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TEACHING ON PERCEPTION –
THE “EXPERIENCE” OF KNOWING
TO “KNOW” DEEPER THAN THE SURFACE
I always thought that to “perceive” something was like an
elusive 6th sense. However that 6th
sense is actually our spirit or our conscience that is
instinctively felt which is another lesson. The Lord took
me through some lessons to teach me that PERCEPTION is
actually much less obscure than knowing our conscience.
In the Hebrew and Greek Perception is not a sense, it is an
experience. To perceive is a verb with action. The word
perceive means to suddenly know, to understand, to be aware,
recognize, acknowledge. This definition is true in the
English language as well.
In the English language to perceive means to become aware or
conscious of (something); come to realize or understand.
synonyms: discern, recognize, become aware of, see,
distinguish, realize, grasp, understand, take in, make out,
find, identify, hit on, comprehend, apprehend, appreciate,
sense.
Through scripture and rhema of seeing/ hearing He has taught
me that the process of perceiving something is just like
receiving a Word of knowledge. The difference is that a
Word of knowledge is a knowing that comes as a result of
HEARING a word. On the other hand, perception is the same
process but it is a knowing that comes as a result of SEEING
something. Both hearing and seeing are experiences that take
place in the spiritual realm beyond what our natural ears
and eyes tell us.
THE ROAD TO EMMAUS MODELED AN
EXPERIENCE
The following scripture shows that the disciples eyes were
closed and they didn’t realize they were talking to Jesus.
And then they received the experience of having their eyes
opened and they suddenly KNEW they had been with Jesus.
That knowledge is the experience called perception.
Luke 24:31 And their
eyes were opened, and
they knew
him; and he vanished out of their sight.
Luke 24:15-16 And it came to pass, that, while they
discussed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near,
and went with them. 16 But their
eyes were
held that they
should not know him.
EYES – LITERAL OR FIGURATIVE
Strong's Greek Dictionary
3788. ὀφθαλμός ophthalmos (ophthalmós)
Search for G3788 in KJVSL; in
KJV.
ὀφθαλμός ophthalmós, of-thal-mos'
from
G3700;
the eye (literally or figuratively); by implication, vision;
figuratively, envy (from the jealous side-glance):—eye,
sight.
masculine noun
OPENED – TO THOROUGHLY OPEN
Strong's Greek Dictionary
1272. διανοίγω dianoigo (dianoígō)
Search for G1272 in KJVSL; in
KJV.
διανοίγω dianoígō, dee-an-oy'-go
from
G1223
and
G455;
to open thoroughly, literally (as a first-born) or
figuratively (to expound):—open.
verb
HELD – TO HOLD BACK OR RETAIN
Strong's Greek Dictionary
2902. κρατέω krateo (kratéō)
Search for G2902 in KJVSL; in
KJV.
κρατέω kratéō, krat-eh'-o
from
G2904;
to use strength, i.e. seize or retain (literally or
figuratively):—hold (by, fast), keep, lay hand (hold) on,
obtain, retain, take (by).
verb
Matthew 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of
Isaiah, who said, By hearing you shall hear, and shall not
understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not
perceive:
KNEW – RECOGNIZE, PERCEIVE
Strong's Greek Dictionary
1921. ἐπιγινώσκω epiginosko (epiginṓskō)
Search for G1921 in KJVSL; in
KJV.
ἐπιγινώσκω epiginṓskō, ep-ig-in-oce'-ko
from
G1909
and
G1097;
to know upon some mark,
i.e. recognize; by implication, to become fully acquainted
with, to acknowledge:—(ac-, have, take)know(-ledge, well),
perceive.
Verb
Mark 2:8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his
spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto
them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
Luke 5:22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he
answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?
Luke 5:22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he
answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?
WORD OF KNOWLEDGE IS AN
EXPERIENCE BASED ON A WORD
Through my own experiences, I felt that this experience
of perception operates just like receiving a word of
knowledge and I wondered if it had the same Greek
words. Yes both types of knowledge have the same below root
word, #1097:
1 Corinthians 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the
word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same
Spirit;
ROOT WORD:
Strong's Greek Dictionary
1097. γινώσκω
ginosko (ginṓskō)
Search for G1097 in KJVSL; in
KJV.
γινώσκω ginṓskō, ghin-oce'-ko
a prolonged form of a primary verb; to "know"
(absolutely) in a great variety of applications and with
many implications (as follow, with others not thus
clearly expressed):—allow, be aware (of), feel, (have)
know(-ledge), perceived,
be resolved, can speak, be sure, understand.
verb
PERCEPTION IS AN EXPERIENCE BASED
ON THE EYES IN OUR MIND
The following is a word study on this scripture:
Ephesians 1:18 The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened; that you may
know what is the
hope of his calling, and what is the riches of the glory of
his inheritance in the saints,
SANDY TRANSLATION: That
the vision of your imagination have its light turned on, so
that you will be able to perceive.
The above translation is based upon the below Greek
language. The vision in our imagination is not thoughts. We
don’t SEE thoughts, but we see images in our mind connecting
with our thoughts. These are not spiritual visions, but the
ability to picture something, like a mental image - like
visualizing what a tree looks like.
Through the following study of the Greek words, this
scripture is speaking of what we SEE in our imagination, not
what we think.
It is saying our natural mind suddenly has an experience
that is not natural. The concept is that what we picture in
our imagination needs to have the EXPERIENCE of 2 things:
·
The sudden light turns on AND
·
The sudden understanding, awareness, knowledge comes.
These experiences are not a personal choice, but something
that happens TO you. The Lord comes and suddenly makes
something manifest and as a result He gives sudden
knowledge or awareness.
Why is this important? The importance is to be able to
decipher between what is our natural way of thinking and
what is the Lord. When we recognize what is the Lord, this
is intimacy as we partner with Him. When we dissect this
scripture it is clear Paul is speaking about the intimacy of
experience.
Ephesians 1:18 The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened; that you may know what is
the hope of his calling, and what is the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints,
EYES - VISION
Strong's Greek Dictionary
3788. ὀφθαλμός ophthalmos (ophthalmós)
Search for G3788 in KJVSL; in
KJV.
ὀφθαλμός ophthalmós, of-thal-mos'
from
G3700;
the eye (literally
or figuratively); by implication,
vision;
figuratively, envy (from the jealous side-glance):—eye,
sight.
masculine noun
Matthew 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if
therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full
of light.
UNDERSTANDING - IMAGINATION
Strong's Greek Dictionary
1271. διάνοια dianoia (diánoia)
Search for G1271 in KJVSL; in
KJV.
διάνοια diánoia, dee-an'-oy-ah
from
G1223
and
G3563;
deep thought,
properly, the faculty (mind or its disposition), by
implication, its exercise:—imagination,
mind, understanding.
feminine noun
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy mind.
ENLIGHTENED - ILLUMINATE
Strong's Greek Dictionary
5461. φωτίζω photizo (phōtízō)
Search for G5461 in KJVSL; in
KJV.
φωτίζω phōtízō, fo-tid'-zo
from
G5457;
to shed rays, i.e.
to shine or (transitively) to brighten up (literally or
figuratively):—enlighten,
illuminate, (bring to, give) light,
make to see.
verb
Luke 11:36 If your whole body therefore be full of light,
having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light,
as when the bright shining
of a lamp does give you light.
1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the
time, until the Lord come,
who both will bring to
light the hidden things of darkness, and will make
manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every
man have praise of God.
KNOW - PERCEIVE
Strong's Greek Dictionary
1492. εἴδω eido (eídō)
Search for G1492 in KJVSL; in
KJV.
εἴδω eídō, i'-do
a primary verb; used only in certain past tenses, the others
being borrowed from the equivalent
G3700
and
G3708;
properly, to see
(literally or figuratively); by implication, (in the perfect
tense only) to know:—be
aware, behold, × can (+ not tell), consider, (have)
know(-ledge), look (on),
perceive, see, be sure, tell, understand, wish, wot.
Compare
G3700.
Verb
Matthew 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great
light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of
death light is sprung up.
Matthew 9:4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Why
think you evil in your hearts?
PRIOR TO PERCEPTION IS
ELUSIVE, VAGUE AND OBSCURE
I used to think that perception could be interchanged with
words like: impression, sense, inkling, clue, hunch, notion.
Those words are more vague and abstract and difficult to
explain. Years ago I remember someone asking me some
questions. When I answered I didn’t know, he rephrased the
questions and asked for my best prophetic hunch, not holding
me prophetically accountable. That liberated me to at least
try and share what I sensed about the topic and not as
something as firm as “The Lord told me.”
There is a process of mystery of things that are unclear
that takes place BEFORE perception arrives. In both the OT
and NT the word perceive means to KNOW, to understand, to be
aware, recognize, acknowledge. The difference between first
identifying something that is an inkling that is somewhat
vague and obscure vs how scripture speaks of perception is
that a decision that has been made. In scriptural
perception there is a definite understanding or knowing that
has taken place. There is something that happens between a
hunch and a knowing.
A good parable to describe this is like seeing through our
peripheral vision which is seeing things from the sides of
our eye. We see fuzzy shapes and movements that we have to
INTERPRET what they mean because we don't see the details.
That is like when we have to rely on our other senses to
tell us more so we can understand what is going on beside us
when we are not directly looking at it. Trying to describe
what we see would be blurry, illusive and without clear
boundaries. If we turn our head and look to the side, that
would be like the clarity of perception which knows what is
taking place.
The only way to clearly communicate what we are seeing
through our peripheral vision is to say the bottom line –
which is what we UNDERSTAND we are seeing. Jesus didn’t say
a discourse on hearing their thoughts, He simply addressed
them.
Luke 5:22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he
answering said unto them, Why reason you in your hearts?
Perception is a difficult word to teach, and has been
considered quite low on the revelation scale. This is
because people have a very hard time distinguishing what is
soul and what is spirit. Soul is mind, will, emotions. If
they are used to living life and filtering everything
through their soul first, they are going to have a hard time
knowing what is God and what is not on any level.
However even though perception is “low on the revelation
scale” it doesn’t require more faith. When God speaks in
any fashion it is an experience. Something invades
your world that you hadn’t seen, understood or perceived
before. It happens TO you, not THROUGH YOU. That is a HUGE
difference. If a person can slow down their time with the
Lord to the point that they recognize each time He invades,
they will know without a shadow of a doubt that it was not
their choice or vivid imagination. They KNOW that it is God
and therefore it does not take faith at all.
Perception is definitely a viable way He speaks. The way to
know for sure is to recognize it is always something
that happens TO a person, not THROUGH a person.
PERCEPTION CAN COME AFTER IMAGINATION
I once met a gal whose entire time with the Lord operated
entirely from creative imagination of descriptive scenes,
emotions interactions. It sounded exactly like a romance
novel and I knew (because I knew the Lord) that she just
wasn’t a seer of visions to the degree that she was
presenting herself to be and I knew she could not be hearing
His still small voice to that degree. It was like a
fabrication and I felt she was actually deceived and
misleading others, especially women. I worked with her to
help her know exactly what a vision was and hearing His
still small voice and she was grateful for the pruning, as
it saved her ministry and life.
Imagination can take someone all over the place and they can
create things by DECIDING to go there. Artists and avid
readers also have the ability to visualize what they read on
paper or think in their mind. Imagination is what one
pictures in their mind, as recalling a scene or a snapshot
or trying to picture something in one’s mind from memory.
If the Lord arrives with perception it is what happens as a
result of what is seen. When the Lord is involved with this
as an experience, the
perception is a surprise. Perception is a sudden
awareness that suddenly POPS into your heart, mind, senses,
etc. It is a sudden awareness about something that you
weren’t aware before.
When considering the avid reader or even the artist, the
following is an exercise to show the difference between
natural word association, imagination, and the Lord
intervening into both as a surprise.
WORD ASSOCIATIONS
If I were to play a word association game as fast as I can,
I would most likely draw connections via my thoughts as
words, without actually seeing what the connection was as a
picture. The word associations come from my natural brain
as years of reinforced thinking.
·
Car = road
·
Finger = hand
·
Baseball = bat
·
Tree = green
·
Vacuum = dirt
I did the above without actually seeing any of these things
as pictures in my mind. I went so fast I did not have time
to visualize or imagine them as objects. They were merely
word associations that were triggered as natural
connections.
BTW: Looking up vision or dream symbols in a book is
an exercise of the mind just like playing Word
associations. There is no Holy Spirit in it unless it is
quickened by the Holy Spirit as life giving application to a
person at that moment.
John 6:63 It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh
profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are
spirit, and they are life.
IMAGE ASSOCIATIONS
Now I am going to do the same exercise with my imagination.
I take my time and I recall into my memory what my car looks
like and picture it in my mind. In my mind’s eye I see
where it is parked right now. Next I randomly imagine what
it would look like if it were parked somewhere else.
In my imagination:
·
I
am standing outside the exit door of Wallmart and searching
for where I parked it.
·
I
see it parked in a lot below a snow capped mountain.
·
I
see it parked in the parking lot at a boat ramp in front of
a river.
·
I
see it parked on a ferry boat and I am on deck overlooking
the bay water.
·
I
see it driving up to a winter cabin surrounded in snow.
Now I look at my list. I realize the possibilities of all
that I could have imagined and didn’t. I realize someone
else might have imagined being in a StarBucks drive through
or in front of a shoe store. My Wallmart scene was based
from my normal experience of searching for my parked car.
Knowing myself, the scenes following were my desires of
where I wished my car could be.
In this exercise I have discerned between what I pictured in
my mind as coming from what I have learned through engrained
experience, and what my wishes are. None of these
imagination pictures were God speaking to me.
HOLY SPIRIT PARTICIPATION
Now I am going to wait upon the Lord and picture my car and
ask HIM if He wants to SHOW me something about it that is
not related to my repeated experiences or my own desires.
In other words, what comes into my imagination would not
come from me. I am asking the LORD to intervene on my
imagination of both what I see as mental imagines and word
associations to KNOW what He has to say through them.
Just as before I pictured my car where is it parked right
now. Suddenly in my mind’s eye I see the windshield wipers
moving back and forth on its windshield. I am surprised by
that! Immediately the Holy Spirit reminded me that I have
been asking for clear visions.
OK back to the same exercise. I picture where my car is
parked right now. My mind’s eye immediately sweeps down to
the tires and the word pun: re-tread comes to mind. I know
this is the Lord because I know He speaks in surprise word
puns. Treading upon and putting the enemy under our foot
comes to mind.
OK back to the same exercise. I picture my car and choose
to decide it is on the move out the driveway. But instead
of seeing all the things I do to make the car move I
suddenly see the red stop sign at the end of
the road. What I saw is still in my mind’s eye, but it is a
surprise image on that screen of my mind. The impression to
be cautious and look both ways is a warning from the Lord.
OK back to the same exercise. In my imagination I choose to
look both ways, choosing to turn right. Suddenly I am
coming to the dip in the road which is about 2 blocks from
our house. Now why would I suddenly have that pop into my
imagination??? I realize that HAS to be the Lord. The
first thing that comes to mind is that the emotional low I
have been feeling for a few days will pass, I will quickly
overcome and put it under my feet! This too shall pass
comes to mind! I realize this little exercise is inspired
and from the Lord! Thank You Lord.
THE PERCEPTION, THE MESSAGE - THE UNDERSTANDING COMES
Now I reflect on these pieces and I perceive or become aware
of what He is saying to me:
Dear heart I have heard your cries for clear vision. I am
washing your eyes with My Word and My blood and granting you
the desire of your heart. I am going to give you the
authority you need to overcome everything that hinders your
advancing forward in Me. As you advance, always check in
with Me for wisdom and warnings at every crossroad you come
to. I will guide your decisions to turn left or right. Yes
I understand that dips in the road that come, but always
remember they do not last. As you keep your focus on Me and
the path I have prepared for you, you simply ride through
them and out the other side as you keep going. Good job
dear one, keep going!
Joshua 1:3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall
tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto
Moses.
In this section we see that perception is not imagination,
but it can come as a result of imagination IF the Lord by
His Spirit turns on the light and we suddenly are AWARE or
UNDERSTAND that He is partnering with us and speaking to us
through what we are imagining.
·
Imagination is a tool towards perception only if the Lord
quickens it by His Spirit.
PERCEPTION CAN COME AFTER A
VISION OR SOMETHING WE SEE
Perception is not a type of vision.
It is rather how we
understand or interpret what we see. In both the
OT and NT the word perceive means to KNOW, to understand, to
be aware, recognize, acknowledge. Those words are not what
is literally seen with one’s eyes, they are the knowledge
gained from what has been experienced.
When we see something in our mind’s eye it can be fuzzy and
without details. It is like the difference between seeing
straight ahead or seeing through peripheral vision. What a
person sees directly in front of them is literal and clear.
That is like seeing things with very clear boundaries with
all the details of color. It is just like seeing a
photograph or a movie that is not blurry.
For instance when I saw in my mind’s eye the dip in the
road, it was not a real spiritual vision on the screen of my
spiritual eyes. It came to me through my mind’s eye and I
did not see all the detail of the road, or its
surroundings. Details were fuzzy but the dip was the main
image as though recalled into memory, only it was something
I didn’t choose to recall.
Scripture shows that perception is not something that comes
through what we see with our senses of literal eyes,
spiritual visions or even mental pictures.
Perception comes in our
spirit. This means that perception is not a vision
or a natural product of our vision. Perception is an
experience on the inside of us that can come after we see
something.
Mark 2:8 And immediately when
Jesus perceived in his
spirit that they so reasoned among themselves, he
said unto them, Why reason you these things in your hearts?
PERCEIVE
Strong's Greek Dictionary
1921. ἐπιγινώσκω epiginosko (epiginṓskō)
Search for G1921 in KJVSL; in
KJV.
ἐπιγινώσκω epiginṓskō, ep-ig-in-oce'-ko
from
G1909
and
G1097;
to know upon some mark, i.e. recognize; by implication, to
become fully acquainted with, to acknowledge:—(ac-, have,
take)know(-ledge, well), perceive.
Verb
Notice in this passage it clearly says that it is possible
to see with our eyes and hear with our ears and not perceive
or understand. Therefore we can conclude that perception is
not vision and it is separate from vision.
Mark 4:12 That seeing
they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may
hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be
converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
In the following passage, Paul did not see anything with his
eyes that the lame man had faith to healed. There was
something unseen that happened inside of Paul that took
place as he gazed at the man. The Greek says that he gazed,
beheld, fastened his eyes upon the man. This suggests Paul
was searching way past skin deep and into the man’s soul.
Acts 14:8-10 And there sat a certain man at Lystra,
impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's
womb, who never had walked: 9 The same heard Paul speak: who
steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith
to be healed, 10 Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on
your feet. And he leaped and walked.
Isaiah 11:3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the
LORD: and he shall not
judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove
after the hearing of his ears:
·
Vision is a tool towards perception only if the Lord
quickens it by His Spirit.
PERCEPTION CAN COME AFTER THE 5
SENSES
For many years I have prayed that I would be able to
experience hearing and seeing His Word on a regular
basis and not just observe them. Although I have had
several encounters where my spiritual senses are totally
alive and experiencing what I am seeing/ hearing - I want
to live in that realm! Visitation is
different than habitation!
I call these prophetic encounters or visionary experiences.
This is exactly what Paul spoke of when he was taken to
Paradise and could not tell whether he was in his real body
or in a spiritual state.
1 Thessalonians 1:5 For our gospel came not unto you in
word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in
much assurance; as you know what manner of men we were among
you for your sake.
1 Corinthians 2:4-5 And my speech and my preaching were
not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith
should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of
God.
2 Corinthians 12:2-4 I knew a man in Christ fourteen
years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether
out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows;) such a one
caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I knew such a man,
(whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God
knows;) 4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard
unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to
utter.
Senses can be both nouns and verbs depending upon whether
the senses are being experienced or being described. The 5
literal senses and spiritual senses are our capacities of
sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, that are stimuli
originating from either outside or inside the body.
Our senses are tools to
help us experience the tangible and spiritual world. Our
perception is the understanding we have gained after those
experiences – IF the Holy Spirit adds the understanding to
it.
I remember the experiment that someone who is blindfolded
with their nose plugged, cannot taste the difference between
apples, potatoes and onions. The understanding or
perception of what is being eaten is lost. This is a good
parable that our spiritual senses don’t give us perception.
Perception or awareness of what is occurring happens with
the Holy Spirit.
·
Senses are a tool towards perception only if the Lord
quickens it by His Spirit.
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