Ephesians 1:17-18   

17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,

The book of Ephesians is full of great truths about what God has in store for all Christians and the amount of power through Christ we can use. Ephesians 1:3-14, is one sentence of amazing truths we have in Christ. Then why are we challenged to believe, receive and walk in these gifts and promises?

Mankind lives in a broken world and, since birth, we have rejected the truth of a God who wants to bless us. Most of our thoughts are what we can do to make our lives greater. There is a dusty cloud covering the powerful scriptures that hide the potential promises from us. Our damaged souls and carnal minds cannot comprehend these truths, so we stay in a stressful life. We are swamped with doubts about our salvation and are fearful of making a stand against the things in our lives that harm us. There must be a way TO KNOW these truths.

How can we break through this gray wall to the truth written in Ephesians? How can we KNOW the truths written in Ephesians? Paul is writing to the young believers of the church, and he prays a specific prayer for them and a model for us to break through to power in Christ. Paul begins by thanking God for the newfound faith and love for each other. Then Paul mentions four events the Holy Spirit can help us with THAT WE MAY KNOW the truths, so that we can push through the gray wall separating us from this truth.

Ephesians 1:17-18 “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the…

Spirit of Wisdom   

Find a place each day to read about God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Ask God to give you wisdom in what you are reading. It is the Holy Spirits’ job to help us understand God’s word.  

And revelation in the knowledge of Him

Revelations only happen when you grow in the wisdom of God. The Holy Spirit makes a verse come alive for you specifically. You can also receive revelations of God at any time as your knowledge of God grows. These revelations are mighty and life-changing. One very quick example. As a teenager, I was driving, and my eyes were drawn to the power lines in the city. I happen to be passing a power station with huge transformers. My mind was saying how smart man was to be able to harness this power. Just then, one lightning bolt lit up the whole sky, city and completely dwarfed the power lines. The Holy Spirit gave me a revelation of God’s power in just one lighten bolt. When I find myself feeling weak, I go back to the revelation. Revelations need wisdom as a foundation to build on.

The eyes of your heart be enlightened.

God, through His presence, wisdom, and revelation, begins to clean our heart’s eyes to the real truths we have in Him. Jesus said I am the LIGHT of the world. John 1:4 “In him was life, and the life was the LIGHT of men.”, John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the LIGHT of life.” Ask God to bring light to your heart as you read.

That you may know…

As understanding, revelations, and enlightening of our heart are supernaturally given by God, Our understanding of who we are in Christ becomes more clear. We KNOW. We Declare. We confess our unbelief and declare God’s word is true in us. Declare these truths out loud.  Out of the heart, the mouth speaks.

The truths in these two verses will bring you to greater maturity of hope, peace, power, and assurance of God’s gifts to you. May wisdom, revelation, enlightening, and confident knowing to brighten your lightnside this week.

“I am an Egyptian…we raided some territory belonging to Judah…and we burned Ziglag.”

What is WOKE?

The definition of “woke” is being alert to injustice in society, especially racism. Of course, this “woke” movement defines racism by its own belief. Other groups of people believe just the opposite. Because of these views, deep anger is rising in America. If we are not careful, our nation will become unstable and increase anger, hatred, and destruction.

In today’s scripture, David is dealing with strong emotions of anger, rage, and pain. He comes face to face with a “woke” enemy. What will David do? Will anger overwhelm him and his followers. We all will face this sometime in our life. The time when you feel you are unfairly treated and possibly a great pain to you. Will you be swallowed up in anger and revenge?

You may even have a right to respond, but in that dark time, there may be a miracle waiting. Something the Lord wants to do in your life that going through a dark season is the only way to receive it. Now the story.

David and Disaster

1Samuel 29-30:10 David is rejected because he was a Hebrew hero.  He was sent home. Arriving home (Ziglag.) David finds it destroyed and their families taken. ” So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep… David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God. 

Have you found yourself in a sudden disaster? A personal attack of overwhelming emotional trauma. In the middle of pain, David sought the Lord. David and his men began to track the enemy.

The “woke warrior” and the choice

1 Samuel 30:11-14  They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat— 12 part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights. 13 David asked him, “Who do you belong to? Where do you come from?” He said, “I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago. 14 We raided the Negev of the Kerethites, some territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag.”

What would you do if you came upon the person who was part of the attack on you? What would God want from you? Would you have the right to attack? David faced the man who was part of the destruction and kidnapping of his family. I wonder what was going through David’s mind. Revenge? Hatred? Possibly, but God wanted to mature David to prepare him to be the king. 

To be kind or to get even?

In the past, I was hurting deeply from an unfair attack. We were accused wrongly, and it was very public. Eventually, we were found free of any wrong, but what do I do when I see people who were part of the attack? It would be nice to tell you the thoughts of revenge were never there. I would be lying. God dwelt with me to humble myself and be kind to those who attacked.  

God’s Grace and reward

1 Samuel 30:15-20 David was kind to the Egyptian. Because of that decision, the Egyptian led them to the enemy who had attacked their home. David recovered all the families along with the spoils of the attacking army. 

How will you react in the face of the “woke” who accuse and destroy? Remember David as he found the Egyptian. David’s decision of kindness led to the restoration and blessing of God.

Matthew 5:44 – love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.  

In the difficult time of the woke. Be kind and seek God. Allow your lightnside to shine kindness to those who are angry. God is at work.