Lord, I Believe! (5/16-18)

John 9:38 KJV, “And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped Him.”

Reading from John 9:1-3, 6-7, NLT, “As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Teacher,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it a result of his own sins or those of his parents?”

“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “He was born blind so the power of God could be seen in him. Then He spit on the ground, made mud with saliva, and smoothed the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go and wash in the pool of Siloam. So the man went and washed, and came back seeing!

The rest of the story was about his neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar and they were surprised he could see now. The man was taken to the Pharisees to be questioned because Jesus had healed the man on a Sabbath day. Remember, according to their law, you can’t heal on Sabbath day. Jesus knew this, but His compassion on the blind man was greater than the demand of the law against the “work” on the Sabbath day.

After a long debate between the former blind man and the Pharisees who had tried to figure out how he got healed. They did not believe that Jesus was from God because He was working on the Sabbath day. So many questions from Pharisees had wearied the man so he quoted, “Never since the world began has anyone been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. If you claim that he was a sinner and he was not from God, He could not have healed me.” So they threw him out of the synagogue because they said, “Are you trying to teach us?”

John 9:35-38 NLT, When Jesus had heard what happened, he found the man and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man answered, “Who is he, sir, because I would like to. “You have seen Him,” Jesus said, “and He is speaking to you!” “Yes, Lord, the man said, “I believe!” And he worshiped Jesus. This man had experienced his new life through Christ. He became more confident in Jesus who had healed him. He recognized Jesus first as a prophet, then as his Lord. The man who were born blind, and now he was healed, like Jesus said, “the power of God could be seen in him.”

Why is the subject, “believe” become so important? Here’s my testimony. Before I wrote the Manna for May 13-15, I received a song, “Lord, I believe” early in the morning from the Holy Spirit. So I did some research on “Do you believe?” This Manna impressed me so deeply and I felt like some of us may be losing our “belief” in God for healing. As I completed the Manna, Kathryn emailed me that she was glad to able to talk with her mother for a short time because her mother could see her before she was gone (she was 99). Before that, her mother was blind and Kathryn was frustrated with no communication with her. So when her mother was able to see some enough to chat with her shortly, her prayer were answered. This fits because the Manna was about two men asking Jesus to heal their eyes.

When Manna was send out that morning on May 13th, I received a remarkable testimony from Dean Hardy. “A good word from the throne of grace. When I shared this devotion with Karen, she laughed & told me about something that happened this morning. She was getting ready to do devotions with the kids before the school bus came. Out of the blue little Rochelle (our 8 year old downs syndrome daughter) stood up in her chair and shouted, “Believe!” with a big smile on her face. Perhaps you two were communing in the Spirit this morning.” :-) Blessings & grace, Dean/Karen

My dear friends, Jesus is calling us to “BELIEVE.” God is working on our hearts to “believe.” So don’t give up! Sing the song: Lord, I believe. It really boosts my inner spirit. I’m praying with you! God bless you!