Thank you Lord for reminding me again this morning of these huge and magnificent truths which are too vast to truly grasp and internalise. That You, for Your own purposes and glory decided to create a universe so huge and complex down to the smallest detail. That in the centre of that purpose you placed man – “what is man that you are mindful of him?” That you did not stand from afar operating us like puppets but came to earth to become intimately involved with us. Taking the lowliest form and experiencing rejection, judgement and pain – to make it possible for us to have an intimate relationship with You. What is man that you are mindful of him to show him such love?
” Live in those thoughts, renew them continually and appreciate all that they mean as you tread the way to glory. The ultimate glory in Me and experience your own glorification in the new heavens and the new earth. The great awakening, the great reveal when you get there is going to astound you, blow your mind. I am waiting with countless others to welcome you and your readers who are on their way here.”
We are still in John ch 9, listening to what Jesus is saying to us. Devoting a whole chapter to the subject of spiritual blindness, introduced by a miraculous healing. The main subject in the background is still the question of who Jesus really is.
The elephant in the room is still the disbelief of the Pharisees. John uses them skilfully as a sounding-board to highlight the true identity of Jesus. They have prejudged Jesus which makes it impossible for them to understand who He really is. Now here is an interesting question, how often does it happen to me, to us that we prejudge a teaching, a biblical understanding or a real life situation? Having made up our minds beforehand we are no longer open to the possibility that we may be wrong and the real truth something different.
The healing happened on the Sabbath, surely by Jesus’s intention. This gives them a reason to make a fuss. Publicity for Jesus’s cause? A large part of the following text is devoted to the blind man’s testimony. By putting immense pressure on him with the threat of excommunication they try and force him to say what they want him to. He remains firm however and sticks to the facts.
This is a genuine example of a real testimony. They try to get him to denounce Jesus as a sinner. He strongly refutes that vss 25,33. He remains strong in repeating what happened to him. “One thing I do know, I was blind but now I see”.
Let us stand back and consider this testimony. Do you realise this is the true and basic testimony of every Christian believer. That is the miracle that each Christian experiences as the first step to faith. Is that true for you? You cannot manufacture a testimony if you do not have one. Each true Christian at some stage has their eyes opened to understand who Jesus is. Not in an intellectual way but leading to a personal meeting with Him.
If you testify in court you are asked to tell the facts of the case as you saw and experienced them. That is our powerful testimony. The Christian testimony however extends further. The result of the meeting with Jesus is demonstrated in a changed life.
My mother became a Christian at the age of 78. Emily and I had been saved a few years earlier. I had plied her with books attempting to get her saved. A few years later she one day said to me, “I read all those books you gave me, but do you know what really persuaded me that Christianity is real? It was the way Emily’s life changed after she was saved.”
Each of us who have met Jesus has a unique testimony and we should be ready to give it whenever the opportunity arises. We cannot continually fall back on our original testimony however. Our testimony is as fresh and real every day arising from our ongoing interaction with Jesus. “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Do you have a testimony? How fresh and real is it? How has your life changed? Can people experience it when they meet you? What is your conversation like? Do you join the “ain’t it awful” club when people start complaining and grumbling around you? People’s eyes and ears are on us all the time.
So friends keep your relationship fresh with Jesus and be ready at any time to answer “I was blind but now I see.” God bless till next week.
Any human being is completely blind and dead in sins until the Holy Spirit works in the believer’s innermost heart through faith in Christ. By GRACE of our Holy Lord this leads to a complete change of the believer ‘ s innermost being. ” And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of the world ” Ephesians 2.1 We are being made alive though faith in Christ alone. In my own life I has to learn complete forgiveness from the heart. ‘ To be a Christian means yo forgive the inexcusable because the Lord has forgiven the inexcusable in you” as C.S. Lewis said. I don’t know how many times people told me ” You must be utterly lonely ” People see isolation and and solitude as punishment, whereas I regard it as an absolute blessing. A human being can only have a close relationship with the Lord in isolation, when we depend on the Lord alone. We will only spiritual experience Christ’s love, His fullness in stillness ans surrender May His eternal LIGHT shine upon us in these weeks before Christmas. All Glory, dominion power and authority be to our Holy Lord and savior Jesus forever and ever 🙏 Amen