by David Brenneman
"Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.” And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him. And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains." John 9:35-41
"The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him." John 9:30-31.
You either have eyes that see or your eyes are still in the darkness that John spoke to in Chapter 1 of this book.
"In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." John 1:4-5.
Ask yourself...do you seek first His kingdom and His righteousness? Do you try to dwell on the things of God? Are you in a real relationship with Jesus or do you treat Him as though He were a "good buddy", the "man upstairs"? Essentially, truthfully, is He little more than an acquaintance of yours?
Knowing that God exists isn't enough.
Knowing that Jesus Christ is real isn't enough.
Knowing that the Holy Spirit is real isn't enough.
Why? The Bible itself tells us that even the demons believe these things and shudder. They know that there will be a day of reckoning for them. They know the power of God. They know the truth.
Do you seek the truth? Jesus said that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through Him. Do you believe this? It has every bearing on our question today.
"Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit." Psalms 51:9-12.
King David wrote this passage. Do you see what the desire of his heart was? If you have eyes that see, this might indeed be a prayer of yours as well.
That particular true story of this blind man from birth always makes me smile. His parents were more afraid of these supposed leaders than where they stood with God.
The Temple was where the people were to go to worship. This man was kicked out. He meets Jesus visibly for the first time and gets to truly worship Him. That particular passage "now here's an amazing thing...".
What amazing things has the Spirit been trying to show you?
What amazing things are you putting off recognizing in your life that are truly from Jesus to you?
If you indeed are saved, you have the light of Jesus Christ in you. It should be illuminating your heart and mind towards the things of God that bring out the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus in you.
Do you desire what Jesus desires for you? We read that part from the book of Psalms. Would that be a prayer of yours?
The thing is once your eyes are opened and you do truly see life as a Believer...why would you ever considered wanting them closed again? Sadly, some do. They are not too dissimilar to this man's parents. More afraid of what the world thinks and says than what God says and means when He says to stand firm in the Lord.
With eyes that see, you can be dressed in the full armor of God. Without eyes that see, you really cannot get dressed with Spiritual Armor that you know not what it is or what it looks like.
Fear drives many away from the righteous life that God desires for them. Fear of loss. Fear of exposure. Fear of what they're accustomed to in this world.
The Bible says that perfect love casts out fear. That's only possible in a life that's been given to Christ Jesus. A life thats saved by Jesus.
What are you holding onto that's keeping you from accepting your new eyes in Christ? We do fight Spiritual battles every single day. We have a relentless enemy because of the truth that we are saved in Christ Jesus.
Open your Spiritual eyes and turn your worries into prayers. Open your heart fully in faith.
People are going to disappoint you.
Jesus never can. He always keeps His promises. One of which is to keep His eyes on you.
We lose worries and anxiety when we hold onto Jesus. Paul preached on it because it's something he was learning. Paul had great anxieties. For his disciples, for the churches he planted. For those seeking to kill him. Add to this that messenger of Satan that kept him stirred up. Jesus said His grace was sufficient for him.
Job had many messengers of Satan attacking him. The similarities are too great to ignore or dismiss.
God's grace was more than sufficient for Job.
God's grace was more than enough for Daniel, Nehemiah, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, Timothy, Titus. The churches.
If indeed Jesus is your Lord and Savior...open your eyes. See the world through eyes that are illuminating your heart for the Lord and His work in your life. Point others to Jesus. As one person said it, we catch em He cleans em.
We don't save anyone. We don't. Only Jesus saves. We can point people to Jesus and the righteous life that God desires for them. We can show others that Jesus loved them too enough to die for them, which He did. We can show them the reality that Jesus wants a real relationship with them too. An out of this world relationship that can't be seen any other way.
All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.
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