Hearts of the Blind Men

~~~ Isaiah 29:17-24 ~~~ Psalm 27 ~~~ Matthew 9:27-31 ~~~

“Do you believe that I can do this?” 
“Yes, Lord,” they said to him. 
Then he touched their eyes and said,
“Let it be done for you according to your faith.” 
And their eyes were opened. 

We are also blind in so many situations.
Our eyelids are open but yet we do not see.

How is faith connected to eyesight you might wonder?

Jesus restored the physical sight to the blind men,
and in doing so he was able to see their faith.
Jesus brought into reality the belief that was already present
within the hearts of the blind men.

It is possible for God to make your desires come true
when they spring forth from your faith.
This confirms seek and you shall find...
knock and it will be opened.

God has so much patience that he can wait until our own eyes
 are opened enough to reach out and grasp
 what our heart truly desires.

The blind men called out to Jesus
and their eyes were opened.
During these weeks of Advent what do you want
 to have your eyes opened to?

Have faith...believe that Jesus can fulfill your
deepest heart's desires.

Advent Blessings
We wait in stillness for his touch
 to open our eyes.

~~~Peace~~~

Gaze Upon His Loveliness

(2012)

Rejected at Home

~~~ 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 ~~~ Psalm 119 ~~~ Luke 4:16-30 ~~~

They rose up, drove him out of the town...

Jesus came home, went to synagogue as was the custom,

 read from the Isaiah scroll, amazed and infuriated 

the elders so much they were enraged.

They were so angry that he would dare put himself in a category

 with the great prophet Elijah that they tried to push 

him off the edge of the cliff.

Clearly they were not ready to hear him publicly 

identify with the words he read.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me...

Imagine putting yourself in the synagogue hearing

this young local boy making such claims before the whole assembly.

I might have also had reservations.

I remember when I returned home after a year away at college;

I really thought I knew so much.

I wanted to share my new found knowledge, 

but there was resistance.

No, my family did not run me out of the house

 or think of pushing me down the stairs, but there was resistance.

Jesus met with resistance from the very beginning, 

but he did not let that stop him.

Jesus had the wisdom given to him from God. Jesus knew 

the prophet Isaiah was speaking of him.

The 'anointed one' was in the midst and they rejected him 

as someone who was speaking out of line.

They never even heard the rest of the prophecy concerning the poor.

...to bring glad tidings to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

In effect Jesus is saying to the men of Nazareth, 

you missed your chance for to see the workings of God among you.

It takes the wisdom of the Spirit before we can learn to 

care about the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed.

Even then it is not so easy or convenient to take action.

We live in a world where taking action can put one in great danger.

We live in a world that has forgotten who put us here.

We live in a world where most think they deserve everything.

We have forgotten.

We are the poor.

We are the captives.

We are the blind.

We are the oppressed.

We are poor because we are not rich in the spirit of God.

We are captives of our own desires to the 

exclusion of God's plan for us.

We are the blind because we do not see all 

that is possible for us to become.

We are the oppressed because we live surrounded in fear.

Jesus may have fled his hometown 

but his message of love kept them thinking.

The elders did not like what they heard from Jesus.

I can imagine many days later they were still sitting

 around discussing what had happened.

What about us?

We must pray for greater wisdom from the Holy Spirit.

It will then be possible for us to have abundance, 

freedom, restored vision, and to be released. 

May we be Blessed with true wisdom

that can only come from the Holy Spirit.

~~~Peace~~~