But Now I See

Isaiah 42:7 - ...to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

I was reading an article about paradigm shifts, those "ah-ha" moments, epiphanies, or going from blindness to sight. For the entire excellent article read it here.

Everyone has had them. A paradigm shift  is a moment when something suddenly makes total sense or what appears to be a new thought, new truth, becomes oh, so clear. As the writer pointed out its when the light bulb goes on in your head. Like you see something for the first time.

I've always considered myself a slow learner. In a new job I might have to be told several times how a certain aspect of my responsibility worked. Then one day, Oh, now I get it, now I see, and from then on everything fell neatly into place. 

The most gratifying, freeing and exciting eye-opening experience for me came several years ago. The words to the song Amazing Grace became so crystal clear where previously it was just a beautiful song that evoked a tear because of its beautiful melody. What I viewed as wrong was now so right. What I so struggled against was now something to embrace. My arrogance turned into humility and it was not difficult at all. Truth was revealed and it was the most amazing truth.

This experience is the in-your-face meeting with Jesus Christ. When He becomes more than just Someone you've read or heard about, but becomes alive in your spirit, you've just had that epiphany. What was impossible to understand and often rejected now made me reel with understanding. Jesus lives in me; He's alive; I hear His voice; He will never leave me or forsake me. I still shake my head sometimes to think He loved a sinner such as I.

Jesus wants me to be in a close and personal relationship with Him, the living God. He wants me! What is so amazing, besides the grace He offers, is how the Bible then becomes as alive as our Lord. The Bible is alive...because it is the inerrant Word of God and the very Jesus Christ about whom it is written. Jesus is the Word. In the beginning was the Word...(John 1:1).

Ah ha! In the beginning...even before time began...Jesus existed. He wasn't just with God, He was God. Still is. His resurrection proves that He still exists. He's still alive, as is His written Word. And in His Word He tells us He wants us to be in relationship with Him. How? Romans 10:9 tells us: if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Wrap your heads around this. What a paradigm shift it can become.

This understanding is there for anyone. That feel-good, heart thumping moment is obtainable. But don’t get me wrong, it's so much more than a feeling. It's far greater than any other experience one can have because it is the most important experience one can obtain. That true, intimate relationship with the One who died for you, the One who brings you true life in His name, the One who so wants intimacy with you. He is the One who holds the key to heaven for you, who's waiting for your acceptance of Him. The One who ...has made everything beautiful in its time...and has put eternity in our hearts... (Ecclesiastes 3:11). That means even when we are not aware of what that nagging feeling that something is missing in our lives, that unsatisfied feeling that will not go away, is, He is calling us into a knowing of Him, a relationship so deep.

I cannot do anymore than tell you how to experience this. It comes from earnestly seeking Him and asking for that "ah-ha" Jesus moment to invade your heart, mind and spirit. He will know the intent of your heart and if that intent is honest, He will reveal Himself like never before.  Be open to hear that still small voice that tells you .. Isaiah 30:21

Isaiah 42:16 - I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them.