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Psalm 146:8 – The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. (NKJV)
In my Bible class at the local Long Term Care Centre, I usually take sections of the Bible to study for a number of sessions in a row. I have done a series on the Psalms, the first part of the book of Acts, Jesus' parables, and the story of Joseph, from when he was sold by his brothers until they met up with him again in Egypt. Recently, I revived the idea of doing a series on the miracles of healing that Jesus performed. But as I started to study, the images of the people who come to my class began to enter my mind. Some of them are in wheelchairs; others have to use walkers. There are several who have extremely bad vision or are totally blind, and some who are hard of hearing. Although miracles of healing in Jesus' name do still occur, at the residents' age, they are rare, and I wondered how I could talk to them about instant healing without raising false expectations.
When I had considered such a series before, there was a 104-year-old lady who was very bright and totally blind. Knowing the questions that she asked and the observations that she made persuaded me not to do a series on the miracles Jesus performed, because I knew that she would ask me some very pointed questions to which I had no answer. To this day, I have not yet done a series on the healing miracles of Jesus.
Then, as I was studying the Bible one day, I came across the passage where Jesus was preaching to the people in Nazareth, His hometown:
Luke 4:17-19 – And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (NIV 2011)
All of a sudden, it came to me. Jesus came to preach the gospel not just to the poor, but to the poor in spirit: those who are searching, but just cannot find peace in their hearts. He came to heal those who are suffering from a broken heart, the loss of a loved one, a broken marriage, and difficulties at home, within the family, or at work. He came to set free those who are captives of bad habits. Then these words caught my eye: "Recovery of sight for the blind".
He came to open our spiritual eyes. When we are obsessed by the things of this world, we may be spiritually blind. There are so many people to whom having fun is more important than matters of the faith. We are assured through the words of Scripture that we can all come to Jesus and He will comfort us and heal us spiritually. These are the words of good news that are up to us to tell people about.
Prayer: Our Father in heaven, as we see the lack of faith in so many people all around us, we pray that You will give us the ability to tell them about You, each one of us in our own way. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.
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Wednesday, January 22, 2025 – In Yemen — Pray for our Yemeni national church. We now have more believers than the rest of the Saudi peninsula combined. Pray for us to be bold and discerning as we share our faith. Pray for us to also be continually growing in our relationship with Jesus.
daughter: "Update December 30, 2024: And please touch her heart that she may turn to YOU.* November 12, 2024:..." 
Great word for today Joel.
Love your excellent insights. Thanks, Joel for sharing.
Wonderful insights! Thank you. I needed to hear that today.
Thanks Joel for sharing this devotional with us. It’s a needed message for those who suffer in spirit as well as body. Blessings.
This ties in with the advent theme this Sunday: hope. The good news brings hope. Ultimately, our only hope in this world. Thanks.
Good devotional this morning Joel. It will speak to those who are searching for the Lord.
I will be moving into a Senior Home in a few months and maybe will also be given the opportunity to lead a Bible discussion group.
God bless,
(B.C.)
Your devotional raises a good question. My understanding of miraculous healing is that it is not our right; rather it is a gift of grace that some may be healed. By the time we’ve become seniors most of us have accumulated a lot of afflictions that we would like healed. St Paul had a “thorn in the flesh” and in 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV) says God told him “’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
Thank you for your devotionals. They are always insightful.
Thank you Joel. “To open our Spiritual Eyes” was exactly my thought as I read through your devotional and before I got to your sentence. There is always another way of “interpreting” what is said. It’s long been my belief too, that when people pray for the healing of a terminally ill loved one; are disappointed, when their loved one dies, thinking God has not answered their prayers. They are focused only on their physical healing, and don’t see that He has answered their prayers for healing by releasing their loved one of all the physical, emotional, spiritual pain and suffering of this world.
Spiritual healing affects the entire body and, as depression and anxiety lessen, the brain’s chemistry changes. Then the signals from the brain to and thru the nerves to the rest of the body change. Much of the body can heal thru this process. Correct?
Stress, fear and anxiety are real and cause illness in the entire body.
Faith in God to take care of us and all of our life circumstances alleviates stress, fear and anxiety. Correct?
If only in this way, I believe God heals and I can testify to the miraculous wonder of His process.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Thanks!
Dear Joel,
Thank you for your good devotional. That is GOOD in as far as it goes. But why not take the next step?
Why be afraid to pray for physical healing (even for healing of the blind eyes), as well as for spiritual healing?
As with all of our prayers, we must recognize and affirm that it is our Lord’s choice whether he responds in the affirmative or the negative, or whether he heals or does not heal, and in what way he chooses to respond to our requests.
We can pray for healing, knowing that in eternity God makes all things new, even if not in time.
Keep writing Joel. and keep praying to the uttermost for the uttermost.
We don’t want to give people false hopes, no.
But we can also while praying allow those prayed for to be very much aware that they must leave the answer to God’s discretion and will.
Hi Joel
In reading through your devotional today I found it a real thinker.
We have lived on a court with 10 houses for many years. During that time only four are original the rest have turned over more than once.
In all these years I can’t remember any that attended church.
Now you can say —- get out witness to them —— I put out a sign that reads Christmas is about Christ and they still love Santa Clause and coloured lights.
The district we live in has expanded to the size of a small city. We all have access to a club house so long as we don’t entertain any Christian meetings or distribute and Chistian literature! I guess what I am trying to collect in my thoughts as I read your devotional about the work your do with older people that still cling to Jesus WHAT’S NEXT?
GOD BLESS.
Hi Joel, I have been on two healing teams with a mission group. We went to churches and preached about healing, laid hands on people and prayer with and over people. Before we went we studied healing scriptures. Of all the group I was the most skeptical and also tried to be the most discerning. When I did not know what to do in situation I prayed scripture which was most of the time.
We visited a young woman with two little boys. She was in a wheel chair and had not walked for a year from a car accident. She had two church people looking after her.
She had three options for supporting herself and her family.
We prayed with her, got down by her wheel chair, laid hands on her legs. While I was out of the room the noise level had increased and as I looked out she got out of the chair and walked a few steps. I saw it with my own eyes.
We were bold, way bolder than I wanted to be. We prayed for her hands on the second trip. There are so many layers to this story but I saw and was part of times when people were healed physically, some emotionally and spiritually restored.
I have tried to process that trip. I can not. One thing I made sure I did was to acknowledge Jesus as the healer and I pleaded the Blood of Jesus over that person from the top of their head to the soles of their feet. Words came out of my mouth in prayer that were not my words and I was speaking in English to the person. As I prayed over one man with my partner, this young man collapses in my arms. I felt transformed and surrounded in love. It was very powerful. That prayer changed him. It was Jesus, the Holy Spirit working.
I do know that Jesus heals and he heals today. It is all about Him. Who could I talk to about this in our churches today. Very few. They would think I was a freak and would not believe me.
We pray today as if our prayers will not be answered. There are may different ways people are healed and it is not always the way people want. Your devotion has stirred up a bunch of memories and I have gone back to my North American ways. May we be bold and led by the Holy Spirit to step out in faith and may the words out of our mouth be His. Thank you for your devotion. Blessings.
Thank you for your encouraging words. May we all become as bold as brass when it comes to service unto others. I always appreciate your messages and admire your dedication to the folks at your local long-term care facility. Blessings.