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The Finishing Touch

The Finishing Touch
Words of Faith 11-23-16
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2016
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
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John 9
[35] Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
[36] "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him."
[37] Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you."
[38] Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.

Jesus went looking for the man who had received his sight. Why? Apparently there was some unfinished business.
To the world there was nothing left to finish but for the Lord there was. This man had been changed dramatically yet that change was still just temporal. Nothing of eternal significance had happened. He would no longer be called “the man born blind”. Now he would be “the man who received his sight”, but something still was lacking. There was the matter of his faith. All the physical sight in the world does not make a difference in eternity.
This question remained: In whom did this man trust? Where did he think this wonderful miracle had come from? Where did he lean for his eternal security? That is why Jesus pursued the man and pressed him. Jesus disclosed Himself and gave the man the necessary knowledge for faith. Faith involves an act of the will, based on information. The conversation is marvelous in its simplicity.
"Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
"Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him."
“You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you."
"Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.
It was as simple as that. The connection was finally made. The voice in the darkness that had offered this man hope in such a strange way was now a face in the daylight. The voice in the daylight was now offering a connection that could not be denied. There was now the faith that makes an eternal difference.
There is a powerful truth here. Our journey is filled with grace. There are remarkable ways that God has marked our path or intervened in our behalf even when we did not notice! There are wonderful ways that He has protected us from pain or even opened our eyes.
But the final step of putting our faith in Him is so vital. We may have been healed or have new sight or found ourselves spared pain but until we connect with the Son of Man and worship the Lord Jesus it is all just temporal stuff. None of it lasts.
Has the Lord been pursuing you? Has He been tracking you down? Have you been the recipient of much grace and protection but now it is time to make the final connection? Do it today.

Lord, You are the only giver of Life and Light. You are the One who has protected me and guided me. You are the One who has been calling me to Yourself and You are the One who has pursued me. Thank You for revealing Yourself to me. I trust in You. I believe in You. I worship You, O Lord. In Jesus’ name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2002, 2016
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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SUBSCRIPTIONS - To receive the Words of Faith devotion five days a week, send an E-mail message addressed to join-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. To stop receiving Words of Faith, send an E-mail message addressed to unsubscribe-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.

Religious Blindness
Words of Faith 11-28-16
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2016
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
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John 9
[39] Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."
[40] Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind too?"
[41] Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

Jesus had just led the man born blind to saving faith in Him as the Messiah. The man had received not only physical sight but Spiritual Light and Life as well!
Some of the religious people who had opposed Jesus were still around as Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." The religious folks assumed that they could "see" without the intervention of Jesus. They asked in resentment, "Are we blind too?"
Jesus' reply shows that if they had acknowledged their blindness, they could be freed from sin. But since they asserted that they could see when they were really blind, there was really no remedy for them. The journey to Life and freedom always begins at this singular point when we acknowledge our spiritual poverty.
Jesus spoke elsewhere of how deliberate rejection of Light means "the light within ... is darkness". Matthew records that Jesus said, “But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness (Matthew 6:23)!
Jesus did not come to condemn the world (John 3:17) yet His very presence pronounces a decision on the ungodly. Light pronounces a judgment on the darkness by its very presence. Life pronounces a judgment on death by its arrival. Jesus certainly had the right to judge by His presence. “The Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). “He has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man” (John 5:27).
But here Jesus is saying that these “blind guides” (Matt. 23) have declared judgment upon themselves! The blind who come to sight are those who, admitting their helplessness and spiritual poverty, trust Jesus for salvation. Those who “see” and become blind are those who’s self-trust and pride blinds them to the Truth of Jesus. He does not condemn them by making them blind. They blind themselves by rejecting Him.
Paul tells us that Satan contributes to that blinding as well. He wrote to the Corinthian believers that “the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4).
Have you come to Jesus realizing your utter spiritual poverty? Have you come to Him knowing that He is the only Light that can shine in the darkness? Have you come to Him setting aside all claims to self-illumination and pride? This is where we find sight and life.

Lord, I come to You knowing that there is no light in me apart from You. I rejoice to know that You have come to give me Life and Light. Flood me with both. In Jesus’ name.

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2002, 2016
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SUBSCRIPTIONS - To receive the Words of Faith devotion five days a week, send an E-mail message addressed to join-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. To stop receiving Words of Faith, send an E-mail message addressed to unsubscribe-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.