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“Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.” -Mark 8:25

This was the scripture in the lenten devotional that Edge Park is doing this season of Lent and as I was reading this I felt the Holy Spirit tug me and cause me to look further into the phrase: 

“And he saw everything clearly.” 

To see everything clearly…..interesting choice of words and something tells me that this passage is more than just seeing right in front of you or even around you. 

This kind of sight that Jesus gave this man is so much more than mere seeing. 

Still with me? 

How often do we see clearly? Well I don’t think we see clearly a lot of the time and often times we wish that our Lord would help us to see clearly where He is leading us but maybe there is a time and a season for seeing things clearly. 

Jesus gave this man an amazing gift. To see everything clearly. 

Here is another thought. 

If you saw everything clearly how would that effect your faith? 

If you see everything for what it is do you really then have faith? 

It’s truly amazing what a little phrase in scripture will do. 

May God bless those with the reading and hearing of Gods word. 

“Nebuchadnezzar said to them: ‘Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: Is it true that you don’t serve my gods or worship the gold statue I’ve set up? If you are now ready to do so, bow down and worship the gold statue I’ve made when you hear the sound of horn, pipe, zither, lyre, harp, flute, and every kind of instrument. But if you won’t worship it, you will be thrown straight into the furnace of flaming fire. Then what god will rescue you from my power? 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar: ‘We don’t need to answer your question. If our God – the one we serve – is able to rescue us from the furnance of flaming fire and from your power, Your Majesty, then let him rescue us. But if he doesn’t, know this for certain, Your Majesty: we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you’ve set up.” 

If you follow my facebook or twitter posts you shouldn’t be surprised the see this post. After all I did warn you. 🙂 Anyway, I love this story. It always convicts me. I’ve never had a time when it didn’t cause me to look at my faith in a different way. 

These young men literally confess that even if God doesn’t rescue them that they will gladly die for their faith. They even refuse to answer the kings question, but it doesn’t matter. 

Just another reminder that the only thing that matters is that we have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Seriously though, what does this story tells us about our faith? 

Not all of us will be threatened with a fiery furnace, or even a life or death situation, but if we truly believe and have steadfast faith in our Lord Jesus are we not dying already to ourselves? Scripture tells that we are. We die everyday to ourselves when we confess that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. 

So, what does that death look like? 

In what ways are we dying to ourselves? 

If we truly and honestly believe in Jesus then we are dying to ourselves because there is no other option. In fact what brings us to that faith of Jesus being our Lord and Savior is the fact that he died for our sins so that we could have everlasting life. 

To experience the everlasting life we must forget what we were taught before. We must die. Because in that death we truly live. 

May God bless many with the hearing of His word. 

“And why do you worry about clothes? Noice how the lilies in the field grow. They don’t wear themselves out with work, and they don’t spin cloth. But I say to you that even Solomon in all of his splendor wasn’t dressed like one of these. If God dresses grass in the field so beautifullly, even though it’s alive today and tomorrow its thrown into the furnace, won’t God do much more for you, you people of weak faith?” 

-Matthew 7:11 (CEB)-

One of my favorite people in the world is my Paw-Paw. When Paw-Paw was in his prime he taught sunday school. He loved teaching sunday school because He was passionate about his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he lives in a assisted living and unforunately alzheimers has reeked havoc on his mind. It’s a very sad thing to see such a faithful man be the victim of such a terrible thing, but when I think about my Paw-Paw (who is my Dad’s dad) I think about this verse. 

It’s his favorite verse. 

It explains so much about my Paw-Paw. When he was living in his house he had an amazing garden. It was great to see him work in the garden. The memories that I have aren’t very vivid but I can picture my paw-paw’s great smile while working in his garden. I think he loves this verse for the same reason he loved working in his very garden. 

This passage is not about us, its about whats around us. The birds of the air, the trees, and everything else in creation is a testament of God’s power. It’s amazing what you see in creation. The mountains, the hills, and the valleys are all the works of the greatest artist ever. 

So today I encourage you to view the greatest artwork ever made. The earth that is around us. Give praise to the ultimate artist!