like Look down at the tzitzit. Look here. Don't look there. See through this lens, not that lens. It's like you know, and when I think about Israel and the pain and the hardships we're going through, you can look at Israel, it's like, "What is happening there?" And it's like, I know that we are meant to serve as a light to the world. Cuz everyone in the world goes through hard times. And Israel is meant to serve as a light with the windows of the temple outward for all people when they find themselves in times of darkness. Look how Israel responds. I wanted to show you that video of that leader in Greece, but that is exactly what it means to be a light to the nations. And you know, this idea came to me and I was remember I was, you know, Tila's mother's 70th birthday. And she just mentioned like we used to live in her parents' home. And our first son was born and he was like a newborn in their home. And they have like a basement apartment and we spent like such quality time with him there. And I remember, you know, dealing giving birth to Lavi. And she was barely 20 years old and neither of us had any experience giving birth and we had no idea what to expect and I remember watching Tehila and what I saw was truly scary. I mean, Tehila was in so much pain. Lavi has a big head and he she was breathing and she was screaming and just I mean, someone from the outside would have looked and looked at Tehila not knowing the circumstances, they literally would have thought that she was dying. And it's like my job was just to speak softly in her ear chapters of Tehillim, Psalms that we chose from before the birth. My job was just to shine the light of King David's prayers from the Psalms onto her to remind her that whatever she's going through, she's working towards Hashem's purpose. All of that pain was ultimately going to bring new life into the world. And so too with Israel, so too with our own lives. All of the pain and struggles from the outside without a godly light shining on it, it's like, what's happening here? The pain, the suffering, was this person going to die? It's like, oh. With the right light, we see that something new is being born. A new life is going to come from this. To see the world with God's light is to see that everything that happens is to bring new life into the world. And so, my blessing to all of us is that may we be granted with the courage to tend to our inner menorah every day. To be able to see with God's light and shine it on everything we encounter. To keep our eyes aligned with the light of God's faithfulness and Hashem's purpose to see our obstacles not as insurmountable but as invitations to trust his presence in our life in all things and to see the world with Messiah eyes because everything that happens happens to bring new life into the world. >> was a highlight from this week's Land of Israel Fellowship. If you like that highlight, you'll love the Land of Israel Fellowship. Find out more on the land of israel.com. Join our global community from over 50 countries around the world that gather together every Sunday live from Israel. Check it out in the link below. >> [music]