Daily Devotional For Friday, January 24, 2025
Good morning. Have you ever had something happen to you or you experienced something that you simply could not explain to others? Life can throw us some curveballs at times as well as some home runs. Sometimes we are left shaking our heads wondering what in the world just happened and why? In the Bible there is this story of a man who was healed by Jesus and he simply could not explain to the powers to be how it happened. All he could do was tell them who and what Jesus did. Take your Bible and read John 9:1-34. To me this is funny because these religious leaders cannot deny a miracle that everyone knew had happened but they were not willing to give Jesus any credit for it either. The miracle was standing right there in front of them. Everyone knew this man had been born blind and had been blind his whole life. Now he sees perfectly. What? Yes, he sees what the religious leaders cannot see.
Look below at John 9:10-11:
“They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?” (11) He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!” (NLT).
Then in verses 18-25 and following they call the man’s parents in and then they called the man back again. The man is unafraid to tell them that Jesus healed him. Can you see this? Here is a man who has been blind his whole life seeing spiritual truth that these seminary trained religious leaders are blind to see.
This man had been born blind, and Jesus healed him. When his neighbors and the people who had seen him begging for many years asked how this extraordinary thing had happened, the man honestly didn’t know. He couldn’t explain it medically or theologically, but he had a miraculous story to tell. So do we. It’s very easy to wear a mask and pretend we live perfect lives—untouched by sin, struggle, and heartache. It’s harder to honestly confess that we’ve wrestled with all kinds of challenges.
I hope you will allow yourself to be vulnerable and admit that God has walked with you through some tough times and helped you put your life back together again. When you do that, you will open doors to the freedom that honesty brings and become a firsthand witness to the life-changing power of God. We’re not as social-media-perfect as we might try to appear. Let’s be honest and share how God’s power has freed us from the façade of perfection. It’s as simple as saying, “My life is not perfect. But God has helped me, and He wants to help you, too.”
Mike Riches, senior pastor of Clover Creek Bible Fellowship, Tacoma, Washington, tells the following story as told to him by his wife, Cindy Riches:
“It was a phone call one never wants to get. A friend called from Ohio to say that our mutual friend, Debbie, was dying of leukemia and was at a cancer center in Seattle. Later, Debbie's husband called, telling me that Debbie had slipped into a coma. The doctors had given her two to three days to live. Debbie's two adult children had flown in to say their good-byes. He invited me to come and pray.
I admit that this was a huge stretch for my faith. But I asked a friend to go with me, and we set out for Seattle. As we drove, John 14:12–14 ran through my mind: "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."
Now was my chance to prove that I really believed those verses. Could we really do the things Jesus did? Would He really do the things we asked in His name? At the hospital, we introduced ourselves to Debbie's family and then approached her bed. I silently asked the Lord what to pray. Luke's account of Jesus rebuking a fever came to mind (4:38–39). Debbie, however, was a sad sight. By all outward appearances, what I was about to pray seemed impossible.
Nevertheless, I prayed, "Lord, I come to You based on the authority and power You have given me because of Jesus. Jesus, You said we would do even greater things because of Your power in us. You told me in John 15 that if I abide in You and Your words abide in me, I can ask anything and it will be granted. So, right now, in the name and authority of Jesus in me, I rebuke the cancer and death. In Jesus' name, I pronounce healing and abundant life."
My prayer was simple, based on Scripture, and spoken in faith and in the authority of Jesus' name. Nothing happened at the moment, though, so my friend and I said good-bye.
Debbie continued to be on my mind, but I also knew the Lord had heard my prayer. It was all in his hands. A week later, my phone rang. It was Debbie. She had awakened from her coma and asked the medical team to unhook her life support! She had heard that I had visited her several days before and had prayed for her. "Would you please come back?" she asked. So the next day, I drove back to Seattle to see with my own eyes what the Lord had done.
What an amazing time that was. Debbie—alert and smiling—told me the story. For three days after we prayed for her, while still in a coma, she sensed that an angel was standing by her bed. On the third day she woke up and knew in her heart that the Lord had completely healed her. The doctors' tests showed no sign of any cancer whatsoever. We rejoiced!
We were then able to share the gospel with her family. As a result of Debbie's healing, her son and his wife received Christ and are now joyfully serving Him. And, to this day four years later, no cancer has returned” (Source: Cindy Riches, reprinted with permission from Pray! magazine (January/February 2006), p. 24).
Questions To Consider
- As you read the story in John 9, what humor did you see in it and why?
- Though we are quick to condemn the Jewish religious leaders for not believing this miracle had occurred by Jesus because He had done it on the Sabbath, yet many of us are no different with so-called “faith healers.” Why?
- Take your Bible and read James 5:14-15. Do you think this is an absolute promise of healing or is something else going on here?
- What do you think of the story that Cindy Riches told above through her husband Pastor Mike Riches?
Scripture To Meditate On: John 9:25, “I don’t know whether He is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Heavenly Father, though my life is not perfect, and challenges persist, thank You for consistently delivering me from every obstacle and trial. May I be vulnerable enough to share all You have done in my life so others might have hope in You for their own lives. Lord, what You have done and are doing for me, I ask You to do for others. Lord, the healings in the Bible go against scientific and conventional reasoning. Help me to accept that You know best who gets a healing and who does not. And if that is not me, I accept You will. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly