ENLIGHTENING THE EYES OF OUR HEART

[Albert Finch]

Ephesians 1:18-19 (NASB): "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe..."

We know that unless God enlightens the eyes of our heart, we will never arrive at the hope of His CALLING in Christ, nor will we have any comprehension of the riches of His goodness towards us.

SEEING WITH THE EYES OF YOUR HEART

The more we pray those verses (Ephesians 1:18-19), the more sure our steps become and the brighter the God's light gets.

Sometimes we may feel we are walking in a trackless wasteland, as if we have not only lost our roadmap but also run off the road. It's as if our difficulties have almost started defining us, giving us an unwanted, new (and crummy-looking) map to work from. We see all sorts of hidden side alleys, unforeseen obstacles, and invisible construction zones that never showed up on that old map.

This gives us all the more reason to learn to see with the eyes of our heart. When we view my life from God's perspective and let Him shine His glorious light on it, all of the detours and potholes start to make sense.

As we pray, affirm and meditate on those verses several times a day those words invite God to open the eyes of our heart.

The "eyes of our heart" give us special sight so that we can see behind the sometimes-dire things that our natural eyes show us. The eyes of our heart help us see the riches of the glory of God and they help us recall how good He is. With the eyes of our heart "enlightened," we can see with hope. When they are darkened or blindfolded – which can happen just as easily as it can with our natural eyes – we lose our way.

We want the eyes of my heart – our spirit-eyes – to be clearly focused and "single," as the King James Bible puts it (Luke 11:34).
With God, all things are possible (see Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27), and He easily factors in our human weaknesses. He is both almighty and providential – and He providentially chose to give us human beings a free will, risking our likely revolt. He knows what the devil does to us. He's still God, and He loves us. He takes the hands of those who ask Him to guide them and He will restore to them the years that seemed to have been lost forever.

ASK BIG

When you pray to God to know more about the "riches of the glory of His inheritance," you ask for something so big you may not be able to grasp it. Don't let the majesty and mystery of it cause you to draw back with hesitation. Just pray. That's what Moses did:

"Then Moses said, 'Now show me Your glory.' And the Lord said, 'I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you......." (Exodus 33:18-19 NIV).

Moses asked for something that he might not survive because he was so buoyed up by God's affirmation. His hope got translated into full faith

We can pray for big things like that, too. We can pray for displays of the goodness of God to pass in front of the eyes of our hearts. We can pray for demonstrations of the goodness of God to flood our souls and minds. We can get excited to think of what He might do in response to our prayers. Remember, hope is a confident anticipation of good. To find hope is to discover a major aspect of God's nature – His goodness.

LOOKING FOR GOODNESS

"You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him" (Acts 10:38 NASB).

To this day, Jesus is going about doing good, although we may question that fact when something bad happens.

Jesus is always going about doing good, because He said that He would never leave us or forsake us (see Hebrews 13:5). He sent His Holy Spirit not to touch our lives only from time to time, but to dwell within us (see 1 Corinthians 3:16; Romans 8:11). Right where we are, Jesus is always doing good and doing it well.

KEEPING YOUR CORE VALUES

But in the mystery and majesty of Christ, when we bring Him our questions, our traumas, hurts and fears, our messes – and we worship God we know and continually affirm the following:

1) God is good all the time;
2) All things work together for good; and
3) Something good is just about to happen

"But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day...having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation." - 1 Thessalonians 5:4,5,8

PRAYER:

Father, I declare that no matter what comes, Your character and nature remain constant and You are good all the time. Indeed, Your mercies endure forever. I cast my cares upon You because I believe that You care for me. I enter into Your presence with thanksgiving and praise, and I cry out to You like Moses of old, "Show me Your glory! Let Your goodness pass in front of me." In Jesus Christ's great name, Amen and Amen!

ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY
http://afministry.ning.com/