Open Your Mind
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Open Your Mind
Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 93
Ephesians 1:15-23
Luke 24:44-53
What does it mean for one to be enlightened? There have been all kinds of views on this all through out history. For Buddhists this means coming to a state of attaining or having attained spiritual knowledge or insight, in particular that awareness which frees a person from the cycle of rebirth. In the 17th and 18th centuries they referred to enlightenment as a time of the Age of Reason. A time in which one would put blind faith aside and use science and proof in its place. At the time reasoning was used to strengthen faith. However, today people try to use reasoning to argue against faith. My how things change when you try to separate faith from reasoning. Enlightenment though really comes down to coming to and understanding of something. In this case for today we are talking about becoming enlightened to the understanding of our faith in Jesus Christ. True Christian enlightenment requires both faith and understanding.
Luke is the author of both his Gospel and the book of Acts of the apostles. The Last chapter of the Gospel of Luke shows Jesus’ last moments with the disciples before he is taken up into heaven just like Enoch and Elijah. Acts then begins where Luke left off and gives us more detail about this event and of the calling that Jesus has charged us with. Jesus tells them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit for when it comes, they will be given power to accomplish their mission which is to deliver His message to the ends of the earth.
From what we read in Luke 24 it seems that there was still a lot of confusion and surprise in seeing Jesus rise from the dead. They all seemed to have had different expectations for Jesus. So, Luke says that Jesus takes the time to open their minds. One could just read he opened their minds and we would think that Jesus does some miraculous or powerful thing to do this. However, if you read what is going on, Jesus is explaining to them what the scriptures say about him. Luke is very vague about which specific scriptures but he does tell us the purpose behind what he shares. Jesus was opening their minds with the word and explaining that everything that has happened was prophesied in the scriptures. Jesus would share one scripture and all of a sudden it would be like something would click for them and they would understand. They had faith in him because they could see him however, now they were being enlightened to the truth with proof from the word.
During Jesus’ ministry it seems that everyone had their own different understanding and expectation of Jesus. Jesus spent a lot of time while he was with them trying to prepare them for the fact that He would soon not be with them and that He would be put to death. But it seems that they were so enamored with him that they were blind to the understanding of what was to happen. It was not until all was fulfilled that their hearts and minds were finally open to accept the truth.
Ladies when you first fell in love with your husband you were blind weren’t you. Let me tell you that your husbands were grateful that you were blind. They were doing everything possible to keep you that way until you tied the knot with a covenant of marriage. However, after the honeymoon was over your eyes and minds started to be open to some things. Some of you finally realized, he is disgusting. Did he always do that? What has happened is that you have finally been enlightened to the truth of your husband. It is like this aha moment and you wonder what you got yourself in to. Here is the truth though, he was thinking the same thing about you. But this is when our minds must once again be opened to the truth. This man exists to teach you how to truly love and guys this woman exists to teach you how to truly love. Love starts out blind until your minds are opened and then love becomes a choice. Jesus chose to love us and proved it to us by dying on a cross.
When I first began my journey to know the Lord, I was in this impression that it was about knowing the church. I was so confused about all of these different beliefs and faiths that I was unsure of what was truth. I had begun to trust in the world rather than the word. My mind was finally opened to a faith, trust, and love for him but my faith was still blind. There is nothing wrong with blind faith but it is very brittle. When difficult things in life happen, it can sometimes be easily broken. We can be hurt by things that would cause someone to question whether He is real. However, later my mind was opened again to the truth through the Word and finally understanding how everything fits together according to His plan. My mind was opened to how the Bible describes how the universe is held together and how we are able to actually observe what the Bible says to be true. We can observe that all of this complexity and structure of the world cannot happen by chance but that there is someone intelligent that designs and builds all things. The Word tells us that we are created in the image of God and part of that image is language, and the ability to design and create and then bringing that design into reality. When our minds are opened to understand that without a doubt there is a God and that He loves us and that He gave his life for us as an everlasting atonement. When we can understand that then when we lose people too soon, when we experience hardships, when we experience suffering, we can still be sure without a doubt that God is real, and God is good.
Things will happen in life that you do not understand. However, when your mind is open to know and love the Lord regardless of what happens in life there will be peace through the storms. Knowing the Lord does not take away pain and sufferings of life that exist in the world because of sin. However, knowing the Lord empowers us to endure and look forward to something greater than all of our suffering. My prayer is that your minds will be opened and that you will be enlightened to the truth to the point that you know what you know without a doubt. And once you know what you know then you are charged to share what you know with the nations. We are charged to help open the minds of others all around the world. Some will choose to be opened and others will choose to keep their minds shut. It is a decision that we all must make for ourselves and it will not be forced upon us to believe. We will believe when our minds are opened. Has your mind been opened to the truth?