“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”

Revelation 3:17-18

Pride hides the real condition of our heart before God. It was this pride that Jesus was attacking when he said to the Pharisees who threw the blind man out of the Synagogue after he had received his sight: For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind… “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

John 9:39-41

Unless our spiritual eyes are opened, like the religious rulers of the day, we will continue to serve a god we do not know. How can Jesus be honored when we are looking by sight and hearing Him with our ears? Only faith pleases Him.

For how long will we walk in spiritual darkness when the light of the world is with us in the living Word? It is only when we realize we are blind in our sense knowledge that we need the gift of revelation, of eyes that see, of ears that hear what Jesus is telling us.

Lord Jesus, help me to be perceptive and alert to any way or to any means You choose to speak to me. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear, in Jesus’ name.

GOD FIRST

“Let’s take a lesson from David who was ready to be humiliated in his own eyes, so that God could be honoured. Ask yourself: Where does honouring God appear in your list of priorities? Do you thank Him for all that He has done in your life, all the way long? While men look at the outside, God looks at the motives of the heart. Instead of worrying about the opinion of others concerning you, let the motive of your heart each day be to honour God before yourself.”

THE SACRIFICE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

“There is no time to do what is right. We must set our heart to obey the Word of God, all the time. God’s kind of lifestyle calls us to do what is right in the sight of God at all times, even though it is contrary to what we naturally want to do. Choosing to do what is right is a great test to the flesh.

What is the sacrifice of righteousness? Choosing to do God’s will rather than our own. When our flesh says hate, God says love. It takes sacrificial love to love your enemy and to pray for them. These are the weapons of righteousness. This is the sacrifice that Jesus looks at and rewards. Even though that might not be a grand, or outward sacrifice, it is what Jesus values.”

LIFE ANEW

“When we talk of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are talking of the rare opportunity He has given to all believers to experience a new beginning – a situation in which every dead area of our lives receives life anew.

We are dead to our past and alive to our future. Sin’s power over us is broken and we now put on Christ’s new life: we live in Him, move in Him and have our being in Him. Herein lies the significance of resurrection.”