Ephesians 1:17-19 English Standard Version

17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might

There are smarts, and educated, but neither is enlightened.

Having the eyes of our hearts enlightened is a condition in which we recognize that the condition of our hearts changes as we mature in Christ, becoming what Christ needs us to be.

The immeasurable greatness of His power will not be released from a vessel that is not fit to pore it out.

What hope is this for us if it is not the promises of God to work in us that which is seemly?

We have been declared righteous but we will not activate that righteousness without coming to terms with the fact that He is conforming us into vessels fit for use.

Romans 9:21-23 English Standard Version

21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—

We are vessels of mercy who have surrender to Christ by faith and allowed Him to mold us into that which will bring honor and glory to the Father according to His will.

We think we are so smart. We become well read and we study His Word every day thinking that the exercise itself is enough. That is pride in performance. It is not until our eyes of understanding are awakened that we recognize that it is the indwelling presence of God that has changed us and not we ourselves.

I have heard many say “God has put it on my heart” some rightly so, some from convincing themselves rather than God convicting them.

Convicted or convinced, which is better?

Psalm 37:7a English Standard Version (ESV) Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

Hebrews 6:15 English Standard Version (ESV) And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.

Impatience is the enemy of order.

God does all things in order. We have been reading the prophecies of the Lord lately without comment. The hope was to have the Holy Spirit speak to us as His Word relates to these times in our present life. In that we must understand that it all happens in order.

It is like we are the jockey on a stallion who represents the Holy Spirit. We have trained with that horse and we are ready to win the race and we can feel the power of the Holy Spirit as we are at the starting gate awaiting the bell to begin the race.

Let us not forget that it is the horse that wins the race, we are just along for the ride.

What promise did Abraham receive?

Issac was his son of promise in his old age.

Impatience caused him to bear a son by his wife’s slave, Hagar. We can see where that has led us over the years. Impatience is the enemy of order.

What does that have to do with us, today?

Each of us has a duty to serve our Lord because He saved us from our sinful lives. Impatience will cause us to go back to doing things the way we did before we were saved. Just as in Abraham’s case our impatience might lead to disastrous consequences because we are out of order.

Are you saved? Are you hearing the Holy Spirit? Have you been gifted? Are you maturing? Are you exercising your gifting? Have you sound counsel? 

All these things must be done in order, percept upon precept, preparing you to do the work of the ministry that God has granted each and every one of us.

Do not spur the horse before the gate has been opened.