ENLIGHTENMENT

Eph 1:18-19

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.

You met Jesus and all was changed. Now things must change again. Jesus was your first love. Have you lost your first love? Sin, doubt, earthly cares and pleasures, forgetfulness of what Jesus did for you; have these replaced or taken away from the love for Jesus in your life? You must meet Jesus where he wants you to meet him, on his own terms. You must meet him anew, to renew that which has been tarnished. You must cast out the old and receive the new. At the very beginning, you received Jesus. You must still receive, and not reject him. He is the fountain from which all blessings flow. You have tapped into that fountain. It is flowing through you. You must continue to drink and continue to tap into that fountain. Listen to his Spirit, and by his great love he will help you find the joy you once had in following him. Jesus is all in all. He is all. He is all your joy, your life, your everything. There is nothing good in life which is not from Jesus. Jesus is the author of eternal life. Jesus is the finisher of eternal life. Jesus is the one who gave you eternal life. Jesus is the one who has kept you in eternal life. Jesus is all that is good. All that is good is Jesus. Fill our willing vessels with your loving Spirit once more!
The life of God in us is not stagnant. His life is like a spring, bubbling up effortlessly. The Holy Spirit is not a stopped-up well, which one must unstop to draw from. He is a river running freely. The life of God is an ever-flowing, naturally vibrant source of energy. We do not have to strive to draw from this source, but rather he flows within us, for he has boundless energy. It is we who stop up the flowing fountain within us. It is by yielding to the desires of our own flesh, that we cut off the flow within us. If only we would get out of the way and allow his life to flow through us as he desires to flow, then we would be full and overflowing with life. We could not contain all of his fullness. We would have to let him flow out of us.
God's word is like sunshine, but grass will burn up and die without water. The Spirit is the water. We can hear the word, but without the Spirit quickening it to us, or enabling us to act on the word, it will burn us up. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Without the Spirit we are no more alive than dead, dry grass, which is good for nothing but to be taken and burned. Many hear the gospel, but the people who do not believe it and receive Christ into their hearts, remain dead and dry. People's hearts are so hard, that they allow the enemy to dull their minds and blind their eyes. Who has believed our report? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? How imperative it is for us to have the Spirit of the Lord in us, enabling us, endowing us, giving us the power we need to overcome the world! We who have the Spirit are alive, for we water the seed of the word with prayer and praise from our heart. Then God our Father causes the seed to grow and bear fruit.
We must continue to walk in a spirit of faith. If we can see through the eyes of faith, through the eyes of our spirit, then spiritual things will become a reality for us. For if we are to do anything for the Father's Kingdom, first we must get a clear picture in our spirit's eye, of what his Kingdom is like. Then it will become more real to us than anything of earth. For our Father is able to do far above all we think, or conceive through the imagination of our heart. If we see the things he says to us in his word as being real, then nothing shall be impossible to us. All mountains shall be removed. We must have his Spirit inside us, in order to have this spiritual vision. The Spirit opens our eyes to all the unseen realities of God's Kingdom. Our spirit, connected to the Holy Spirit, becomes alive to spiritual things. When we didn't have God's Spirit, we were dead spiritually. Now that we know God, we hear his voice, we feel his presence, and we see things we never saw before.
Most of all, we must keep our eyes on Jesus, for only he can save, only he can deliver, only he can heal, only he can do great things. We simply watch as he does all things well, and he will do all these things through us, as we see him through the eyes of our heart, for did not the Savior say, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these." (John 5:19-20). The eyes of the Lord go searching through the earth, so he may show himself strong on the behalf of those whose hearts trust in him. Let your hand, oh great Father, be upon those whom you have made strong with your strength!
He shows us his salvation. He shows us his life abundant. He opens our eyes to see a portion of the marvelous light in which he dwells, the light which no man can behold in all its' brightness. He has shown us a glimmer, a glimpse of the reflection of that light, that pure light, illuminating the path to abundant life. See it with your eyes; the eyes of your spirit. The exact same Spirit who lives in Christ, dwells in us. Jesus is not half-God, half-man. He is all God and all man, and his Spirit lives in us. We are as Jesus was in this earth, and he was our example. We are sons of God. We have his abundant life. We are empowered by the same power Jesus had while on earth. We are fully God's new creation in our spirit, yet we are still flesh. But greater is he who is in us, than that which is of the world. Jesus showed us, by example, the life we could live if we follow him, and we want everything he has for us. We consider all things blocking the way to his abundant life to be not worth having, or even worthy of our attention. We want to see more of the great things he has in store for us.
To know Jesus, this is our determined purpose. Searching out his ways, walking in his paths, seeking his face, knowing his will and the intents of his heart, knowing his ways are best, experiencing his love, hating the things he hates, and loving and cherishing the things he loves and delights in: this is our only purpose for living. More like Jesus we would be. More of him we wish to see. All his words we want to hear, until our path is bright with cheer. In his paths we want to walk, of his glory we want to talk. Only his thoughts we want to think. Of his pleasures we want to drink. Following his call, like sheep who listen only to their shepherd, we will lay down beside him and find rest in green pastures.
The visible things of creation were spoken into existence, because God knew that what he said, had to be. By the invisible word of God all the visible creation came into being; we being a part of it. We have God inside us, and we can also exercise the power of God by speaking into visible existence, things which are now invisible. All we have to do is believe in our heart, say it, and receive it, for it shall come to pass. This is the faith we earnestly covet. We desire to be like Jesus. We speak mountains out of existence. We speak Kingdom realities into existence. We say the same things Jesus said, and see them happen right before our eyes. Then we are being like Jesus. We strive to keep his word before our eyes, so we may see the invisible things of God. Unless we see the invisible things, we can never make them visible in our life.
May our goal be to make the Lord number one in our life, in every way, for how futile is any effort without the blessing of the Lord. How useless are our efforts without the power of his Spirit behind us. May the Spirit flow like a river in our life, and may we then find joy in all our labor, for this is a gift from God and the greatest good a man may find in this life. May the Lord then prosper the work of our hands, so we may have the time and resources to not only work, but spend time with him, and fulfill his destiny for our life by spreading the message of salvation. His ways are higher than our ways, and his thoughts higher than our thoughts. May the Lord direct our goals, plans, and hopes. Even if it is not what we want, may we trust the Lord and follow him, for his way is best. His way is the only right way to live. It is not what we can accomplish that matters, for it is not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of God that lives are transformed and miracles are performed, and with the Lord behind us, we shall accomplish the works which will last forever.