Day 2 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below.
• During days 1-7 (at your own pace) read chapters 1 and 2 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 1-7, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 1.

"And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, 'Do you see anything?' And he looked up and said, 'I see people, but they look like trees, walking.' Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly." (Mark 8:22-25 ESV)

My car was parked on our driveway last night. With the colder temperatures, all of my car windows were frosted. I hit the heat on and cranked up the defrost. In only a few minutes, what I couldn't at first see through my windows, things right in front and around me, eventually became crystal clear.

• When you came to faith in Jesus or when you've matured in your spiritual life, what was a particular nugget found in God's Word that at first looked fuzzy/foggy/blurred but then (by the Spirit's help) you came to see clearly as truth?

• Finke writes, "People struggle to put it into words, but we're sensing that Jesus is up to something, showing us something new, inviting us to perceive what he is doing next. It seems to be right there in front of us and yet still just outside our ability to see clearly or articulate fully. We are like the blind man in Mark 8:22 who is beginning to see but cannot quite make out what he is seeing." Can you relate? When it comes to living out Jesus' mission in reaching more and more people with His love and good news, this could be uncharted territory for you. Yet the mission has always been there right in front of you...you've just never seen it. What do you find exciting/challenging (maybe even scary)/inspiring/moving about this missional adventure Jesus has given you?