Daily Devotional for March 16, 2015

John 9:28-33
Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know God has spoken to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t know anything about him.”

“Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He can heal blind men, and yet you don’t know anything about him! Well, God doesn’t listen to evil men, but he has open ears to those who worship him and do his will. Since the world began there has never been anyone who could open the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he couldn’t do it.”

Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson.  Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO.  All rights reserved.

Someone posted a comment on a Facebook group I belong to about the history of my home town. They asked, “Where was the first hospital?” Comments began to pour in…many adding, “I’ve lived here all my life…I know this is right!”  The trouble is…many of them were not right.  Erroneous information flooded the comments to this post.

Then someone posted a photo of a page from a historical book written several years ago about our town.  The page clearly described the two hospitals in our town…which came first…who owned them…who sold them…and who bought them!  The facts were there in black and white -  yet comments continued to pour in that contradicted this documentation.

Why does this matter?  Because people will soon skew the “facts” so badly that no one will know what to believe…even though the real information is right in front of them.  What has been a fun and informative page of local history will lose followers and become a watered-down source of half-truths and fuzzy recollections.

In the spiritual world, when we fail to look at the facts and recognize Jesus, it’s as if God stops listening.  Now hear me on this…God will always hear you when you call on Him.  But when you continually skew the facts and act in half-truths…when you attempt to “have it your way” and operate under your own power…when you turn away and ignore His presence…God is not going to be so eager to rush to your rescue at the first sign of trouble!  It’s like when a toddler throws a tantrum and expects to get his/her own way.  Often the parent will simply ignore this outburst…at least for a while…and let the child figure out that what he/she is doing is not working!

So what’s the point of all of this?  In order to truly hear from God, we have to recognize – and acknowledge – Him.  He is all around us…we can find evidence of His handiwork in every activity of our day.  But too many of us are not looking - or don’t see what is right in front of us.  We most certainly have not sought the facts…dug out our Bibles and discovered how the scriptures apply to our daily living…or spent some time just sitting and “listening” for God’s voice.  We’ve walked right past the “page with the facts” about God and Jesus…and declared our lives to be in shambles.  And then we have wondered why this is! 

We can change all of this…and we should…now…here…today!  Won’t you spend some time with God and seek His presence in your life?  Won’t you sit and listen for His voice…open your eyes and “see” Him at work all around you?  What do you really know about God?  Isn’t it time you learned more?  Will this be the day that you begin?


©2015 Debbie Robus

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