Walking Together Intentionally
One
day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were
sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from
Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal
the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried
to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 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. 20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said,
“Friend, your sins are forgiven. The scribes and the Pharisees began to
reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can
forgive sins, but God alone?” 22 But Jesus, aware of their reasonings,
answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23
Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say,
‘Get up and walk’? 24 But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the paralytic—“I say to
you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.” 25 Immediately he
got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went
home glorifying God. Luke 5:17-25
This is one of my favorite Bible stories. I can picture these men getting together and talking about Jesus healing people. As they talk, they decide they need to bring their good friend to Jesus to be healed. They grabbed their friend and off they went. Arriving at the house they saw it was impossible to even get to the door let alone to Jesus. Then in true "man" style, one of them was like, "Hey man, I've got the ULTIMATE idea. Let's go around the back, get him on the roof, peel back the tiles and lower him down in front of Jesus. It will be awesome!" I imagine the guys all respond with a grunt like, "Oh yeah! We can do this!" and off they went.
To me, this is an amazing picture of community! These guys decided to help their friend when he couldn't help himself. Not only that, when they came across obstacles, they didn't stop. They pushed forward until they got their friend to Jesus. Jesus not only healed their paralyzed friend, He forgave His sins!
This is loving like Christ. It is living life with others intentionally. This man's life was changed forever because His friends were willing to give him time and energy. I LOVE this! God gave us one another. This is how we walk life with others, helping when a friend is weak so that we can all thrive together.
It is so easy to greet people with a "Hi. How are you?" and keep moving before you even hear their answer. We miss the pain in their eyes. We miss the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to walk with them, pray with them, and encourage them. Be intentional with your time and how you listen.
Other times we know God is asking us to be intentional. We see a brother or sister in Christ heading down the wrong road and know they need to be stopped but we are afraid to say anything. We think they will be angry or reject us if we speak truth to them. But silence is not the love of Christ. We need to lovingly come along side our brother or sister and guide them toward things of Christ. How will they respond? Well, that really doesn't matter. That is between them and God. It is our responsibility to lovingly admonish and let God handle their heart. I know families that were destroyed while fellow believers watched and didn't say a word. I also know families that were made whole again because fellow believers had the courage to lovingly share God's Word.
Other missed opportunities are because of our own stubborn pride or fear. We keep hard situations to ourselves. We feel like we need to be strong and hold it all in. No one knows the depth of what is going on in our life because we don't let them in. Our world can be crumbling but no one knows because we are hiding behind a mask. Oh, friends, don't do it! We need to share life's difficulties with one another. We need to pray together and walk through the hard together. We need others to speak truth into our lives at all times.
Let's be like those few close friends! Ask God to give you His eyes for those in your life that are in need! Be prepared to walk through the hard in life with these precious folks! Bring them to Jesus! Push through the difficult! And if you are the one who needs the help, speak up and let others know! We will continue to pursue Christ together!
(February 2107)
This is one of my favorite Bible stories. I can picture these men getting together and talking about Jesus healing people. As they talk, they decide they need to bring their good friend to Jesus to be healed. They grabbed their friend and off they went. Arriving at the house they saw it was impossible to even get to the door let alone to Jesus. Then in true "man" style, one of them was like, "Hey man, I've got the ULTIMATE idea. Let's go around the back, get him on the roof, peel back the tiles and lower him down in front of Jesus. It will be awesome!" I imagine the guys all respond with a grunt like, "Oh yeah! We can do this!" and off they went.
To me, this is an amazing picture of community! These guys decided to help their friend when he couldn't help himself. Not only that, when they came across obstacles, they didn't stop. They pushed forward until they got their friend to Jesus. Jesus not only healed their paralyzed friend, He forgave His sins!
This is loving like Christ. It is living life with others intentionally. This man's life was changed forever because His friends were willing to give him time and energy. I LOVE this! God gave us one another. This is how we walk life with others, helping when a friend is weak so that we can all thrive together.
It is so easy to greet people with a "Hi. How are you?" and keep moving before you even hear their answer. We miss the pain in their eyes. We miss the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to walk with them, pray with them, and encourage them. Be intentional with your time and how you listen.
Other times we know God is asking us to be intentional. We see a brother or sister in Christ heading down the wrong road and know they need to be stopped but we are afraid to say anything. We think they will be angry or reject us if we speak truth to them. But silence is not the love of Christ. We need to lovingly come along side our brother or sister and guide them toward things of Christ. How will they respond? Well, that really doesn't matter. That is between them and God. It is our responsibility to lovingly admonish and let God handle their heart. I know families that were destroyed while fellow believers watched and didn't say a word. I also know families that were made whole again because fellow believers had the courage to lovingly share God's Word.
Other missed opportunities are because of our own stubborn pride or fear. We keep hard situations to ourselves. We feel like we need to be strong and hold it all in. No one knows the depth of what is going on in our life because we don't let them in. Our world can be crumbling but no one knows because we are hiding behind a mask. Oh, friends, don't do it! We need to share life's difficulties with one another. We need to pray together and walk through the hard together. We need others to speak truth into our lives at all times.
Let's be like those few close friends! Ask God to give you His eyes for those in your life that are in need! Be prepared to walk through the hard in life with these precious folks! Bring them to Jesus! Push through the difficult! And if you are the one who needs the help, speak up and let others know! We will continue to pursue Christ together!
(February 2107)
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