Word of the Week - Revelation

“I don’t know whether he is a sinner, the man replied.  But I know this; I was blind, and now I can see!” John 9:25

Revelation is simply becoming aware of a surprising or previously unknown fact or truth.  In the spiritual realm it is typically made known through divine or supernatural means such as reading God’s Word (the bible), hearing a sermon or a experiencing a personal encounter.  Revelation is powerful and necessary for us to know God and grow in our relationship with Him.  Even though we are made in the image of God and have His spirit within us, God’s ways are not our ways and thus we cannot really understand the things of God without divine revelation through the Holy Spirit.  Revelation is a catalyst for our faith to become real and have power in our lives.Receiving Revelation:  Revelation is a gift from God and thus a bit mysterious.  I don’t think it is something we can simply will into existence for ourselves.  That being said, we learn from scripture and the story about the blind man who was healed by Jesus, that by faith he obeyed Jesus’ instruction to go wash himself in the pool of Siloam.  The man simply did what Jesus asked him to do and was healed.  I surely can relate to this story and the motivation for something much better.  The key here is to recognize that the blind man had to listen to Jesus and do something by faith to receive the miracle of healing of his sight which led to his salvation.  All to often, I think we either are not listening, or when Jesus speaks to us, we do not obey by stepping out in faith.  We tend to ask questions and desire more clarity, or we simply just don’t do anything, we wait and hope He will do it to us or for us.  Faith in action is where God shows up and the divine happens.By Revelation we get to know the Lord and build an intimate relationship with Him.  So how do we posture ourselves to receive revelation from God so we can live in the fullness of our experience with Him?

• Surrendering our lives and submitting to His authority over our lives as a loving Father.  I am not sure I know how this all works but I had a born again/spiritual eye opening experience 19 years ago at the age of 33 when I surrendered my heart to the Lord by faith.  Therefore this man’s story really resonates with me, because right after I surrendered my heart to God I experienced supernatural revelation.  I had eyes to see a whole new world that I had never known before through the person of Jesus and His word.  I had heard about Jesus my entire life and attended church but I never had experienced divine revelation.  It was truly amazing and by far the most powerful experience of my life to date, which gives me blessed assurance of my relationship with God and my hope of eternal salvation in Christ.  An amazing gift.
• Seeking God through His word – The bible is literally God breathed and given to us for divine purpose and instruction.  It is a spiritual book that is alive and powerful.  As I have sought after God over the years and grown in relationship with Him through His word, I continue to receive revelation, which strengthens my faith and trust in God.  As we develop our spiritual eyes through a pure heart and deep desire to know and love God, He continues to take us deeper and reveal things to us through His word so we can know Him in a more intimate way.  Just like any relationship that grows and deepens over time, to grow deeper in love and relationship we must know the person more and much of this is through the process of seeking the relationship.

We all need our spiritual eyes opened to have more spiritual vision and deeper communion with God.  Only God can give us spiritual sight through His divine revelation, He is in the business of making the blind see.  He did it for me and thus I am certain He can do it for anyone who desires to know Him for who He really is.  We simply have is ask in faith and surrender our hearts to the Lord Jesus, and make Him the first priority and Lord over our lives by faith.  “For it is by grace we have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast”. Ephesians 2:8-9Lord I pray you will give us eyes to see and ears to hear.  Give us your divine revelation.-Duane