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Think about the Christian you want to be. What qualities do you want to have? More compassion? More conviction? More courage? What attitudes do you want to discontinue? Greed? Guilt? Endless negativity?

With God’s help you can close the gap between the person you are and the person you want to be. Indeed, the person God made you to be. You can live “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). To inherit your inheritance is God’s vision for your life. Imagine the thought! You as you were intended. It’s a life that is yours for the taking.

Expect to be challenged. The enemy will not go down without a fight. But God’s promises outweigh personal problems. Victory becomes, dare we imagine, a way of life. Isn’t it time for you to change your mailing address from the wilderness to the Promised Land? Are you ready to march?

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Many Christians think they’re saved, hope they’re saved, but still they doubt, wondering, “Am I really saved?” Our behavior gives us reason to wonder. We’re strong one day, weak the next. Devoted one hour, flagging the next. Believing, then unbelieving.

Conventional wisdom draws a line through the middle of these fluctuations. Perform above this line, and enjoy God’s acceptance. But dip below it, and expect a pink slip from heaven. Salvation, then, becomes a matter of timing. You just hope you’ll die on an upswing.

Jesus’ language couldn’t be stronger: “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never lose it or perish throughout the ages…and no one is able to snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28 AMPC). God doesn’t let go, and he won’t let go of you.

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Jesus still finds blind people and restores their sight. Did you know he promised that through his ministry the blind shall see? Christ came to give light and sight.

Consider what he is doing in the Muslim world. According to Tom Doyle, more Muslims have become Christians in the last couple of decades than in the previous 1400 years since Muhammad and about one out of every three Muslim background believers has had a dream or vision prior to their salvation experience.

Jesus is in hot pursuit of the spiritually blind and he finds them, he touches them. He may use a vision or he may use the kindness of a friend or the message of a sermon or the splendor of creation. But believe this, he came to bring sight to the blind.

Remember friend, you are never alone.

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Jesus told the blind man, “Go and wash in the pool of Siloam,” which is translated, “sent.”  Access to the pool of Siloam involved the descent of three sets of stone hewn steps, five steps each, no casual stroll for anyone, much less a blind man. But he did it, and he leaned over the edge of the pool and began to wash his eyes. And from one moment to the next, he could see.

The question is often asked, what does a person need to know to become a follower of Christ?  This story provides an answer. The man knew nothing of the virgin birth or the beatitudes. He received sight, not because he deserved it, earned it or found it. He received sight because he trusted and obeyed the one who was sent to open eyes that are blind.

Remember friends, you are never alone.

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“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).  After saying this, Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva and put it on the man’s eyes” (vs. 6). Now there’s something you don’t expect to read in the Bible. Jesus spitting. A prayer would have seemed appropriate, perhaps a hallelujah.  But who expected a heavenly spit into the dirt?

The God who sent manna and fire dispatched a blob of saliva. And as calmly as a painter spackles a hole in the wall, Jesus streaked miracle mud on the man’s eyes. Sometimes God uses the less than pleasant. He initiates the miracle through mud moments, layoffs, let downs, and bouts of loneliness.  Can you relate? If so, do not assume that Jesus is absent or oblivious to your struggle. Just the opposite. He is using it to reveal himself to you. He wants you to see him.

Remember friend, you are never alone.

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As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. No one else saw him. The disciples saw only a theological case study. “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  They didn’t see a human being. They saw a topic of discussion.

Jesus, by contrast, saw a man who was blind from birth. A man who had never seen a sunrise, who couldn’t distinguish purple from pink. He dwelled in a dark world. Others had reason to hope. He had reason to despair.  But then Jesus saw him and he sees you.

The first lesson of this miracle is a welcome one. You and I aren’t invisible. We aren’t overlooked. Jesus spots us on the side of the road and he makes the first move. Remember my friend, you are never alone.

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From Heaven’s viewpoint, our earth is populated by sightless people. They do not see the meaning of life or the love of God. How else do we explain the confusion and chaos? How else do we explain the constant threat of world war, plagues of hunger, racism, and the Holocaust of the unborn? Billions of people simply cannot see.

The scripture says, “The devil who rules this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe.” They cannot see the light of the good news, the good news about the glory of Christ who is exactly like God. We need a spiritual ophthalmologist. We need Jesus to do for us what he did for the man on the side of the Jerusalem road. He restored his sight and he will do the same for us. Remember, my friends, you are never alone.

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Christians love to sing “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found. I was blind, but now I see.”

Blind. Blind to the promise of eternal life. Blind to the provider of life. We relate to the words of the was-blind beggar: “One thing I do know. I was blind, but now I see.”

His story is our story. Perhaps that’s why John was in no hurry to tell it. He needed only twelve verses to describe how water became wine, but he dedicated a whopping forty-one verses to depicting how Jesus found and cured and matured the blind man. Now why? Among the explanations is this one. What Jesus did physically for the blind beggar, he desires to do spiritually for all people—to restore our sight.

Remember my friends, you are never alone.

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On April 21st, 2008, Katherine Wolf suffered a massive stroke. She lost her ability to walk, talk clearly, and care for herself. She went from being a California model to a wheelchair-bound patient. God stepped in.

In her wonderful book, Hope Heals, she writes, “I felt a deep awakening of the Word of God, which I had known since I was a little girl. It was my epiphany of hope. I would never lose heart in this situation because my soul was not what was wasting away.”

Don’t try to weather this storm alone, my friend. He is still the great I AM. The next time you pray, “Is anyone coming to help me?” listen for the response of Jesus. “I AM with you in this storm.” Remember my friend, you are never alone.

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We’d rather be spared the storm. Or if the storm comes, let it be mild and our deliverance be quick. Let the job dismissal come with a severance package and an offer of a better position. Let the marital strife turn quickly to romance. Sometimes it does.

But when it doesn’t, when we are thorax-deep in turbulence, Jesus wants us to know his name and hear him saying, “I am coming.” Such was the experience of the disciples. The moment they invited Christ into their boat was the moment they reached their destination. “So they gladly took Him aboard. And at once the boat reached the shore that they were making for” (John 6:21 Phillips).

Follow the example of the disciples. Welcome Jesus into the midst of this turbulent time. Don’t let this storm turn you inward. Let it turn you upward. Remember my friend, you are never alone.

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During World War I, Biddy Chambers, her husband, and small daughter moved to Egypt, where he served as a chaplain. He taught, she transcribed. It was a perfect partnership.

Then her husband’s complications from appendicitis rendered Biddy a widow, and all the dreams of a teaching ministry would have to be abandoned, right? Well, no. She turned her husband’s notes into pamphlets. Eventually, they were compiled into a book, My Utmost For His Highest. This work of Oswald Chambers has sold more than 13 million copies and has been translated into more than 35 languages.

The next time you feel overwhelmed, remind yourself of the one who is standing next to you. Give him what you have, offer thanks, and watch him go to work. Remember friends, you are never alone.

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Do you face 15,000 problems? Before you count yourself out, turn and look at the One standing next to you. Christ can help you do the impossible. You simply need to give him what you have and watch him work.

John 6:11 says, “Jesus took the loaves.” This is the story of the day that Jesus fed the 5,000 men plus women and children. He didn’t have to use the loaves. He made manna fall for the Israelites. Instead, he chose to use the single basket of the small boy.

What’s in your basket? All you have is a wimpy prayer, give it. All you have is a meager skill, use it. All you have is the strength for one step, take it. God used three nails and a crude cross to redeem humanity. If God can turn a basket into a buffet, don’t you think he can do something with your five loaves and two fishes of faith? Remember, you are never alone.

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The crowd followed Jesus around the Sea of Galilee. The 15,000 people—5,000 men plus women and children—were hungry. Philip and Andrew counted the hungry people. They counted the money in their bag. They counted the amount of fish and bread.

They did not, however, count on Christ. And he was standing right there! Yet the idea of soliciting his help did not dawn on them. Even so, Jesus went right to work. “Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them to those who were seated…and as much fish as they were wanting, too” (John 6:11). The impossible task of feeding all these people became the unforgettable miracle of all these people fed.

What we cannot do, Christ does. The problems we face are opportunities for Christ to prove his point. Remember friends, you are never alone.

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When Jesus found the just healed man in the temple, he told him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (John 5:14 NKJV). Stagnant, do-nothingness is deemed as a serious offense. No more Bethesda for you. No more waking up and going to sleep in the same mess.

God is the God of forward motion. The God of tomorrow. The man in John’s story had waited 38 years but something about the presence of Christ, the question of Christ, the command of Christ convinced him not to wait another day. Let’s join him. Ask the Lord this question, “What can I do today that will take me in the direction of a better tomorrow?” Keep asking until you hear an answer. And once you hear it, do it. Stand up, take up, and walk. Remember friends, you are never alone.

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Believe in the Jesus who believes in you. He believes that you can rise up, take up, and move on. You’re stronger than you think. “’I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).

He certainly gave a bright future to the Bethesda beggar. “And immediately the man was made well” (John 5:9 NKJV). Jesus did nothing but speak, and the miracle was accomplished.

What will God do for you? I cannot say. God’s help, while ever present, is ever specific. It is not ours to say what God will do. Our job is to believe he will do something. It simply falls to us to stand up, to take up, and walk. Remember friends, you are never alone.

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Life feels stuck when life makes no progress. When you battle the same discouragement you faced a decade ago or struggle with the same fears you faced a year ago. When you feel as though everyone gets to the pool before you and nobody wants to help you.

Friend, Jesus sees you. He has a new version of you waiting to happen. He says to you what he said to the man near the Pool of Bethesda. “Stand up, pick up your mat and walk” (John 5:8 NLT).

Stand up, do something, take action. Pick up your mat, make a clean break with the past, and walk…hit the trail. Assume that something good is going to happen. Set your sights on a new destination and begin the hike.  Getting unstuck means getting excited about getting out. And remember friend, you are never alone.

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On that particular day at the pool of Bethesda, Jesus was drawn to the main character of this miracle. John 5:5-7 (NLT) reads like this: “When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, ‘Would you like to get well?’ ‘I can’t, sir,’ the man said, ‘for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up.’”

What an odd question to ask a sick person. Why would Jesus pose such a question? The man was 38 years as an invalid. The duration of the condition prompted Jesus to ask, “Would you like to get well?”

Getting well means getting up, getting a job, getting on with life. Do you really want to be healed? That’s the question Jesus asked then. That’s the question Jesus asks all of us. Do you want to get well? Remember my friend, you are never alone.

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The man near the pool of Bethesda didn’t use the word “stuck,” but he sure could have. For 38 years near the edge of a pool, it was just him, his mat, and his paralyzed body. And since no one would help him, help never came.

Crowds of people, despondent, dejected, one after the other, awaited their chance to be placed in the pool where healing waters bubbled up. Can you envision them? And more important, can you envision Jesus walking among them?

All the gospels’ stories of help and healing invite us to embrace this wonderful promise: “Wherever Jesus went, he healed people of every sort of illness. And what pity he felt for the crowds that came because their problems were so great and they didn’t know what to do or where to go for help” (Matthew 9:35-36 TLB).

My friend, remember Jesus sees you and you are never alone.

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This life contains many walks from Cana to Capernaum. Journeys between prayer offered and prayer answered. Jesus promised the boy’s father a sure blessing at the end of the journey. He promises the same to us.

We will meet this father when we get to heaven, and when we do I’m gonna ask him about that walk. I want to hear how he felt. I want to know what he thought. But most of all, I want to thank him for inspiring this verse: “The man took Jesus at his word and departed” (John 4:50 NIV).

Do likewise. Set your compass on the pole star of God’s promise. Place one weary foot in front of the other. Jesus has spoken. Let his word do what it was intended to do, and that is lead you home. Remember my friend, you are never alone.

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Do your days feel like a hike on an Appalachian Trail in winter? A struggle to place one foot in front of the other? If so, I urge you friend, hang on, hang on. Don’t give up. Help is here. It may not come in the manner you requested or as quickly as you desire, but it will come.

Assume that something good is going to happen. The door of tomorrow is unlocked from the inside. Just turn the knob and step out. The divine artist isn’t finished. The earth is his studio. Every person on earth is one of his projects. Every event on earth is a part of his great mural. He is not finished. The scripture says in Philippians 1:6 (NCV), “God began doing a good work in you, and I’m sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again.” Remember friend, you are never alone.

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