10-13-2018

Good Morning All,

       Ephesians 1:18; “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”

I can see clearly now the rain is gone. I can see all obstacles in my way.
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It's gonna be a bright (bright)
bright (bright) sunshiny day. It's gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) sunshiny day.

     Do you remember that song?  It was from the early 1970’s.  It was a song that was in contrast to some of the “darker” songs that focused on pain and broken relationships.  This was one of the lighter and more optimistic songs of the time.

     So can you see clearly?  Too often most of us would say “no”.  The problem is that we focus on using our physical eyes.  Our physical eyes are part of our sinful body and are corrupted by sin.  We can only see what our eyes look at, we can only comprehend what our mind interprets through our foggy vision.  So how do we see clearly now?  We see with the eyes of our heart; we see by faith.

    God gives us the eyes of faith which can help us see clearly.  God’s grace gives us the forgiveness of sins and the promise of life everlasting.  That is what Easter does for us.  By Jesus walking out of the tomb, our vision is a whole lot clearer now.  We can see our future clearly.  We are God’s redeemed children and we have in store for us an eternal existence with him.  We know how our life story ends.

    God gives us a very clear view; we see it in the risen Christ.  We know the obstacles that the devil and our sinful nature will throw at us.  We will experience some fits of doubt, fear, loss of trust, hopelessness among a few.  The devil will try all sorts of tricks but they are just that; they are tricks and tricks are not reality.  Our reality is clear to see, our reality is our salvation through Christ.

    We may, because of a sinful and broken world, experiences some sadness.  We may suffer from divorce or a loss of health.  Our job may disappear or our family may be torn apart.  This is always the result of sin.  Sin still causes pain and suffering in this world but we know that sin does not control us nor does it control our lives or our future.  Our lives and our future are in God’s loving hands.  His promise is to never abandon us, and to forgive our sins and to give us eternal life.

    We can see clearly what his promises mean to us.  The control of our life and our future is in God’s loving hands; we can see clearly now and we can see it all with the eyes of faith which God so graciously gives to us.

Father, help to me to stay focused on your great mercy.  Guide us by your Spirit to trust our eyes of faith as we see your great love for us.  Help us to focus on your tender mercy.  Be with those whose vision is clouded by the cares of this world.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret