Faithbase

Hi guys, yesterday I was having a conversation with a dear childhood friend of mine, we've grown up together in Italy, and he has been sailing around the world, he's in Tunisia right now, and he was telling me that he saw a lot of darkness in people's eyes as he was walking around. Then he made a comment, he said, Pepo, I looked at some of your recent videos and I noticed a purity in your eyes, and I said, well, thank you so much for the comment, but I can tell you on a daily basis, I gotta go and wash them. And the conversation just shifted again on the eyes and what they represent, and it reminded me actually of a story, this goes back many years, I was in college, and what happened, one gal that later on became a friend of mine, she told me, she said, Pepo, I gotta confess something to you, I said, the first time I saw you, I was in the cafeteria, and you were walking by, and all of a sudden, I noticed this aura, this glow around your face, and so I started following you for the rest of the day to see where you would go to receive that radiance. And I'm not saying this to boast, because this is nothing of mine, but later on we got to talk and tell our history, and I was actually blessed enough to lead her to Christ, but It reminded me of Moses. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets and the Ten Commandments, we read in Exodus that he came down, and Israel, his people, could not behold his face. Why? Because he was so radiant that they couldn't look at his face directly, because he has been in the presence of God. And that brings forth the first question, are our eyes reflecting the presence of Christ, the presence of God in us? Now we all heard the expression that the eyes are the windows of the soul, and there is a new research that came out of Cornell University that states that truly the eyes are the window to our soul. And that is because we interpret emotion to facial expression, especially the eyes. And this is one of the notes that they have actually brought forth. They're saying, research states that emotional expressive changes around the eyes and influence how we see. And in turn, this communicates to others how we think and how we feel. We interpret a person's emotion by analyzing the expression in their eyes. And guys, gals, you know what I'm talking about. Many times you're meeting somebody, you haven't even exchanged any words yet, maybe just a handshake, and you can tell right away if there is hostility or if there is openness, friendliness, just by looking at their facial expression, just by looking at their eyes. And here is one thing actually that Cicero wrote which captures this thought. Cicero is probably one of the best orators, politician, and philosopher pre-Christ. He died, I think, 40 BC. But this is what he writes. He says, the face is a picture of the mind with the eyes as its interpreter. But let's go back to Moses for a second, that particular scene where he came down from Mount Sinai. He told Israel, he said, beware of your eyes beholding card images that you have created, or even the sun, the stars, the moon, that God has created. So in essence, he's saying, do not lust for things that are man-made, that man created, nor even things that God created, but focus your eyes on the Creator. And this is something that a writer and a pastor wrote, Steve DeWitt, which captures this particular thought. He says, the beauty of this world whispers to our soul that there is someone ultimate. But the ultimate is never found in the wonderland of creation. We keep looking and longing for the beauty behind the beauty, the one who will satisfy the craving of our soul. This explains why the drug addict keeps shooting up, and the porn addict keeps looking, and the materialist keeps buying, and the thrill seeker keeps jumping. On the other side of one thrill is the constant need for another. So here's another question, where do our eyes run for rest and pleasure? People are drawn toward our heart's desire, and we all think of, immediately, pornography. But it's not just that. It can be very much Instagram, Facebook, Amazon, YouTube, that you're watching right now. So we ought to really guard any of these things. Christ came into this world as a light, a light in the midst of darkness. He's asking all of us to do exactly the same. He's saying, I want you to be light bearers. And that's why we need to guard our eyes. One scripture in Matthew, I want to read to you, Matthew 6, 22, says, The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness? And I see the analogy when Christ says, don't take that light and put it under a table or under a bed. Don't hide it. Because we are to be his testimony unto this world. So again, brothers and sisters, let's keep away all the terrible filters that sometimes we take on by being so exposed to what the world is offering. And let's concentrate on the Creator, like Moses is saying, so that we can reflect that radiance from within. That's the challenge for me and for all of you who are listening. Guys, I love you.