“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know…” Ephesians 1:17-18
The word “understanding” is the Greek word, “dianoia”. It is the same word translated as “mind” or “imagination” in other Scriptures. When Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind“, the Greek word used for “mind” was “dianoia”. Hebrews 8:10 says, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts:” Again, this is “dianoia”, the emotionally oriented, right side of the brain that “sees”.
Then there is the logic oriented, left side of the brain that reasons and rationalizes, considers and reckons, hypothesizes and conjectures. Mary, the mother of Jesus responded that way when Gabriel appeared to her and told her, she (a virgin) would conceive a son who would be the Messiah. Luke 1:29 says “she was troubled at his saying, and considered in her mind what manner of greeting this should be.” The word used for “mind” here is “dialogizomai”. It’s where we get the word “logic” from.
What Gabriel told her troubled her logic. It went contrary to reasoning. OK. Sorry for the Greek lesson as scant as it was. I want you to understand that God uses the eyes of your understanding, the eyes of your imagination to communicate spiritual “rhema” truth to you. The written word, the logos, is the basis of logic, but the living, fresh breathed word is the basis of revelation. We need both. The logos keeps us from error and the rhema reveals the fullness of the logos and puts it in the now.
The eyes of your understanding, when enlightened are like spiritual radar. They allow you to see what you otherwise would not. When I get up long before daybreak and seek the Lord, I cannot see much outside my window. I need light to see the trees, the birds, the lake across the street, etc. Well God has given you a second set of eyes that are just as capable of seeing as your physical eyes. Like your natural eyes, they need enlightenment to see correctly. What is the source of that light? The spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ!
Wisdom is a Spirit. Revelation is a Spirit. They are manifestations of Christ that reveal who He is. When you know Him, you begin to discover what He has in store for you, what He has given you to bring it about and the power available to manifest or to bring into the present, what is still in the future. Friends, open your spiritual eyes, the eyes of your understanding, the eyes of your imagination that has been enlightened by the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
You say… How do I do that? Well, how do you imagine anything? When you imagine what it will be like in the rainforest for instance, you see things with the eyes of your understanding or the eyes of your imagination or the right side of your brain if you will, that you have never seen with your natural eyes. Spend enough time imagining that and you will draw that experience into the present. But that is for another blog. Ask God to give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ so you can see, so you can begin to imagine some of the things He has prepared for you to walk in. I should stop now. I love you guys!