Ephesians 1:18-19
18)I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19) and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength,
During my journey these past few years, especially the last 3, God has been telling me much about my heart. As only the Master gardener can, the Lord has been doing some tilling, breaking up the hardened ground of my heart. Because He desires relationship with us, He must continue working His divine blueprint for our lives. He knows we need healing because our Spiritual eyesight has been damaged and is in need of a healing like the one Jesus performed on the blind man. Though physical eyesight is awesome and a gift from God, I know my spiritual eyesight is of utmost importance. I can live without physical sight. But, without spiritual eyes I will not live but exist! Being created in Gods image, we were designed to see on a spiritual level. Due to sin, that sight was blocked and in need of a spiritual eye surgeon.
In verse 18, Paul speaks about the eyes of our heart. In order for our hearts to see and have spiritual vision they must be healed. In my experience, our hearts are like an onion with many layers that need to be healed. The Spirit masterfully uncovers the pain and brings healing but at a cost. We must position ourselves for healing. Opening up to the Spirits promptings and work. He is ever the gentleman and will only come when invited. Just have a box of tissues near! This can happen any place where openness and honesty are encouraged. Where Gods love and light are shone. For me, those places have been…. Church, men’s group and time alone with God. It seems that, because of our humanness and sin nature, it takes the trials and storms of life to bring the pain and hurt areas to the surface so they can be healed. Our “battle scars” must be dealt with for us to be set free and live the abundant life God has for us. Unfortunately, we humans, put the walls up and try to pretend we have it “together”. In many circles we call that “posing”. Pretending to be something we are not. We all have an image we want to portray to others! To put our best foot forward, right? One of the gifts the Lord has given me is honesty. Now, I don’t pretend to have the corner on honesty. I have the potential to lie and pose just like the next person. Let’s just say that my spirit longs for honesty. First between me and God and then others. I desire honest relationships plain and simple. Jesus said the “Truth” will set us free! Note: He did not say it would be pain free! Truth is painful much of the time but is always necessary if we are going to grow and further develop our spiritual eyes!
Back to our passage! In order for us to see the hope to which we are called in Christ, our spiritual eyesight- our “heart sight” must be functioning. Just as our physical eyes are tested for vision, our spiritual eyes are tested and then healed so we can see our hope in Christ. And not just our hope but our inheritance! The beauty is we get to enjoy some of the inheritance now because Jesus died for it. We get to taste it now! That’s how good and loving God is! He chose to leave His Spirit, the comforter here so we could experience and enjoy and live abundantly now. Not just put in our time here on earth and then the glory! I love the picture painted in the movie, Joe vs. the Volcano… the scene at work. Very dreary, dark and depressing! And MONOTONOUS! A LIVING HELL. Now, there is an oxymoron! Joe wants out, He dreams of an adventure and longs to truly live even if it costs him his life! Now, that’s really living in my book! And, ya know something, that’s really living in Gods book too! Jesus knew the outcome! He knew He was going to die a very terrible and brutal death. He had a choice to make each and every day. Keep His eyes on the prize and the glory set before Him, or wallow in self-pity and defeat. Thankfully, He chose an abundant life of service! “For God so loved the world that HE GAVE!”. I’m so glad He did not choose to live a selfish life and take all He could! But rather, He chose to give all He could! Wow! Now that is someone worth following!
He calls each of us to lay down our “so called lives” and follow Him.
I love the trade off! We give up our hopeless, empty doomed existence for a life of hope and here’s the kicker…. a life of power! We get the power that raised Christ from the dead! We become Spiritual Superheroes! Now, that’s exciting! No smoke and mirrors hear! No Hollywood power! But, the literal power that told the wind and waves to stop, that opened eyes and healed the lame. That told the demons to hitch a ride with a bunch of pigs! I experienced this power just yesterday. I was struggling and down with life. Second guessing my self again! Then it hit me to pray! I claimed Gods power and victory in Jesus name and His purpose for my life! I agreed that He came to set me free from fear and doubt. I reaffirmed His awesome plan for me, His love and power for those who believe. I refocused my spiritual eyes! You know what? The fear and doubting left and I was set free! Now that is POWERFUL!
But, Why is it so hard for us to make the choice? It would seem to be a no-brainer! But, most of us choose to live “our lives” on “our terms” with us calling the shots! Holding onto the “known” and in fear of the unknown, a walk with God. I think the reasons lay in the heart. Paul knew it! His spiritual eyes had been opened on the road to Damascus. Once this happened he was able to see the truth with his heart and it set him free!
In closing, I believe we must come to Him and invite His perfect love to cast out our fear. As the fear leaves and is replaced with His love…are hearts begin the healing process. And as our hearts are healed so is our spiritual eyesight. It was Jesus’ spiritual eyesight that helped Him all the way to the cross so that He could finish the race strong! I am sure there were plenty of times that Jesus had to “refresh” His spiritual eyes. To get a spiritual recharging so He could fight off the human emotions He was dealing with. Here we are back to Hebrews 12….
2)Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
We need reminders! Jesus did! He needed to be reminded of the outcome because He sure was struggling with the pain and the shame of what was to come. In order for us to live strong and finish that way we must first come to Jesus and then invite Him to heal our hearts and give us spiritual eyes to see all that is ours in Christ….HOPE, INHERITANCE, POWER!
HOW ARE YOUR HEART EYES?
