Text Box: What we should really focus our attention on in this story was the unwavering obedience on this man’s part. Jesus did not tell him that he would receive his sight if he obeyed. Read it for yourself. Jesus only told him to go wash and the man did it, without question. In his obedience, this man acquired a great testimony of the power of Christ in his life. Are you having a difficult time understanding what place you have in God’s Kingdom? Are you unwilling to do anything until you understand it? Let me challenge you to be just like this formerly blind man. If Jesus wants to sling a little holy mud on you, let Him. More importantly, obey whatever He commands you to do. It is in this unconditional obedience that you will find your place in His Kingdom! In His arms,

Text Box: “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” John 9:11 In this story, found in the first 12 verses of John Chapter Nine, we find another of the miracles that Jesus performed. In this instance, it was a man who was born blind that Jesus healed. The story begins when Jesus and His disciples came across this man. The disciples were not thinking about the possibility of this man being healed by Jesus. In fact, the blind man was probably not thinking of it, either. Instead, the disciples correlated this man’s condition with the curse of sin. They asked Jesus whose sin, either this man or his parents, caused his blindness. Jesus replied that it was not because of sin that this man was blind. The reason he was blind was so that “the work of God might be displayed in his life. (v.3) So, what was the work of God? Jesus did not give the disciples much time to consider this question before He demonstrated the answer. He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. (v.6) Next, Jesus told the man to go to the pool of Siloam and wash. So the man went and washed. (v.7)

Text Box: The work of God in this man’s life could be presumed to be an instrument of healing. It could be truly said that this man’s blindness was an opportunity for God’s miraculous power to be demonstrated. However, this presumption falls so very short of answering the question. After this man washed at the pool of Siloam, he went home with his eyesight normal. This man, born blind, was now able to see, just like most everyone else. He now possessed the capability to be an active and productive member of his local society. No longer was he limited to begging to survive. The true work of God as demonstrated in this man’s miracle was not simply in the restoration of his eyesight. We find in what follows his return home, as he testifies to his neighbors and others, that it was Jesus who healed him. He states that his responsiveness to Jesus’ action of putting mud in his eyes and his own obedience to the directions given him by Jesus led to his healing. We could very easily get caught up in the mud. We could get into great spiritual and theological discussions about Christ’s use of mud to heal this blind man. But let me propose this to you. The mud had nothing to do with it. There was no mystical or spiritual power to the mud. It was simply a tool that was at Jesus’ disposal at the moment.

Holy Mud Slinging

by Pastor Dave Bassett

I’ve heard it said that the only things that are certain in life are death and taxes. I’m sure that those two things are true, but I also know for certain that my God is in control.

Yes, we are “in flux”. Change is all around us. We are in the midst of a move from Nampa, Idaho to Layton, Utah, and we haven’t finished that move yet! The carpet was scheduled to be put in around the 15th of the month, but we have renters that wanted to move into the Nampa house on the 1st. They agreed to wait until the 15th, but then what do we do with our furniture for a few days until the carpet is installed in Layton? The Lord is in control!

In calling around to find a mover to move the furniture, we had a mover ask if they could pick up the furniture in Nampa on the 10th, because they would be going through there after dropping off a load in Ontario. The 10th would be a great pick-up date, because I put the renters off until the 15th, and that would give me a couple of days to do the final cleanup for the Nampa house. However, they would have to put the furniture in storage for a few days. The Lord is in control!

I just keep telling myself that the Lord is in control—have you noticed that? Well, He is! I received a call today that the carpet has left the factory, and they can install it — guess when — by the 10th of August! The Lord IS in control!

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