life abundant
His friends had gone through all that trouble. They’d carried him through the dirt roads of the city only to find the way to Jesus blocked by hordes of people. But they’d not let that deter them. Working tirelessly, they’d lifted him onto the tiled roof, clearing a space just big enough to fit him, and lowered him to Jesus. All that trouble. All that sweat and back-breaking labor. All because they believed. They believed in Jesus’s power to heal him and they believed in his mercy. If they could only get their friend to Jesus, he’d be healed. There’d be no more paralysis. No more days spent confined to a bed. No more listening to the comings and goings of his family as they moved about the home—working, playing, living.
He lay helpless before Jesus. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on him. Then he heard Jesus speak. “Man,” he said, “your sins are forgiven you” (Luke 5:20).
disillusionment
Your sins are forgiven? We know how the man’s story ends. We know that in just a few verses Jesus will tell him to rise, pick up his bed, and go home. So it’s easy for us to rush through it. To bypass the tension. To hasten to the miraculous. But try to imagine what it would have felt like to the man, having come all this way, having felt like a burden to his friends. Maybe as they’d carried him from his home to Jesus, he’d spent the whole way picturing what it would be like to stand up, fold up his mat, and run home to embrace his family. And then imagine what it must have felt like to hear this teacher, this man named Jesus, say, “Your sins are forgiven you.” His sins? Didn’t Jesus understand? Didn’t he realize his problem was the paralysis?
abundant grace
The man and his friends wanted Jesus to deal with the paralysis. But there was a deeper need. Sometimes we deceive ourselves thinking that if God would just fix the external stuff, everything else would be okay. We would settle for that. But, thanks be to God, Jesus doesn’t settle. He didn’t settle in this man’s life, and he won’t settle in ours. Jesus knows, better than even we know ourselves, that the greatest need in our lives is to be reconciled to him, to be forgiven of our sins. And because he’s good, and because he showers us with grace upon grace, he doesn’t stop at that. Like the man who had been paralyzed, he looks on us with mercy, forgives us our sins, and then gives us life abundant. Just because He can.
The issue that needs to be dealt with is finding my comfort, joy, etc. in human beings – in a relationship with a boyfriend; instead of in Jesus.
Abundant life would look like complete satisfaction in my creator, the love of my life, Jesus. Which would enable me to walk in freedom in so many other areas of life, living for the audience of One. Him.
My hidden issue is pride. The pride of thinking I know best, the pride of self-righteousness and judgement, and the pride of placing Jesus in a box. I feel like if I gave all of this pride over to Jesus, I would be at peace more often and I could love more compassionately.
I think some of my hidden issues are with the need to control situations. Being a helicopter mom with my kids and not allowing them to fall on their face and learn from their mistakes. Expecting others to be like me. Abundant life would look differently if I could trust more that God has them under his wings and that I need to let them fly.
Worry which is a sin- need to give it all to Jesus. Trust that he will save my family before it’s too late. Need to turn all this worry & stress over to God so I can enjoy more of him & have abundant life & joy.
Grief. 2 burials in one week. A lot of pain. Inner emotional pain to be free from and be what He wants me to be, what He created me to be. And all this during COVID 19.
My bitterness and resentment that I don’t have what others have is an issue for me at times. It is a daily burden to carry the weight of such negative feelings. I need to surrender those negative things, and follow Christ and live in His love everyday.
This one is really hard to write out. It has to do with forgiveness for actions done against me, and truly having forgiveness for those things. The pain from these actions is very deep and his healing is definitely needed to completely take away the pain that was done over those years. I have to allow God to heal it and be okay with that, even if the actions of others doesn’t change. That is the hardest part!!
First of all I think it’s pretty awesome that that paralyzed man had friends that were willing to go to such great lengths to get him to Jesus. I’m grateful that I have a few friends in my life that I know for a fact would do the same for me. I really liked with this said as a reminder that sometimes our requests are surface level but how can we go deeper in our prayer to really get to the root of what needs to be healed and I think about that with hearts some of the outward issues and struggles and strife in my family it’s not just the strife it’s not just the personalities but it’s the hearts and if the hearts Can be changed and filled with Jesus love I think the outer issues would soften and relationships could be healed
My issue is that I compare and compete with others for recognition. in my mind and heart I only want Jesus to be recognized as the only one who is good. however, My Flesh nature vies for acknowledgment from others that I contribute good to the world around me. I have struggled with this all my life, being raised in a family where my older brother was ill and needed more attention than me. I felt overlooked. The other day when I was talking to God about this, he gave me a mantra to say whenever I feel overlooked. It is, I am seen, I am loved.I am practicing saying this because I know it is true. God never overlooks me. He sees every part of me and he loves me.
I don’t know. I am asking God to reveal to me if there are any hidden issues that need deal with. God, please open my eyes to any areas of sin or filth. It would be nice to be free of pain so I can move forward and continue to serve God’s purpose without feeling hindered