Jesus asked me for my camera and my photography business with it. I haven’t been operating my business for a while now, but still I was reluctant to give it up completely. That is, until He smiled at me. I was reminded by His expression that whatever He would give me in exchange would be exceedingly better. Sacrifice always leads to upgrade with Jesus.
Since then he has changed my emphasis from literal photographs to spiritual imagery through the gift of awakened focus.
This year God woke me up and started consistently speaks to me through visions. Sometimes I will receive an immediate interpretation, other times I will have to wait for one. Every time the interpretation comes my faith grows with the reality that they are far beyond my natural mind’s ability to create. There are visions meant for myself or for other individuals, and there are visions God is giving me to communicate His heart to a wider audience. The Holy Spirit continually confirms to me that He is calling me to creatively capture and convey these visions.
This isn’t a business. There is no profit in it, but I am filled with passion pursuing something that is not about me or my natural abilities. It is exhilarating and so far beyond what I ever envisioned for myself.
The excitement twists my insides just like the mission statement twists my tongue.
CO CREATING WITH MY CREATOR THROUGH COLLABORATION WITH HIS CREATION.
God reveals his fullness through community and we were always meant to collaborate. I do not just want to be a voice speaking the heart of God. My prayer is to inspire and equip others to put on the lens of the Spirit and view their lives with the incredible gift of awakened focus.
Lord may we hear, see, and reflect you, all the time, in all that we do.
Understanding photo vision starts with the fundamentals of photography.
You are I are camera bodies. We are created to reflect light.
God is light. David says in Psalm 36:9, “In your light we see light.”
Meaning, through the revelation light of God, we see God in everything.
The camera’s purpose is to capture and image that view.
The camera is unable to function properly without the manufacture’s lens attached.
It can turn on and off, but cannot operate in it’s intended purpose. It is unable see light (God) because it lacks the mechanism responsible for focusing light to form images. Until the right lens is received in faith, it cannot comprehend the light.
Without the correct lens, the camera body sits on the shelf gathering dust. It can test out other lenses of worldly perspectives and human understanding. These lenses might be able to catch a glimpse of light through the viewfinder, but they do not fit the camera properly. Since they are unable to click correctly in place, these lenses do not give the camera the ability to capture the light.
There is a literal hole in the camera body until it finds the only lens the manufacture created for our make and model, the Holy Spirit. Without it, the camera body’s life is void of true, eternal purpose and perspective.
Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, the perfect lens of the Spirit was purchased for us with the camera body. They come as a package deal. All we have to do is believe in the power of the lens and put it on in faith.
Once we are attached to the lens of the Spirit, we are able to function in our created purpose. We can capture everything clearly in the light.
On the lens is a switch labeled “mf” and “af” that controls whether you shoot in manual focus or auto focus. They could also be referred to as modification focus and awakened focus.
I have been attached to the lens of the Spirit most of my life and my purpose has been found reflecting light. I became skilled at capturing images while focusing manually. I did not know a better way existed.
God told me 2020 is the year of perfect vision and he gave me the gift of continual auto focus. I feel as though I have been awakened and the gift is too good to be true. I could not previously comprehend what I was missing! Because of the gift of continual autofocus I see God clearly everywhere, all the time. No longer do I find Him only where I am looking and when I put the effort into focusing manually.
Each camera has two essential action steps to functioning in it’s full intended potential. The first is connecting to the lens of the Spirit. The second is choosing to switch from single point manual focus to multi point, continual autofocus.
Understanding the difference between the two shooting modes is essential to receiving and operating in the gift of awakened focus.
The characteristics of manual focus illustrates many Believers spiritual process. The contrast in the illustration of continual auto focus reveals our areas of blindness and makes the benefits of continual autofocus undeniable.
1.) With manual focus there is effort and behavior modification required.
To focus in manual mode we have to continually adjust the dial on the lens ourselves.
We strive to image the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self control). We beg God to give us these qualities and make us more like Him. Sometimes we feel good about our emotional expressions, other times we have to put on a mask and do our best to fake it. We believe this is our Christian duty, the part we have play. The facade is exhausting and there are moments that are all together too hard. Exasperated some confess, “I am just not a very patient person.” This represents the spiritual perspective of Jesus PLUS us, rather than Jesus IN us.
In the auto focus mode, the lens is continually focusing for us.
No longer do we need to beg God, we simply believe that he already gave us His prefect Spirit. We are a new creation and we live by the Spirit in us, not by our flesh. The only striving required is entering into the rest of God and remaining in His love. When we renew our mind to the the truth of His word and believe Galatians 2:20 that says, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in us”, we freely release His power. Staying in step with the Spirit is a process of continual surrender.
2.) Focusing takes significantly longer in manual mode.
Manually focusing every image is time consuming and requires breaks between captures at which time the camera’s display powers off.
This method of duty and striving is exhausting. Depending on our own best effort is the same as living out a works based faith and it is not sustainable. The anxiety, stress and depression rises. Eventually we’ve had enough, and we reach a point that we have to power off mentally. There are numerous distractions available at any time to help us do this. Our culture tells us we need self-care. It sounds really good, but is never satisfying. The cycle repeats tomorrow.
In auto focus mode the display never goes to sleep and the lens focuses instantly.
The work is completed for us so now we joyfully capture images from a place of rest. No longer do we have to keep God in a compartment mentally that we jump in and out of because all we do is done by the power of the Spirit. Resting on Him is delightfully satisfying. We remain continually awake and attentive because there is nothing we desire more than His presence.
In continual shooting mode, light does not cease to come through the lens. It is captured and displayed on the back of the camera making the camera one with the light.
Experiencing intimacy and unity with God is how we mirror Him to the world.
This is the most fulfilled we can be because it is the very purpose for which we were created. When we experience intimacy with God we bring heaven to earth.
3.)Manually focusing is not always reliable and occasionally the images captured are completely out of focus.
The light we photograph is God and the subjects are our view of the world. Though the light remains pure, how we choose to focus changes our perception and reflection of the view. We can easily see other people and our circumstances wrongly when we choose the wrong focal point.
The enemy is constantly trying to get us to have narrow focus about ourselves, others and our circumstances. Introspection is destructive because it keeps our focus on ourselves rather than God. When we do this, we believe lies and false identities about ourselves. It’s only by focusing on the light that we can know and operate in our true identity. The Accuser also tries to get our attention away from God by accusing other people to us.
In manual mode we can stay out of focus for a long time and it takes a lot of adjustments to get clarity mentally. In autofocus mode repentance is as quick an action as switching the camera back on. Repentance is simply to change our minds. We immediately turn directions and fix our eyes on Jesus. We do this by taking our thoughts captive, thinking about what we are thinking about, and choosing to live only in the present.
The lens of the Spirit is a wide angle lens with perfectly reliable focus.
It has the ability to capture an expansive view, but we have to choose to shoot in the mode that captures the image in sharp focus.
The aperture setting on a camera determines the size of opening on the lens and therefore the amount of light that comes through. We want to shoot with a wide open lens letting in the most amount of light possible. The camera can struggle to process that much light when attempting to focus manually. The goal is to keep the integrity of the image in tack while letting in the maximum amount of light. Shooting in automatic mode is the only way to maintain excellent focus in this scenario.
When we shoot with a wide open aperture and automatic focus the lens captures a perfect, heavenly perspective for us.
The camera is only responsible for changing the settings and recharging the battery. We can stay in a state of continual rest when we change our aperture to let in the most light possible and rely on the lens to focus for us. We recharge with praise and are filled with the joy of His presence.
4.) Shooting with manual focus produces mediocre images.
The best moments are often the most fleeting. Speed is required in order to capture the exact right moment of time. Manual focus is tedious and slow. Because of this the moments captured are mediocre and we miss essential snapshots.
Spiritually, when we focus manually we don’t glorify God with the whole story. We end up with a partial narrative that misrepresents the God we serve. We hold on tightly to our narrow minded perspective (religion) convinced that we have captured the whole picture. In reality the gaps are glaringly obvious and harmful to our witness.
4.)Shooting with automatic focus produces breath taking images.
I tell everyone I mentor in photography to start with a used camera body and buy a top of the line, wide angle, low aperture lens. I give this advice because I believe the lens is responsible for the quality and consistency of images produced. The power of the lens is only fully utilized when shooting in continual autofocus.
Because of the perfect Spirit attached to us, we can achieve excellence without striving for anything other than rest. When we surrender and trust in the power of the Holy Spirit, our identity is entirely based on who we are with Him. There is no room for false identities that operate independently of the Holy Spirit for we are now one.
A camera is only as good as its lens. The lens is the standard, not the camera. The too-good-to-be true news is that we have been given the perfect lens!
The camera can be barely functioning on it’s own and still produce incredible photographs because the images reflect the quality of the lens, not the camera.
We now have confidence because the images we produce can utilize the full power of the lens and reflect effortlessly on the back of the camera. These photographs that are exceedingly beyond our own ability to capture, are our greatest witness. All glory is given to the perfect lens of the Spirit for the award winning images produced by us, the camera.
Even when we know and operate in the gift of automatic focus, occasionally we will accidentally switch back to manual focus. Thankfully when we do we can immediately find rest again through a simple mental switch. I believe we are about to see the third great awakening where many will flip the switch of surrender and operate in the full power of the Spirit. This is exactly what God promised when he spoke through prophet Joel.
“‘This is what I will do in the last days—I will pour out my Spirit on everybody and cause your sons and daughters to prophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will experience dreams from God. The Holy Spirit will come upon all my servants, men and women alike, and they will prophesy. I will reveal startling signs and wonders in the sky above and mighty miracles on the earth below. Blood and fire and pillars of clouds will appear. For the sun will be turned dark and the moon blood-red before that great and awesome appearance of the day of the Lord. But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ ” -Acts 2:17-21