Live Free with Josh Howerton - Seeing the Power of God | Ep. 270 | Friday, February 16, 2024

Episode Date: February 16, 2024

As we close out this week, we will look at John 9. The apostle John tells us that Jesus saw a blind man and chose to show the power of God through this man by healing him, but it was not immediate. Sometimes, God asks us to cooperate with the miracle He wants to do in our lives. How is God asking you to cooperate with Him this week? For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, what's up everybody? Hope you're having a good day. Thanks for joining us on the Daily Drive.

My name is Bro, and together we've been walking through the gospel of John. It's the fourth book in the New Testament section of the Bible, and it's an eyewitness account of the amazing things that Jesus did among the people. And John says there's no way to write down all the miracles, all the touches, all the teachings that he witnessed from Jesus. But what he was able to write down, he did it so that we might believe, and that by believing in Jesus, we'd have life. Now I'm so grateful that John was obedient to do this

and that the Holy Spirit helped them put pen to paper and guide him through the process. I can't wait to get to heaven and meet John and say, you know, all those other things you didn't have space to write about? Could you tell me about them? Because we've got a lot of time. I'd love to hear them.

Well, we're in chapter 9 as we close out this week, and we see another amazing miracle from Jesus. Let me just read through the story and highlight a few things that just jumped out to me in my personal study, And just some things I circled in my Bible, a few things I'd jot it notes in the margin about. We'll begin there in chapter 9. As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.

Okay, now I circled the word saw in my Bible. Jesus saw a man. When few people noticed people, Jesus noticed them. He saw them. You know, I've been an issue with near-sightedness most of my life. I started wearing glasses in the sixth grade. Then I had contacts. I went from hard contacts to gas permeable contacts, the soft contacts, the disposable contacts.

Then I got LASIC surgery, and it really, really helped me. Near-sightedness or myopia is when you can see up close, but you can't see very well far away. Everything at a distance is kind of foggy. And I've had to ask God repeatedly through my life to keep tweaking the eyes of my heart, to do a little LASIC on the eyes of my heart, to eliminate my spiritual myopia so that people needs opportunities for good that are in the distance

would be brought into sharp focus. One of my regular prayers is, Father, help me see the way Jesus sees, keep me alert today, put somebody in my path today that needs a touch from you. And when you do, help me notice them. People probably walk by this man every single day without noticing him,

but Jesus saw him. Verse 2. Rabbi, his disciples, ask him, why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents' sins? Now, there was a false teaching that said, if you do good, you'll live a blessed life. In fact, rich and healthy people were seen as good people. God was obviously rewarding them, and the converse blamed any genetic disorder disease or physical issue on sin. They're having a tough time because they or somebody in their family, well, you know, they're a sinner. Now, in a general sense, sin did bring all. those issues into the world. And sometimes we do make bad or simple decisions that lead to tough consequences. But there is not a direct correlation between suffering and God's displeasure over our specific sin. He's not doling out punishment. It was a false teaching that devalued poor and sick people and justified the religious leader's lavish lifestyle. Jesus responds to their question. It was not because of his sins or his parents' sins. This happened. So the past,

power of God could be seen in him. This man's blindness wasn't a result of a specific sin or anybody else's sin in his family. His condition offered a platform to display the glory of God. We took an entire week back before Christmas and talked about suffering. If you missed any of that, you can always go back and check it out. But I know so many people, and I'm sure you do as well, who through their suffering, through their illness, disability, tragedy, or pain, they shine this huge floodlight onto the goodness and faithfulness of God. I'm thinking of one particular friend right now who's going through a super

hard time, but just continues to praise God, trust God, get honest with God, cry on God, lean on God, and long to be with God. She's a lot like this guy in the story. Her current life is offering a platform to display the glory of God who not only sees her, but loves her, cares for her, cries with her, holds her, and will someday bring her home. Jesus, tells us disciples that time is short. We're all only here for a little while, so we've got to take advantage of that time to do good, and that while he himself was briefly in the world, he wanted to bring light to the world. In verse 6 says this, then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man's eyes. He told him,

go wash yourself in the pool of salome, which means scent. The man went and washed, and came back seeing. Now, did you notice that the man wasn't healed immediately? Jesus gave him something to do. He wanted him to cooperate in this miracle. And Jesus does that, you know, not all the time, of course. But often he asks you and me to participate. He gets involved, brings the power, begins the process,

and then asks us to activate our faith. He says, okay, now, I want you to head to a recovery meeting and start walking the steps. Okay, now, I want you to go see a counselor with your spouse. All right, now, next step. Go forgive your dad. Now, sit down and get a plan with your finances. Now, go talk to a close friend about this. Now, I want you to dive into my word and walk toward the truth that leads to freedom.

What might Jesus be asking you to do that would cooperate with the miracle he wants to do in your life? What would it mean for you to go to the pool and wash? Well, this guy does it. He goes the pool, and he washes, and he's healed. Able to see for the very first time in his life, Can you imagine that? Walking away, going so, that's what that looks like. Well, that must be green.

That must be purple, so that's a mountain. That banana looks exactly like I imagined it. Seeing for the first time. Verse 8, his neighbors and others who knew him as the blind beggar, ask each other, isn't this the man who used to sit and beg? Some said he was, others said, no, he just looks like that guy. But the beggar kept saying, yes, yes, it's me. I'm the same one.

They asked, well, who healed you? What happened? He told him the man they called Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me go wash in the pool of Salome and wash yourself, and I went and washed, and now I can see. You see, it wasn't his sins, or his parents' sins. He was this way to display the glory of God. So we'll pick this up next episode where Jesus talks about real blindness,

and for today, let whatever hard thing you may be going through point to the goodness and the faithfulness of a good, good father. Hope you have a great weekend. See you back on Monday. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 5 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. For more information, visit lakepoint.com. Church slash daily drive. Thank you.