CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS, CAN'T LOSE!
“The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.”
Matthew 6:22
Friday Night Lights was a movie turned into a TV series based on life and football in Odessa, Texas. The fictional Dillon Panthers were all the rage in Dillon, Texas. The football team’s motto was a good one and repeated often by Coach Taylor and the team: “Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t lose!”
I think one of the reasons that I like that motto so much is because it goes right along with what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light” (Matthew 6:22). You can’t lose when your eyes are clearly on the Lord and your heart is fully in love with Him.
CLEAR EYES AND FULL HEARTS = A HEALTHY CHURCH
One of the many jobs a pastor has under God is to lead the church to a place of health. It starts with the pastor being healthy - spiritually, emotionally, mentally, relationally (especially in their own marriage and family), and physically. It is impossible to lead people to a place where you yourself are not. It is incumbent on the pastor to do all he can to stay healthy so that he can lead the people to be healthy and stay healthy.
Clear eyes and full hearts bring about a healthy church. Healthy churches just naturally grow. The goal of any church is not really church growth, but church health. If you are not growing individually or your church is not growing corporately, a spiritual health check-up is necessary. Let’s take one now.
Answer these questions with me:
- Are your eyes clear? Are you really focused on glorifying Jesus, regardless of the cost?
- Is your heart full? Are you spending quality and quantity time with the Lord? Are you falling more and more in love with Jesus … or are you like the church in Ephesus, “... losing your first love?”
- Are you walking in the light? Are you really dealing with the sins that can so easily and subtly creep into your heart … sins like resentment and bitterness, backbiting and gossip, lust, greed, and selfishness?
- Here is the big question … Are you honestly answering these questions?
I am convinced that bitterness is the biggest problem in the church today. Bitterness is a cancer of the soul. If you don’t address it, it will eat you alive. Listen, we may not be able to have good relationships with everyone, Jesus surely did not, but we can have a good heart toward everyone on our end:
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men” (Romans 12:18).
THE HEALTH CHALLENGE
If you know that some things are off in the “clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose” part of your life, then the time is NOW to deal with them. The Lord is the Great Physician and can heal anything… as long as you and I bring it to Him in humility, confession, and repentance.
Love,
Pastor Jeff Schreve,
From His Heart Ministries
Dr. Jeff Schreve believes that no matter how badly you may have messed up in life, God still loves you and has a wonderful plan just for you. From His Heart provides real truth, love and hope on over 700 radio stations each day, in 182 countries each week on TV, and is always available online. Pastor Jeff takes no income from this ministry. All donations go to furthering the broadcast outreach. As a listener/viewer supported ministry, we thank you for joining with us to help speak the truth in love to a lost and hurting world. Go to www.fromhisheart.org for more information.
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