John 9 Devotions by Stephen Taylor

John 9:4

“As long as it is day, we must do the works of Him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.”

These are Jesus’s words, and there is one word the Holy Spirit brought to my attention more than the others, and that word is “we.” Christ is saying that the works He was sent here to do on earth are not works He does on His own but ones we are to partner with Him in. Yes, only He could bear our sins and pay our price, but we are to partner with Him to do the works of His Father here on earth! What an amazing blessing and one that humbles me.

That I, after all my sin and filth, am allowed to partner with Christ in His ministry is beyond me. The fact that not only does He allow us to do this, but He actually wants us to do this is another testimony to His ways being above ours and so much better. He continues to use us even though He knows us and what lives in us.

Jesus is amazing; words cannot express the greatness of our God. We can’t truly express all that He is. Christ was sent by God to save us, and those He saves, He uses for His glory and to share through them the truth of Jesus Christ! Who am I that I would be allowed to share the greatest news ever? That I would be allowed to handle the Word of truth to the glory of God? I am unworthy to even be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, and yet He says I have a seat at His table! I’m in awe of You, Lord!

I am grateful and thankful today that our God decided to pay for us completely instead of destroy us completely. The contrast in this is huge, and one I often overlook. It can be easy to forget what we truly deserve in light of all He has given us. So today, let’s give Him glory, because each one of us deserved nothing short of Hell, and He gave us the greatest gift from Heaven, Jesus Christ! Thank You, Lord, for saving a wretch like me and calling this outcast Your child!

John 1:12,13- Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

God bless! I love you all, but His love is so much more! Praise, glory, and honor to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!

 

John 9:6,7

After saying this, He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” He told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed and came home seeing.

This is a story about Jesus opening the eyes of a man born blind. We know that this man had never been able to see before this day, and I’m sure having his sight is what he wanted more than anything. I’m sure he longed to have his eyes opened and not live in darkness anymore. Oh how we need to be like this man! Desiring for Christ to open our eyes, not physically but spiritually. His physical condition is a picture of our spiritual condition without Christ.

We all, like this man, are born blind, unable to fix it ourselves or restore what we never had. But God is not limited as we are! He is more than able and willing to open our eyes and heal us if we come to Him!

We also see this man walking in faith and obedience; Jesus told him to do it a certain way, and this man obeyed, showing us that faith and obedience work together, not against each other or outside of each other, but that they are meant to go hand in hand. What if he had just believed it would have worked but not obeyed or obeyed but not believed? Who knows how it would have turned out.

I wonder how many different pools of water he had to walk past to get to the one Christ called him to wash in. Imagine the temptation to stop at one of those; he was born blind, and his healing was so close he could taste it, yet he didn’t settle for a counterfeit but walked on in faithful obedience and received the healing he so desperately desired. Can we say the same? Will we walk out our faith through our obedience, or will we try to take a shortcut and miss out on everything Christ has for us? Thank You, Jesus, for saving a wretch like me!

Psalm 119:11- I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 37:31- They have made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from His path.

Psalm 40:8- I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.”

God bless! I love you all, but His love is unending. Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!

 

John 9:17

Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about Him? It was your eyes He opened.” The man replied, “He is a prophet.”

If we were posed with this same question about Christ, what would our answer be? This man was born blind, shrouded in darkness, and unable to change his situation on his own. Until he had an encounter with Christ that would forever alter his life. He was no longer blind but had been freed from this prison by our loving, merciful, and all-powerful King!

All of us, just like this man, we’re born with a blindness. Not necessarily physically as he was, but spiritually, and sadly it’s a blindness some never come to realize. But what about those of us who Christ has restored? Do we see clearly His truth, or are we still trying to look through the filter of the world? Christ opened this man’s eyes but didn’t force him to set his eyes on anything.

The man had to choose what he would look at and focus on, and we do too! We can set our eyes upon the One that opened them and all that He is, or we can set them on the flesh and the faulty things of this world. Just like this man, we have been set free from something that we could not free ourselves from. We were desperately lost, with no hope for ourselves or our situation, until Hope Himself came and set us free!

One day we will all set our eyes upon Him and all His glory. What we set our eyes upon now may determine how He looks at us then! What do we say about Him? What does He say about us? What, or better yet, who will we set our eyes upon today?

John 9:24,25- A second time, they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

Colossians 3:1-3- Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

God bless! I love you all, but His love opens the eyes of the blind, both now and forever! Glory, honor, and praise to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!