How Do You Respond?

Yes, I am back again talking about Luke 5:17-26. I want to thank you for sticking with me as I am continually led back to this scripture. Today as I was reading and praying, I was thinking about the different people that are mentioned in this passage. You have the paralytic, his friends, the crowd, Jesus, the scribes, and the Pharisees. At one point or another in my walk with Christ, I have been each of these people. The good thing is that God is still working on me.

I hope that you have had a chance to think about what impossible thing you want to see God do in 2020. I know I am very excited to see what He is going to do. Early in my walk with Christ I was the paralytic's friend. Seeing someone in need of prayer, in need of something miraculous, I was happy to take that request to Jesus. This allowed me to see many prayers answered and see how God did the impossible over and over again. Over time I found myself to be the crowd. I would stand by and see many miraculous things happen but, I wasn't the friend that went to the roof to get my friend to Jesus. Yes, I was guilty of not totally believing that God was going to come through or even believing that the miracle was going to happen.The good news is that even though I had these thoughts, God continued to put me in situations where, I had no other choice but to believe that He must come through, that He had a plan and that I had to trust in what He was doing. This brought me to a time in my life where I found myself to be more like Jesus. I was not afraid to pray for any request. I would leave it to my Father in Heaven to work out all the details to see Him be glorified. I was able to see God do even more things through those times and requests. I have seen people be healed of cancers, come through risky surgeries successfully, demons be removed, and people be brought through tough situations that only God could work out.

When I didn't put God first and before I had Christ in my life, I even found myself to be more like a scribe and Pharisee. I really wasn't concerned about what was going on. Even going as far as thinking, this is crazy. Why would people keep lifting up this request. Who has the authority to do something like this?

Now I find myself in the position of the paralytic. This man was in a desperate situation. When his friends heard that Jesus was in town, they new what they had to do and nothing was going to stop them. Even though the spectators were blocking the way to Jesus, they decided to go to the roof, remove the tiles, and lower their friend to the feet of Jesus. Not only was this man healed but those that witnessed this miracle, were "seized in amazement" and they glorified God. The man, picked up his bed and walked away glorifying God.

So as you read this scripture, what is God showing you? Who are you in this story?

Are you the paralytic? Do you have something impossible that needs God to work out?

Are you the friends? Do you see an opportunity to take the request to Jesus and believe without a doubt that God is going to answer that prayer?

Are you the crowd? Do you see God doing great things, but you are just standing by watching?

Are you the Pharisee or scribe? The Pharisees and scribes in this story were looking for any reason to make an accusation against Jesus. They were not really concerned and the words that Christ spoke were nothing to them.

Before I proceed, I want to say that no matter who you are, God loves you and wants to have a relationship with you. God rules over everything. But sin entered the world. We have all sinned. The good news is that God didn't leave things that way. He provided Jesus. Jesus gave His life and died on the Cross so that we could have an eternal relationship with Him. The only thing we need to do is respond to this gift that was given to us. Romans 10:9-13 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

I don't know where you are in your prayer life. I encourage you to be a friend to someone that needs God to step in and lift up their request to Jesus. Trust that God is going to answer that prayer even though you have no idea what that will look like. If you are just part of the crowd, I encourage you to become active and pray for those that have that impossible situation and need support. If you are in need of God doing the impossible, have courage and do not be afraid to make your request known. There are people that want to pray for you and lift that request up to Jesus. I would love to do that with you. I can say that my prayer life is changing everyday. God has done so many things recently and is walking right beside me in the midst of my current trial. He wants to do the same for you. Even though I do not know what it will look like in the end, I am excited and I am believing that He has a plan through all of it. I also want to share that I have made my request known to many that have went to the roof for me and many others that are seeking God for the impossible. Do not be afraid to share your request. Make your "impossible" known. How are you going to respond?

Until the next blog entry, I love you all and I'm praying for your "impossible". Have a great day, my friends!