Elevate - Open the Eyes of My Heart

The main idea of this information is that even in difficult times, it is important to rejoice always and give thanks in all circumstances. The speaker encourages recognizing the miracles and provision of God in everyday life, as this builds faith to believe for bigger things. The message is about having an open heart to hear what God has to say and being reminded and encouraged by His word. The speaker also discusses the desire for a move of God and the need to see more miracles and supernatural experiences. The story of Jesus healing a woman on the Sabbath is shared as an example of the power of God and the importance of recognizing and celebrating His works. Because even when life is disrupted, even when life is hard and you are struggling to make it through the day, rejoice always. Give thanks in all circumstances. Learn to recognize the miracles and the provision of God at all times. Why? Because until you can see God's hand on your life in the small things, you'll never have the faith to believe God for the big things. Welcome to Elevate, from Authentic Life Church in Mobile, Alabama, with Pastor John DiQuatro. We hope it builds your faith and helps you to live a life for God that you've always wanted to live. We hope it inspires you to be a fully devoted, authentic follower of Jesus Christ. Enjoy the message and welcome to Elevate. I want to read a scripture to you real quick in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 18. It says, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people. We're going to take a deviation from our series this morning because I feel like the Lord led me into something else for you this morning, and something that the Lord just wants to say to us as a body. And I believe that there is something, just a direct message that the Lord has for you today, with just a prophetic word for you, and it's not a long message, but I believe that it's a word in season for each one of us. And if our hearts are open today and we listen to what God is saying, I believe that there is a reminder and an encouragement for each one of us. I don't believe that you're in this room by accident. I don't believe that you're watching online or listening to this radio broadcast. I don't believe that you are listening by accident. I believe that God has something to say to each and every one of us today. You know, we are believing at Authentic Life Church for a move of God. Amen? We're believing for revival. We've been praying that prayer week in and week out, trusting and believing God. We've been praying for God to move in our first Wednesday worship and prayer times, and we want Him to release His mighty works among us, and to experience once again what we see so prevalent in the Bible, the healings and the miracles and the deliverances and things that take place of a supernatural proportion. And so, yet, for some reason, we kind of seem to be stuck a little bit, and not just us. I'm talking about the church. We kind of are stuck, and we rejoice with Linda. We rejoice with what God did in her life, and within one day, all that fluid came out of her lungs, and her heart was strengthened. And we know that that's the power of God, but why isn't this more commonplace? And that's the question that sometimes we need to stop and ask. How come we don't see the miracles of God like we see in the Bible? How come we don't see the miracles of God like we've heard about, others have experienced? And so, I believe that there's a key in the passage that we're about to read, or rather, a challenge that will help us to move toward greater faith in the power of God, and begin to see miracles in our midst. Do you want to see that? Amen, amen. We're going to put a pin in that Ephesian scripture that we just read, and we'll come back to it. But right now, I want to turn you to the book of Luke, in chapter 13, beginning in verse 10. And I'll be reading this from the ESV, the English Standard Version. But it says this. Now, He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a disabling spirit for 18 years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, Woman, you are freed from your disability. And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day. Then the Lord answered him, You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound for 18 years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day? As He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame. And all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by Him. And so I want to give you a visual of what transpired in that moment. This woman had been afflicted with a disabling spirit for 18 years. You imagine the base of her back is fixed at a sharp angle, the muscles in her back are knotted and painful from bearing the weight of the severe curvature of her back. Her nerves are pinched from the vertebrae that are out of alignment. And so for almost two decades, this has been her life stuck in this deformity, held captive by this spirit of Satan that has beset her. And this spirit that came upon her has trampled this woman's life, leaving its hoof marks on this woman who at one time stood upright and capable. Above this woman is a beautiful blue sky in which the clouds and the sun hang. But this is not the view that she has because her movement is not so free. And so she shuffles toward the synagogue and all she can see is the dirty streets and the trash that has been strewn about on the sides of the road and some scattered rocks and the footprints of those that are free to walk about unencumbered as she is. That's her view. And so she hobbles over to her seat in the synagogue. It's the Sabbath day. And as she does this, as she comes to her seat, Jesus' focus is shifted from the text that He is teaching from. Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, but His focus shifts from what He is reading and what He is teaching from, and it shifts to this sad and pained and sorrowful woman. And in His omniscience, His ability to know all things, He sees this woman. He sees the pain and He sees the struggle from the last 18 years of her suffering. But beyond this pain, He sees something that captures His attention, her faith. This woman, the Scripture said, is a true daughter of Abraham. She is here faithfully on the Sabbath to worship the God of her ancestors. So she ignores the pain. She ignores the pitiful stares. She ignores the whispers of giggling children that are shocked at the grotesqueness of what they see. And as Jesus notices her, He rolls that scroll that He is reading from back up and invites this woman to come to Him, to come to the front. No doubt, this is an embarrassing prospect for the woman, to be paraded in front of Sabbath worshipers in the synagogue. All eyes are on her as she awkwardly shuffles down the aisle to stand before Jesus. She arrives and she strains to twist her torso so that she can meet the gaze of Jesus. And their eyes meet. And Jesus looks at her and He utters one sentence to her. He says, Woman, you are freed from your disability. And then the Bible says that He places His hand on her twisted frame. And as He does this, the muscles in her back begin to loosen their grip. There's an audible popping sound as each vertebrae falls into its proper place. And the pinched nerves are set free and they cease their throbbing. And in a moment, for the first time in nearly 20 years, she stretches herself into a fully erect position. Every wince of pain, every strained muscle, every moment of shame, instantly falling off and landing at the feet of Jesus. So instinctively, she looks up toward the God of Heaven and stretches her hands to her Heavenly Father, something that she hasn't done in 18 years, but I'm sure the muscle memory was there and it was so natural for her to come from this position to immediately begin to raise her hands in praise as she glorifies her God in Heaven in awe of the gaze of the Almighty that He has had on this lowly, little, bent-over, hobbled woman. What a moment. What a moment. And what you would expect in a moment like this is a thunderous applause, an eruption of praise from the worshipers in the synagogue. The God of Heaven has so graciously healed this woman who has been disabled for so long. No doubt, they've all seen her begging at the temple gates for nearly two decades, but that is not what happens. What should be an eruption of praise turns into a sharp rebuke by an infuriated synagogue official. You see, in this man's mind, this event has interrupted the liturgy of their gathering. It has dishonored the Sabbath, because the Sabbath says that you are to do no work on the Sabbath. That's the law that they were following, that they would do no work on the Sabbath. And at this point, with Pharisees and Sadducees and all the interpreters of the law and all the ways that they have saddled up people on the Sabbath, they would not tolerate anything. You had to walk so many steps, and you could only do this, and you could only do that on the Sabbath, and apparently healing was not on the list. But he's upset because the Sabbath has been dishonored, and so he scrambles to restore order to the moment and to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. So he addresses the people with sharpness and disdain, and he says, hey, there are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, not on the Sabbath day. Now hold on a second. Shouldn't this synagogue official be doing a double-take at what just happened? Shouldn't his jaw be on the floor, speechless at what he has just witnessed? Shouldn't he be pinching himself to make sure that he isn't dreaming and that he certainly is awake witnessing what just happened? Did he somehow miss the miracle that took place right in front of him? Well, he saw it. No doubt that he saw it. But he saw it in the same way that your teenager sees the mess in his room. But it doesn't capture his attention. Instead, he's focused on the video game he's about to play. And so for the synagogue official, he sees the miracle, but his eyes were really fixed on the rules, and the liturgy, and the traditions of the synagogue. So much so that he misses this awesome display of power that takes place right before his very eyes. And so here's a question I want to ask every single one of us in this room, including myself. How many of us have missed what God is doing because we were looking at the wrong things? How often have we gotten so focused on the natural that we don't realize that the God of power and miracles is standing right before us with power in His hands? How many times has God been working in our church, in our lives, in our family, but all we chose to see was the negative? All we saw was the hardship. All we focused on was how we feel at the moment. Can I tell you, I got caught in that. During the COVID shutdowns and what it kind of did to our church and the number of people that ended up either not coming back to church at all or moving to other churches, whatever happened. And I got in a place where I'm seeing so much health come into our body. I'm seeing God do things. I'm seeing the community of our church coming together. People are stepping out and doing things that they've never done before. Finding new ministries. Seeing that there's things happening all within our church and there's health and there's strength and there's so many wonderful things about our church. You know what I was focused on? We lost half our people. I'm serious. I got my eyes onto the wrong thing and off of the right thing. And I'm just being vulnerable and real to you because I'm a human being like the rest of you and I struggle like the rest of you. And like the synagogue official, what we so easily do is rather than worshiping and praising God for what He's doing and what He has done, we choose to see the disruptions in our lives. We choose to see the inconveniences that we face or our traditions being challenged. 1 Thessalonians 5, 16-18 says this, Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. This Scripture speaks to our posture before the Lord as we live our lives. He says, Rejoice always. You know, the Greek word that is translated always, means this, always. I'm a Greek scholar. You didn't know that, did you? Not just when things are going our way, not when everything is working out and you feel good about life, but even when life is disrupted, even when life is hard and you are struggling to make it through the day, rejoice always. Give thanks in all circumstances. I'm going to show you my Greek prowess here once again. The Greek word translated all means this, all. Give thanks in all circumstances. Learn to recognize the miracles and the provision of God at all times. Why? Because until you can see God's hand on your life in the small things, you'll never have the faith to believe God for the big things. There are some people, and we know some of these people in our lives, that seem to live their life in this supernatural way. It seems like in their estimation, God is always doing something, providing miraculously, healing, leading them into opportunities. It's amazing. And you know why those people seem to see God in everything? Because they choose to see God in everything. It's a posture of their heart. It's how they've chosen to fix their gaze. They're not like the bent-over woman. All they can see is the dirt. They've chosen to fix their gaze heavenward and to see God moving throughout their life. Their faith is engaged to see the miraculous among the mundane. And when the chips are down and a miracle is the only option, they have a strong faith to know that God will move in that circumstance too. And He does. That's why we started the message with this verse in Ephesians 1. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. Our eyes need to be opened to see the God of miracles. To understand that He is present in our lives and that He is standing before us with power in His hand to move on your behalf. You know, for the synagogue official, the same healing power that Jesus used to straighten the woman who had been bent over for 18 years, that same power was available to that synagogue official as well. The problem is, he wasn't focused on what Jesus could do. He was focused on the disruptions of His traditions. If we can't see the God of miracles, then miracles will be in short supply for us. So as Paul prayed for the Ephesian church, I pray for you, Lord, open the eyes of our hearts that we may see the God of miracles before us. If you're looking, you will see God moving in your life. If you're looking, you'll see it in the love of your family. You'll see it in the provision of your needs. In the encouraging Word that comes at the right time. In the relationships that you build with other believers. But there is one miracle that even if we don't see any other God activity in our lives, there's one miracle that we have to recognize. That's the miracle of your salvation. That He rescued you from your addictions, your sin, your pride, the fact that you were so hopeless in sin without a chance of having a right relationship with God, but Jesus' death and resurrection that took place 2,000 years ago touches you today. Paying the penalty for all of your sin. Washing you clean. And putting you in right standing with the Father. And knowing that when life is over, that you have a place with Jesus for all of eternity. Not because you got everything right, or because you earned it, but because His love for you is so great that He provided the way and all you have to do is believe. That is the greatest miracle. And if we can start there, thanking God daily for our salvation. Listen, that ought to come out of your lips every single morning when you wake up. Thank You, Jesus, for the blood that washes my sin away today. Thank You that I am in right standing with God. Thank You that what I couldn't do for myself, what I could never earn, You did for me. Thank You, God. And if we start in that place, praising and glorifying God for the miracle of our salvation and for eternal life, and then starting in that place, letting that be the starting point, and then turning our hearts and our minds to recognize His miracle provision in every other aspect of our lives, even when we're struggling, even when it's hard, your faith will be built up. And I promise that you will begin to see God moving like never before. You know, we're believing for a move of God in our midst. Right? We're praying for it. We're calling it out. Right? If God begins to move, will you know it? Will you see it? Will you recognize when the God of miracles is in the room? Allow Him today to open the eyes of your heart so that you can see the God of miracles that is available to you every day, every hour, every minute of your life. And then when God miraculously orchestrates a moment of encouragement during your hardest trial, don't be like the synagogue official and say, I still don't have enough to pay my rent next month. Trust that the same God who orchestrated a moment where you can be reminded of His faithfulness is the same God that will also provide for you. When you are sick in your body and God touches one part of your body, don't say, okay, but what about the rest? Right? I don't mean to call you out here, Linda, but Linda still has some struggles in her body. I had to help her up these stairs, but you know what she has right now? A fully functioning heart with no fluid on her lungs! Praise God! Because when we fail to see what God has done and look at what He hasn't yet done, then we stop seeing the God of miracles. And so we're focused on the dirt and the flesh and the struggle. Rather, just like the woman who was healed of an 18-year infirmity, thrust your hands upward and praise the God of miracles that has revealed Himself to you. Rejoice in the fact that God is intervening daily in your life and always moving on your behalf. Praise the God of heaven who has ultimately rescued you from death and handed you victory over sin as you realize the greatest miracle of all has been accomplished at the cross for you. And if He does nothing else, that would be enough. We need to be reminded of this, folks, because the hardship and struggle of this world will never stop on this side of heaven. When you said yes to Jesus, you were not promised a perfect life. In fact, you signed on for the attacks of the enemy to start targeting you and to make your life maybe just a little bit more complicated. But we have a choice. We always have a choice. We can see the God who says if God is for you, who can be against you. We can choose to see that God or we can focus on the temporal, on the earthly problems and completely miss what God is doing. The synagogue official completely missed the Messiah that was standing in his midst because he couldn't get his focus off of the law, off of his inconvenience, and off of his traditions. And I want to encourage you today to start looking at the daily circumstances of your life and see the God of miracles in the midst of all of that. And I believe that as you begin to allow your faith to be built up, that, listen, sometimes it seems silly. Sometimes it seems silly to give God credit for things that seem like just a coincidence. But I want you to practice, practice this in your life. My wife calls this princess parking. When you get the first, when you're tired and there's a spot right there at the front of the store that you have to run into, just say, you know what, thank you God for your favor in my life. I'm serious. Just whatever it is, even the little things, when you lose your keys and you find them 12 seconds later, that you say, thank you Holy Spirit for directing me to find these keys. Right? Find the God of miracles in every aspect of your life. Practice praising Him in all those small things in your life. Find the miraculous that's among the mundane in your life. I promise you, it'll shift your gaze toward Him. Right? Yeah. And when a miracle is the only option that you have, your faith will be strong. You'll know who to turn to. You'll know how to hold on for dear life to the God of miracles in your life and see Him move in your life. I'm going to ask you all to stand with me. I'm going to read this Scripture to you again in Ephesians 1. I'm going to ask you to just maybe close your eyes and receive the words that are in this Scripture. If you want to raise your hands, you can, but this is a prayer of the Apostle Paul for the people of God. And he says this, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. Can you shift your gaze heavenward right now and just begin to ask the Lord, open the eyes of my heart. Lord, open the eyes of my understanding. Enlighten my mind and my heart and my spirit to begin to see the incomparably great power that is available to me at all times. Help me to not be so arrogant as to think that my life is made up of a whole bunch of circumstances that are coincidental. But Lord, that I would see Your hand moving in every good and perfect thing that comes into my life. And that I would see Your hand moving that as I struggle and as I experience pain, that I know, God, that You are still working things out for my good because You are maturing me and growing me. Lord, help us. Lord, to be able to lift our hands in praise and in honor towards You, God. To recognize even the most mundane of miracles in our lives. Lord, to constantly, every day, Lord, to lift our hands in glory and lift our hands in worship and surrender to the God that has paid the price for our sin so that we can be in eternity with Him forever. Jesus, open the eyes of my heart. Open my eyes to see God's movement and not be so focused on every negative thing and not be so focused on everything that isn't right or perfect, God, that I can't really see what You're doing in my life. Thank you for listening to Elevate. We hope this message encouraged, inspired, and challenged you. Authentic Life Church is located at 3750 Michael Boulevard in Mobile, Alabama. Visit our website, authenticlife.tv, for more information about Authentic Life Church, to find out what we have going on, or to make a donation. You can also find us on Facebook. We'd love for you to join us on Sundays at 10 a.m. for our weekend service. We have excellent children's, nursery, and youth programs, so bring the family. For Pastor John DeQuatro, I'm Scott Chestnut. Thanks again for listening, and God bless you.