Skip to main content

We need to see

Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.  This is one of her famous quotes as a deaf and blind person, "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision".  I found this very profound when I first read about her.  She also had a wonderful spiritual journey and in one of her reflections she says, "To one who is deaf and blind the spiritual world offers no difficulty. Nearly everything in the natural world is as vague, as remote from my senses, as spiritual things seem to the minds of most people. But the inner or mystic sense, if you like, gives me vision of the unseen. . . . ".  

Luke 11:34
The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.

Jesus teaches about prayer in this chapter. He explains the deliverance of a person from demon possession and challenges the Jewish thinkers/leaders/lawyers of the time. A mere carpenter that is supposedly unlearned was presenting these deep spiritual ideas with such clarity and forceful arguments. They were accusing Him of using demonic powers to deliver people from demonic oppression and He rebutted this. There is some amazing discourse in this chapter that I would encourage you to read. You cannot find this of any other kind of "human" or holy man, because Jesus demonstrated how he is both God and human.

Luke 11:31-32
The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

The only way you can start to understand these things is when you allow the light of God to enter in. You have eyes to see. Now, open them and see. You will see fascinating things in the Lord. In the darkness there is confusion, calamity and stress. With clarity in your eyes you will see everything about Jesus. And so you can say this prayer found at the beginning of this chapter as taught by Jesus and receive the light.

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.”
Amen! We have received the light into our body.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Journey of Faith

Sreedhar standing to the left of his grandfather in the center Almost 55 years ago a son was born to a Hindu family.  The parents were 2nd generation Malaysians raised in a rubber estate near a small town called Sungei Petani in Northern Malaya at that time.  This first child was given much love and care by their parents and had the privilege of growing up in 3 different states of Malaysia, most of which was in Petaling Jaya.  He was blessed with his first domestic airplane ride when he was 10 years old, and made his first trip by airplane to Bangkok at the age of 11.  In the mid 1970's the family moved to a large house in a relatively exclusive neighborhood in Petaling Jaya. This was a result of the favor his father, aged about 35 at that time, had in the workplace,. As a result, this son grew up in a mostly multicultural environment with Indian, Chinese and Malay children.  In the process, his perspectives became cosmopolitan and racially neutral.  On...
Post a Comment
Read more

Heavenly courage and capability

Anybody reading this belongs to the military or was in the military? I commend you if you were. Whatever reason you were part of the military, it takes great courage to perform your role. If you are protecting the sovereignty of a country and you go beyond the call of service, your work is beyond anything money can pay. Such a person that acted in this manner was Abram. Genesis 14:14, Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. Abram had 318 men and he was going after 4 kings who just defeated 5 kings. He was rescuing, among others, his nephew Lot and his family. He is acknowledged and blessed by Melchizedek . Genesis 14:18-20, Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High...
Post a Comment
Read more

"Being Ready" cannot wait

Ready for the end of the world? Ready for death? I am sure many reading this are indifferent to this question. You don't care. But if you care about what you eat each day. You care about who you meet. You care about your health. And perhaps, you even care about people, your community and/or the environment. Then, you are avoiding the question about being ready for the most important event of your life, because you don't know the answer. John writes about this in Revelations. Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. The time is near!  In the KJV it says, the time is at hand!  The revelation given to John is difficult to completely appreciate because He is sharing God's perspective on time (from eternity to eternity).  In the human context, time cannot be stored.  If you missed it, you missed it.  It is spent.  You cannot redeem time.  It is...
Post a Comment
Read more

There is a silver lining

The phrase "silver lining" is used when you want to emphasize the hopeful side of a situation that might seem gloomy on the surface.  The origin of the phrase seems to be John Milton's 1634 poem "Comus," which includes the line, "Was I deceived? or did a sable cloud/Turn forth her silver lining on the night?" ( Source ).  When you think about it most things is not doom and gloom.  There is a positive side that you can pick up on, because God is watching over us. Jeremiah 46:14 “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol; Proclaim in Noph and in Tahpanhes; Say, ‘Stand fast and prepare yourselves, For the sword devours all around you.’ Egypt had great military might and was a great civilization with years of history. Yet they were no match for the new Super Power of the day, Babylon. They had hired workers as their soldiers and great expertise in warfare but all this is nothing when God declares that you will be defeated. In times like t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Be unconventional; it is okay!

In every society and organization there are cultural norms. There are practices that are observed and are deemed normal. Anything else would be unacceptable and may cause the person committing this to be taken out. In a religious context many of these may have no relevance to the practice of the faith. They are just ways to deal with all other aspects of life together. In this regard, Jesus was fairly unconventional. Mark 2:5-7 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus constantly brought up or did things that were never seen before. He forgave sin. He healed the paralytic. He caused a tax collector to join His discipleship group. He had close fellowship with tax collectors and sinners. His disciples did not fast while He was with them. His disciples picked grain in t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Keep to the Original

When you buy things, a branded piece of garment mostly gives you an assurance that it meets a certain set standard of quality.  It allows you to decide whether paying a certain price is worth the money.  A cheap brand attracts a low value, while an expensive one probably has the design and other qualities that are worth paying for.  I have my favorite brands not because I am brand conscious, but because I want to be assured of the value experience.  I sometimes try new brands, but as a test.  However, I am wary of "copycats".  I prefer to stay with the ORIGINAL. Ezekiel 41:4 He measured the length, twenty cubits; and the width, twenty cubits, beyond the sanctuary; and he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.” In Ezekiel 41 God continues to give clear instructions on the building of the temple. Outer courtyard, inner courtyard, altar and how the walls and doors were to be decorated. Everything has a meaning and significance. Palms, lions, cher...
Post a Comment
Read more