Today’s Reading: John 9:18-23
Hearing God’s Voice for Today:
“The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man and asked them, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’”
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Why is it so difficult for people to believe in Jesus? Why do they try to find every possible excuse to deny he can accomplish the impossible? Why do they keep seeking human reasons to explain away his miraculous power?
That’s what happened here after he healed the man born blind. The Jewish leaders wouldn’t accept the miracle. They went to the parents of the man to find out if he really had been born blind. They couldn’t accept that Jesus had given sight to a man born blind, a man who possessed a simple and obedient faith. That’s because they had no faith.
What is faith?
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. By faith, people believe that the Father in heaven created the world with a word. He made it from things not visible. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Whoever wants to have a deep faith must not only believe that he exists, but that he rewards those who diligently seek him.
Faith never looks at the size of the mountain in one’s path, but the size of the God who rules over all. And it’s not the size of your faith that’s important. If you have faith even the size of a mustard seed, you can say to a mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move.
Faith believes that all things are possible with God. It believes that the God who miraculously created the world can still do the miraculous to achieve his divine purposes.
Faith believes that the Father in heaven can create a dry path through a large sea, make the sun stand still, feed thousands with five loaves and two fish, calm a storm with a word, heal the blind and the lame, and raise someone from the dead.
Do you have this kind of faith? Diligently seek the Father in heaven. Believe in him. Believe also in Jesus.
Believe that the Father wants to give you good gifts. If earthly fathers, who are inherently evil, love to give good gifts to their children, how much more does the heavenly Father love to give good gifts to his children who totally trust him?
Speak to the mountains that hinder you about the greatness of your God. Tell them to dissolve into the heart of the sea. Stop permitting the size of life’s mountains to determine your life’s destination. Dismiss destructive doubt. Trust in the Lord’s miraculous power and realize that life’s most beautiful vistas are found at the top of the highest mountains.
He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in him, all those whose thoughts are fixed on him.1
Today, believe that Jesus is able to do more than you could ever think or imagine.
All things are possible with God.
[from “Hearing the Voice of God” by Pastor David Chadwick, Moments of Hope Church, Charlotte, NC]