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The loss of one of our physical senses can be devastating. But we know people who have overcome severe physical limitations to accomplish amazing things. Nick Vujicic was born without arms or legs. He is an incredible witness and follower of Jesus and inspiration to all who hear his story. Joni Erikson Tada was injured in a diving accident and is paralyzed from the neck down. But she has ministered to thousands through her disability.

Fanny Crosby was given the wrong eye treatment as an infant which left her blind. She wrote over 8,000 hymns. A few of Fanny Crosby’s hymns are: "Blessed Assurance," "All the Way My Savior Leads Me," "To God Be the Glory," "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior," "Safe in the Arms of Jesus," "Rescue the Perishing," and "Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross."

Physical blindness however, is not as serious as spiritual blindness. Jesus cured physical blindness to fulfill Scripture and demonstrate that He was the promised Messiah (Luke 4:18-19).

The spiritual blindness He encountered was far worse. It seems like the religious leaders were the most susceptible to not being able to see spiritually (Luke 6:39-45).

The story is told of Brother Andrew who smuggled Bibles across the border to people hungry for God’s Word.Stories from Brother Andrew’s dangerous global exploits earned him the nickname ‘God’s Smuggler.’ There is also a best-selling book by this title. Here is a quote:

“Lord, in my luggage I have Scripture I want to take to your children. When you were on earth, You made blind eyes see. Now, I pray, make seeing eyes blind. Do not let the guards see those things You do not want them to see.” Brother Andrew

The Bible mentions three kinds or causes of spiritual blindness.

Sinful
"This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart." Ephesians 4:17–18 (NKJV)

Peter says that Christians who don’t grow are susceptible to having ‘spiritual eye disease.’

"For he who lacks these things (faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness, love) is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins."
2 Peter 1:9 (NKJV)

Satanic
"But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them."
2 Corinthians 4:3–4 (NKJV)

Sovereign
"Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive."
Matthew 13:13–14 (NKJV)

There are many eye diseases. Some very simple like eye strainor red eyes. Some more serious such as amblyopia, which happens when one eye doesn’t develop properly, macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataracts, just to name a few. Jesus said that our problems start with our spiritual eyes.

This same teaching is found in Matthew 6:22-23. In both texts the context helps us understand the meaning of Jesus’ words. In Matthew the problem is money and worry. In Luke it is signs and repentance.

In both cases the problem is the condition of the spiritual eye.

The Healthy Eye
A healthy eye is a good eye
A healthy eye is a singularly focused eye
A healthy eye is a clear eye

The Bad Eye
A bad eye has moral blindness
A bad eye has double vision
A bad eye has clouded vision

Your spiritual eyes are the entry points for everything that you process as you interact with the world. It is like a grid. It is the way you process information, think, reason, see the world, interpret truth and error.

Recently I had to change the cabin filter and the air filter in our car. The air flow had caused the filters to be black with all kinds of dirt and debris. Living in the world can cause our spiritual filters to become dirty too. The Word of God is the filter through which we can see things as they really are. Jesus wants to open our eyes to who He is and what the Scriptures say concerning Him. After His resurrection He did that for two discouraged disciples.

Jesus Reveals Himself
"Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight."
Luke 24:31

The Word of God is the Filter
"And they said to one another, 'Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?'”
Luke 24:32 (NKJV)

"Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law."
Psalm 119:18 (NKJV)

Ministry Time

A Prayer to Pray:
Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints… Ephesians 1:15–18 (NKJV)

Pray for people who speak Russian. Below is John 3:16 in Russian

Ведь Бог так полюбил этот мир, что отдал Своего единственного Сына, чтобы каждый верующий в Него не погиб, но имел вечную жизнь. От Иоанна 3:16

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