I Cannot Find Dianne Feinstein --- Liz Emken for US Senate

The Incumbent Will Not Face Emken

“I’m running my own campaign”, US Senator Dianne Feinstein glibly claimed in a brief interview with ABC-7 reporter Mark Matthews.  Senator Feinstein is up for reelection this year, and for all her calm assurance, with a condescending pat on the shoulder, Ms. Feinstein may want to reconsider her glib arrogance.

Strangely enough, Ms. Feinstein gave KQED's Belva Davis an extensive interview filled with distortions and distractions. She baseless claimed that Romney and Ryan are proposing radical changes to women’s right to choose and elders’ access to Medicare, even though Ryan’s plan does not affect anyone 55 or older. Her conclusions about tax cuts for “the rich” ignore that small businesses file as individuals and would benefit from tax cuts. Feinstein tirelessly attacks with the tired argument that Republicans are obstructionist. Yet for the first two years of his presidency, Obama reached out to no one.

Currently, Feinstein is polling the worst favorability numbers of her career in office. Despite one poll which shows Feinstein with a commanding lead over her challenger Elizabeth Emken, the fact remains that Emken is just now breaking out and getting the attention of California voters. Even with this “commanding” lead, Ms. Feinstein still barely tops at 51% -- not a very compelling poll for a Senator who has been in office for twenty years.

Elizabeth Emken, mother of three, former efficiency analyst for IBM and advocate for autism, is running for the US Senate as the Republican challenger. Unlike incumbent Feinstein, who appears convinced that it is not incumbent upon her to pay a visit to her constituents, Ms. Emken in the past week has visited the LA Times Editorial Board. In a previous interview, the staff writers put forth the same challenge, that the aged Senator that she must debate Emken . For the LA Times, the Republican challenger does not fit within the mold of “right-wing ideologue”.

In an interview with LA Times's columnist Patt Morrison, (one in which she stayed for the whole interview, by the way) Emken outlined her views: pragmatic, respectable, and free-market oriented.

Pragmatic: On immigration, Emken supports border control from the federal government and a guest worker program through the state of California. She is willing to work with Democrats and Republicans, yet she found that while Democrats promised, the Republicans delivered when she promoted legislation on behalf of children with autism.

Respectable: Emken is pro-life, yet has no desire to revert to a time when women who needed an abortion resorted to back-alley visits from unscrupulous doctors. Regarding gay marriage, she honors herself by retaining her opinion on the issue, instead focusing on the fiscal, national, and environmental issues harming this state and the country.

Free-market oriented: Emken wants to simplify the tax code to bring jobs back to California and the United States. Unlike most politicians, she offered a specific reform, targeting a 30-year law in the taxcode which has unfairly benefited large, self-insuring firms against smaller businesses, who must purchase their insurance from outside their own auspices.

Unlike Ms. Feinstein, Ms. Emken also paid an unprecedented visit to the South Bay (Manhattan Beach and Torrance) as well as Orange County. Normally, the Beach Cities do not receive such an honor, but her willingness to make herself known and renowned commands a great deal of respect here, and will do so throughout the state very soon, I am sure.

As of now, name recognition is Emken’s only drawback. Even I had written her off as a choice contender. Yet out of twenty-four candidates who ran for the Senate seat, she won the number two slot with 12.5% of the vote, and she is poised for the upset. What she lacks in terms of money or party promotion, she more than makes up for in skill, will, and the thrill to get the voters to see her make the message and make the grade on their behalf.

If Senator Feinstein is running a campaign, I have yet to see her pay a visit anywhere of note in this state. Perhaps a trip to the South Bay is in order; where the aerospace, airline, and manufacturing industries prominent near LAX deserve more attention than they are currently receiving from the senior senator. This woman does not even live in California, any more.

With water issues plaguing the Central Valley, electricity rates going up all over Northern California, with California suffering the highest level of unemployment and the lowest ranking for business entrepreneurship, it appears that the state of California is going from Gold to old and out of date.

Senator Feinstein, stop hiding! We have had an empty chair in the Senate for the past twenty years, and you have still authored or sponsored any legislation of note which would easy the tax burden, the spending spree, or the national miasma’s which afflict our borders and threaten our officials overseas. Just as the LA Times declared some two weeks ago, the chair is waiting. This state deserves a debate. Feinstein, come out and debate Elizabeth Emken!

Mitt's Got It, and He Got Them Good!

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2012/09/21/democrats_media_get_punkd_romney_releases_tax_returns

Governor Mitt Romney never ceases to amaze me.

I was dead-set against a Massachusetts Moderate whose name was attached to the healthcare mandate of the Bay State.

Since then, I am not just growing to like this guy -- I really want him to win!

This man stuck it out for months hovering in the low 20s in the polling, as other candidates contested his supremacy as party standard bearer over and over.

The man has a plan, a clan, and the tenacity to win.

He is calm, cool, and collecting the following that will take this country back from tax-and-spend socialism and instead restore free, clear, and open markets, government, and

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who has yet to produced his own tax returns for perusal.

Romney has produced twenty years of tax returns.

This man overpaid his taxes! He donated twice as much to charities!

Mitt is too modest about his mission. He has nothing to fear. The president can throw the kitchen, the sink, the entire house of cards, and everything just falls to the wayside.

Mitt is with it! Mitt has got it! Mitt got them good!

Open Your Eyes -- Which Ones?

I wear glasses -- so you could call me "four eyes", I guess.

At first reading, it appears that Adam and Eve both had four eyes, too. When they ate the Forbidden Fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of God and Evil

But I do not think that it was the physical eyes of Adam and Even which were opened when they ate the fruit:

"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

"And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." (Genesis 3: 6-7)

Which eyes "opened"? I do not believe that they were walking around blind, nor do I believe that they were blindly led by some spirit.

Adam had two eyes to see "Whoa, man!" when she saw Woman made from His flesh.

Pastor Creflo Dollar has advanced a revelation which I receive -- that their conscience, their sense of right and wrong, this was opened, and this awakening in turn made them conscious of themselves, that they were naked, and thus they resorted to salad to cover themselves.

Needless to say, it did not work. The sense of shame then produced fear, which pushed them to hide when God came walking in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3: 8).

The eyes of their conscience, of their "full understanding" were opened to themselves, and looking at themselves, they found themselves wanting, lacking, full of shame and reproach.

Spiritually dead and cut off from God the Father, they surely died. The whole account from Genesis 3: 15 to the Cross is about reconciling man to God once again!

That our eyes would be open not to our shame, our sin, our death, but to Christ Jesus, our life. After Jesus met with Cleopas and his wife, who were walking on the road to  Emmaus, after He expounded on all the Scriptures all things concerning Himself, He then broke bread with them:

"And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight." (Luke 24: 31)

When we see Him, we are transformed from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3: 18). By the final sacrifice of our High Priest, we have received perfection regarding our conscience:

"Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;" (Hebrews 9: 9)

and

"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9: 14)

He is our life, and all things with Him, so no longer do we look at ourselves, bu Him:

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

"Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

"For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3: 1-4)

Paul also writes to the Ephesians which eyes to open, and what to look for:

"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

"The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

"And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power" (Ephesians 1: 17-19)

This power is Christ in us, the hope of glory, of course!(Colossians 1: 27)

Do not look at the  law, do not look at yourself, do not look at others, look at Him who has perfected you, for:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)

A Sense of "What If?" Is Nonsense

13Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." (James 4: 13-17)

The vanity of thinking that we must take in today, tomorrow, and hash out yesterday -- all of it fussy nonsense.

What did Jesus tell us:

"33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.


"Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." 9Matahtew 6: 33-34)

His Kingdom is greater than your yesterdays, your today, and your tomorrows!

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation 1: 8)
It is rank hubris for us to take thought for the morrow, as if He is not taking care of all things for us:

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." (1 Peter 5: 6-7)

What then prevents us from entering this rest? Sin consciousness, which God pledges to have taken care of us for us:

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:


"And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)

He no longer remembers any of our sins, and He is a God to us!

Yet we still feel held back, slow of heart to believe. This is a matter of conscience:

"For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God." (Hebrews 7: 19)

What did the law not make perfect? Our standing before God, yet more importantly the unappeased sense of right and wrong which cannot be taken out of us with the blood of bulls and goats.

"Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;" (Hebrews 9: 9)

But through Jesus, we have the perfection that we are longing for, the peace of mind which frees us from an evil conscience:

"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." (Hebrews 10: 14)

All the "what ifs" and "premonitions" are merely distractions from an enemy who wants us to look at ourselves instead of rest in the Finished Work of Christ Jesus. Here is the simple response to the deceptions, tremors, and fears which cause us to look at ourselves instead of the One who loves us, justifies us, and lives through us:

"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6: 11)

"Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." (Hebrews 4: 11)

What are we called to believe?:

"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 29)

Believe on Jesus Christ for all, for He is our rest:

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11: 28)

If He is our rest, He who has been from the beginning (1 John 2:13), who never changes (Hebrews 13: 8). If He has everything, then it  makes no sense at all to ask "What if?"

 

Rick Joyner's Prophecy -- Truth in the Errors

Rick Joyner

I attended a Foursquare Charismatic Church many years ago.

One of the most popular authors in that church was Rick Joyner:

http://www.apostasynow.com/reviews/finalquest.html

I am convinced that the greatest fault of the "Crazymatics" and every other denomination is found:

fools and slow of heart.

They do not know the word, they do not rest on the Word, Christ Himself and His Finished Work.

Rick Joyner's Work "The Final Quest" suffers from the same flaw as many other works - the author makes Himself prominent at the expense of everyone else, even Jesus.

Jesus Christ must be the center, the one theme that unites everything else.

He articulated this without reserve to Cleopas and wife in Luke 24.

The whole Bible, the whole universe (Colossians 1: 18) is all about Him.

Any prophecy, and vision, any foretelling which does not measure up with Scripture, with Jesus as the Central theme of everything, will fail in all its ways.

Rick Joyner's one prophecy, the "Horde of Hell are Marching" did indicate a trend which has not changed quickly enough in the Body of Christ.

The vision of these hordes showed an army of believers against an army of people in the Church on whom were riding demons.

I would submit that many of the problems, the source of many conflicts and issues in the Body of Christ, stems from the one weapon that the Enemy and his minions are using against us:

The Law, the Ten Commandments, the ordinances which are against us!

I cannot stress this enough -- the law is perfect and good, but cannot make us holy, perfect, and good:

"The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." (1 Corinthians 15: 56)

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15: 57)

This weapon was taken out of the hands of the Enemy when Jesus died on the Cross:

"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

"And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2: 13-15)

"Spoiled" speaks of  "disarmed", in that Jesus has fulfilled the Law for us on the Cross (Matthew 5: 17). We are now called to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5: 16):

"But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." (Romans 7: 6)

The "oldness of the letter" is established at least twice in the Book of Hebrews:

"For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God." (Hebrews 7: 19)

and

"For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:" (Hebrews 8: 8, a unique versification, as "8" speaks of "new beginnings")

and

"In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." (Hebrews 8: 13)

As long as Christians are still trying to live out the Christian life in their own efforts, they will be defeated and condemned. For this reason, Paul told the believers in Colossae to fix their eyes on Jesus, seated at the right hand of the Father, the perfect sacrifice for our sins, who justifies now and to this day before God the Father (Colossians 3: 1-4)

The one truth which one can glean from the many errors in Rick Joyner's prophecies argues that men and women in the Body of Christ are looking at themselves, looking at each other, looking at their obedience.

Let us take a look at 2 Corinthians 10:

"(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

"And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." (2 Corinthians 10: 4-6)

The weapons are mighty through God, not ourselves, and they pull down every thought that rises up against a growing awareness of God the Father and all He has and does on our behalf. Moreover, everything is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, His Finished Work at the Cross.

If we want to find fulfilling fellowship in our churches, then, let us look no further than His righteousness:

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1: 7)

Tim Kaine: Resurrecting the Royal Offence of Taxes

No More Tax Tyrrany

I summon up the spirit of Patrick Henry in my mind when I consider the impact of the "Old Dominion on our nation's history:

"Give me liberty or give me death!"

This native Virginian helped lead the cause of the American Revolution in "Mother State" Virginia. The uproar across the colonies, from New England to the South, erupted against a monarchy which was laying on the colonists more rules, regulations, and taxes. The current administration parallels all too closely the expansion of state power at the expense of the individual, his interests, and private commerce. It would appear that another native Virginia, Tim Kaine, is more interested in resurrecting the same royal tyranny which lifted colonists off their knees and on their feet to bring down Big Government against the Little Guy.

From the Boston Tea Party to the Treat of Paris, the Americans who took up voice and arms against King George the Third and his hired mercenaries received to take on more tax without more say in the running of the imperial government.

How many times was the Royal Governor of Virginia deposed? How many rebellions had broken out in the past, sending the message that power belongs to the individuals, not for sale, not for taking, and certainly not for deposing by force. The seeds of rebellion against "Too Much Government" is on the rise again in Virginia, starting in 2009 with the election of Governor Bob McDonnell, the GOP sweep of the Congressional Delegation to eight seats, and now an open Senate Seat which can bring back a voice for Virginia and the country.

In one recent debate, former Governor Kaine tried to land an empty attack against his challenger, former Senator George Allen, and GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney with a hollow jibe at Romney's "47'% remark". While landing one attack, he shot himself in the foot, claiming that he would support taxes on everyone, including the poor and working class voters. This is just unacceptable.

Kaine is the former Democratic Party chairman. Do the voters of Virginia want six years of Washington tax-and-spend statism not representing their best interests in the US Senate, an upper chamber with a lower record of not passing anything, not even a federal budget? Virginia, the land named for the renowned Queen of England who defended her country from the attacks at home and abroad against the liberty of the English people, should remain the homestead for legislators who support the freedoms private enterprise, free markets, and individual liberty. George Allen deserves to return to the Senate on behalf of Virginia, not Washington D.C.

Kaine has enthusiastically endorsed Barack Obama, a President who has exploded our national debt with trillion dollar deficits, has advanced fiscal and monetary policies which have placed an unprecedented 40 million on food stamps, and who has disregarded our foreign allies with tepid responses to rebellion and desecration against our embassies. The nation's official unemployment rate hovers over 8 percent, yet the unofficial record suggests that twice that number is out of work, with a growing number of Americans giving up altogether. Obamanomics has failed, but Kaine would continue the same policies if he could.

Tim Kaine supports raising taxes on everyone, from the job creating small businesses who file as individuals, to the poor and working class voters who are looking for more help, not more government. This former governor, who wanted to foist a last-minute tax increase that failed, has no problem hitting on that tired argument of "more taxes" over again. Taxes and government monies cannot revive this economy -- just consider the fallout from the 2009 stimulus that did not stimulate.

This country threw out tyranny from far away over two hundred years ago. The same upset that led a tax-revolt into a revolution must begin anew. Instead of kicking out a king, the voters of Virginia must take a cane to Tim Kaine, the tax-and-spend liberal who will just resurrect the failed policies of Barack Obama, and shoo him away from ever taking the Senate seat in November.

To the voters of Virginia, please support and vote for George Allen for US Senate.

On Rosner's "The Red Line Crisis

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the only real leader in international politics today.

Not content to sit by and let the moral relativism of a morally weakened and financially depleted West refuse to pressure Iran decisively, Netanyahu has drawn himself out with resolve, demanding that the world community draw "a red line" against Iran's accelerating nuclear program.

The current administration in the United States has rebuffed Netanyahu's warnings many times. The President has condescendingly suggested that Israel reduce its borders and strategic defense through land swaps, which would only embolden the surrounding hostile Arab states even further.

It would appear that President Obama holds very little regard for this country's one staunch and stable ally in the Middle East. His reluctance to defend Israel and stand by the Israeli Prime Minister ministers enough information to send Obama out of office in November.

 Israel has painted itself into a corner under Netanyau's leadership and lead on demanding that the international community draw a "red line" with Iran. According to the prime minister in last Sunday's edition of Meet the Press, Bibi declared that Iran has already entered "the red zone". Do we have to wait any longer before Iran goes from experiment to explosion?

In 2006, I watched Netanyahu's interview with American comedian/political commentator Bill Maher. Netanyahu properly established that a nuclear Iran was far more dangerous than the armed and arrogant Soviet regime of the Cold War era. Unlike the Communists, who at least regarded the lives off their people and the nation enough to maintain their existence, the religious radicals in Tehran have no reserve about sacrificing their lives and the lives of their countrymen in order to usher in an Islamic "Armageddon." Discussion with Islamist fanaticism is delusional diplomacy at best. The Iranian regime does not respect life, liberty, or property -- the basic tenets of Western civilization which founded discourse and resolutions among warring European and international states in years past. The naivete of the current administration in Washington is inexcusable.

No matter how this tense diplomatic debacle turns out, the nation of Israel has the right and necessity to draw a red line against Iran so that the streets of Israel, from Tel Aviv to the Golan Heights, are not lined red with the blood of her own people. If Israel must strike again, destabilizing the "tepid peace" or "enraging" the bloomed and busted Arab Spring in the process, then so be it.

Of the many dithering statesmen in the world today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commands the greatest respect, engaging the world, asserting the rights of his country, and maintaining a cool demeanor in the face of pressure from allies and resistance from enemies. Honestly, I would support his candidacy for president in this country, if such a measure could take place. The statesman honors his father and his country, refuses to engaged in politicized banter with American "talking heads", and manifests a solid demeanor of respect for allies, even if the leaders whom he talks with choose to do nothing but "talk".

On another note, I cannot believe that President Barack Obama still insists on "talks" and diplomacy as the best means for coercing the Iranians to give up their nuclear program. There is no negotiating with a party or a country which refuses to recognize the right of the other to exist. Such is the case with Iran.

If Obama is subtly communicating that "Netanyahu" needs to get lost, I am certain that Obama will also "get lost", as in lose his re-election bid. And the tussle on the Democratic convention floor over Jerusalem and God in the party platform did not help matters.

Letter to Mark Gibson, Independent for VA-11

Mr. Gibson:

Virginia might benefit from two key reforms which California voters had implemented in:

1. Enact an Open Primary System, in which only the top two vote getters move on from the primary to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.

2. Establish a Citizens' Redistricting Commission. By taking away state and congressional redistricting from the legislature and the politicians and giving the power to a balanced team of Republican, Democrat, and Independent citizens, the districts will respect geographical, cultural, and economic contiguities instead of political interests, thus creating more districts in which incumbents will have to compete for their seats.

 The reforms have pushed incumbents out of politics or into very competitive races in California, while allowing Independent candidates such as yourself to compete and have a chance to win.

 Please visit "Waxman Watch" -- waxmanwatch.blogspot.com -- for more information about the CA-33rd Congressional race pitting Independent and "No Labels" co-founder Bill Bloomfield against founded and foundering incumbent Henry Waxman.

Vision and Culmination of Jesus in the Gospels

I have found that many people treat John's Gospel as the "weirdo" or the "Stepchild" Gospel, left out because it does not fit in with the framework or the elements of the other three Gospels.

In none other gospel does the Holy Spirit inspire the writer to manifest Jesus Christ as fully God!

The other three Gospels do not diminish or dismiss the deity of God becoming man, and Paul in His epistles hammers this truth over and over.

Yet for many believers, they do not have a "John" or "God is Grace" revelation of God.

They have a "Matthew" revelation, in which they see Jesus as a king unapproachable, one whom we must earn the right to visit with. I do not write that Matthew had so limited a revelation, but we must see Jesus in all the scriptures! "Fools and slow of heart to believe" is the heaviest indictment against the church today, I believe, in large part because we are not seeing Jesus Christ in His fulness.

Some of us have a "Mark" revelation, in which we see Jesus as our servant, one who does things for us and provides miracles for us. Now, without a doubt Jesus has come to serve us, giving us all things with Himself, but to see Him only as servant is too miss out on so much more! To use Jesus as a means to an end is just a sad and small revelation of all that God is and does for us!

I believe that Luke's Gospel in certain ways contains greater revelation of Jesus than Matthew's, in part because Luke was a gentile writing to fellow Gentiles who were not under law. They were not blinded by the veil of Moses (2 Corinthians 3: ) and thus Luke offered a revelation of Jesus as the Son of Man, one who understands us on every point, one who understands our concerns, one who understands the every details of our lives. Only in Luke's Gospel do we read the parable of "The Prodigal Son". Only in Luke's Gospel do we witness Jesus' ministering to one of the thieves on the Cross. Only in Luke's Gospel do we find the example of reading and seeing Jesus as the central theme of all Scriptures (Luke 24: 25-27)

From this revelation, then we see Jesus as God, as He who has been from the beginning. King, servant, and in the form of man, yes -- but above all God, in the beginning and the one who made all things.

John's Gospel is written also by one who had the deepest revelation of God's love, of Jesus' love, for him. When you see Jesus as God, fully King yet fully close to you, fully serving and understanding you in every point, then you will understand His love, and He will live in you in full grace and truth.

I cannot stress this enough -- I do not disparage the four Gospel writers, per se. Yet I do realize that each writer as a different vision of the Lord Jesus, and as one reads from one Gospel to the next, the revelation of Jesus expands through the power of the Holy Spirit until we come to John's last words:

"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen." (John 21: 25)

John had the final vision of Jesus who does beyond what we ask or think (Ephesians 3: 20). The greater your revelation of Jesus in grace and knowledge, the greater His power and glory will manifest in your life, too.

What Restrained Their Eyes? The Law.

Cleopas and wife, on the road to Emmaus, both had their eyes restrained when Jesus came to them.

"But their eyes were holden that they should not know him." (Luke 24: 16)

The text clearly indicates that it was a passive restriction, not something that Jesus did, even as He was walking with them.

The Word of God does not support the notion that God hides Himself willingly.

Some would counter with this verse:

"He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." (John 12: 40)


So what was holding them back from seeing Jesus? The Law in the hands of the enemy:

"In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." (2 Corinthians 4: 4)

Paul wrote about this in the previous chapter:

"12Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: 13And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 14But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 15But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3: 12-18)

And why specifically were they blinded? Like the Pharisees, they were holding on to traditions:

"For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do." (Mark 7: 8)

Specifically, Cleopas explained:

"But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done." (Luke 24: 21)

Cleopas and wife had subscribed to the teaching that Jesus the Messiah would wreak a political victory, one that would redeem Israel politically. What they needed to learn, what Jesus would teach them (v. 25-27), is that the Messiah came to suffer for the sins of man and redeeem them from death to life.

No longer to see Moses, but to see Christ in the Scriptures, that gives life and power and open eyes:

"But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ." (2 Corinthians 3: 14)

When we see Jesus in the Scriptures, then we see Him everywhere, giving us His righteousness and grace (Romans 5: 17) through His Holy Spirit (Romans 14: 17)

When Jesus broke the bread, their eyes were opened, because the breaking of bread speaks of healing and also the breaking of our Lord's Body for us, His redemption for us.

Then they saw who He was, and He then vanished before them, as Cleopas and wife were now walking by faith, no longer by sight (2 Corinthians 5: 7)

What restrained the eyes of Cleopas and wife was not Jesus, but their reading of the Old Testament without the Holy Spirit enlightening them to the truth, which makes us free (John 8: 31-32), which is Jesus Christ resurrected and in all glory ministering us His Holy Spirit. The redemption most important is for ourselves, that we no longer live dead in our trespasses.

When we are redeemed, receiving His Spirit, we prosper and are in health, as our soul now prospers in full awareness of the Truth.
The more that you see Jesus in your life, doing all things, you will no longer be restrained in your eyes, and you will be transformed from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3: 18)