Don't Stay Blind! Open Your Eyes!!

Paul's prayer for the Ephesians Ephesians 1:18  (message translation) I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!  In watching a tv show the other day, one scene showed a dead man's inheritance being given to those whom he had left it too.  There were sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, his wife and some close friends who were expecting to be mentioned in his will. In this particular tv show some were elated and some were sadly disappointed as they found out their standing with the deceased man per their amount of the inheritance.  The dead man's inheritance was just that... a dead man's inheritance.

For those who know Jesus as their Savior we also have an inheritance, but ours is a living inheritance.  This inheritance is sometimes missed by those of us who know Him.  We actually are living in the amazing glow of the inheritance given to us by our Heavenly Father.  Our Living Heavenly Father.  The amount of that inheritance is the highest we can get and that is what we can share in, heaven for eternity.  We don't have to wait for the reading of the will after the author of that will dies because God is eternal and He won't die.  So our inheritance is actually realized the moment we ask Jesus to come into our heart by faith.  We receive the inheritance that only God can give us and He is present to help us realize the strength of that gift in each of us.  Verse 19 in the scripture above tells us of the benefits we receive with this inheritance.  The gift is extravagant (def) exceeding what is reasonable.  In other words, this gift is way more than we can understand right away because it is beyond our human reasoning.  Paul, in writing to the church at Ephesus, was wanting to encourage them through his prayer for their eyes to be opened to just what they did have in that relationship with God through Jesus.  Since we do have this inheritance, shouldn't we know all that we do have in that relationship with Jesus?  Of course!  Paul knows about scales falling off a person's eyes and he just wants that for those early believers and for you and me.  In other words, open your eyes to God's truth!  We have great power to live our lives and great understanding in how to follow God's will for direction in our life.  Why? Because our Heavenly Father is still alive and showing us how to spend those heavenly dividends to make our life complete and more like Him every day.

Back to the tv show.  The will stated conditions for some who received money or property to use what was given to them.  For example, one child received a hotel from the deceased and the deceased asked that the hotel be run in the traditional manner it had always been run.   The problem with that request is that the person asking is dead.  Our God is alive and His requests are current with what is happening in our life.   Micah 6:8 says "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you?  But to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

God is right here with us and we need to open our eyes to see Him, follow Him, and serve Him!  Our life is made complete in following His instructions and learning His ways and that happens when our eyes are opened to His Word and His Way.   Paul's prayer for the Ephesians is a strong reminder for each of us to "open our eyes" and take the inheritance of our faith provided by Jesus and use that power and direction to base our life on.  Don't be blinded to the truth anymore.  Live with eyes wide open, looking for God and His direction, and live in the strength of that living inheritance.

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

Christ is Better, Yes He Is!!

In Hebrews  1:1-3 the writer explains just who Jesus is and how much he is better than just a man.  Hebrews 1:1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

In realizing the birth of Jesus and celebrating that gift at Christmas time we really try to humanize Jesus.  Of course, Jesus was God-Man and that is proven by his physical birth and the years He took in growing into a man.  There were at least 30 years of physical growth Jesus experienced and His life in the midst of man was an amazing thing, but....He was still God also.  Our desire to make Jesus more like us causes us at times to minimize who Jesus was....so we can get our head around the awesomeness of the Son of God.  We can never minimize the majesty and glory of who Jesus was and is because it can take away from our very attitude about Jesus.  When I pray to the Lord I know that Jesus understands and hears those prayers, as weak as they might seem. He can relate because He did live on this earth as a man, but He can relate much better because He is the loving, omnipotent God that knows and sees all things.  He doesn't have to relate to us from his being a man. He can relate perfectly to us as God, because He is God.  In verse 3 the scripture in Hebrews 1:3 says, "He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature and uphold all things by the word of His power."  That is Jesus!!  That is God!!

The ministry of Jesus began and those people who had seen Him grow up and knew about

Him and that He was Mary and Joseph's son had a hard time realizing that He was God come to earth.  In Luke 4:22 it says, 22 And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” God was working His plan through Jesus, His Son, and the earthly memories people had of who Jesus was caused them to miss the realization that He was God.  Hopefully, our thinking about who Jesus was as a baby will not cause us to miss the great power and glory of who Jesus is to us now.  He is God!  We read of the humanity of Jesus, as He was born of a virgin in a stable.  Never forget the deity of Jesus as the Son of God.  He is not just a good prophet come to bring hope.  Jesus is the Son of God Almighty and He deserves our highest praise as we live and follow Him.   Some might try to minimize Jesus as being a man like any other man, but He wasn't according to verse 3 in our Hebrews scripture. Here's what Paul wrote in Romans 14:11 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shallgive praise to God.”  Who do you bow to?  Your boss at work?  Your spouse?  Your friends?  Your social group?  Only Jesus deserves our praise.  The next time you want to make Jesus just another one of your buddies, keep this in mind.  He is God!  In verse 4 of Hebrews 1 it says "having become  as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they."  

Down and out and feeling lonely?  Speak the name of Jesus.

Problems of life beating you into submission?  Speak the name of Jesus.

Family and friends don't have hope?  Speak the name of Jesus.

Christ is better.  yes He is!!

The pilgrimage continues...

David Warren