FAITH SERIES III Do you believe Jesus can make you see beyond your problems? Matthew 9:28

Matthew 9:29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”;
Passage for reading: Matthew 9:27-31

This passage in a nutshell is about Jesus healing the two blind men. In the previous devotions, we have seen the faith of the woman with bleeding, the faith of the sinful woman and today we read about the faith of the two blind men who were following Jesus wherever he went. In verse 26, it says that the report of this miracle(Jesus raising the dead daughter of the leader of the synagogue) swept through the entire country. I am sure that is how these two blind beggars found about Jesus.
They have not seen Jesus but they believed that they are about to be healed. God promises a blessing to all those that believe in Him without seeing him. These two blind beggars were blessed because of their faith inspite of their physical blindness. Even though they could not see Jesus, they believed in Him.
John 20:29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
These two blind men followed Jesus shouting , "Son of David, have mercy on us!! They were not only following Jesus but they were shouting and calling on his name. These two beggars might have followed men and women, begging for mercy, shouting "Sir, Ma'am, can you help us? Please have mercy on us, please help us out! But now they have decided to follow Jesus asking him to have mercy on them.

Everyone knows I am a christian because my name is Zion and because I am a preacher's daughter, a preachers daughter-in-law and a preacher's wife; But the question is: Do I call on the name of the Lord everyday? What is my intimate life when it comes to my relationship with Jesus?

After they heard about Jesus, they were not just blindly following some person on the streets of the town. They knew who they were following. They knew He is the Son of David. Son of David is the popular way of addressing Jesus as the Messiah because it was known that the Messiah would be a descendant of David (Isaiah 9:7) He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. Based on the above verse we see that the two blind beggars knew their Bible well. They called Jesus in the most authentic way. No one addressed Jesus like that and this I am sure made Jesus happy. Jesus was pleased by their faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God.
Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Friends, these two blind beggars had just what they needed to please God. What was that? Their faith. The faith that this Son of David will heal them if they earnestly seek him.

Jesus knows the intensity of their faith but he questions them "Do you believe I can make you see?" (Matthew 9:28). Don't you think Jesus knows that they believe in Him? Yes, He does. He asks them anyways maybe to emphasize and increase their faith.

I love their prompt response to Jesus, the Son of David." Yes, Lord, they told him, "we do". (Matthew 9:28)
All along these two blind men called on Jesus as "Son of David" The minute Jesus asks them Do you believe? that is when they said"Yes, Lord" Here they have accepted the authority of the Lord. They did not answer him by saying, "Yes, Son of David"
They made Jesus the Lord of their life. Once they did that, Jesus touched their eyes and said "Because of your faith, it will happen" Matthew 9:29 Then he touched their eyes and said, "Because of your faith, it will happen". Vs. 30 Then their eyes were opened and they could see!

Two beggars who were once begging for mercy from people have now turned to Jesus for mercy. They realised that no one can have mercy on them other than God. They finally realised that it was no use trusting men. Psalms 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
They put their confidence in the Lord when they said "Yes, Lord".

Had the song Amazing grace existed during the times of Jesus, the two healed men would have thrown their begging bowls away and ran from street to street singing "Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like us, we were once blind, but now we see"

Amazing grace was written by John Newton, a slave trader in 18th Century, when he accepted the Lord after facing many near death experiences.
According to Newton, sinners were "blinded by the god of this world" until "mercy came to us not only undeserved but undesired ... our hearts endeavored to shut him out till he overcame us by the power of his grace."

We don't deserve mercy but God saved us because of his grace, his amazing grace. These two men recongnized their helpless estate and begged God for mercy. As soon as their sight was restored that is when they saw how deteriorated their lifestyle was, how shabby and torn their clothes were.

Jesus never pushed them away, he compassionately touched their blind eyes with his hands which will be soon crucified. Today he spreads out those two nail pierced hands to receive you and me with love to just trust in Him. Friends, believe me! It is a Fantastic Adventure In Trusting Him (FAITH) God works in mysterious ways in our lives. He worked in mine. When I was blind, wretched and lost, he made me see my weaknesses, he made me beautiful and he found me by his redemptive love.

Friends, let us therefore introspect our lives today:
Are you spiritually blind? Are you persistent and consistent in your relationship with Jesus?
Do you follow Jesus wherever you go? If you have nothing to please God today, just have faith in Him. He will redeem you from any situation.
Maybe your spiritual life is torn and shabby just like the clothes of those two blind beggars. Ask God to heal you of your blindness. Ask Him to show you the light of His glory.
Are you going from person to person with your begging bowl shouting and begging for mercy to redeem you from your circumstances or are you going to Jesus with open arms begging for mercy to redeem you? Are you living in darkness of pride, ego, resentment, and anger? These two men who were once in darkness came face to face with the Light of the world.

Go and spread the news of his miracles and wonders and redemption in your life just like these two beggars. Matthew 9:31 But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

Are you keeping the wonderful things that Jesus has done for you within your own boundaries? Spread the news, spread the news of his love, mercy and grace. Are you expecting wonders and miracles in your life without making Jesus the Lord of your life? Until the two beggars said "Yes, Lord", Jesus did not touch them. Do you want to be healed, redeemed from your sin, your problems? Just say" Yes, Lord I believe you can do."

Are you thankful to Jesus for His grace for you? Let us intimately introspect our lives and believe in Jesus that if you believe in Him and earnestly seek him, He will reward you in due time.

Be Blessed and be a blessing.

FAITH series -II Are you in relationship with an exclusive Jesus? An Enticing woman, an expensive perfume and an exclusive Jesus -Luke 7:36-50

Luke 7: 50 Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
Passage to Read: Luke 7:36-50

According to this passage, we see that this woman is branded as sinful or an immoral woman. This sinful woman from this particular city heard about Jesus' whereabouts and she followed him to the house of the Pharisee where he was having dinner. She did not go empty handed. She took with her an alabaster jar filled with an expensive perfume.

I can only imagine the picture of an immoral woman walking into the house of a religious, fault finding Pharisee with an expensive jar of perfume and the Pharisee must be thinking to himself "Aha! I am sure this woman is coming for me" But this woman comes into the house exclusively for Jesus. What does she do as soon as she sees Jesus?

• She stands behind Jesus at his feet weeping
• She was wetting the feet of Jesus with her tears
• She wipes the feet of Jesus with her hair
• She kissed his feet
• Pours perfume on His feet

All the above acts of the sinful woman shows that she has acknowledged her sinful life, her heart was broken, her tears had no end. She kneels down behind him in total surrender, her heart full of sin, shame and guilt. She was so sinful that she could not even stand before Jesus to face Him and His holiness. She kneels down to wet the feet of Jesus with her tears, lets down her beautiful hair to wipe His feet, kisses His feet with total love and freedom with no fear that she will be used in an unworthy manner, finally she pours perfume on His feet. Isn't that a beautiful sight to behold? Her act only shows remorse of her sinful lifestyle that she is ready to let go of.

A woman who was once seen on the streets enticing men, enamoring them with the perfume that she adorned herself from the alabaster jar, attracting one and all in perversion to the aroma of her body is now in the house of a Pharisee to anoint the feet of her new love none other than The exclusive Jesus.

This woman's sin was so famous that she was not called by her name, she was depicted as a sinful, immoral woman. Her beautiful hair that once drew men to her abode is now used to wipe the feet of Jesus.

The lips that she once used to commit sin are drawn to kiss the feet of the man who will now make her sinless. I kiss the two little feet of our little Jordan everyday- because I love her so much. No one kisses any one's feet if there is no deep love. This woman is kissing the feet of the man she is in love with who will one day soon die for her sins to redeem her and cleanse her from all unrighteousness.

She bowed down as a sinner in shame and dishonour and was raised up by Jesus as a new creation. II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! She sealed her relationship with Jesus by humbling herself in total surrender and Jesus sealed His relationship with her by cleansing her, making her his very own.

No one has ever loved her the way Jesus love would love her. She I am sure was never in love with any man that she ever encountered in her world of sin. She probably did what she did to maybe earn her livelihood and probably she bought the perfume in the alabaster jar with all her earnings. I don't know under what circumstances she ended up in a profession like hers;

But this poor woman who had no hope in her life, when she felt she was at the end of the rope in her life, when no man that she encountered could wipe the burdened tears of her heart that is when she comes running to anoint the feet of the Saviour of the World who takes away the sin of the world.

The reason she comes to Jesus is because she had the confidence that what she hoped for (to have a redeemed life, a sinless life) will actually happen. She could not foresee her salvation when she was in sin, but when she saw Jesus and humbled herself before His holiness in total surrender that is when she was healed from her sin. She had nothing left in herself except faith in this loving Saviour. That faith amidst so much pain and agony of sin is what redeemed her. That is when Jesus tells her" Your Faith has saved you, go in peace"

She finally realises that God created her so beautiful and that she should not throw her pearls before swines (Matthew 7:6) I read this from the book "Captivating" Be careful that you do not give something precious to someone, who at best, cannot recognize its beauty, or at worst will trample on it". This woman gave her precious body to everyman who did not recognize her beauty, they trampled her. But friends the beauty unravels when she seeks forgiveness from Jesus. Are you captivating Jesus or are you throwing your pearls before swines? Wrong relationships will make you remorse for the rest of your life.

Friends, without faith it is impossible to please God. Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. This woman believed that He is the loving, forgiving father and that he is a rewarder of eternal life that diligently seek him. This woman sought Jesus.

An enticing woman, an expensive perfume and an exclusive Jesus. Friends, do you know what I think of this woman? I feel that this woman would have gone back to the streets after meeting Jesus not to entice men but to invite people to encounter this exclusive Jesus. How many of us know Jesus and keep him to ourselves?

Jesus is indeed exclusive. He is exclusive because he heals both bodies and souls. He is compassionate and powerful. He is all knowing. Those who have faith in him will experience His power in both physical and spiritual realms. All he wants you to do is just surrender your life to him. Are you willing to give it up to him?

The perfume was dear to her, the alabaster jar would must be very expensive, but she opened it, broke it and poured the perfume on the feet of Jesus.

Let us therefore intimately introspect our very own lives today: What is it that is holding you back from coming to Jesus? Are you in pursuit of happiness in the wrong places, wrong people, wrong things? Is your sacrifice a sweet-smelling aroma to God that is acceptable and pleasing to Him? (Philippians 4:18)

What is God calling you to risk? What is he calling you to offer? Where is he asking you to step out in faith that feels scary to you?

Are you are calling yourself a Christian living a self righteous life and have never asked forgiveness from Jesus? Then you are lost. This woman did not have any good works to her credit, but she believed in the Lord, she trusted Christ and asked for His forgiveness and Jesus forgave her: Luke 7:48 Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." Many times we go to Jesus but we go with a stubborn heart with an unwilling heart to let go of our passionate sins to let go of acts that deny his presence in our lives.

What is the alabaster jar that you left behind that you are not willing to break and pour on the feet of Jesus? Are you feeling lonely, depressed, do you feel guilty of your past sins? What is burdening you right this very minute? You think you alabaster Jar is expensive? What do you think about the price of the blood of Jesus that we are not even worthy of? It is very expensive but He freely gave it to us. Just accept it. I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness

• Faith has changed her sinful life to sinless life
• Faith has changed her unforgiveness to forgiveness
• Faith has changed her tears of sorrow to tears of joy
• Faith has changed her sinful reputation to a saved reputation

In closing, I would like to add this true story that I got from the website of Cece Winans song Alabaster Box.

When my lover walked out on me, I cried, hollered, and screamed Oh God, please help me...PLEASE WRAP YOUR LOVING ARMS AROUND ME AND LOVE ME FATHER, BECAUSE IT SEEMS DEAR FATHER, NO ONE ON THIS EARTH WILL. That happened 2:00 a.m. on July 18, 2005. From that moment, I knew in my soul that God loved me and would never leave me. No longer am I lusting or in a relationship with men...but God has deadened my flesh little by little so that I can spend quality time in my salvation; understanding, walking, and living the word.

After reading this devotion, is that your prayer today? No one can love you like Jesus. No one can undo what you have done in your life other than Jesus, No one can be compared to his love, his holiness and his redemptive plan for you and for me. No one!! Who do you feel used you, manipulated you and left you lifeless? Give it up to Jesus.

Be Blessed and be a sweet smelling aroma for Jesus today.