Open the Eyes of My Heart

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the working of his great might which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come; and he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 1: 15-23

This one sentence in the opening chapter of the Paul's letter to the Ephesians packs more revelation per line than just about any other passage in the New Testament. The fullness of the revelation of Jesus Christ is set forth herein. For this post though, I wanted to focus on the highlighted words. This passage suggests that a person of faith must keep their eye on the ultimate prize through choices, decisions and spiritual growth. So how does one do that?

First, there is a vision of the heart. God made you in His image. He put inside of each of us a spiritual heart that gives one spiritual sight. If someone scars their heart through sin, they become spiritually blind. But, when a person of faith allows God's spirit to enter their heart, the believer gains "enlightenment", i.e. spiritual understanding of the world around us.

Secondly, that spiritual enlightenment leads to an understanding of "hope". Paul told that Corinthians that knowledge "puffs up"; but, that love never fails. Love produces hope in whatever circumstance a person of faith finds oneself. When one understand this there is a "calling". Every believer has been created with certain innate talents and abilities. We are all different. God equips his body with many skills and varied functions. When one becomes cognizant of one's talents and uses those to further the cause of the kingdom there is a reward. Part of that reward is hearing the call of the Lord to do those good deeds that were created for us before the foundations of the earth were laid.

Third, the enlightenment that comes from stepping out on faith are the riches stored up in heaven for us "in the saints". Every time we give a cup of cold water to someone in need in the name of Jesus we are promised that we will not lose our reward. We enter this world with nothing and when we die we leave with nothing; except for the record of our actions while we are here on earth. If we can glimpse the cosmic point of view, we gain understanding into how we are to live life in the here and now.

In God We Trust

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;

but, we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

Psalm 20:7

We live in a scary world these days. Iran is launching missiles while developing nuclear warheads. North Korea issues a report saying that they are giving up their plutonium enrichment facilities. But, report says nothing about its suspected uranium enrichment program. North Korea obtained plans and materials for uranium enrichment from Pakistan in 1997 in exchange for missile technology. A fact which has since been confirmed by Pakistan's President Pervez Musharaf. The report also fails to give an account of the nuclear weapons already produced, and it does not address North Korea's proliferation activities. Such as its sales of nuclear technology to countries like Syria and Libya. Russia's interactions with Europe and the US have been strained for some time.

Last year Russia announced its withdrawal from a key treaty regulating conventional armed forces in Europe. Russia has also threatened to pull out of its 1987 treaty with the United States banning intermediate range nuclear forces. In recent years Russia has implemented an ambitious plan to update and expand its military. Russian defense spending has been rising steadily, with the help of high energy prices and oil revenues. Russia is in the process of deploying new intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines and possibly aircraft carriers. This is all part of a 189 billion dollar weapons modernization program. Russia recently inked a treaty with Syria giving it access to warm weather ports for its Mediterranean fleet.

In times like these we might ask in what or whom do we place our trust? Our currency in the United States bears our national motto "In God We Trust". For a bit of history of this see this link. We trust in God because we recognize the truth of scripture:

There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;

Psalm 33:16-18

William Penn, one of our founding fathers of this nation was quoted as saying:

"Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants."

We need to learn from our history.

Ancient Tablet Discovered

I don't often quote from the New York Times on this blog, but the recent discovery of an ancient tablet struck me as very interesting. For those of you who love history check out this story at: here

Celebrating our Freedom

Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name."

1 Chronicles 29:11-13

As we approach the holiday of the 4th of July celebrating the freedoms we share as a country and a nation, we need to remember that the source of those blessings come from God. When we forget to be thankful and to give praise to His Name, we suffer personally and as a nation. God still reigns and is in control. His mercies endure forever.