26 April 2026 - The Healing Journey - Pastor Clarance Shashi

Then he came to Beth Seda and they brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him.

So they took the blind man by the hand and led him out of town.

And when he had spit in his eyes and put his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything.

And he looked up and said, I see men like trees walking.

Then he put his hands on his eyes again and made him look up, and he was restored and saw everyone clearly.

Then he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town nor tell anyone in town.

You know, Jesus healed a lot of blind people when he walked the face of the earth all those years ago.

And blindness in scripture is a term that is used many times, not only to describe a natural inability to see, but it is also used in scripture many times to describe the state of mankind or the state of the heart or the soul of man before salvation, before an encounter with Jesus.

In fact, when Jesus, in the book of Luke, when Jesus goes to the temple and he rolls out the great Isaiah scroll and he reads his mission from the book of Isaiah.

He says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom to the captives, to open the eyes of the blind.

That was part of Jesus' mission.

In fact, in the book of John, chapter 9, verse 39, Jesus says, For judgment I have come into this world that those who do not see may see.

John 9:39

And the mission of Paul, as given to him by Jesus, described in the book of Acts, chapter 26, verse 17, he says, I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you.

Acts 26:17

Why?

To open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sin and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

These and many other scriptures like this are talking about a deliverance from blindness, but it isn't referring to a natural blindness, it is referring to a greater blindness, which is a spiritual blindness.

One of the most popular Christian hymns, Amazing Grace, has these words which we all know I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see.

It was written in the 1700s, and the author of that song, the guy who penned those words down, uh, John Newton, was not physically blind when he wrote those words down.

In fact, he could see very clearly.

He wasn't talking about a physical blindness, but he was blind to God at one point of his life.

A former slave ship captain, he was.

And one day, in a violent storm, he cries out to God.

He cries out for this God that he had rebelled against for most of his life, that he had run away from.

He cried out to this God for mercy, and mercy does come.

He is delivered from the storm, but not only is he delivered from the storm, he's also delivered from a life of rebellion, from a life of darkness, and he goes on to live his life fighting against slavery.

And of course, he becomes a minister of the gospel, and he writes this beautiful song, Amazing Grace, in the 1700s that we still sing today.

Amen.

So while we are looking at this miracle of Jesus healing this man of natural blindness, it is hidden in this miracle, the steps, or even the keys, or how God actually works in delivering us from spiritual blindness as well.

So it starts off with this: He came to Beth Seda and they brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him.

And there they are again.

These uh pesky people, the they in the story, they brought a blind man to him and they begged him to touch, touch him.

And you know, this this they keep appearing in everybody's life story.

These nameless people, these sabos that keep interfering in people's journey and bringing them to Jesus, and you know, leading people to breakthroughs and and miracles and salvation.

You know, I shared before Easter on the importance of the day in all these stories.

Look to the person next to you and say, remember they and uh they are meant to be you and I.

We are meant to be the day in someone else's life's journey and story.

We we saw in the story of the paralytic that I shared about over Easter just before Easter, how they came to him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.

When they could not come near him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was, and when they had broken through, they let down the bed at which the paralytic was lying.

And this man goes on to receive this life-transforming eternity, changing miracle from God simply because they would not give up, simply because they were willing to reach out, simply because they were willing to go the distance.

In Acts chapter 3, verse 2, we read about a man crippled from birth who receives a life-transforming miracle.

Acts 3:2

Again, the only reason he's in that position to receive that miracle is because they used to carry him daily and lay him at the temple gate, and that's us.

That's our role.

We are meant to be the day in other people's lives.

Like I said earlier, this the role of the church is to equip the saints for the work of ministry.

You you God put you among those people, God put you in that school, in that college, in that workplace, in that family, and God saved you, God delivered you out of darkness, out of blindness, he transferred you out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his son for a purpose, not so that you can just have a good time by yourself, have your private little tongue-speaking uh worship sessions in your room, come to church, you're part of this cool church club.

No, that is only the start of your journey with God.

God did all that for you, and He says to you, Now you go.

He placed you in that group of people, um, in that family, so that you can be soul, so that you can be light, so that you can be his hands, his feet, his heart, his voice to a dying world.

Amen.

People are dropping dead left, right, center.

I went to the chapati shop in uh Rimbayu, his famous Chapati shop stall, actually, and I broke the news to the guy that Peter had passed away, and he was shocked because Peter was quite a regular at his shop as well.

And and he was just and he was sharing with me, his wife was sharing with me, and saying that uh, you know, Pastor, it's so strange.

So many young people are are dying suddenly, heart attacks and all kinds of things.

And he was saying how they had a group of young, professional, uh young guys who used to come and have chapatini in that in that shop.

Almost he said, every week they will be there, and he says, by the start of this year, I didn't see them.

I didn't see them, and he said, like uh for a good few months we didn't see them, and one day I saw one of the guys and I asked him, Hey, what happened to your friends?

I don't see them, they used to be there like regulars every week.

And he says, you know, they were all coming back from Putra Jaya one day, they and the car got hit by a trailer or something like that, and and four of them died in their 30s, just gone like that in an instant.

That is why the message, the urgency for the message of the gospel is so so important for us to have in our hearts.

So, so important.

I think the church has forgotten this.

We've we've come to a comfortable form of Christianity.

It's a consumer Christianity.

Come, feed me, bless me, feel me, heal me.

While you're we are walking past people every day who are living in darkness, living in blindness, who need this one message, this one message, you know.

We had Peter's funeral, and there was so much of joy in the funeral because Peter loved Jesus, he gave his life to Christ, and we we knew for a fact that we're gonna see him again.

So while we were sad that we were losing him, you know, he took up a lot of space, literally, and you know, in our in our lives, but we know we're gonna see him again in heaven, and we're all gonna have a great party one day before Jesus, you know, it's gonna be lots of fun.

But there are people, I I can't imagine people going for a funeral, not knowing, or just thinking they're never gonna see their loved ones again.

That's a sad, depressive funeral to go to, and the difference is just this one name, this one person, this one personality, Jesus Christ, whom you have, and you have more than enough to share to people around you.

Let's all be, it's not the role of the evangelists.

People come and say, like I remember talking to some guy around uh some years ago, and you're saying his church his church wasn't growing, and uh you know it's been uh three.

I said, How many years have you been there?

I said, I've been there for three years, I don't see any new people coming.

I said, How many people have you invited to church?

None.

So think you think the church is gonna go out at night and kidnap people while they are sleeping and bring them in church, and then they wake up in the morning, hey, I'm in church.

No, if you are not bringing anyone to church, why are you complaining about the church not growing?

You expect the pastor to run around every Sunday, give out tracks and invite people to church, your friends, your family members.

No, God put you there.

You are salt of the earth, light of the world, amen.

It's time for us to embrace that calling.

That's just me going off on a tangent.

So they they they bring this blind man to him.

They, very, very important people.

That's our role.

And uh, if it's not for not for the day in this story, this blind man would not have received his miracle of sight, of vision, his life would not have been transformed, he would have still been living in that darkness, and they only have one sentence dedicated to them in this story.

It says, They brought a blind man to him and they begged him to touch him.

They do two things, that's all they do.

They brought, they did what naturally needed to be done, they provided the transport, the whatever they they they led him, they pulled him, they carried him.

God knows how he ended up there, but they brought, they did what naturally needed to be done.

The supernatural acts of God always rides on natural acts of faith and obedience.

I was hearing about the supernatural transformation of a of a young man's life during the Easter service.

Quite a few people shared testimonies about how God spoke to them, God touched them, and their lives were transformed.

But that supernatural touch of God set on a natural act of you obeying and just inviting someone to journey with you and to show up.

Listen, nothing supernatural about the invitation, about inviting someone to church, it's the most natural thing to do.

You don't go to someone and say, fire, fire, fire.

Come to church in Jesus' name.

You don't invite people to church like that.

If you do that, please, you are part of the problem.

Don't do that.

Inviting someone is the most easiest, natural thing to do.

How you invite someone for a cup of coffee, for tea, to the new restaurant, it's the most easiest thing to do.

Don't make it all weird.

There's nothing supernatural about an invitation, but an invitation can lead someone to the supernatural touch of Jesus.

Amen.

So all they did was they brought, and Jesus took it from there.

So they brought, and the other thing they did was it says they begged him to touch him, basically saying they stood in the gap.

They appealed to Jesus on behalf of their friend who could not see, who was blind, who was in darkness.

They interceded for their friends.

So they did what naturally needed to be done, but they didn't stop there.

They also did what spiritually needed to be done.

Some of us need to do, we you see, we need to fight for the souls of our loved ones on two fronts.

We do what naturally needs to be done, but we also do what spiritually needs to be done.

We pray for our loved ones.

Every time I invite someone to church, I pray.

I pray the night before and I said, God, that you will touch this person, that this person will have an encounter with you.

Let not this visit be in vain, O Lord.

Let them feel your presence, let their hearts be like the fertile ground.

God, you touch them.

So they invited and they stood in the gap between their blind friend and Jesus.

Listen, don't just stop at inviting.

Stand in the gap.

Pray for those people that you invite, because it is the supernatural that can change their heart.

You can direct their body, but you cannot change their heart.

Only God has access to their hearts.

So that is why there's always a spiritual element to every invitation because you're inviting but you're also praying.

Amen.

And don't just stop at praying, because some people can pray and pray and pray and for hours till the cows come home.

But they won't invite someone.

They won't step out and say, Hey, come follow me.

Hey, let me give you a lift.

I can't do that.

I've got no time.

I'm busy.

I need to do my hair.

By the time I'm done with my hair in the morning, it's already 10 o'clock.

So we do what naturally needs to be done, we do what spiritually needs to be done.

We pray and we bring.

We intercede and we invite.

And it goes on to say, so they bring him to Jesus, they stand in the gap, and then Jesus responds.

Jesus takes this blind man by the hand and led him out of town.

He took this blind man by the hand.

Jesus responds to their pleas or to their prayers for their friend.

Jesus always responds to your prayers.

There is not a single prayer that you are praying that is not heard by Jesus, that does not that he does not respond to.

Amen.

That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

He hears us.

And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him.

He doesn't say when you pray, if we we suspect that he hears us, or we we think, or we assume, or we are guessing that he hears us.

He says, when you pray, we know.

Christianity is about knowing.

Faith is not about like what Pastor Sylvester said last week.

Faith is not about I'm not feeling it or I'm feeling it, it's about knowing it regardless of what you're feeling.

Sometimes you're praying and it feels like your prayers are hitting the roof and not going anywhere.

Your feelings deceive you.

Jesus says the heart is deceitful above all things.

No, regardless of what I feel, I know it.

My truth is anchored on what Jesus says, and he is not a man that he should lie, amen.

So he says, Whatever we ask, we know we have the petitions that we have asked of him, right?

So how do you know your prayers of are answered?

You know your your prayers are answered, not when you receive the answer to your prayer, you know your prayers are answered because he hears you.

Your prayers that are answered at the point of his hearing, not at the point of your receiving.

That's what it says.

Because if you know he hears you, you know you have the petitions of which you have asked for.

Yeah?

The moment you pray, the moment you pray, and the Bible promises you that the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open to their cry.

Today, you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

That is your status.

Every time you see a promise for the righteous that's talking about you, you are the righteousness of God.

Don't sit and start thinking and disqualifying yourself because of, oh, I don't think I'm good enough, I don't think I'm righteous enough, I've done this, I've did that.

No, no, no.

You're righteous simply because it is a gift of God.

You are righteous because you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

He made him who knew no sin to become sin, so that you might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

Say that really fast, right?

Yeah, okay.

So because you are righteous, his eyes are upon you, and his ears are open to your prayers.

That means his position towards you is always like that.

So does God hear you when you pray?

And the scripture says if he hears you, what does that mean?

You have that things which you have prayed for.

Uh, if you read the book of Daniel, uh Daniel petitions God, he wants to find out from God after reading the scriptures on on the future of Israel and you know, just uh what was ahead of them, and he and he sets his heart to seek God 21 days.

He fasts and he prays, right?

And at the end of 21 days, the angel of the Lord comes to him, and the angel says this, Daniel, on the 20th day, after God was convinced and very impressed with your fasting and your praying, I was sent to give you the answer.

Did he say that?

None of you have read the book of Daniel.

Did he say after the third day of your fasting and praying?

After the tenth day of your fasting and praying, no, he says, from the first day you set your heart to seek the Lord, the Lord heard and the Lord sent the answer.

When did the Lord send the answer?

The first day.

But of course, there are spiritual elements at play, and you know, and Daniel finds out what was going on.

So sometimes you can look at something like this wow, Daniel Daniel was impressive.

He got the answer because he fasted and prayed for 21 days.

No, the fasting and praying was his choice, but God gave him the answer from the first day he set his heart to seek the Lord.

The moment he hears, the answer is coming.

Amen.

So we gotta know.

It's not what you're feeling, it's stepping from the realm of feeling into the realm of knowing.

Amen.

Amen.

He always answers, but but let me put a caveat here, he does not always answer the way we want him or expect him to answer, but he always answers, right?

So, in this particular case of the blind man, they bring this blind man before Jesus, they plead on behalf of this blind man, and they say, Jesus, just touch him.

They beg, just touch him.

And you know, I respect their faith.

These guys had so much faith that they knew that.

All Jesus had to do was touch this man, and this man would be healed.

He would receive his vision back.

They said, just touch him.

They were obviously faith-filled followers of Jesus.

They were expecting Jesus to answer their requests the way they wanted him to.

Maybe they've seen him work miracles like that before.

Just by a touch, people got healed, people got delivered.

And they said, Jesus can just touch.

Jesus hears them, he responds to their requests.

But instead of giving this man a healing touch, he takes this man on a healing journey.

You know, sometimes, sometimes your healing is instant.

Sometimes your healing is progressive as you journey with Jesus.

Sometimes your breakthrough comes immediately.

I praise God for that, for some immediate breakthroughs.

But many times it comes as you trust Jesus and continue to walk with him.

So sometimes it's in an instant and sometimes it's a process.

And the fact that Jesus didn't heal this man immediately with a touch, the way they expected him to do, didn't mean that this man was not going to receive his healing.

He had to trust the process.

If your breakthrough has not come yet, it doesn't mean that your breakthrough is not coming.

Continue to hold on to Jesus, continue to walk with him, continue to stay in faith, continue to trust the process.

Amen.

So instead of just touching this man, he takes him by the hand.

This man had to trust Jesus for his journey ahead.

He had to walk with Jesus, he had to allow Jesus to lead him.

You know, coming to Jesus for a breakthrough is the easy part.

Surrendering your life and journey and your future into his hands, that is the part that many people struggle with.

See, in order for this blind man to hold on to Jesus, to go with Jesus on this journey, to put his hands into the hands of Jesus, it would mean that he had would have had to let go of everything he held on to prior to coming to Jesus.

It may have been his friends, it may have been his walking stick or his blind leading dog, whatever they had back then, camel.

All those things that he found security in and comfort in, all those things that he depended on up to that point of time, he had to let go and trust Jesus.

Totally and completely surrender his future into Jesus' hands.

You see, I cannot hold on to Jesus' hands.

I cannot go where Jesus wants to lead me if my hands are holding on to something else.

Whether it's my past, whether it's things that I used to find security in, comfort in, identity in.

Many times people come want to come to Jesus, but they're still holding on to other things from their past.

Other things that they used to find security in.

They want to hold on to other things that have become idols in their lives.

Yes, I'm here, but I still want to hold on to that relationship.

Don't tell me to let go of that one, God, because I mean that one.

Never mind that he's a heathen, he's terrible or she's terrible.

No, I want to hold on to that, God.

Don't tell me to let go of that.

I want to hold on to that identity, those things that I've put my faith in up to this point.

I still want to have those things in my world.

Listen, God doesn't want to be a part of your life, He doesn't want seasonal faith, He wants complete surrender.

And many times coming to Jesus is an invitation to complete surrender.

In Mark chapter 10, verse 17, we read about this rich young ruler, and he comes to Jesus as Jesus was walking.

Mark 10:17

He comes running.

He says, as he was going out on the road, one came running and knelt before him and asked him, Good teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

This guy had it right.

He came to the right source.

Something within him told him, something within him told him, Listen, go to Jesus, he will tell you how you can truly get eternal life.

So he comes running to Jesus, he had the right heart, and then he kneels before Jesus, he gives him the right honor, he had the right posture before Jesus, the right respect of Jesus.

And he was even a good person by the moral standards of the law.

Because Jesus tests him and says, Yeah, you know what, you you know what to do, you need to obey the commandments.

Uh gives him a list of uh some of the Ten Commandments, and and he responds, he says, Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.

I'm living my life right, I'm obedient.

Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him.

Now I want you to keep that in your heart.

Jesus knew this guy didn't have it right.

Jesus knew he was not completely surrendered.

Jesus knew what how he was going to respond, and he was, but it says Jesus loved him.

Love has nothing to do with your performance.

Amen.

You are loved full stop.

It's not I love you because I love you full stop.

For God so loved you that he gave his only son.

He says, While we were yet sinners, he loved us and he gave his son to die for us.

So it says, Jesus loved him and said to him, One thing you lack, go your way, sell whatever you have, give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.

And come take up your cross and follow me.

But this rich young ruler, he was sad at this word and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

One thing you like, Jesus said, Yes, you've got the 99% right, but now it's time for you to trust me 100%.

Are you willing to trust me 100%?

You see, we can be good Christians, we can attend church, we can know the scriptures, we can live morally decent lives, yet still have a no trespassing sign over certain areas of our lives.

No trespassing to God.

God, don't don't, yes.

All this is fine, I'll do all this, but this area, stay out.

Maybe it's over your finances.

You have a no-trespassing.

I obey God with all of this, but this one, God, never mind now.

This part I've got discovered.

You don't worry about this, God.

Maybe it's over your your relationship, maybe it's certain comfort sins that you have.

I do all this well, but God, this one never mind now.

No trespassing.

And Jesus tells him, This one thing you lack.

On the surface, it seemed like such a small percentage, right?

Like I said, 99% right, 1% wrong.

However, that one thing was the anchor that kept him from the best that Jesus had for him.

That one thing kept him from becoming the 13th disciple of Jesus.

I believe if this guy said okay, he went and sold everything and left, like uh like Levi and all that, um, he would have been the 13th disciple because Jesus gives him that same invitation that he gives to all the other disciples.

Come, follow me.

And he decides, he goes away sorrowful.

Sorrowful.

That means he's sad, he was depressed, but he's still not willing to let go of that one thing.

Amen.

Listen, the story isn't saying that riches or wealth is bad.

The problem wasn't about what he had, it was about what had him, right?

You know, whatever we cannot surrender to God, it's not what we own, it's what owns us.

What are we holding on to that is keeping us from moving into where God is leading us to?

God doesn't want a piece of your heart, he wants the throne of your heart.

Amen.

So he took this blind man by the hand, led him out of town.

For this man to be healed, Jesus had to take him on a journey.

This man had to hold on to Jesus, trust Jesus totally.

He came to Jesus because of the fate of the others, the fate of his friends that brought him there.

But Jesus was putting him in a position where it has to be his own fate now that's going to lead him forward.

His own faith has to kick in.

He was no longer going to be able to depend on the fate of these friends, on the fate of the people of others that brought him to Jesus, on the fate of the people that were interceding with him.

Now you have an encounter with Jesus, now you're holding Jesus by the hand, now you're beginning your journey with Jesus.

It has to be by your own faith.

So Jesus leads him out of town, and it's not expressly stated why he does this.

Maybe because this town is notorious for faithlessness.

In fact, Jesus specifically cursed this city for their unbelief at one point.

If you read in Matthew chapter 11, verse 20, he says, Then he began to rebuke the cities in which most of the mighty works had been done because they did not repent.

Matthew 11:20

Woe to you, Chorazim, woe to you, Beth Seder.

For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago with sack cloth and ashes.

So Jesus, this city obviously had issues.

They were an unrepented kind of people in that city, faithless kind of people.

Maybe that's the reason.

I mean, it's not expressly stated anyway, and we don't really know.

But listen, you don't, you may not understand the journey you're on, but we are not called to understand, we are called to trust the one who is leading us.

You may not understand why you're going through what you're going through, you may not understand why you're here when you thought you're gonna be there, but trust the good shepherd.

Amen.

The whole psalm that we the 23rd Psalm that we meditated on over our 21-day fasting and prayer.

The Lord is my shepherd, is talking about putting yourself in the position of a sheep in surrender to the voice and the leading and the provision and the capacity of the shepherd.

You may not understand why you're facing this, you may not understand why you're going through this, you may not understand why certain things were removed from your life, but trust the shepherd and keep walking with him.

He is good, he is faithful.

Amen.

You know, sometimes God will lead you out of certain things, out of the familiar.

Sometimes he will shift you, and it may not be a geographical shift, it may just be a shift in the mindset from an old mindset of unbelief to a new mindset of faith before he can lead you into the breakthrough that he has for you.

In fact, the scripture tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

The only way transformation can come into our worlds, biblically speaking, is through transforming, through changing, through shifting in our thinking.

Amen.

And sometimes it may be an emotional shift or a physical shift.

He may shift you out of certain relationships, certain toxic environments that has become a hindrance to your development in Christ.

Sometimes relationships determine the environment that you are in, and maybe that is a hindrance, and God is leading you out of that thing.

You know, among the things that form our environment are the friends and the people that we hang out with.

Studies have shown that you become the average of the five people that you hang out with the most.

So whoever's been hanging out with five cats and five dogs, stay away from me.

Now you're wondering why you always like to eat fish for lunch, right?

Chew on bones.

No, I'm kidding, no, but it that's true.

If you see uh if you see a bunch of people hanging out together, you'll notice after a while they all talk the same.

Yeah, they all have the same lingo, and on a deeper level, they start to think the same.

If you hang out with people who are always cursing, you'll notice that before long it's becoming easier for curse words to come out of your own mouth.

If you hang out with people who are always negative and faithless, it will affect your your look and look of outlook on life.

After a while, you are becoming negative and faithless as well.

If you hang out with uh with people who don't have God as a priority in their lives, your walk with God, you'll find that your walk with God starts to erode slowly.

Listen, I'm not saying don't hang out with people, with different people, but I'm saying who you hang out with or spend most of your time with, who you allow to influence you, matters.

They will affect your environment, and your environment affects your growth, your life, and your spiritual development.

In fact, the first psalm, first psalm, psalm one says, Blessed are those who walk not in the counsel of the ungodly, who stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.

You notice the progression?

Blessed are those who walk not.

So, because first we start walking.

Hey, we're going the same direction.

We're working in the same office, we're walking.

I'm a Christian, this person's just next thing you know, you're standing, you're not moving, but you're still there, you're still facing the right direction.

After a while, you're sitting, stuck already, cannot move, and you're becoming scornful and you don't even know what happened.

Yeah?

First Corinthians chapter 15, verse 33 says, Do not be deceived, evil company corrupts good habits.

1 Corinthians 15:33

Proverbs 13:20, he who walks with the wise will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

Proverbs 13:20

So Jesus many times shifted the environment he was in.

And uh because he wanted a miracle to happen, he wanted things to not to hinder the miracle, and he shifted the environment by shifting the people with him in that environment because the people affected the environment.

In Luke chapter 8, verse 15, talking about Jairus' daughter, who had just died, and when Jesus heard it, he answered, saying, Do not be afraid, only believe, she will be made well.

Luke 8:15

And when he came into the house, he permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John.

No one else, and the father and the mother of the girl.

Why?

Because these are the people who believe, and the father and the mother, they all are believing and expecting a miracle.

There's an atmosphere of faith around these people.

Now, all who wept and mourned for her, so there were a lot of other people in the house, and he said, Hey, don't weep, she's not dead but sleeping.

He brings a different report.

Everybody was reacting to the report in the natural.

It's so young, girl.

Everyone was feeding the problem, feeding the flame of the problem.

And Jesus comes and he brings a totally different report.

Yeah?

And listen, as Christians, we must be the people of the different report.

We must be the people of a different report.

Every negative situation you step into, it's easy to get caught up in the sway of people's emotions, what they're feeling, what you're seeing in the natural.

It's easy to just join the crowd.

But we are people who walk by faith and not by sight.

What does faith say about the problem?

What does faith say about that circumstance?

What does faith say about the doctor's report?

What does faith say about my financial future?

What does faith say about my children?

So I bring a different report into that circumstance.

Don't go carrying kerosene into everyone's problem.

We are not supposed to be provoking the problem.

Then what's the purpose of faith?

What is the purpose of your faith if you're going to go into a situation and join the chorus of the world?

Join the choir.

Oh, poor thing, how are you doing Alto?

I will do tenor.

He is going to die.

He is going to die.

He is going to die.

Yes, yes, yes.

He is going to die.

No, he's going to live.

Shall live and not die.

Bring a different report.

Firstly, firstly, I think we find it hard to bring a different report into other people's lives because, firstly, we always don't even know how to embrace that different report for our own lives.

Right?

We need to always first apply.

You know, the like that oxygen mask in the plane that comes down.

I hope none of you had to go through that.

I've never gone through that.

But they always tell you when the oxygen mask falls down, put it on yourself first.

Because if you are dying and you cannot breathe, there's no point.

You need to breathe and then put it somewhere, help someone else.

Most Christians are not taking that oxygen of faith, but we're trying to feed faith.

So it's not coming from the heart or from passion or from the spirit, it's coming from your head.

Be the person of a different report.

Jesus goes into this situation.

The child had just died.

Everybody is seeing what they saw in the natural, everybody's believing, everybody's singing the same song.

Jesus comes and says, She's not dead, she's just asleep.

And people laugh, people mock him.

Listen, people will always laugh and mock the faith report that you bring.

Don't get discouraged by that.

Don't be afraid of the opinion of the crowd.

Always bring a faith report.

People will not believe because they don't see the what you the way you see.

They don't have the truth that you have access to.

Amen.

People laughed and they mocked him.

They ridiculed him.

They didn't just laugh at him.

They made fun of him.

Bodo Balol.

How can you know?

How can they come and say this?

You know, see the parents are so sad that he's coming and telling these kind of stories.

What kind of Christian is he?

I mean, it wasn't a Christian then, but people always ridicule things like that.

Sometimes even Christians bring that kind of a talk.

Yeah?

How can they make fun of him because they knew he says knowing that she was dead?

See, what they know doesn't really matter at the end of the day.

It's what God says and what God will do that matters.

It's what we know of God, not what they know of the problem that is going to make a difference at the end of the day.

Amen.

And it says they laughed at him, they ridiculed him, knowing that she was dead, but he put them all outside.

He put them also, all these people that were ridiculing him, laughing at him, he put them outside.

It's a very polite way of saying he chased them out.

He kicked them out of the house.

Get out, get up, get out.

Y'all are not adding to this problem.

Please, please.

Everybody, he put them all outside.

And then he goes to the little girl, saying, Little girl, arise.

He holds her by the hand and she lives.

Amen.

But there were people that he needed to put outside so that the environment could shift so that this girl could receive her miracle.

You know, some of us have people in our world that we need to put outside.

Because they are affecting the environment of faith that you are living in.

I'm not saying that your faith is weak, but if you find that it's shifting your heart, your faith stands there.

People you need to actually say, Hey, listen, I love you, but stop talking.

Stop talking.

I don't want you speaking into this.

Thank you.

Amen.

Y'all look very serious.

Look like y'all are about to go home and chase some people out of the house.

Okay, let's go on.

Let's go on.

Let's go on.

Another five minutes.

So he took the blind man by the hand, led him out of the town, and uh after he did he does the miracle, he says, Don't go back to town or tell anyone from that town.

So Jesus led him out of an environment where he was blind, into an environment where his eyes could be open, where this guy could get a fresh vision for his life, then tells him, Don't go back there.

Don't go back to that which I took you out of, delivered you out of, led you out of.

In fact, don't even bother telling people from that place about what happened in your life.

Not everyone needs to know how God is blessing you or is working in your life.

Because not everyone is going to have the same right attitude about your breakthroughs.

You know, some of you have been let out of a place, let out of an old environment.

God has given you a new vision for your life and your future.

Don't go back to that place that God has led you out of that old stronghold, that old darkness, that old environment.

Don't go back to that place that will blind you to what God has done or is doing in your life.

Don't go back to that space that will rob you of your God-given vision for your future.

So, interestingly enough, Jesus performs this miracle in a very strange and unique way.

It says, He he he he took this.

Okay, so when he had spit in his eyes and put his hands at him on him and he asked him if he saw anything, he looked up, he said, I see men like trees walking.

Then he put his hands on his eyes again and made him look look up.

Jesus performs this miracle for this man by spitting in his eyes.

How offensive and rude.

In any culture, to spit on someone is an insult to that person.

You would get offended if you came to the altar call after this.

And most of you know I'm recovering from a flu, you can hear it in my voice.

Come to the corner on my left.

I'm gonna heal you.

Lost five members from the church.

Of course, you can argue that this man was blind.

He had no idea, right?

He didn't know, he could not see, but I guarantee you he would have heard.

Because for you to gather enough speed in your mouth, there needs to be some sound effects, right?

If you try to speed without doing the whole, you know it won't come out.

He would have been standing before Jesus and then he heard.

So he thought, okay, that that I mean Jesus probably has a recovering from a flu.

And next thing he heard, and he felt it on his face.

How offensive.

He could have he heard he heard it, he felt it, he could have ducked, he could have got angry and walked away.

What the heck?

You brought me out of town to spit on me.

I traveled all this way, held your hand, brought me here, you spat on my face.

What is wrong with you?

But this man stood there before Jesus.

It sounded offensive, it felt offensive.

You know, sometimes the means through which your God ordained miracle may come your way may sound or feel offensive to you.

You read about Naaman, this army general who's suffering with leprosy, and the servant girl tells him, Listen, there is a there's a prophet, you can go to this prophet and he will tell you how to be healed.

So he sends the servant, and the servant and uh the prophet just sends the servant out to meet him and tells him, Listen, just go to the uh to the river, this this river and dip yourself and and you will be healed.

And the servant goes back and tells his great army, Syrian army general, says, This is what the the guy says, and he's and he gets it says Naaman becomes furious and he walked off, saying, Indeed, I said to myself, he will surely come out to me, stand and call on the name of the Lord, wave his hands over the place, heal the leprosy.

Are not the rivers in my town, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?

He expects me to dip myself in these rivers.

And he turned away and he walked away.

And the servant came to him and said, Master, my father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you have would you not have done it?

How much more than when he says to you just wash and be clean?

What's the big deal?

So he says, Okay, he goes down to the river, the Jordan dips himself seven times, and then his flesh is restored, like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

See, he didn't he didn't agree to the method, he found it offensive.

He didn't like the methodology through which the miracle was going to be released into his life.

You know, a lot of people want the breakthrough.

We want the miracles for our lives, but we don't agree, and we don't like the method, the God ordained methods through which uh that these miracles will come into our lives.

You know, we want a financial breakthrough.

You come to me, I'll tell you, listen, are you a tither?

Are you a giver?

No.

No, you need to start tithing because that's the word of God.

That's how the word of God, that's the only way you break out of lack and poverty.

You need to be a giver, you need to be a tider, you need to be a sower.

How dare this church is pastors?

Oh, just want money and yeah, I'm not gonna churches always like this.

Maybe between you and that miracle, it's forgiveness that you need to release.

How dare they expect me to forgive this?

You know the the of what this person did to me, you know how they offended me, you know what they did to my children, you know how they treated me.

Maybe it's offense that you need to let go, pride that you need to die to.

But you find all of that offensive, so you might just be missing out on the miracle that God has for you.

So this blind man stands there.

Jesus speaks on him, lays his hands on him, and asks him, Do you look up and say, Do you see uh tell me what you see?

He says, I see men like trees walking.

Then he put his hand on his eye again and made him look up, and he was restored and he saw everyone clearly.

I see men like trees walking.

This man gets back his vision, light enters his eyes again, he receives his vision, but he still did not see clearly.

And from Jesus' perspective, that was not complete healing yet.

Jesus didn't just want him to see, Jesus wanted him to see correctly.

He saw people as objects rather than who God created or designed them to be.

At salvation, light enters our lives, our spiritual blindness is removed.

We see God clearly, the one who is before us, the one whom we are journeying with, but the miracle from heaven is ultimately revealed in how we see people around us.

How you see people is many times an indication of whether you're completely healed or still work in progress.

Amen.

Salvation is the greatest miracle, but salvation is a starting point.

Sanctification is a process, and God's goal for you and I is to see people clearly because we cannot be salt and light if we don't see people around us the way God sees.

Amen.

That person isn't difficult, he's broken.

He needs Jesus.

That relative isn't evil, she's lost.

She needs Jesus.

That child isn't hopeless, that child needs to know his or her identity in Christ.

That's the answer.

We start to see people clearly.

That is the goal of God for you and I.

In John, uh, first John chapter 4, verse 20, it says, if anyone boasts, I love God, and goes on hating his brother or sister, thinking thinking nothing of it, he's a liar.

1 John 4:20

If he won't love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can't see?

The command we have from Christ is blunt, loving God includes loving people.

You have to have both correctly, you have to have a correct vision heavenward, and you have to have a correct vision towards people.

God's creation, amen.

So he's led you away from an old crowd, old habits, maybe that old Beth Seda mindset.

You felt his touch, you know he's real.

Maybe you're in that in-between position right now.

Come on, let's stand.

You know you're in that in-between position where you're there, but you're not quite all there.

And sometimes you're you're wondering what is wrong with me?

Why is this taking so long?

Why am I not getting that instant breakthrough that I saw someone else get?

Maybe that's you.

Maybe you're wondering why is my life not there yet?

Is there something wrong with me?

Jesus is saying to you today, I'm not done with you yet.

He's not done with you yet.

You're still work in progress.

We are all work in progress at some point.

And and the assurance that we can have is this Philippians chapter 1, verse 6 says, Be confident of this, that he who begins a good work in you will carry on, carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6

Maybe you're saved, but you're still struggling with certain things, and you're thinking, ah, what's going on with me?

What's wrong with me?

Jesus is saying to you today, I'm not done with you yet.

Keep holding on to him.

Don't go back to town, don't get offended.

Don't walk away.

Keep holding on to Jesus, keep journeying with Jesus, keep fixing your eyes on him.

He is the author and perfecter of your faith.

Keep walking with him.

He's not done with you yet, and he will finish the good works that he began in you.

Amen.

And maybe some of you are struggling with that one thing.

Maybe God's speaking to you today about this one thing.

You know, I do all this.

I come to church, I go through the motions, but I have this one thing that I've been that I've put a big no trespassing sign over to God that I've made peace with.

But that one thing is keeping you from a complete surrender, keeping you from following him totally into the life that he has for you.

And I believe he's asking you this morning, are you ready to surrender that one thing?

You know, it may be hard from where you're standing right now, but it starts with a prayer of faith.

Say, God, I want to.

God, I want to.

I'm ready, I'm ready to trust you 100%.

It could be unforgiveness, it could be certain relational issues, could be your mindset on certain things, finances, areas that you're not ready to surrender and trust Jesus with anything.

Come follow me.

Let go of that thing, trust me.

Are you ready this morning?

If that's you, just put your hands to God right where you're standing.