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"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 and His incomparably great power for us who believe" (Ephesians 1:18,19).
Today we would like to write about spiritual enlightenment. One of the great aspects of our conversion is the reality of being spiritually enlightened. In the classic hymn "Amazing Grace" John Newton describes his spiritual enlightenment with the words, "I once was blind, but now I see."
Spiritual blindness is a condition of the unbeliever. The apostle Paul wrote, "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4).
However the unbeliever may very well not sense in any way that their minds are blinded. On the contrary they may feel they are the ones enlightened. Those who hold an entirely different worldview and faith outlook speak of being "enlightened". In fact they would see me as backward, ignorant and unenlightened. So the issue is not whether we have been enlightened but rather what we've been enlightened to and who is our source for enlightenment!
Many years ago a pastor friend used the term "spiritual cataracts" to describe a condition that believers also need to be mindful of. Because of the blinding impact of sin we need continual enlightenment by the Spirit and the Word of God.
In the daily portion of Scripture the apostle Paul is expressing a powerful prayer for the Ephesian believers. It provides a great model of how we should pray for one another with our focus on the spiritual realm.
Paul used a very interesting metaphor here in his prayer when he wrote about the "eyes of the heart" being enlightened. That is precisely what we need, for God to open our hearts to His truth.
The eyes of our hearts being enlightened results in our knowledge of three powerful truths that bring great assurance:
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, Your creation has unlimited visual stimuli that is
seen by our eyes today, but according to Scripture
even our heart and our mind can see. Many philosophies and principles
come to us through our mind, but we want the eyes of our heart
to embrace only that which will keep our hearts pure. May the
eyes of our heart reject teachings that are inconsistent with our
spiritual enlightenment. Help us to sharpen and narrow our heart's
vision to escape the broad
way that leads to destruction. Keep our eyes open to the
good things You want to reveal and shut our eyes to the "god of this
age" whose
goal it is to lead us to spiritual poverty and death. In
Your name,
Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Brooksyne's Note: We are aware that there are a number of
you receiving the Daily Encouragement who are physically blind. But I
rejoice with you that you are not spiritually blind. You have been
spiritually enlightened to the good things of the Lord and are an
inspiration to all of us.
We especially
consider Charlie
and Rosie Goumas, friends from Boston, whom we met at a conference
years ago. With their sense of sight impaired or nonexistent
they have
nurtured their other four senses to compensate for their vision
loss. Before we moved from New England in early 2001 they took
the train and came to visit us in our home in Taunton Massachusetts.
Rosie is a concert pianist.
"Open The Eyes Of My Heart Lord" Video Paul Baloche
"Open Up My Heart Video Oslo Gospel Choir
"Open My Eyes" Video Hillsong
"Open My Eyes That I May See" Video Best loved hymns
"He Hideth My Soul In the Cleft Of The Rock" Video Gaither Homecoming
Monday, May 2,
2011
40 Day New Testament
Reading/Listening Plan: We began a 40 day New Testament reading plan on April 3. If
you
want to participate and have not been following the reading schedule up
to this point we suggest starting with today's reading and
reading previous portions after this reading period ends. Here's the
entire 40 day schedule. The
links below will open to the selection to be read along with a built-in
listening
device.
- Today's reading (May 2): Galatians 5 – Philippians 1 beginning here.
"Open My Eyes That I May See"
"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 and His incomparably great power for us who believe" (Ephesians 1:18,19).
Today we would like to write about spiritual enlightenment. One of the great aspects of our conversion is the reality of being spiritually enlightened. In the classic hymn "Amazing Grace" John Newton describes his spiritual enlightenment with the words, "I once was blind, but now I see."
Spiritual blindness is a condition of the unbeliever. The apostle Paul wrote, "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4).
However the unbeliever may very well not sense in any way that their minds are blinded. On the contrary they may feel they are the ones enlightened. Those who hold an entirely different worldview and faith outlook speak of being "enlightened". In fact they would see me as backward, ignorant and unenlightened. So the issue is not whether we have been enlightened but rather what we've been enlightened to and who is our source for enlightenment!
Many years ago a pastor friend used the term "spiritual cataracts" to describe a condition that believers also need to be mindful of. Because of the blinding impact of sin we need continual enlightenment by the Spirit and the Word of God.
In the daily portion of Scripture the apostle Paul is expressing a powerful prayer for the Ephesian believers. It provides a great model of how we should pray for one another with our focus on the spiritual realm.
Paul used a very interesting metaphor here in his prayer when he wrote about the "eyes of the heart" being enlightened. That is precisely what we need, for God to open our hearts to His truth.
The eyes of our hearts being enlightened results in our knowledge of three powerful truths that bring great assurance:
- The hope to which He has called us.
- The riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.
- His incomparably great power.
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord,
Open the eyes of my heart;
I want to see You, I want to see You.
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord,
Open the eyes of my heart;
I want to see You, I want to see You.
Open the eyes of my heart;
I want to see You, I want to see You.
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord,
Open the eyes of my heart;
I want to see You, I want to see You.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, Your creation has unlimited visual stimuli that is
seen by our eyes today, but according to Scripture
even our heart and our mind can see. Many philosophies and principles
come to us through our mind, but we want the eyes of our heart
to embrace only that which will keep our hearts pure. May the
eyes of our heart reject teachings that are inconsistent with our
spiritual enlightenment. Help us to sharpen and narrow our heart's
vision to escape the broad
way that leads to destruction. Keep our eyes open to the
good things You want to reveal and shut our eyes to the "god of this
age" whose
goal it is to lead us to spiritual poverty and death. In
Your name,
Jesus, we pray. Amen. Brooksyne's Note: We are aware that there are a number of
you receiving the Daily Encouragement who are physically blind. But I
rejoice with you that you are not spiritually blind. You have been
spiritually enlightened to the good things of the Lord and are an
inspiration to all of us.
We especially
consider Charlie
and Rosie Goumas, friends from Boston, whom we met at a conference
years ago. With their sense of sight impaired or nonexistent
they have
nurtured their other four senses to compensate for their vision
loss. Before we moved from New England in early 2001 they took
the train and came to visit us in our home in Taunton Massachusetts.
Rosie is a concert pianist.Stephen
sharing a hymnbook with Ruth (who is 96 years old) as the residents
sang "Standing on the Promises". Yesterday we attended the Sunday
chapel service at Longwood Manor which is a spiritually high point for
residents who love to worship God with fellow believers. We so
appreciate the intergenerational tie that hymns provide. Ruth is
40 years older but the the same songs of their faith is enjoyed by
multiple generations.
Today's
Suggested Music
and Supplemental
Resources
"Open The Eyes Of My Heart Lord" Video Paul Baloche
"Open Up My Heart Video Oslo Gospel Choir
"Open My Eyes" Video Hillsong
"Open My Eyes That I May See" Video Best loved hymns
"He Hideth My Soul In the Cleft Of The Rock" Video Gaither Homecoming
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Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!
Scripture
references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version.
© 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD
BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation,
New King James
Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the
King
James Version.
Personal
Mission Statement:
"I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ
I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord.
My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and
to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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Encouragement Net is an affiliate of Christianbook.com
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Copyright 2011
Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
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