{"id":11733,"date":"2020-01-12T05:10:53","date_gmt":"2020-01-12T11:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=11733"},"modified":"2020-01-12T05:11:09","modified_gmt":"2020-01-12T11:11:09","slug":"a-daily-epiphany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=11733","title":{"rendered":"A Daily Epiphany"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last Sunday we celebrated Epiphany \u2013 the manifestation of the Lord \u2013 when the magi\u2019s eyes were opened to the King of kings. I desire a daily epiphany when my eyes are opened to my King. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I post my blog for today. Now I\u2019m in my cozy chair with my throw blanket tossed over my lap. I reach for my well-worn Bible, my daily devotional and my journal. A deep breath in and a slow exhale. It\u2019s my time, it\u2019s His time. It\u2019s our time to be together. Before the electrician arrives to do some repairs. Before I go on errands. Before I go to Weight Watchers. Before the day\u2019s activities are in full go-mode, I get to be with Jesus. For a few quiet moments, I don\u2019t have to share Him with anyone. The words are always fresh to me. A new reading in His Word and a new reflection. What will He show me today? What will be my \u201cepiphany\u201d today? I take it in like it is a required prescription to keep me alive. After all, it is the Bread of Life \u2013 physically and spiritually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, sometimes, my mind is overactive with my to-do\u2019s and it\u2019s simply a \u201croutine\u201d that must be done. Please forgive me, Lord, for those times when I only give you a quick glance. Sometimes I have an \u201caha\u201d when I read a verse that I know was written with me in mind. Other times — not so much. I pause and whisper, \u201cLord, open my eyes to see the wonderful things in Your Word. Help me understand what You\u2019re trying to show me.\u201d I don\u2019t want to miss a single thing that God has for me. I don\u2019t want the distraction of the clock or daily assignments to pull my thoughts away from His. I really do not want my time with Jesus to be a quick \u201cmeet and greet\u201d. I really do want to pray, ponder, understand and respond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

My sweet mother-in-law, Lydia, has been that kind of pray-er and ponder-er. Every time I read Acts 16 where a woman named Lydia is introduced, I think of Mom. Lydia and her friends are having a prayer meeting on the riverbanks. The Apostle Paul and his traveling companions stop by the prayer meeting. Lydia is already a worshiper of God, but as Paul shares the Good News of Jesus and His redeeming work on the cross, Lydia has an \u201cepiphany\u201d: \u201cThe Lord opened her heart to pay attention and to respond to the things said by Paul.\u201d (Acts 16:14).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I absolutely love that: \u201cThe Lord opened her heart to pay attention and respond.\u201d Oh, how I desire that MY heart is opened to pay attention and respond to my Lord. Lydia\u2019s mind is opened and she receives a fresh revelation of Jesus. He deposits a desire in her heart to learn more about the gospel of grace that Paul is sharing. I think of an old song that is actually a prayer. May it be our prayer today.
\u201cOpen our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus,
to reach out and touch Him, and say that we love Him.
Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen.
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May this be our heart\u2019s greatest desire \u2014 today and every day! May we open our hearts wide so we can receive a fresher revelation of Jesus. No matter how much we think we know about Him, let us long to know Him more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalm 119:18, \u201cOpen my eyes to see wonderful things in your Word.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Sunday we celebrated Epiphany \u2013 the manifestation of the Lord \u2013 when the magi\u2019s eyes were opened to the King of kings. I desire a daily epiphany when my eyes are opened to my King. I post my blog for today. Now I\u2019m in my cozy chair with my throw blanket tossed over my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16121,16120,16047],"tags":[15495,1019,1210,8185,359,3393,361,16127,3537,3672,16123,900,16124],"class_list":["post-11733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bread-of-life","category-devotional","category-epiphany","tag-acts-16","tag-apostle-paul","tag-blog","tag-bread-of-life","tag-epiphany","tag-listen","tag-manifestation","tag-open-our-eyes","tag-pay-attention","tag-prescription","tag-psalm-11918","tag-routine","tag-want-to-see-jesus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11733"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11738,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11733\/revisions\/11738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}