Jesus Opens Blind Eyes

There is an amazing true story found in the book of John in the ninth chapter. It is about a man that was born blind.  Can you imagine being physically born blind all of your life, never, ever seeing anything?  That was the condition this man was in with no hope of seeing ever.  Question; how many of you are in this situation, maybe you are not blind physically like this man, but you have been sick or in a financial state or in some kind of bondage and you have been in your situation for a very long time and you feel that there is no hope?

I have and I am now in that situation, but there is hope in the Lord.  If you could get a real glimpse of this man and stop and think of what he is going through you might feel differently.  Sometimes we see people in different situations and we either feel bad for the person or we just block it out of our minds, or some people may make fun of a person in these kinds of situations.  But, until you have walked in that person’s shoes for a while you will never know how they feel.  

I don’t know if this man was a praying person or not, but he was going to receive a miracle.  When Yeshua (Jesus) steps on the scene things can change quickly and hope is always present.  In this man’s case his life would never be the same.  This is a very happy ending, or beginning, for this man depending on how you look at it.  

But there is a sad part of this story also that may affect you the reader. Think about the Pharisees, they could see physically but they were blind spiritually, which is far worse than being blind physically in my estimation.  Instead of acknowledging the miracle that just took place and rejoicing with the man that was born blind, all they could think of was that the Lord had healed this man on the Sabbath.

I want to say this to anyone that’s in a situation where they feel like there is no hope, there is always hope as long as you are still breathing.  Read John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

   

The Pharisees could have had hope also but many refused to repent and believe because they would rather hold onto their old traditions and beliefs.  They were jealous and very prideful and also blinded to the truth, but not all of them.  Please read John 3:1-15, “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ Nicodemus answered and said to Him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.’”     

I guess some weren’t as prideful and stubborn as others were, but what about you, what keeps you from believing?  I have a challenge for you; get a Bible and start reading in the book of John with an open mind and ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you and you may experience the blinders coming off of your eyes and you may receive the truth.  The Bible says, “if you know the truth, the truth shall set you free!!”  Give the Lord a chance and you may experience your deliverance and the peace and joy that only the Lord can give and you may also be set totally free.  It says in the word of God, “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed,” and it also says, “taste and see if He is good!!”

I hope this will be an encouragement and a blessing to you.  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!  PS Don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord for He is worthy!!

Miracle

Question: Have you ever experienced a miracle in your life or somebody else’s life?  A miracle is something only the Lord can do and no one else.  You may pray for someone to be healed or for some other reason and that person may be healed or delivered or whatever else you may have prayed for, but it will only happen if the Lord does whatever it is that you prayed for.

There are different gifts throughout the body and one of them is the gift of healing.  But what does it take for any of these gifts to take place at their full potential?  It takes a certain amount of faith in believing what it is that you pray for will happen.  I wonder how many people pray by just mouthing words that they have become so used to that they just go through the motions hardly even thinking about what they are saying.  

Then there is this; I wonder how many people pray to impress other people by their big impressive prayers?  I fell into this kind of praying before, to my shame, so I wonder how many others have done the same thing.  Some of us have a problem with wanting others to think more highly of us than they should when we should be lifting the Lord Jesus.  Jesus said if I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me.

I have experienced a miracle before and it was in the form of healing so I definitely believe in miracles.  When you read the Word of God you read about many miracles that took place. Some of these were healings of diseases, some were blind eyes being opened, there were people delivered, freed from demon possession, some were even raised from the dead, plus the Lord changed water into wine and even walked on water and at one time He told the winds and waves to be still and they obeyed Him, and He healed Leprosy.

But, there is a miracle much more important than all of these and that is the miracle of rebirth that can be only accomplished through the Lord!!  Because there could be no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood, and that from a perfect sacrifice, so the Lord became the Lamb of God and allowed Himself to be beaten and bruised for our iniquities and crucified on a cross for our sins, and as the Word says, “by His stripes we are healed,” spiritually, praise the Lord!!  

So, if you want to see a miracle, just look at new born babe’s in Christ and watch their lives and see the change that takes place in their lives and you will be witnessing a genuine miracle, praise the Lord!!  Just like I said in another Tidbit if you are truly born-again you have experienced the greatest miracle in your own life.  I hope this has been a help and an encouragement to you and may you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!

Awesome

God is truly awesome and so is everything that He does!!  When you think about God’s creation and how precise everything had to be, it just boggles the mind and imagination.  When you think about how the sun rotates and where it is placed in the universe at precisely the right distance from our earth so that everything doesn’t burn up or freeze; it is beyond our comprehension.  And there are so many planets, but as far as I know they have never run into each other. Then think of a person’s DNA and the information that is recorded there, it is utterly amazing.  Just think about gravity, without it we would be floating around in space.

Now think about what things were like before God created the heavens and earth, read Genesis 1:1-2, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”

I hear so many people comment on so many different things, saying she is awesome or he is awesome or that is awesome or this is awesome, but none of these are awesome; the things that he or she may be doing may be awesome when God is ministering through them, because God and all the things of God are truly awesome.

Please read Psalms 66:1-5, “For the music director, a song, a psalm. Shout joyfully to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of His Name— make His praise glorious. Say to God: ‘How awesome are Your deeds! Because of Your great power, your enemies cringe before You. All the earth bows down to You, and sings praises to You. All sing praises to Your Name.” Selah Come and see the works of God. How awesome His deeds for the children of Adam!’”

Can you imagine being one of the Israelites when they stood in front of the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army breathing down their backs and nowhere to go and all of a sudden the Red Sea opens up in the middle and you can see dry ground so that you can walk through it because of God’s mercy and grace?  And not only that, but when Pharaoh’s army tried to pursue them the wheels on their chariots got stuck in the mud and in the meantime the waters went back in place and drowned all of them; you talk about awesome, wow!!

Think about Joshua when he and his army stood before the walls of Jericho and when the Shofarot blew and the people gave a loud shout the walls around Jericho fell down flat.  That would have been an amazing sight to see.  These kind of things are awesome as far as I am concerned.  

Many times we read about these things but we don’t put ourselves in these situations, just think if you were there and actually saw these things take place you would more than likely think they were awesome.  And what about the flood in Jonah’s day, it must have rained very hard to flood the whole earth.  No one had ever even seen water come down out of the sky before, the ground was watered by a mist that came up from the ground.  God does some things in big ways and they are totally awesome.  What about the rainbow that God used to show that He would never flood the earth again?  All of these things are amazing and truly awesome!!

What about the healings and people being delivered from destructive habits? Plus, all the people that have been forgiven because of His mercy and grace that has been accomplished over the years!!  There are so many things I could put down here that are awesome that God has done but I think you got the message.  Let me add this; the crucifixion, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is truly awesome also, plus the multitude of other people that were brought back to life.  Every born-again believer was dead in trespasses and sin at one time, then when they repented and asked the Lord to come into their heart and be their Lord and Savior they were brought back to life, praise the Lord!!

Godly sorrow brings forth repentance unto salvation that need not to be repented of, but worldly sorrow brings forth death.  So if you want to experience something truly awesome, repent of your sins which means to turn away from your sins and ask the good Lord to forgive you and ask Him to come into your heart and life and to be your Lord and Savior and, if you are sincere, you will experience something very awesome in your life!!  Then find a Bible believing church and start to grow in your new found faith.  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord for He is worthy!!  

God’s Loving Kindness Endures Forever

God’s ‘chesed’ (lovingkindness) is and has always been with us, it has lasted through many generations and will never end until the Lord returns, but those of us who go to heaven to be with the Lord will always experience the Lord’s lovingkindness forever and ever, amen, praise the Lord!!  Without God’s lovingkindness where would any of us be?  

I know this is true beyond a shadow of doubt.  The Israelites experienced over and over again how God was so loving and kind and even patient with them.  The Jewish nation was the unlikeliest nation that most people would have thought the God of the universe would have ever chosen out of all the other nations and they were even called the apple of God’s eye.  God poured out His love on them to the point that you would think that they would have been overwhelmed at the grace and love He showered on them.  But that wasn’t the case at all, all you have to do is read the Old Testament and you will read about how many times they rebelled against God and backslid, worshiping idols and rejecting what God called them to do; in fact, God called them a stiff necked people because of the way they acted.  But when they got in situations where they were very devastated they cried out to God and He would end up delivering them from the hands of their enemies.

God’s lovingkindness was seen many, many times throughout history and we still see it today.  The Gentiles experienced the lovingkindness of God also.  Remember when Jesus was ministering to the Samaritan woman who was half Jew and half Gentile, or you might say a half breed?  The Jews hated the Samaritans and would have nothing to do with them, but Jesus, who was a Jew, went and ministered to her.

Remember Peter when he was in a trance and had a vision where he saw the heavens opened and what appeared to be a sheet, three different times with unclean animals?  He heard a voice say, “get up and eat,” to which Peter replied, “not so Lord, I have never eaten anything unholy or unclean.”  Then the voice said to him, “what God has made clean, you must not consider unholy.”  This happened when the men sent by Cornelius went to where Peter was staying.  At one point Peter and Paul were sent to the Gentiles and preached to them also.  There is no one that was ever born that hasn’t experienced the lovingkindness of God even though many would not admit it.  If you would like you can read about Peter’s vision in Acts chapter 10 in the Word of God!!

Please read Psalms 63:3-6, “Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,

my lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.”

David experienced the love of God many times and He was so thankful.  What about you, are you thankful for God’s grace and lovingkindness?  Are you thanking and praising the Lord each day for his good and perfect gifts?  And let me throw this in; are you thankful for who He is and what He is?  It doesn’t make any difference if He ever blesses you again, He is still worthy of our thanks and praise!!  So let’s just praise and thank Him for His lovingkindness, it is good medicine, praise the Lord!!  Have a super day, may God bless you and yours.

A Living Testimony

I want you to think about Naomi and Ruth for a few minutes and their relationship to one another?  Naomi must have been a living witness to Ruth, for Ruth did not want Naomi to leave her even if it meant Ruth leaving her family and friends and even her homeland and also her gods.

I don’t think I have ever thought of this quite like this before.  Ruth and Orpah must have loved Naomi very sincerely to want to forsake everything that they were accustomed to and go with Naomi, even though in the end Orpah stayed behind.  

Please read Ruth 1:8-17, “And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go, return each to her mother’s house. The Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.’ So she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, ‘Surely we will return with you to your people.’ But Naomi said, ‘Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!’ Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And she said, ‘Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’ But Ruth said: ‘Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.’”

Even Orpah, Naomi’s other daughter-in-law wanted to leave and go with Naomi but the pull of the old life was stronger than her commitment to Naomi and she decided to go back.  This was a great mistake when you think of what happened to Ruth!!  Orpah went back to her pagan idols that could do nothing for her, but Ruth made the right choice and the Lord not only blessed her but He also blessed Naomi because of the choice Ruth made.

Now think of this, Naomi had no one to take care of her, but Ruth was like a daughter to her and worked very hard spending long hours in the grain fields gleaning to provide for herself and for Naomi.  Even then the Lord intervened and Naomi had Ruth go to a field owned by a man named Boas, a close relative on Naomi’s husband’s side of the family.  If Ruth went to any other field she could have been in real danger, she could have been beaten and even raped, but the Lord intervened in all that happened to Ruth for making the right choice that she had made.

Please read Ruth 2:19-23, “And her mother-in-law said to her, ‘Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you.’ So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, ‘The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.’ Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ‘Blessed be he of the Lord, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!’ And Naomi said to her, ‘This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.’  Ruth the Moabitess said, ‘He also said to me, ‘You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, ‘It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that people do not meet you in any other field.’ So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.”

This is a great love story between Naomi and her daughter-in-law, Ruth.  Ruth was so dedicated and committed to Naomi that she obeyed her and took good care of her.  This must have started because of Naomi’s love and witness to Ruth!!  When it was all said and done, Ruth ended up marrying Boas, who was a kinsmen Redeemer, and they and Naomi couldn’t have been happier.

The moral of this story is this that love and obedience always win out in the end.  I would like to relate this true story to the Lord, who is our Kinsmen Redeemer.  Think about this; God created all things, please read Genesis chapter 1.  

Man was created in His image and likeness that is true.  But, because of Adam and Eve and their non-obedience and their rebelliousness and sin, all have been born with a sin nature which separated all of us from God.  Adam and Eve were banished from the garden and separated from God because of their choice to sin and we are separated from the God because of our sin nature.  So we all need a Kinsmen Redeemer, which is the Lord, and God has been trying to redeem us ever since the garden experience.  God has proved His love over and over again.  Please read John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

God has made a way that we can be redeemed through His beloved Son, Jesus.     

Read 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Repent of your sins, which means to turn away from your sins and turn to the Lord and ask Him to forgive you of your sin and to be your Lord and Savior!!  Everyone needs a Kinsmen Redeemer and there is none like the Lord!!  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!  Remember the Lord is worthy of our praise, so let’s Praise Him!!