Eyes to See in an Unreligious World, part 2

This is the second installment of a study on John 9. Please see Eyes to See in an Unreligious World, part 1.

My brother-in-law, Hubert Nolen, with a dream from God and a host of partners has launched a new ministry The Hope Center Indy. This ministry seeks to give hope and freedom to women coming out of Human Trafficking. Every time I speak to Hubert, he has another amazing God story to tell.

One of the most recent stories is about the Prayer Room. Partnering with IHOP Indy the Hope Center will have a 24 hour prayer room open to the public. There will be live praise and worship as well as prayer stations to lead people through an effective prayer experience.

It was determined the Hope Center would need about $20k to renovate the space for the Prayer Room. So Hubert began to pray. The very first morning praying, he sensed a prompting to reach out to a couple to ask for a financial donation. He wrote a text asking them to be part of the team to provide for the renovations. It seemed kind of bold. He prayed over it and sent it. Almost immediately he got a reply. “Yes! We would love to give $20k to renovate the Prayer Room. Thank you for inviting us to be part of this!”

When we join God in what He is already doing, we see some amazing God activity!

Let me ask a few questions:

• Do you believe in God? I hope so, the Bible says that even the demons believe and shudder (see James 2:19).
• Do you believe God is actively working in the world today?
• Do you believe God is actively working in your life?

The last one is the hardest. Because if we believe God is active and at work in our lives there should be evidence. The evidence will be our God stories. The bad news is that too many believers do not see much if any God activity in their daily lives.

The Good News is that God activity increases in your life in direct proportion to your faith response to Him.

In John 9, the religious leaders where so angry at Jesus, they could not accept that He healed the man born blind with God’s power. They didn’t deny the healing, but they wouldn’t accept Jesus was from God (let alone that Jesus was God).

They were blind to spiritual truth because of their habit of doubt. Doubt disables our faith. God’s truth develops our faith (see Romans 10:17).

The religious leaders were so upset with the man who had been healed they threw him out of the courtroom.

In our human opinion and the arrogance that accompanies it, we become blind to spiritual things.

Humility opens our eyes to spiritual things.

Okay, there are some religious crazies out there that see God activity in everything that happens. They believe every green or red light is God manipulating the traffic signals to bless them. This may be a little more than I am talking about. However, I do believe that God can manipulate traffic signals to put me in the right position to be used by Him if I make myself available to Him.

I believe that God activity, God stories, should be the common experience in the lives of Jesus’ followers today. I have found three principles that will help you see more God activity in your life (please note, these are not self-help activities, they are principles/attitudes to live by).

1. Expect God to work in your everyday life. Be ready to receive what ever God has for you. The blind man in John 9, didn’t over analyze what was happening. He received what Jesus gave him.
2. Do what God tells you to do. Be available and willing to be used by God where ever and when ever you are prompted by the Holy Spirit. Again the blind man obeyed Jesus and went and washed in the pool.
3. Tell your God stories. Don’t worry what others will think. The blind man shared his story. The religious leaders didn’t like it, but it didn’t deter him. We are to be God’s witnesses.

After the religious leaders threw the healed man out of the courtroom, Jesus found him. Don’t miss the importance of this.

God desires to be part of your life. 

Jesus loves you so much He pursues you, even when religion has rejected you. Be honest with Him. Humble yourself and receive His truth. Trust His wisdom. You will not only find God, but He will find you!