{"id":1212,"date":"2014-01-27T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2014-01-27T15:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mtvpastor.com\/?p=1212"},"modified":"2014-01-27T09:00:18","modified_gmt":"2014-01-27T15:00:18","slug":"six-ways-to-open-your-eyes-to-the-world-around-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/newwineskins\/six-ways-to-open-your-eyes-to-the-world-around-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Ways to Open Your Eyes to the World Around You"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It\u2019s a new week. Why not seize the divine opportunities God will place in front of you and make an eternal impact? Here are six practical ways to open your spiritual eyes to the world around you:<\/p>\n

1. Stop condemning the world to hell. Choose to hope.<\/strong>\u00a0Stop watching the news if you need to. Stop listening to talk radio if you need to. Choose to hope. Choose to believe that God can still do big things today.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0<\/b>Start<\/b> each day by telling God you want to serve Him today.\u00a0<\/b>As simple as it seems, before you leave the house each morning, intentionally tell God that you want to serve him today.\u00a0God\u2019s always up to something in your life. Tell him you\u2019re ready to partner with him to change lives, and watch what he does.<\/p>\n

3. Build enough margin in your life to take advantage of the opportunities you\u2019re given.\u00a0<\/strong>Many times we overschedule our lives so much that we don\u2019t have any opportunity to join God when he gives us an opportunity.\u00a0Many of the best opportunities we\u2019ll have will be ones we don\u2019t expect. But if we don\u2019t have margins, then opportunities look like interruptions and we decide we don\u2019t have time.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0<\/b>Look at people from God\u2019s perspective.\u00a0<\/b>When the disciples saw the Samaritan woman (John 4), they couldn\u2019t see past her gender and her race. Jesus saw her as her Heavenly Father saw her: a precious soul that needed salvation.\u00a0If we want to be open to what God wants to use us, I guarantee you will eventually step across social and racial barriers.\u00a0If you can\u2019t see past someone\u2019s gender, race, socio-economic status or past mistakes, then you\u2019ll miss the opportunity God has for you.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0<\/b>Listen to the nudging of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0<\/b>Jesus was always in tune with the Holy Spirit, so he knew when someone was ready for salvation. I\u00a0know this sounds a bit mystical. How will you know when the Holy Spirit is nudging you? You\u2019ll just know. You really will. He\u2019ll make himself plain to you.\u00a0In the book of John, Jesus is using the illustration of sheep and a shepherd. He\u2019s the shepherd, we\u2019re the sheep. He says, \u201cMy sheep know my voice.\u201d\u00a0If you\u2019re a follower of Jesus, you\u2019ll know when he\u2019s speaking to you through the Holy Spirit.<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

6.\u00a0<\/b>Do<\/b> something. Say something.\u00a0<\/b>Ultimately, seeing a world that\u2019s winnable isn\u2019t just so we can be aware of it. It\u2019s so that we can do something about it.\u00a0When the Holy Spirit tells you to do something or say something, do it; say it.\u00a0<\/b>And watch God do incredible things.<\/p>\n

image courtesy of:\u00a0artofnightsky.deviantart.com<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a new week. Why not seize the divine opportunities God will place in front of you and make an eternal impact? Here are six practical ways to open your spiritual eyes to the world around you: 1. Stop condemning the world to hell. Choose to hope.\u00a0Stop watching the news if you need to. Stop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2490,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[141,478,588,669,760,873,1028,1348,1557,1583],"class_list":["post-1212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-biblical-truth","tag-eyes","tag-gospel","tag-hope","tag-jesus","tag-margin","tag-open","tag-spiritual","tag-what-im-teaching","tag-world"],"yoast_head":"\nSix Ways to Open Your Eyes to the World Around You<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It's a new week. 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