260 in 2012 DEVOS - Day 77 - John 9: Jesus – Healer of Blindness

Another great chapter offering hope to those who don’t yet know Jesus!

As I read this chapter, I want to sing the song, “Blind man stood by the road & he cried…..” Anyway, I’ll spare you the pain!

Jesus finds this guy who has been blind from birth. His disciples are wrongly thinking “Wowsa, what did his parents do for this to happen to him?!” It’s easy to think like this, but Jesus instead tosses out the idea that God allowed this to happen so that, at this time & in this place, He could heal him (here’s mud in your eye) and point others to God!~ God’s thoughts are soooo not ours are they! And we see four different reactions to this healing:

The Neighbors were surprised and skeptical. (8-12)
The Pharisees showed disbelief and prejudice. (13-18)
The Parents believe but were afraid, so they kept quiet. (18-23)
The Healed Man showed consistent, growing faith. (24-34)

Then Jesus turns the conversation to spiritual blindness (35-41). The healed blind man now responds “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.” Physical sight, which is temporary, had now become spiritual sight, which is eternal! The Pharisees are then ticked that Jesus for calling them spiritually blind. Truth hurts.

SO WHAT?!

*Because we live in a “cause & effect” world, it is easy to think that when we see problems that there is a cause. Ultimately it IS true because everything is a result of sin in our world. But not all effects are directly related to a cause in our own life. For example: WHAT IF……God has me to suffer all my life in order to be an example of perseverance to others?!~ Yikes! But I know people like this! Their example helps me keep on keeping on when stuff gets tough! If you are one of thee people, please, somehow, be encouraged, God is using you!

*What are some things that you can be blind to? Yeah, yeah, I know, if we saw them we wouldn’t be blind to them! But I’m talking about things like people’s hurts and their lostness! You and I need spiritual eyes, so one of my daily prayers is “Lord, help me to see people the way YOU see them.” How about making this your daily prayer too?

*Who are those in your circles of influence who are spiritually blind? Let’s ask God TODAY to open their eyes to see Jesus, and to use us in the process!