Open My Eyes | Jentezen Franklin

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turn to somebody you say your family is

surrounded with chariots of fire horses

of fire if your children get covered up

in dirt something in them is gonna be

crying out while they’re doing Rome God

Oh hero

[Music]

I’ll begin reading with verse 15 of

Genesis 21 and the water in the skin or

the canteen the the animal skin that

they carried water in was used up and

she placed the boy under one of the

shrubs and she went and sat down across

from him at a distance of about a bow

shot that’s in reference to a bow and

arrow how far you can shoot an arrow

that’s how far she distance herself from

her son who is placed up under a shrub

and for she said to herself let me not

see the death of the boy so she set

opposite him and lifted her voice and

well and God heard the voice of the lad

notice that God heard not her weeping

but the voice of the land then the angel

of God called to Hagar out of heaven and

said to her what else you Hagar fear not

for God has heard the voice of the lad

notice these words where he is arise

lift up the lad hold him with your hand

for I will make him a great nation verse

19 everybody read it out loud now then

God opened her eyes and she saw a whale

of water and she went and filled the

skin with water and gave the lad a drink

I want to talk to you today about what

happens when God opens your eyes this

this phrase that we just read God opened

her eyes this phrase is found four times

in the scripture and each time it has to

do with what God can do when our eyes

become open

in this particular tanks in Genesis 21

God had promised Abraham and Sarah in

their old age that they would have a

child it was not happening they had

waited for 20 years and the promise of

God was not being fulfilled seemingly in

their lives and so in a moment of haste

and in a moment of just really tired of

waiting on God to do it Sarah took

things in her own hands and she said to

her husband Abraham I want you to go in

to my handmaiden her name is Hagar and

produce a child with her that’s the only

way we’re gonna ever have the little

pittypat of little feet running around

this house it’s not gonna happen with us

we’re too old to have children

Abraham went in and United with this

woman and her name was Hagar and they

had a child and the child’s name was

Ishmael he was a boy child named Ishmael

and as women tend to do she changed her

mind Sarah did after the baby was born

after she got pregnant herself she gave

Abraham an ultimatum

she said throw the bondwoman and the

baby out of our household we have our

own baby and I’m not interested in

having two wives for you I’m your one

and only do you understand and the Bible

said that Abraham hearken unto the voice

of his wife I always thought that was a

funny verse I think they’re skipping a

lot of things in there but he hearkened

unto the voice of his wife now watch

this this is a real story that happened

you know that Abraham and Sarah had a

son named Isaac but Abraham had a child

with Hagar named Ishmael

and so he gives them a little bit of

food he gives them a canteen or skin

animal skin filled with water and he

says I’m putting you out of the house

you’re on your own go away and they’re

left in the desert and there they are in

the desert wandering and after a while

the water runs out the food runs out if

you could go to the Judean Desert that

we’re referring to here you won’t last

long there without water it is a dire

situation that you can get into very

very quickly and they were in it and

when they had run out of water and when

they had run out of food and it was very

evident to Hagar that her son Ishmael

was going to die being so heartbroken

she places him up under a shrub and then

she walks away at the distance the way

she measured it was as far as a boat can

shoot a bow and arrow and she finds

herself far away from him because she

can’t bear to see her child die of

thirst

it’s a cruel death a horrible death she

can’t bear to watch what’s going to

happen to him

she was actually saying what moms and

dads and parents find themselves from

time to time saying because of the

condition of their children I can’t bear

to watch this happen when you see a

child going deeper and deeper into

addiction when you see someone messing

their life more and more and more

destroying their own potential and it

became so powerful or so painful for

this for this mother that she said I

can’t just sit here and let him die in

my arms in order to maintain my sanity

I’ve got to distance myself because I

can’t bear to see it she puts him under

a shrub and she puts distance between

her and her child because she didn’t

want to see

she didn’t want to know it she didn’t

want to be there she was better off not

knowing she almost is going into denial

now of what’s happening to her child she

lifted her voice and she will and this

is one of the most tender tender stories

in my opinion in the Old Testament and

God heard the voice of the lad and an

angel of the Lord came to them in the

desert it does not say that the angel or

the Lord heard the voice of the mother

it said that he heard the voice of the

child and the angel said to the mother

fear not God has heard the voice of the

lad

where he is you’re separated from him

you think that God can only hear your

prayers where you are but God heard the

prayer where he is

fear not arise lift up the lad for I

will make him listen to this a great

nation Ishmael is not cursed

I don’t care how bad he looks right now

I’m going to make something great out of

that kid I have my hand on that kid I

don’t care what you’re seeing I don’t

care what you’re looking at something

greats gonna come out of Ishmael and

don’t you let anybody tell you anything

different then God opened her eyes and

she saw a well of water it was there all

the time but she didn’t see it until God

opened her eyes he had given she had

given up on him she didn’t want to see

what would happen to him but God was

listening to the cry of that child God

heard his voice here’s my point when God

opens your eyes you’ll see something and

I want to say to parents whose children

have gone astray that are listening to

me

parents who have well parents who have

cried parents who can’t bear to watch

that child becoming an alcoholic or that

child off living with someone they’re

not married to or that child who’s gone

off to college and they won’t come to

church anymore and they don’t believe in

God anymore and you’ve had to put

distance between you and them maybe even

to keep your sanity because the

addiction is so strong in their life

what you don’t realize is when the child

was a baby and you prayed for that child

and you taught that child Bible stories

and you prayed little prayers when you

tuck them in and now I lay me down to

sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep

when you sung songs in the car in the

car and when you taught them the Word of

God the point that I want you to see is

that there was something that had been

put in that child that when that child

was separated from his mother and in a

terrible terrible place there was

something in that child that was crying

out for help and God heard the cry of

the lads voice what you put in those

children when you trained them up when

you teach them the Bible when you read

little stories from the word and have

those devotions and pray what you put in

them will still cry out even when

they’re gone and doing their own thing

just like God told Cain he said Cain

your brother’s blood is crying out from

the dirt I want to say that if the blood

of a man can cry out from the dirt and

God can hear that cry how much more

those children that we have pleaded the

blood of Jesus over and gotten the

Spirit of God to touch them how much

more will God hear the voice of that

child even when the dirt of the world

has covered them up even when they’re

filthy with the sins of this world there

is something

them that God can hear that says don’t

leave me here I don’t belong here I

wasn’t raised like this I’m better than

this and even though they don’t even

know that they’re crying out there’s

something mom and dad put in them that

keeps crying out to God and they can

never get out of the grasp and the grip

of God’s grace if you believe it give

the Lord a praise for that hallelujah

God is hearing the voice of the lad

where he is God can hear them today

where they are fear not he says to the

parents fear not the Lord opened her

eyes and she saw a whale she saw

provision she saw living water and she

saw what was invisible when the Lord

opened her eyes and not only that what

blessed me about the story is then the

angel said I will make a gray nation out

of this child in other words God is

saying concerning the children that

you’re worried about if you’ve raised

them right you’ve got a covenant with

God and even when they aren’t living

right something is crying out and God

says I’ve got a great plan for your

children even when you can’t see it

God saw a whale all the time she was

weeping the eyes of the Lord are on your

children Church the eyes of the Lord are

upon your family his ears are tuned in

to a voice that they don’t even know has

been put in them it’s like you got one

those secret when our girls would get

there their car and their driver’s

license we put a little secret thing up

in the fender somewhere that would track

them and we’d know exactly where they

were

I don’t play fair the devil doesn’t play

fair I don’t play fair either and the

Lord has got a tracker on your crazy

children I feel like preaching and if

they’re in prison he can hear them and

if they’re in trouble he can hear them

and if they’re in sin he can hear them

and he can find them and he’s got a

great plan for them if you believe it

give the Lord a praise like you believe

in the power of the Covenant that we

have far families amen amen amen

I’m preaching myself happy today numbers

22 gives us the second time the Bible

says somebody’s eyes were open it’s one

of the most remarkable stories in all of

the Bible there was a great prophet by

the name of Balaam and he was a real

prophet whoever he blessed was blessed

but toward the latter part of his life

he became corrupted and he was bribed to

take money and to curse the people of

God so he got the money from a wicked

King to go curse Israel and he got on

his donkey and he started down the road

to go curse what God had blessed and the

Bible said while he was riding the

donkey right in the middle of the road

an angel from the Lord manifests now the

donkey could see it but the Prophet

couldn’t and-and-and the donkey when he

saw the angel with a drawn sword

standing in the middle of the road

took off trotting out into an open field

and started trying to turn around and I

could see that old prophet grabbing the

reins and trying to make that donkey go

back on the narrow path but he wouldn’t

go he was fighting it because he saw the

angel that the Prophet couldn’t say see

the Bible said the old prophet got mad

and Balaam took his staff and started

beating that donkey and hitting it as

hard as he could and then he finally he

got the donkey to go on down the narrow

road and the Bible said the Father they

went

this is how you know you’re in the wrong

going the wrong direction the further

they that they went the more narrow the

road got and there was a wall on one

side and a wall on the other see when

you first start going in the wrong

direction God’s so good that he’ll give

you an open field to turn around in and

go right but the deeper you go into sin

and the further you try to make success

out of sin maybe it’s a bad relationship

and you’re going in the wrong direction

with the wrong person it’s not God’s

will and you say why don’t God give me

what I want because he’s protecting you

from disaster there is an angel with a

drone sword saying I’m gonna kill

anybody that come keeps coming down this

road and the donkey got so desperate

that he shifted and crushed the prophets

foot and if you think he was mad before

in the field now he’s really mad and he

gets off of that donkey and he beats the

living daylights out of that donkey with

us with his staff and God opened the

mouth of the donkey and the donkey

started talking to the preacher and the

donkey said why are you beating me have

I not always been obedient to you have I

not always done what you told me to do

have I not always gone in the direction

that you wanted me to take you in there

must be a reason why I’m trying to turn

around can you not see the angel and the

crazy thing is when the donkey’s talked

to him he starts talking back to the

donkey and he says to that listen this

conversation he says hey I’d like to

kill you he said I’m beating you with my

staff but if I had a sword I’d kill you

the only reason I hadn’t killed you as I

only got as a staff I don’t have a sword

he’s carrying on a conversation with a

donkey if you understand donkey talk you

might be a donkey yourself

what’s this and the Bible said and the

Lord opened the mouth of the donkey and

he spoke and the Lord opened the eyes of

the prophet and as he was beating that

donkey trying to make it going down the

road he saw suddenly he saw that he was

going in the wrong direction when he saw

that angel with a drone sword ready to

kill him

God was keeping him from a death angel

God opened his eyes Hagar had her eyes

open and she saw the provision of a

whale of water in the middle of a desert

for her family but Balaam had his eyes

open and he saw the direction was wrong

that he was going and he knew that he

was going in the wrong direction and I’m

saying to you today that it’s not the

devil who’s fighting some of you some of

you just insist on my dream and my way

and what I want to do with my life and

you blame the devil for fighting you and

really it’s probably God saying you need

to get totally surrendered and get your

eyes open that maybe the person you’re

with has nothing to do with the will of

God maybe the situation you’re trying to

get into it’s the goodness of the Lord

that is not allowed you to go further

down that road the donkey the donkey

saved his life God can open your eyes

when you’re trying to do your own thing

in your own way and give you the right

direction let me quickly take you to the

3rd place it’s in second Kings chapter 6

and there is another man by the name of

Elijah and one day his servant walks out

on the porch and he sees that the

Assyrians in the night and the cover of

night have completely surrounded the

house of

profit and they have come to kill and

assassinate him and in panic the servant

runs into the house and he says the last

semester alas what are we going to do

the suri the syrians have surrounded us

and the prophet says something power

he says powerful he says do not fear

listen to this do not fear for those who

are with us are more than those who are

with them and the servant is like what

are you talking about

we’re completely surrounded and then he

prayed this prayer powerful prayer he

said Lord opened the eyes of my servant

and when he opened his eyes that he

might see the Lord opened his eyes of

the young man and he saw horses and

chariots of fire from the mountain full

of horses and chariots of fire all

around Elisha

what I’m saying to you is when God opens

your eyes you can see provision when God

opens your eyes you can see the right

direction and when God opens your eyes

you can see protection that the unseen

eye cannot see sometimes God has to open

our eyes to the fact that we are

protected he said open his eyes if you

could see how many enemy forces are

following you around to destroy you you

would be terrified I feel like the Lord

spoke to my heart and he said if you had

any idea how many demons track you and

follow you and the Bible said that God

said to Cain if you don’t want to do

right sin lieth at the door one

translation said sin is crouched at the

door ready to pounce ready to attack

there there are demon forces that follow

us around and they are waiting for the

opportunity to take out the child of God

if you could see how many enemy forces

if somehow

would open your eyes it would terrify

you how many demons follow your children

I know people get uncomfortable with the

word demon but it’s a Bible word and

Jesus cast them out and they’re still

around if we could see the spiritual

battle that is around our souls and

around our families it would terrify us

but I love the fact that when his eyes

got open he saw that they that be with

us are more than they that be with him

he saw angels he saw horses and chariots

of fire that were surrounding the man of

God and they smoke that army and they

were blind and Elijah took the whole

army into his captivity and took him to

the king of Israel and turned them over

because they were blind I still believe

in divine protection I still believe

that the only reason that I’m standing

up here today is I know demons are all

around but the angels are bigger around

and the fire of the wall of God is I

have a wall of fire around me turn to

somebody and say your family is

surrounded with chariots of fire horses

of fire if your children get covered up

in dirt something in them is gonna be

crying out while they’re doing wrong God

Oh hero God will protect them

I know the devil can see me never now

and then I I see one in my bedroom I do

I’m not being super spiritual but every

now and then I’ll have a demon visit me

y’all know I’ve invited my neighbor and

they don’t think we’re nuts no welcome

to spiritual warfare I know I know it’s

real but I’ve learned when I do feel

that presence and wake up in the middle

of the night and feel evil and see some

figure at the foot of my bed to just

turn over and save a name that is above

every name in the name of Jesus you get

out of here you are illegal on this

property

this belongs to Jesus and you’ll flip

back over and they’ll flee they’ll flee

at the name of Jesus

[Applause]

shout my family is surrounded

[Music]

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