Enlightenment

Ephesians 1:17-18 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, (NASB)

If you have followed this ministry at all, you have likely read “open your eyes (and mind) through your heart,” my take on enlightenment. Enlightenment is a true gift of God on many levels, continually expanding by grace to those who pursue it. It is not found by the scholar, but by the humble heart, no matter the level of degree. God gives his gift of enlightenment to whomever he desires; many times children speak of him with a level of maturity that leaves us amazed, because God opened their minds through the eyes of their hearts that have remained pure. Enlightenment is God’s grace on display, a free gift from God to those who follow that tug on their heart to pursue him. Enlightenment is a response to a call God has placed on your heart.

In my study this morning, I came across this quote below I must share. It has a reference to another scripture, but meditate on the enlightenment found in these words.

Imagine if all the tumult of the body were to quiet down,
along with all our busy thoughts about earth, sea, and air;
if the very world would stop, and the mind cease thinking about itself,
go beyond itself, and be quite still;
if all the fantasies that appear in dreams and imagination would cease,
and there be no speech, no sign:
Imagine if all things that are perishable grew still – for if we listen they are saying,
“We did not make ourselves; he made us who abides forever” – imagine, then,
that they should say this and fall silent, listening to the very voice of him who made them
and not to that of his creation;
so that we should hear not his word through the tongues of men, nor the voice of angels,
nor the clouds’ thunder, nor any symbol, but the very Self which in these things we love,
and go beyond ourselves to attain a flash of that eternal wisdom which abides above all things:
And imagine if that moment were to go on and on,
leaving behind all other sights and sounds but this one vision
which ravishes and absorbs and fixes the beholder in joy;
so that the rest of eternal life were like that moment of illumination which leaves us breathless:
Would this not be what is bidden in the scripture, Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord?
– Saint Augustine