{"id":24266,"date":"2015-02-06T00:20:20","date_gmt":"2015-02-06T05:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=24266"},"modified":"2015-02-06T00:06:34","modified_gmt":"2015-02-06T05:06:34","slug":"week-jesus-words-faith-mark-23-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2015\/02\/06\/week-jesus-words-faith-mark-23-5\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week…Jesus’ Words on Faith (Mark 2:3-5)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SeekingHimLogo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/sup>Then they came, bringing a paralytic to Him, who had been picked up and<\/i> was being carried by four men. \u00a0<\/span><\/span>And when they could not get him to a place in front of Jesus because of the throng, they dug through the roof above Him; and when they had scooped out an opening, they let down the [thickly padded] quilt or<\/i> mat upon which the paralyzed man lay. \u00a0And when Jesus saw their faith [their confidence in God through Him], He said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven<\/span>….”<\/p>\n

Mark 2:3-5 AMP<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This has been the final week of our current series—Jesus’ words on faith<\/em><\/span><\/strong>—<\/span>here on the Seeking Him<\/span> <\/em>devotional blog. \u00a0Each week our devotional writers have shared and reminded us about what our Lord taught on this very important subject. \u00a0(If you haven’t had the opportunity to read through these wonderful devotionals, just click above on the Seeking Him<\/em> button and scroll backwards. \u00a0The series began on January 11th.) \u00a0We have looked at these four particular records from the Gospels which are just a few examples where\u00a0Jesus spoke to His disciples as He \u00a0taught them the value and importance of having faith.<\/p>\n

Matthew 8:23-26<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark 5:24-34<\/a><\/p>\n

Matthew 6:33-34<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark 2:3-5<\/a><\/p>\n

* \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0\u271e \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0* <\/span><\/p>\n

In Extended Faith<\/em>, Ahmee<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0made such a great point about our faith and how it affects others.<\/p>\n

“Not only can our faith be of use to the non-believer, but believers can help other believers, too. \u00a0Our faith is not just our<\/em> faith<\/strong>.<\/span> Our faith can extend to the lives around us. \u00a0And sometimes that\u2019s what we need. \u00a0We need others to believe for us and with us. \u00a0This is why fellowship is important.<\/p>\n

Faith\u2014your faith<\/em>\u2014is for more than just you. <\/strong><\/span>
\nShare it. Use it. It has great power.<\/strong><\/span>“<\/p>\n

\u2766<\/span><\/h2>\n

In From Paralyzed to Forgiven and Healed<\/em>, Tina<\/span><\/strong> wrote about the value of godly, praying friends.<\/p>\n

“Friends.<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0What would we do without our friends? \u00a0The man in our Scripture today would not have been able to receive his healing had his friends not put their faith<\/span> into action\u2026and been willing to get help for their friend. \u00a0We are not told whether the man had been paralyzed for a long or a short time; we just know that he was paralyzed.<\/p>\n

Do you have such love for a friend\u2014in which you would go to that much trouble for them? \u00a0If not, then we really need to look at our friend list and see who God would direct us to help.”<\/p>\n

\u2766<\/span><\/h2>\n

In Level of Faith<\/em>, Ann<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0encouraged us to have a high level of faith<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
\nRomans 10:17 KJV<\/p>\n

“If you don\u2019t hear the Word of God you will not know what the Word has for you. \u00a0These people in Mark 2, had been hearing a lot of things that Jesus did, for Jesus went about doing good. \u00a0So, the news that Jesus healed people was all over their cities [Mark 1:29 \u2013 34<\/a>] and through many testimonies they had been hearing of Him healing many as well as His miraculous deeds. \u00a0Their level of faith grew each day by hearing these testimonies and probably many others, too, had followed Him to another place where the miracle took place in their presence.<\/p>\n

When you have a high level of faith you can do the extraordinary\u2014this is what we see in our Scripture this week. \u00a0Their level of faith did not allow stumblingblocks to the healing of their brother; hence, the opening on the roof.”<\/p>\n

\u2766<\/span><\/h2>\n

In Faith and Forgiveness<\/em>, Cynda<\/span><\/strong> focused on a fundamental truth—<\/p>\n

“Faith<\/span> <\/strong>is the key.<\/p>\n

In this one verse (Mark 2:5), Jesus makes it abundantly clear what is most important. \u00a0It isn\u2019t our physical well-being, our monetary wealth, or our social status. \u00a0It is the state of our soul, our spiritual well-being. \u00a0Our greatest need is for salvation. \u00a0One of the greatest miracles is God freeing us from the power of sin because of faith<\/span>. \u00a0He is the only One who can truly set us free. Four simple words\u2014\u201dYour sins are forgiven.\u201d No qualifiers. \u00a0Jesus doesn\u2019t say because you are pretty you are forgiven. \u00a0He doesn\u2019t say because you are smart you are forgiven. \u00a0No, all that is required is faith<\/span>\u2026faith<\/span> in Jesus Christ. \u00a0Just like that our sins are forgiven. \u00a0Past, present, and future. \u00a0Permanently erased. \u00a0And sometimes, it is all because someone interceded in faith<\/span> for us.”<\/p>\n

\u2766<\/span><\/h2>\n

And in Strong Faith<\/em>, Laura\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>also wrote on the value of faith.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Faith<\/span> <\/strong>is one of the strongest weapons we have as humans when it comes to facing the different trials of the world. \u00a0It can carry us through the toughest times and can give us joy during the good times. \u00a0Faith<\/strong> <\/span>is the best tool we have to face evil in a world that is changing before our eyes. Faith<\/strong> <\/span>is what gives us the strength to keep on searching for answers. ”<\/p>\n

* \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0\u271e \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0* <\/span><\/p>\n

As always, our heart and prayer to God is that these devotionals will encourage you to seek Him<\/em> and that you will be drawn closer in relationship with Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Then they came, bringing a paralytic to Him, who had been picked up and was being carried by four men. \u00a0And when they could not get him to a place in front of Jesus because of the throng, they dug through the roof above Him; and when they had scooped out an opening, they let […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":13840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[235,3367,365,8289,8334,3174,7879],"class_list":["post-24266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-coleen-hayden","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-faith","tag-jesus-words-on-faith","tag-mark-23-5","tag-seeking-him-devotional","tag-weekly-recap","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-6jo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24266"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24281,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24266\/revisions\/24281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}