December 23, 2024

God Has The Final Say

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Recorded in the Gospel of John, our Lord made seven statements referring to Himself as I AM

I AM The Light of the World
I AM The Bread of Life
I AM The Door

I AM The Good Shepherd
I AM The True Vine

I AM The Way, The Truth, and The Life
I AM The Resurrection and The Life

Each week during this season of Lent, here on the Seeking Him blog, we will be focusing our devotionals on a different aspect of Jesus’ revelation of Himself as I AM.  The aim of Lent should be to prepare our hearts for the remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice—His trial and torture, the Crucifixion and His death…and above all, the celebration of His Resurrection from the dead.  We pray that this will be a great encouragement to each of you who read them.  And that all of us will consider the significance of Jesus’ words and, through them, be helped as we remember and are thankful for all Jesus went through during the last few weeks of His life on this earth.

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“…I AM the Resurrection and the Life.”
John 11:25

“He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!
Remember what He told you back in Galilee—
that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified,
and that He would rise again on the third day.”
Luke 24:6-7

I know Easter is all about what Christ has done for us and our sins and our salvation.  Jesus IS the Resurrection and the Life, and because of Him we live. Here’s another way to look at it though…

God has the final say in everything.

When times look rough and just make no sense at all…when bad is just surrounded by bad and worse just keeps getting worse…we have to remember that God has the final say.

Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power over me at all
unless it were given to you from above…’
John 19:11a

  • At the Red Sea, when the Israelites appeared to be trapped with nowhere to go, God appeared and made a way. When Pharaoh and his army began to follow, God washed them away. (Exodus 14)
  • In the boat during the storm, the disciples were afraid they would die, but Jesus delivered them. (Matthew 8:23-27)
  • When Lazarus died and all hope was lost, Jesus brought him back! (John 11)

When life starts to beat you down and nothing makes sense, and the fight seems lost remember the next sentence in Luke 24:

“Then they remembered that He said this.”
verse 8

The great thing is this—when all else fails remember, no matter what you are facing, God has the final say.  It’s not over until God says it is, and (in case you forgot!) we win at the end!

Things in this life are simply things in this life.  1 John 2:17a says, “And this world is fading away…”  This is not the end.  Nothing can happen to us that can rob us of our ultimate prize.  Whether it be illness, death, sorrow, or fear…we still have a place in Heaven.

Yes, it would be awesome to have an easy life here on Earth, and for everything to be just comfortable and perfect, but that’s not how it works!   This is not the end, and nothing will be perfect until we are home in Heaven.   So, keep that in mind.

Yes, we are may face some horrible situations and circumstances
but, in the end, everything will be okay.

Your Compass

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Recorded in the Gospel of John, our Lord made seven statements referring to Himself as I AM

I AM The Light of the World
I AM The Bread of Life
I AM The Door

I AM The Good Shepherd
I AM The True Vine

I AM The Way, The Truth, and The Life
I AM The Resurrection and The Life

Each week during this season of Lent, here on the Seeking Him blog, we will be focusing our devotionals on a different aspect of Jesus’ revelation of Himself as I AM.  The aim of Lent should be to prepare our hearts for the remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice—His trial and torture, the Crucifixion and His death…and above all, the celebration of His Resurrection from the dead.  We pray that this will be a great encouragement to each of you who read them.  And that all of us will consider the significance of Jesus’ words and, through them, be helped as we remember and are thankful for all Jesus went through during the last few weeks of His life on this earth.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

 Jesus said to him,
I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life;
no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me.
John 14:6

What’s true…or not…is not for us to decide.  Truth is truth.  The Lord helps make this simple by being that Truth.  If ever we wonder what we should do, we have a Compass to point us in the right direction.  Jesus said that He is “…The Way, The Truth, and The Life.”  So, when we come across new teachings we need to be diligent in comparing this teaching to the Word of God that we know.

Anyone can look at the Bible and interpret it the way they want; but that doesn’t mean that you should blindly follow every interpretation of the Bible.  Go to it and read for yourself.  What does God say to you about what you are reading, and what does He say to you about the teaching you just heard?

There are concepts and things in the Bible that we KNOW for a fact.  We would know it immediately if we were to hear a teaching that contradicted what we KNOW to be true from our time spent in the Word.  I myself have encountered instances where someone was preaching and what they said directly went against what I KNOW to be true from the Bible.  I have also heard teaching that I was uncertain about. But everything in my spirit screamed, “This is not correct…run! Run quickly!”

Pastors are awesome.  They help teach us and guide us and share knowledge about the Word of God.  However, your Pastor cannot KNOW the Word of God for you.  You must KNOW it for yourself, so that you can live it and apply it and discern what you are being taught.

The Bible says that we should, “…not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world” (1 John 4:1).

There is only one Truth and one Way—the Way of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Lord, help us to have discerning minds.  Let us not be critical or cynical, but discerning.  We desire to be good stewards of Your Word and teaching.  We do not desire to lead anyone astray.  Help us to clearly interpret Your Word and spread nothing but Your Truth to one another that we may grow to be a truth-loving and -following people of God.  Amen.

Fellowship Through The Vine

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Recorded in the Gospel of John, our Lord made seven statements referring to Himself as I AM

I AM The Light of the World
I AM The Bread of Life
I AM The Door

I AM The Good Shepherd
I AM The True Vine

I AM The Way, The Truth, and The Life
I AM The Resurrection and The Life

Each week during this season of Lent, here on the Seeking Him blog, we will be focusing our devotionals on a different aspect of Jesus’ revelation of Himself as I AM.  The aim of Lent should be to prepare our hearts for the remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice—His trial and torture, the Crucifixion and His death…and above all, the celebration of His Resurrection from the dead.  We pray that this will be a great encouragement to each of you who read them.  And that all of us will consider the significance of Jesus’ words and, through them, be helped as we remember and are thankful for all Jesus went through during the last few weeks of His life on this earth.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

I AM the Vine; you are the branches.
If a man remains in Me and I in him,
he will bear much fruit;
apart from Me you can do nothing.
John 15:5

Listening to K-LOVE as I drove home from work yesterday, something sparked a conversation with God about the difference between relationship and fellowship with the Lord. I felt I was being told that I should write about this for my devotional…to which I promptly responded that I didn’t know what the topic is this week, but I’d see if it fit in.  Silly me, right?  (If the Holy Spirit tells you to do something, I do believe He knows what He is talking about.)

The conversation continued.  I pondered the difference between relationship and fellowship.  Relationship, although very basic, is a distinguishing factor of Christianity.  (Without a dictionary in hand) I concluded that it is possible to have a relationship with someone, but not be in fellowship with them. And it seems very unlikely, if even at all possible, to be in fellowship with someone and not have a relationship with them.

But now, I have my NLT dictionary/concordance handy and have the proper definitions:

  • Relationship (n): a state of affairs existing between those having relations or dealings
  • Fellowship (n): friendship; association; company; partnership

I was surprised at how few references to these words there were in the NLT, but then I got to thinking.  The Bible in its entirety gives us instructions on how to have a proper relationship with God and others. It gives us information on how God loves us, about His character, and His ultimate plan.  All of this ties into our relationship with God.

You can have a relationship with just about anyone.  You have a relationship with your boss at work, your coworkers, the cashier that scans your groceries every week, the women in your bible study…,etc. The list is never ending. (We would likely refer to most of these people as acquaintances.) However, you likely do not have fellowship with all those people. You CAN, but odds are you don’t. Fellowship is far more deliberate than relationship; it doesn’t just happen without effort.

Jesus made it simple for us. He said,
I AM the Vine; you are the branches.
If a man remains in Me and I in him [fellowship],
he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.
John 15:5 emphasis mine

Stay connected to Jesus (via the word, prayer, etc.) and this will be evident in your life. We have to have our Life Source in order to do anything productive. We need more than just a mere relationship…we have to have that fellowship…that DEEP connection.

So, take a look at your relationship with God…
Are you in a relationship only? Or is there fellowship?

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Lord, help me to maintain fellowship with You.  You are my Life Source and I need You for everything that I do.  Amen.

Dedicated To You

SeekingHimLogo

Recorded in the Gospel of John, our Lord made seven statements referring to Himself as I AM

I AM The Light of the World
I AM The Bread of Life
I AM The Door

I AM The Good Shepherd
I AM The True Vine

I AM The Way, The Truth, and The Life
I AM The Resurrection and The Life

Each week during this season of Lent, here on the Seeking Him blog, we will be focusing our devotionals on a different aspect of Jesus’ revelation of Himself as I AM.  The aim of Lent should be to prepare our hearts for the remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice—His trial and torture, the Crucifixion and His death…and above all, the celebration of His Resurrection from the dead.  We pray that this will be a great encouragement to each of you who read them.  And that all of us will consider the significance of Jesus’ words and, through them, be helped as we remember and are thankful for all Jesus went through during the last few weeks of His life on this earth.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

I AM the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
John 10:11

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. As I pondered this verse, I continued to read all the way to verse 21. We all know that Jesus died for us on the Cross to save us from our own sin. I know we are all very thankful for this selfless act, because we have come to accept this act as our saving grace. However, the fact still remains that Jesus is many things to us—not just our Savior. This week we are looking at how Jesus is the Good Shepherd.

Shepherds lead their sheep. They watch them, guide them, make sure they have a place to eat, a place to sleep, and safely exist in the world. The sheeps very being is dependent on the shepherd—and so our very being is dependent on Jesus.

The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.
Proverbs 21:31

This verse has reminded me, time and time again, that there is only so much that is MY part. I can only make so much happen. I can only do so much. The real success comes when I allow God to do His part. This verse also reminds me that the Lord is my Shepherd; He is the one who orchestrates the comings and goings of my life.

Another verse that reminds me that Lord is the One who is control of my well being is Proverbs 20:21.

A man’s steps are directed by the Lord.
How then can anyone understand his own way?

God cares for us. He sent us Jesus. Jesus cares for us, and because He does, He has chosen to be our everything.

  • Are you hungry…physically or spiritually? He will lead you to the food you need.
  • Are you tired? He will give you a safe place to rest.
  • Are you lost? He will guide you.
  • Are you scared? He will shelter you.

He is our EVERYthing. There is nothing in this world that you can experience that He Himself cannot help you with. The real question is…

Will you let Him be your Good Shepherd?

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Lord, thank You for being such an amazing Provider and making my life simple. I know I am the one who complicates things. Help me to live in You and follow Your lead. Amen.

The Gate for the Sheep

SeekingHimLogo

Recorded in the Gospel of John, our Lord made seven statements referring to Himself as I AM

I AM The Light of the World
I AM The Bread of Life
I AM The Door

I AM The Good Shepherd
I AM The True Vine

I AM The Way, The Truth, and The Life
I AM The Resurrection and The Life

Each week during this season of Lent, here on the Seeking Him blog, we will be focusing our devotionals on a different aspect of Jesus’ revelation of Himself as I AM.  The aim of Lent should be to prepare our hearts for the remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice—His trial and torture, the Crucifixion and His death…and above all, the celebration of His Resurrection from the dead.  We pray that this will be a great encouragement to each of you who read them.  And that all of us will consider the significance of Jesus’ words and, through them, be helped as we remember and are thankful for all Jesus went through during the last few weeks of His life on this earth.

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Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I AM the Gate for the sheep.”
John 10:7

Sometimes I sit and wonder why a God as awesome as we serve would want to be in a relationship with me…. What did I do that I should I should be so privileged to have a relationship with the Lord?  Why me?  Why us?

The truth of it is that He chose us.  So, how then did we enter into our relationship with the Lord?  Well, if you want to be picky, we all have different stories.  I myself came defeated, reluctant, and skeptical.  I was all out of options.  You may have experienced the same, or your story may be different.  However, with that being said…really…we all came to relationship with the Lord the same way.

How could this be?!?!  Our stories are so different.  True, but there is something in common with all our stories—we all said ‘yes!’ to Jesus.

There is no other way.  So, before the yes, our stories are very different. After the yes, our stories are very different. It is even possible that during the yes, our stories are very different.  I, myself, experienced the most calming and thought-cleansing moment of my life!  Light shined into my world.  I did not know what would happen next, or what my life would look like, but somehow I knew I’d be okay.

The point is, Jesus said that He is the Gate for the sheep.  Well, sisters (and brothers) we all walked through that same Gate!  Saying this makes me want to high-five each and every one of you.  We are ‘in’ because of our Savior.  Yay for us! What an awesome feeling it is to have walked through the Gate.  Why not bring someone along?

Oh, and be careful though!  Jesus said in John 10:10, that “The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

That which is of our Father gives life.
That which is of Satan brings destruction.

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Lord, thank You for bring me to You. I am so grateful for Your provisions. Help us to be mindful of all that is around us and diligently be on the lookout for those that You would have us touch. Amen.

The Bread that Quenches Hunger and Thirst

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Recorded in the Gospel of John, our Lord made seven statements referring to Himself as I AM

I AM The Light of the World
I AM The Bread of Life
I AM The Door

I AM The Good Shepherd
I AM The True Vine

I AM The Way, The Truth, and The Life
I AM The Resurrection and The Life

Each week during this season of Lent, here on the Seeking Him blog, we will be focusing our devotionals on a different aspect of Jesus’ revelation of Himself as I AM.  The aim of Lent should be to prepare our hearts for the remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice—His trial and torture, the Crucifixion and His death…and above all, the celebration of His Resurrection from the dead.  We pray that this will be a great encouragement to each of you who read them.  And that all of us will consider the significance of Jesus’ words and, through them, be helped as we remember and are thankful for all Jesus went through during the last few weeks of His life on this earth.

Then Jesus declared, “I AM the Bread of Life.
Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry,
and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.
John 6:35

(context)

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Jesus says that He is our Light and that He will lead us in this life we live.  Jesus also says that He is the Bread of Life.  Not only does He light our paths, but He sustains us spiritually.

Everyone is searching for something.  We all are missing something in our lives. We all have a hunger/thirst that only the Lord can fill.  That is how we were made to be. God being the total Provider that He is, made provision for us to have all that we need.  In Jesus, God gave us so much.

…this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches,
which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19

Many people search high and low to fill a longing that they do not understand. Even as Christians we can sometimes forget that we already have all that we need in Jesus. We can often fall into the trap of relying on our money or our jobs or our friends or our family to help us feel better about ourselves or the things happening in our lives. We find comfort and show pride in the things we have accomplished. Nothing wrong with comfort and pride, but when we lean on it as if it is our Rock…that is where we run into problems. Comfort and achievements can disappear just as quickly as they arrived. The only “thing” we can trust to never change is Jesus. He will always provide for us what we need…always.

Psalms 136: 23-26 reminds us of the Lord’s awesome provision and our need to give thanks to Him for His amazingness.

He remembered our utter weakness. His faithful love endures forever.
He saved us from our enemies. His faithful love endures forever.
He gives food to every living thing. His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven. His faithful love endures forever.

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Lord, You are all that we need. I thank You that we do not have to go searching through worldly things to find what fills our hearts’ desire. You are enough. You will always be enough. Let us remember that YOU are the Bread of Life. Amen.

Follow the Light

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Recorded in the Gospel of John, our Lord made seven statements referring to Himself as I AM

I AM The Light of the World
I AM The Good Shepherd
I AM The Way, The Truth, and The Life
I AM The Bread of Life
I AM The True Vine
I AM The Door
I AM The Resurrection and the Life

Each week during this season of Lent, here on the Seeking Him blog, we will be focusing our devotionals on a different aspect of Jesus’ revelation of Himself as I AM. The aim of Lent should be to prepare our hearts for the remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice—His trial and torture, the Crucifixion and His death…and above all, the celebration of His Resurrection from the dead.  We pray that this will be a great encouragement to each of you who read them.  And that all of us will consider the significance of Jesus’ words and, through them, be helped as we remember and are thankful for all Jesus went through during the last few weeks of His life on this earth.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   * 

Then Jesus spoke to them again: “I AM the Light of the world.
Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness
but will have the Light of life.”
John 8:12

God makes a lot of promises and (unlike human promises) He keeps each one.  God created the very things we need to sustain physical life.  We find our purpose in this God.  We are meant to live our lives for this God.  Everything we are, and everything we will be, should be for Him and His glory.

The Bible is about this God we don’t see, but Who we can know oh, so intimately.  We have the privilege of getting to know the Creator of the world.  He tells us very clearly all about Himself in His “I AM” statements.  Thankfully, we don’t have to guess about the Lord of all Creation.

Jesus said He is the Light of the World.  Light emphasizes the details of things and promotes clarity.  We spend a majority of our time in the light.  During the day we have the sun, during the night we have electricity.  Most people don’t just sit in the dark.  If they do, typically something is wrong.  I don’t like the light when I have a migraine because it’s too bright and makes the pain worse.  When people are sad or depressed you might find them sitting in the dark.  People refer to bad times as “dark times.”

Light is important to us.  Jesus said He is the Light of the World. Therefore, Jesus is important to us; especially when it comes to navigating this dark world.  We do not have to aimlessly wonder around the world, merely existing and lost.  God will show us what we need to do.  God will show us where we need to be.  The key is to follow Him.  If God goes left and we go right, are we really following Him?  No.  Therefore, if He is not in the lead, then our Light is not in front of us, we cannot see.  We must face the Light at all times, and stay with Him for the Light to be of use to us.

Your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.
Psalm 119:105

We have no reason to wander.  No reason to be scared.  With one simple action we can help ourselves.  Follow the Light.  He will lead you.

God’s Love IS Possible

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We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us.
So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.
If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need
but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
1 John 3:16-18

Love is more than just a warm feeling.  Love does.  Loves does many things!  As I’ve said before, “Love says ‘yes!’ even when faced with impossibilities.”  David and Jonathan had a love for each other. Jonathan was David’s friend.  He had sworn his allegiance to David and loyally honored it, because love is faithful.

Saul now urged his servants and his son Jonathan to assassinate David.
But Jonathan, because of his strong affection for David,
told him what his father was planning.
“Tomorrow morning,” he warned him, “you must find a hiding place out in the fields.”
1 Samuel 19:1-2

The king of Israel—his father, Saul—commanded Jonathan to kill David.  At one point Saul reminds Jonathan that as long as David is alive Jonathan will never be made king.  Jonathan put his own fame and claim to the throne, as well as royalty and prosperous family life on the line to honor God and his friend.  Jonathan by birthright had right to the throne, not David the shepherd.  But his love reflected in his actions and, thus, Jonathan helped David on many occasions.

Everything he had he was willing to give up for his friend.  Love does that. Jonathan sided with what was right, because love can conquer all evil. This one human relationship shows that not only Jesus can love in the same way that God loves. We can. God’s love is possible!

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Lord, help us to love the way You do.  Not just in our minds, not just in our dreams, not just in our hearts, but in our actions.  Help love to conquer any fear or obstacles that would hinder us from loving the way You love.  And show us those people whom You would put in our path for us to love specifically because of their need for Your love. Amen.

Imperfect Love

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Love is patient and kind.
Love is not jealous or boastful or proud
 or rude.
It does not demand its own way.
It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.

It does not rejoice about injustice
but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
Love never gives up, never loses faith,
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NLT

Love encompasses all the good there is in the world. Love taps into the spirit within us. God loves us and He is love. And because He loves us so much He kindly gave us what we needed in order to love properly. Love says ‘yes!’ even when faced with impossibility.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8

And Romans 12:9-10 says,

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them.
Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.
Love each other with genuine affection,
and take delight in honoring each other.

I believe (and will always believe) that love is a choice and an action.  We don’t just run around just loving because we don’t have a choice.  For some, loving others is embedded in their very fabric—like their heart beating—it is who we are.  But for others, it is like sleeping…we have to think about it and sometimes we fight it.  We, as human beings, have the luxury to pick who we will and will not love.  Our love is not always unconditional.  In a world of greed and putting ‘Number 1′ first, our love sometimes is up for sale to the highest bidder.  We withhold from others what we ourselves know we desire.

Love is meant to be unconditional.  But, like many other things the human race has gotten it’s hands on, it can be tainted.  And we need to remember this.  We aren’t going to love perfectly.  In a perfect world we would, but we don’t live in a perfect world.  I’m not saying we need to excuse or ignore the fact that we don’t love perfectly, but we need to be kinder to one another.  Some of us have had poor examples of what love actually looks like.  What we know in our minds sometimes does not translate in the real world, because we just don’t know what it’s supposed to be like.

We are imperfect.  Our love will be imperfect.  Together, we can strive for Godly love.  Together we can show one another (and unbelievers) what love truly looks like. We can be examples of the Lord’s love—He loves us, so we can love others. Together, we can get it right.

Extended Faith

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Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them.
Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd,
they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and,
after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,
“Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Mark 2:3-5

When I read this passage, I had to stop and read it again.  A couple of things stood out to me in this passage:

1.  These men that were helping the paralytic were not referred to as his friends.
2.  Jesus helped the paralytic based on the men’s faith.

This passage, even in the other Gospels, is kind of vague. It leaves a lot to question…for instance,

  • Who were these men that had so much faith in Jesus that they were willing to climb onto a roof, dig through it, and lower a man down…when they may or may not have been his friend?
  • Why did they care so much?
  • Did the paralytic have faith?

This passage doesn’t say.  This passage actually focuses heavily on the men who brought the paralytic.  Regardless of the answers to these questions one thing remains a fact—Jesus healed the paralytic because of the four men’s faith.  I’ve read over this passage before, and I clearly remember being under the impression that the man asked to be taken to Jesus and he was healed because he believed.  But upon re-reading this passage, I am very baffled by the fact that Jesus healed the man because of the other men’s faith.

This passage is proof that believers are essential to non-believers’ lives.  We are not meant to be sectioned off.  We are not to be put on a pedestal.  We are not better than non-believers.  We are guides, helpers, and intercessors.  Not only can our faith be of use to the non-believer, but believers can help other believers, too.  Our faith is not just our faith. Our faith can extend to the lives around us.  And sometimes that’s what we need.  We need others to believe for us and with us.  This is why fellowship is important.

Faith—your faith—is for more than just you.
Share it. Use it. It has great power.

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Lord, help us to understand that our faith can reach further than just our own lives and the lives of those immediately around us.  Show us that our faith is potentially useful to all those that we encounter.  Amen.