F1gur471v3ly 5p34k1ng…Do You See What I See?

I like to call my weekly article Equipping People for Life, not just church life. My desire is to see you elevating, getting better all the time. Perhaps the greatest lesson I have learned in life is what I’m going to write about today. It’s called the Principle of Recognition. Believe me, this principle is a life-lifter and a difference-maker. The tragedy is not many people know about it.

I will start with a little word teaser that shows you the power of that organ you have inside of your head called a brain. If you can read this, you have a strong mind. Your mind moved you from cognition to 're-cognition.' The teaser is called F1gur471v3ly 5p34k1ng.

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Are you still working on it? Notice that your mind is adjusting from not seeing the message to seeing the message. God gave us a brain and mind so we could not just see but understand. Let me say it this way, it’s one thing to have knowledge about something. It’s quite another to have an understanding of something. With understanding, you receive illumination on the ‘why the what’ of something. You don’t just know about it. You know it. The Aha moment takes you from knowledge to application. You get it!

Many times, we can see something but not see it. Many times, we can hear something but not hear it. Oh, we see it physically or hear it physically. However, we miss what we need to understand what we hear or see. Henry David Thoreau said, "It's not what you look at that matters, it is what you see."

Here's the Principle of Recognition for you. Author Mike Murdock wrote about this principle years ago. Whatever you don’t recognize, you don’t appreciate. Whatever you don’t appreciate, you don’t celebrate. Whatever you don’t celebrate, may eventually exit your life. You could also insert "whomever" to this principle.

Here’s what I am concerned about for all of us. Let me personalize it. There could be something or someone you are not seeing in your life today and it could be costing you dearly.

Do you know how divorces happen? A divorce is when one spouse or both spouses stopping recognizing each other and revert to just cognizing each other. When they first met, it was a revelation, an aha; they recognized each other. But over time, the trials, and the ups and downs of marriage, familiarity, and unmet expectations crept it and they lost their recognition. Now all that is left is cognition of one another. As they say, love is grand, divorce is one-hundred grand.

Do you see that? Here’s the principle of recognition in action in marriage. Who you don’t recognize, you don’t appreciate. Whoever you don’t appreciate, you don’t celebrate. Whoever you don’t celebrate may eventually exit your life…and it will cost you, your kin, and your community dearly.   

In Bible times, the disciples walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus yet didn't recognize Him. They had cognition but they did not have re-cognition. Why? You rarely see what you are not looking for. Knowing how to recognize what others only 'cognize' could change your life - just ask Zacchaeus.

If you have never heard of Zacchaeus, he was the short, greedy taxman, disdained by the people of the time, who climbed into a tree to see Jesus as He walked by. The crowd cognized Jesus but Zacchaeus recognized Jesus. Suddenly, 'F1gur471v3ly 5p34k1ng' became 'Figuratively Speaking' for Zacchaeus. It’s one thing to have sight. It’s another thing to have insight. Lesson: When you recognize the Lord, He recognizes you, no matter where you are presently or what you have formerly done.

Too many people are not aware of the Principle of Recognition yet most all of life operates on this principle. Recognition can release you from your past so you can live in the present in order to prosper in the future. It impacts your personal life, spiritual life, family life, business life, and community life. Recognition changes everything. Work with this principle, not against this principle. 

So how do people move from the 'natural' of cognition (knowledge) to the 'supernatural' of recognition (understanding)? How do you move from sight to insight? You need to become a seeker. Jesus said in Matthew 7:7, "Seek and you shall find..." When you find, you move from sight to insight.

Let me summarize why this principle is imperative to be aware of.

1. Some of the greatest gifts of your life may have not yet been recognized.
2. God probably has put something close to you that you are not seeing.
3. Failure to recognize the gift, person, miracle, circumstance, situation or provision could be costing you incredibly.
4. Anything unrecognized by you remains uncelebrated by you.
5. Quality of life and a better life require recognition and awareness.
6. Anything you refuse to celebrate (intentional or “clueless”) may eventually exit your life.

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up...to God and the Principle of Recognition. More on the practicalities of this next week.