Latest / The Daily Word / August 7 – One Thing I Know
Transcript
- Brandon: Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, and welcome once again to another episode of the Daily Word Podcast. Today is August the 9th. My name is Brandon. Nope, sorry. Today's not August the 9th. What am talking about? Today is August the 7th. Why did I say 9th? What? A goofball. So sorry. Today is August the 7th. I don't know why I said the 9th. Today's August the 7th. My name is Brandon, and I'm one of the pastors here at our church. And I'm so thrilled that we get to do this: the Daily Word Podcast, spend time each day together. Myself, you, other pastors on our team, and simply share ⁓ an encouraging, maybe even a challenging insight or word from the scripture. ⁓ twofold purpose. We say this often, but it is number one to strengthen and encourage you. But number two, To hopefully encourage you in the sense that God wants to spend time with you. And so encouraging you to go and to spend time with God for yourself in the scriptures, letting God speak to you and developing that habit of doing your daily devotions as we call it. Today is August the 7th, not the 9th, August the 7th. And the New Testament reading for today in our life journal, it is John chapter 9. Maybe that's why I got confused between August the 7th and the 9th, because I was looking at John chapter 9. Anyways, today's reading is John chapter 9, and I want to share with you this one scripture, and ⁓ it comes from John chapter 9, verse 25. I'll give you a little bit of context. There was a man, he was blind, then Jesus healed him. ⁓ Jesus healed him on the Sabbath, and so that's kind of a big deal because according to the religious leaders. That's a big no no. And so the religious leaders are upset about this. And so Jesus heals him on the Sabbath in the synagogue. And now they are questioning him and they're asking him, you know, tell to tell us who this man is and tell us what happened. And and he he has a very simple response. Here's what he says: John chapter 9, verse 25. He answered and said, Well, whether he's a sinner or not, I I don't really know. Well, you know, but but but this man, he's this or he's that or They're making all these accusations about Jesus, and he the guy goes, ⁓ I'm I'm not really sure. I I ⁓ yeah, whether he's a sinner or not, I do not know. But one thing I do know that though I was blind, now I see. If you go on to verse 30, the the blind man or the man who was blind says this the man answered and said to them, Why is this marvelous that you do not know where he's from, yet he's opened my eyes? Now we know that God does not hear sinners, but if anyone's a worshiper of God and does his will, he hears them. Since the world began, it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who has been born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. And here is the the insight that I caught today. Here's this man. God has changed his life. By the way, God's changed my life and God's changed your life. Often we think about life change as some you know big, extravagant, miraculous thing that's you know Instagrammable, if you will, healing the eyes of the blind. I I was dead for three days, and then like Lazarus, Jesus called me out. But but just the fact that we've been saved, our life has been changed. If you've given your life to Jesus, if you've professed faith in Jesus, Your life has been radically changed and saved by him. Paul would write in Ephesians, you once were dead in your trespasses, but now you're alive in Christ. You were once predestined to spend eternity apart from God, but now through Jesus you will have everlasting life. That is amazing. And here's this man, his life was changed by Jesus. And he's being asked questions, being given opportunity to. Be a witness to testify. And and here's what the man says. He goes, Yeah, I'm I'm not really sure, you know, about like all that stuff. ⁓ I don't I don't know exactly what to say. I don't know how to answer your question. All I know is this I was blind, but now I see. And the fact that I was blind and now I see it is proof and evidence to me. That Jesus is who he says that he is. Here's the insight that I'm catching and some application for us. How often do we feel the pressure to answer everybody's questions? How often do we feel the pressure to know it all? To be everyone's answer and solution. Well, you know, I I can't really be a witness. I can't really be used by God because I'm just not sure of all of the nobody is. And I just want to encourage you today that your life, if you've given your life to Jesus, it has been changed by God. God has done something supernatural in your life. And as you come against questions and as you come against people who would ⁓ would criticize or would resist the things of God, you don't have to know it all. You don't have to be the solution and the answer. No, all you have to do is what this man did, which is say, you know, I'm not really sure. I don't really know about that. I'm not really sure about that. All I know is I once was blind, but now I see. All I know is I used to be just buried in guilt and shame and condemnation. But now I'm alive and I'm free and I've been forgiven. All I know is I used to be bound by. Alcoholism or by addiction or by lust, and now I'm free. All I know is my marriage was on the brink of utter ruin, and Jesus saved me. All I know is I felt hopeless and lost, and then I was f all I know is and fill in the blank. This is what Jesus has done, and because of that, my belief and my faith is in is in him. Now the conclusion to the story does not have the religious leaders going, ⁓ my gosh, now we believe too. No, they actually didn't. But but but the point remains the same: that God hasn't called you to give people answers you don't know. And God hasn't called you to fill in gaps you can't fill in. He simply called you to be a witness, to share with others, to stand on the reality that he has changed your life. And because he's changed your life, to share with others that you are convinced that he is. Who he says that he is. I just want to encourage you today, however, this applies to you, peel all the pressure off to know everything, be everything for everyone, fill in all the gaps. No, you can't do it. Just be committed to keep growing. Be committed to keep letting God change your life. And when given the opportunity, like this man, choose to just say, I don't really know. But one thing I do know is I've been changed and transformed. And I'm alive because of Jesus. And I believe He is who He says he is. And I'm not backing down from that. Just maybe God will use that as an opportunity for you to lead and draw those who are around you closer to Him and see their life change in the same way because of your testimony. I hope that's encouraging to you today. And I hope that challenges you and even maybe peels some pressure off you. Let's ⁓ take take a minute and just pray together. God, today we thank you right now for every opportunity you're putting before us to be a witness for you. God, we're asking today that you would help us through your spirit to take all the pressure off ourselves and to realize we don't have to have all the answers. We don't have to be everything for everyone. We don't have to fill in the gap and we don't know how to do that. We simply have to testify and be a witness of what we know, what we've seen, and what we've experienced. So I pray that God, you would in our hearts remind us of all of the things, all the things that that you've done, how you really have changed our life. And I pray from that point, God, we would have the ability to share and to testify about who you are. God, we thank you for it today. In Jesus' name, amen. Hey, thank you once again for joining us on another episode of the Daily Word Podcast. So thankful for you. ⁓ like, subscribe, share, get the word out, and help us to continue to spread the message. Love you so much. We'll see you tomorrow on another episode of the Daily Word Podcast.