Opened Eyes, Cultivated Heart

Opened Eyes, Cultivated Heart

by David Brenneman 

A thought came to me last night when reading through several of Dr. Stanley's Life Principles.  

My summary of it is this:  Our love for Jesus must be more than our adoration of our sins we hold onto.  

We are really self-deceived if we're going through life not realizing that we have sins that we refuse to accept as sins.  We all do.  The Disciples did.  Until Jesus slowly, patiently, lovingly, revealed them to them, they weren't aware of them.   

As their eyes were opened their hearts were being made into the character of Christ.  As our eyes are opened, so are ours.  

Ever notice that the struggles of life have a whole lot to do with something that the Spirit is trying to teach you?  That is absolutely no coincidence. 

We read before in the Bible that we are not our own, we were bought with a price, the shed blood of Jesus Christ concerning salvation.  

You go to work, in most every personal way, you give up your own understanding in order to accomplish what you are there being paid to do.  

You surrender much at the door when you clock in.  Those of you who have tasted military life know all too well that everything you personally think is put on a shelf while you are being taught and trained. 

Paul wrote to the churches that we are indeed soldiers of the cross of Jesus Christ.   Are you seeing the connection yet?

We indeed might be fully aware of a sin in our life that's causing us distress.  We also are probably oblivious to countless others.   We might indeed be relating to this passage. 

"For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin." Romans 7:14-25

My prayer, in light of that observation that this post began with, is that my love for Jesus would grow ever more in order to destroy whatever sins my sin nature is holding onto.  Both those I am abundantly aware of and all those that I am not. 

You, my Dear Reader, must also choose to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and spirit. To love your neighbor as yourself.  It's very very easy to be dismissive of our thoughts and intentions.  We're not going to see our sins as sins unless we acknowledge that the Spirit is really pointing to them. Is really telling you that there's issues you need to deal with.  Dr. Stanley had said in one of the videos of a Life Principle, that there's no coasting in our thinking while we're awake.  We can't just get out of work, plop on the couch in front of the television, think we're putting our minds in neutral.  No, we're still taking in the thoughts and intentions of the world.  We need to be purposeful in our taking in the thoughts and intentions of the Word of God instead. 

He didn't use this analogy but we see it used in our society.  Your body bears the fruits of how you eat.  A steady diet of junk food will land you in the hospital eventually with a very shortened life.  A steady diet of what's right and appropriate will produce a productive long life. 

We should WANT our eyes to be opened by the Spirit.  We should WANT His direction and input into what must stay and what must go in our lives.  We NEED to accept His answers to what plagues us.  We NEED to be willing and ready to agree with God concerning sin.  We never should adore our sins more than we love our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. 

Are you adoring things in your life more than you love Him?  Key indicators are where your time, energy and efforts go. How you dress.  The company you keep. In many ways it's what you are most knowledgeable about.  If you are more knowledgeable about things that aren't helpful in growing in Christ that might be a stumbling block to you. 

Maybe it's now dawning on you that Jesus isn't getting your all on the altar.  That you have a second altar that's getting a bit more attention than you're aware of. 

Adoration belongs to Jesus.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and spirit. 

All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.