Came Back Seeing

John 9:5-7

5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said this, he spat on the ground and made some mud with the saliva. He smeared the mud on the blind man’s eyes 7 and said to him, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated “sent”). So the blind man went away and washed, and came back seeing.

Jesus promises to touch the thing that hurts the most

One of the most sensitive areas of your body is your eyes…we know other sensitive areas, but I’m keeping this above board! Our body naturally protects our eyesight.

Jesus realized that this was the problem, and He went right to the issue, He never beats around the bush – this keeps many from coming to church, and even those who come to church, this keeps you from the altar, because we don’t want Jesus touching stuff…

John 4:15-18 

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” 16 He said to her, “Go call your husband and come back here.” 17 The woman replied, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “Right you are when you said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the man you are living with now is not your husband. This you said truthfully!”

Healing in Action

James 2:17 

17 So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself.

Now, in our main text, the man was blind – in fact he was born blind…it is interesting that Jesus covered what was already not functioning!

The man is already blind, so why would God cover his eyes? Have you ever been to Jesus, asked for something, only to end up worse than where you started?

Matthew 15:21-26 

21 After going out from there, Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that area came and cried out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is horribly demon-possessed!” 23 But he did not answer her a word. Then his disciples came and begged him, “Send her away, because she keeps on crying out after us.” 24 So he answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and bowed down before him and said, “Lord, help me!” 26 “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” he said.

She believed that Jesus could do anything, heal anything, but she also believed that Jesus would work with anyone, only to find His initial resistance and rejection!

It’s a test beloved – how desperate are you to find what you’re looking for from the only One who can give it to you?

-        How long are you willing to pray?

-        How long are you willing to fast?

-        How long are you willing to attend church consistently?

Just how desperate are you? This blind man allowed Jesus to put spittle in his eyes! Even though that wasn’t the healing…he wasn’t healed, until he was told to GO…and he obeyed and WENT!

Mark 2:10-11 

10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.”

Mark 5:18-19 

18 As he was getting into the boat the man who had been demon-possessed asked if he could go with him. 19 But Jesus did not permit him to do so. Instead, he said to him, “Go to your home and to your people and tell them what the Lord has done for you, that he had mercy on you.”

This directive from God is found in the Great Commission!! ‘…GO ye therefore…’

Many times, healing, deliverance, salvation, only happens when you get up and GO!!

Pool of Siloam

Jesus told this young man to go and wash in the pool of ‘Sent.’ This is where Jesus sends every last one of us…He always sends us to a place and / or in the direction of someone GREATER than ourselves! He sent him to a pool – why are you steady trying to dive into a bowl, when the Lord has provided a pool?

-        Why would Jesus send a blind man to another blind man?

-        Why would Jesus send a poor man to a place of poverty?

-        Why would Jesus send the backslidden to someone spiritually weak?

-        Why would Jesus leave you to your own devices?

He will always send you higher, greater, farther – but this requires MORE…

Matthew 17:18-20 

18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed from that moment. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” 20 He told them, “It was because of your little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you.”

Lastly, the man came back…seeing!

Faith took him there…he received no help from anyone, not even the Lord…and God brought him back seeing!!

Faith makes the journey, so that God can provide the miracle!

2 Corinthians 5:5-7 

5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Great Impact

Mark 9:49-50 
49 “For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves and have peace with one another.”

You have to be very careful with salt. If you use too much on your meal, it will destroy it – salt has immediate impact on things!

It’s not only a flavor component, it’s also a preservative…before refrigeration, many would cure meat with salt to preserve the meat…salt acts as an anti – deterioration element…in other words, things last longer with salt.
Salt is also a healing component…you can rub salt into a wound and stabilize that area that was cut or bruised, it can stave off infection as well…

Matthew 5:13 
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

Jesus proclaimed that Salt is who we are…this is our purpose in the KOG…to be the Salt of the earth! Salt makes an impact!

A Haunting Reality

One of the things in life that can haunt us mentally is coming to a place where we question – ‘Am I wasting my time?’

- Job related
- Marital
- Financial Investment
- Church Involvement

This haunts people because without an impact, the temptation to believe that you are worthless or useless is more likely.
This can be solved when we simply check our progress honestly…we get into problems when we look at the energy used, rather than the impact created.

Isaiah 49:4 
4 Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; Yet surely my just reward is with the Lord, and my work with my God.’”

The real question is, are you making impact? When it comes to serving God and doing His will, how effective are you?
Just because you call yourself a leader, doesn’t mean you’re leading anyone or doing anything…you can have good intentions and / or great expectations, but without impact – it’s a joke.

Proverbs 13:4 
4 The soul of a lazy man desires and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.

On average…people today spend 10 hours daily…fast asleep. Productivity of the human mind has decreased nearly 45% from 2003 – 2017…
The notion of getting things done has been replaced with, “I’ll do it later.” Obesity has risen in our country as children under 16 years of age spend 80% more time indoors than outdoors…

My point is, how do you expect to have impact when you give yourself over to laziness?
Let’s bring it back to the KOG…what does the Lord want you to do? What are your plans to bring it about? Do you have a plan? Or are you just waiting around for God to do something?

Lack of Impact

The other side of this, is many overwork themselves because they measure progress by the energy spent, but neglect to measure impact.
Our eyes are much bigger than our capacity to handle things, we get overwhelmed, and eventually burn out. Our complaint then, is, “I’m doing all this work, and no one appreciates it!” The truth is, you’ve over-extended yourself and whatever you gave yourself to has no successful results!
Let me introduce you to the ministry of NO…

Luke 10:38-42 
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

If you’re not careful, you will be run ragged by people from all different directions…you’ll take on all these projects, but get next to nothing done…ergo, your effectiveness for impact is non-existent!

Jesus basically told Martha – pick your spots girlfriend! You’re running around for what? Why don’t you come in here and join us!

In the KOG understand that it’s more impacting simply being with Jesus rather than working for Jesus!! Too many equate holiness with labor…that’s not true!
Busyness has never equaled holiness…sometimes, you must tell people NO…it’ll set you free.

There’s strategy to making an impact…this is why, as your pastor, there are things we do and things we do not do! It’s more than being heard or recognized, I want to make an impact, which means, I want to make a difference in someone’s life.

Revivals / Impact Teams / Discipleships / Conferences / Homecomings / Concerts – all of these make a significant impact in your life…this is why we keep doing them!!

There are some things we tried, and they were effective at first, then became unfruitful…(Easter Egg hunt) / (Hell house) / (Back to School Celebration)
All of these were good in the beginning, but lost their impact over time, so I had to move on…why spend our energy on something and not reap what we have sown?

We are the salt of the earth – a people of impact…make your life count for Jesus!!

Tasteless Salt

Jesus said, “If salt loses its flavor, how then shall it be seasoned?”
In other words, once salt is no longer salt, how can it regain its flavor? But the real question is this, how can salt NOT be salt? How can salt lose its potency? It has to be diluted.

If you take in pure salt, you can immediately taste its impactful flavor, however, if you mix salt with something else, like water, it loses its impact.
You are born again, however, the moment you mix with other things that are contrary to the KOG, you lose your impact. It’s hard to serve the Lord and sleep with the world!

1 John 2:15-16 
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world

Purity and righteousness are the keys to a life of impact in Jesus Christ…

Leviticus 11:44 
44 For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

We are called to be holy…to be holy is to be set apart for the Lord and His purposes…this is true impact.

You can make impact, no matter your background, color, creed, etc.…God can and will use you for eternal impact! Don’t be afraid, don’t run away – stand firm in Christ, and allow Him to use your life for great Impact!!