PRAYER PRACTICE
Spoken Prayer –
Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for
giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out
what you hear from God through the passage.
DAILY READING
DEVOTION / REFLECTION
by Nancy Gleeson
What I like most about this passage is the reminder that God chooses whose eyes will be opened, who will understand, and who is granted faith in Him. I am reassured that those people I love but who are non believers may one day hear Jesus’ calling and invite Him into their heart. For it is not through intellect or explanation that one is able to accept the Word of God. It is an act of God that opens their mind to Him.
The apostles were not meant to understand what Jesus was telling them. It was vital for them to hear these words but it would be for the glory of God that they would, on a later date, understand these words. The resurrection is when these men would be convinced that Jesus was the Messiah and their faith was made stronger. Up until then, the apostles remained blinded by their own expectations and their own agenda. They hoped for a new king to bring them power and good things. Their eyes were not set on a man who would suffer to serve them. They could not discern God’s plan for salvation.
God’s sovereignty and power work at the level of the mind. He allows us to understand things when the time is right and withholds other things when it is not. One must know that God uses suffering to fulfill His purposes. Expecting a life without suffering prevents us from seeing God at work, not only in our lives but in the world around us. Eyes that see Jesus view the world in a different way.
Only the suffering blind man in this story has spiritual sight. He recognizes Jesus as the Son of David and uses his voice to shout in order to be heard. For he wants physical healing and receives it based on his faith that is evident to Jesus. It is through faith, and faith alone, that we see Jesus and through God’s grace, we receive our faith.
How good are your spiritual eyes?
Heavenly Father,
You are my Faithful and Loving Father who is sovereign over all the world. I ask that you open my mind to understand your word and to discern your will so that I can apply it in my life. I know that I have been blinded by my own expectations and desires for my life. Rid me of my sense of entitlement and help me to welcome the suffering in my life knowing that you will use it for my good. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
2 comments:
Good morning, Nancy. Your blog is spot on regarding God's Sovereignty in our ability to hear and discern His call to come to salvation. It is truly humbling to know that God, for some reason unknown to me, chose to open my eyes to the truth of His Word and come to faith. I am reminded of His grace daily. I was "rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of Son He loves in whom I have redemption, the forgiveness of my sins". (Colossians)
I have seen the most hardened criminals come to faith in a short period of time. Genuine, life transforming faith bearing much fruit years later. Only God's sovereignty can effect such change. There are such an abundant of examples in Scripture of His grace in redeeming the lost. King David, Paul, Nicodemus, Lydia, the demoniac in the Gerasenes, the Philippine jailer and the blind beggar in today's story. So many more.
Thank you for taking the time to develop today's blog. It helps remind me of my own rescue from the world.
Robin Lorms
I was also rescued from darkness and pray for others to realize Jesus is knocking in search of them, too.
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