The link below is for “Our Daily Bread”…   http://odb.org/2012/06/12/peacocks-and-their-kin/

The link below is for the Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie …              http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht

John 9:41… Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.”  (NKJV)

Jesus, in the opening scripture, was speaking to the Pharisees who were having a hard time understanding the miracle Jesus had performed on a man who was blind from birth (John 9:6-7)… They just could not comprehend the fact that Jesus was God in the flesh… We see this clearly, in the following scripture…

John 9:24-25… So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.” ²⁵ He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”  (NKJV)

The Pharisees’ were the religious leaders of Israel; and they believed that because they were obeying the Law from Moses’ time, that everything Jesus was trying to teach was a lie… Jesus was constantly breaking all of these rules the Pharisees’ believed He should be obeying…  Over and over Jesus confronted the Pharisees’; and tried to open their eyes to the truth that He was the Son of God… But in their unbelief, the Pharisees’ thought they were living a godly life…

This same mistake today, of believing that one is a Christian, when God has not forgiven a person of their sins…is a mistake that if not corrected, will result in a person dying in their sins…John 8:24… “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”  (NKJV)

There are many reasons people believe they are Christians, when the Bible tells us differently… Some say they are going to heaven because they live a relatively good life, and are a nice person… Some believe what is taught by their church; and what has been handed down for generations by their parents and their grandparents…that they are living a godly life because of all the good works they have done in the name of the Lord… They are told that these self-righteous works will allow God to forgive them of their sins…

If people don’t understand that self-righteous works like going to church every week…or any of the other works done in the name of the Lord, are not what the Bible clearly reveals God wants from us, to be deemed righteous in His eyes…this will leave them falsely believing, like the Pharisees’…that they will be going to heaven when they die… Please read Jesus’ warning about this false belief of works done for the Lord, not getting someone into heaven, in…Matthew 7:21-23…  Here is the link for this eye opening scripture of Jesus’ warning…      http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mat7:21-23&version=NKJV

It is only when a person understands that they are guilty of a lifetime of sins; and that there is nothing they can do themselves, with all their seemingly righteous works done in the name of the Lord (that the Bible calls filthy rags in…Isaiah 64:6)…that they will finally realize that they are living in spiritual darkness… It’s this realization that they are spiritually blind (as Jesus talks about in the opening scripture), that the Lord will use to hopefully move the sinner towards understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…

Here is a link for a day’s writing on what the gospel of Christ is all about, for those interested in reading what God requires for their sins to be forgiven…        https://godsmanforever.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=28&action=edi

Please don’t shoot the messenger here !!  I write this truth that the Bible clearly presents, as a servant of the Lord; in hope of sharing the good news of the gospel of Christ with all of those in need…

Heavenly Father, I pray that You will use Your Word, to open the eyes of those who falsely believe they are Christian’s living lives that will allow them entrance into Your kingdom… I pray Lord, that the lost will be drawn by You (John 6:44), into realizing they are indeed not part of Your kingdom yet…  Help all of us to submit to Your will and Your ways…so that Your promise of blessings for Your obedient children will be showered upon those who choose to live their lives for You… I pray for these Spirit filled lives for each and every one of us, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…

written by bruce r mills