Hey guys, Pastor Burton here and it's time for
you to grab that mug of pumpkin spice or whatever
other coffee you happen to be drinking because
it's time for a coffee break in the Bible. And
today I'm going to be reading from Ephesians
chapter 1 verse 18. And the word says, The eyes
of your understanding being enlightened that
ye may know what is the hope of his calling and
what the riches of the glory of his inheritance.
Of course, today I'm reading from the King James
Version. What's he speaking of, though? Well,
the Apostle Paul, he's praying that the eyes
of your heart be enlightened, right? Why the
eyes of your heart, though? That is such a specific
thing to be looking at. And the answer... itself
is actually real easy and it's because the the
word tells us in several places several times
that the heart above all things is deceitful
right so it is the heart it's not just the mind
but the our hearts that's why i love the song
so much you know it says open the eyes of my
heart lord Because our hearts tend to be one
of the strongest things that we follow, one of
the things that we want to listen. People want
to say the heart wants what the heart wants.
But we have to be very careful. So that's why
Paul wants the heart to be enlightened. Open
the eyes of my heart. Because we need to have
clear minds and we need to have open hearts in
order to understand and to be able to grab onto
the truth that is our hope in Jesus. You know,
that hope means more than just some, you know,
relative assurance that we're going to have a
good future. It's a certainty, you know, and
it's knowing that God is going to do everything
that he's promised. And it is a promise. We see
time and time again, God's promises being fulfilled
in the word and throughout history. You don't
even have to go in the Bible. You can go in historical
books and historical text to find just that.
We just have to be a little patient. Psalm 119
verse 18 puts it like this. Open thou mine eyes
that I may behold wondrous things out of thy
law. Remember, Jesus didn't come to do away with
the law, but to fulfill it. Laws are there for
a reason. Without laws, there is no sin. Sin,
broken down to its simplest terms, is breaking
the law. God's law. And since Jesus didn't come
to do away with that, we need to stop listening
to our hearts when it's telling us to do those
deceitful, evil things. Those times when maybe
you want to tell a white lie, or you want to
lay on the gas a little... a little more than
you should on the highway. You know, that's one
thing with the American Legion Writers Chapter,
especially with our leadership right now. We
have some great leadership that reminds everybody.
It says, hey, no, we're out there. We have these
vests on. We have these colors. We're representing
something important. You know, people look to
us as veterans. You know, we've been called the
cream of the crop, right? And people love veterans.
But they look to us and we still... Or look to
to set an example. Well, you know what? It's
no different in our spiritual life. So we need
to slow down. We need to pull away from those
things that are just so tempting and recognize
them for what they truly are. And that is traps
set by the evil one. Temptations, in other words.
So we need to work to make sure that it's not
just our minds, but our hearts that are open.
Because when we feel the hurt, that hurt isn't
coming from our minds. It's coming from our heart.
When we feel the Lord at work, when we feel that
conviction from the Holy Spirit in our lives
saying, hey, you're doing something wrong, where
do we feel it? We feel it in our hearts. It impacts
us emotionally and spiritually, not just mentally.
So take that today. And reflect on it. Today,
that is our coffee break. Enjoy that coffee.
Get a refill. And have a joyous day. God bless.