Good
Morning Friends,
"One
day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. The
power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. Some men came carrying
a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before
Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they
went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the
middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he
said, 'Friend, your sins are forgiven.'" (Luke 5:17-20)
This
is a quite a story of friendship and faith and power.
Friendship
is seen so clearly in what the men were willing to do for the paralytic. They
carried him from his home. They did their best to get him into the home where Jesus
was teaching. They carried him onto the roof, dug a hole through the dirt roof
and then lowered him to where Jesus was. These men really cared about the
paralyzed man. They were true friends to him. I know I have friends who would
go the extra mile for me -- some who have on occasion and others I know who
would. I'm sure you have friends like that, too. The more important question --
are we friends like that to others?
Faith
is seen in the men who were carrying the paralytic. They did what they did for
their friend for two reasons: They cared about him and they believed that Jesus
could help. That's what faith is -- to believe that Jesus can help. Do we have
the kind of faith in Jesus that believes He can do what He promises?
Power
is seen in Jesus. He would heal the paralytic and that was certainly a
demonstration of power. But there is an even greater power than the healing --
He forgave the man’s sins! Doctors can sometimes heal sickness. Sometimes
people simply get well on their own. NO ONE can forgive sins except God. Jesus
was claiming the authority of God. He has that authority over our lives, too.
He can and will forgive our sins, too.
Friendship
-- Faith -- Power -- what a great story!
His,
by Grace, Steve
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