Matthew 9 - 9.5.23
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 9:1 - 2 "Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to His own town. Some men brought to Him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."
OBSERVATION: The first words Jesus said to the paralyzed man is, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven." The heart and soul of the man was MUCH more important to Jesus than his paralysis, but when He saw the faith of the men who had brought the man to Him, Jesus forgave his sins, AND healed his body. The phrase, "take heart" usually refers to a word given to someone who is worried or depressed. I'm sure that after laying on a bed in a paralyzed state, the man was just that! When the man was told by Jesus to "Get up and walk", he miraculously got up, picked up his mat, and went home. The crowd was filled with awe, and they praised God!
God often uses the faith of His people to bring forth miracles. It was the men who stepped out in faith by bringing the paralytic to Jesus that caused Him to receive his healing. They were the ones who had taken the steps to Jesus, and once they were in His presence, He demonstrated 3 miracles: He forgave the man his sins, He healed his paralysis, and He showed the men that He was able to read their thoughts. All these miracles happened AFTER the men took the step of faith to Jesus.
APPLICATION: While Jesus was walking on earth, He had all the power and authority to do miracles, and after He died and rose again, He sent the Holy Spirit Who now lives in us who believe that Jesus is Lord. He has come to live in us, and He empowers us with everything we need to be His witnesses. He uses our hands, our feet, and our voices to demonstrate His love and power to others. As Jesus abides in us, and we abide in Him, God uses us to point people to Him so that they are able to hear the Good News, receive His grace and the forgiveness of their sins, and be healed by the power of His name. God uses us as we step out in faith! The more we discover Who Jesus is, and walk in our new identity that God gave us when we were born-again in Christ, the more faith we will have to step out and be used by Him.
Sometimes the person we are praying for is just desperate for a change, so they ask us to pray for them. God cares about both their spiritual and physical condition, but we must remember that their spiritual condition is much more important to God than even their physical condition. As we step out in faith and expect God to move through our prayers, we should never forget the most important part to God; their soul!
So often when I pray for people, they are not even aware of their spiritual condition; that they are dead in their sins. No matter what the person is asking me to pray for, I always like to end up making sure that they are saved. I find that these 2 spiritual questions help to confirm what they are trusting in for eternal life. The first question is: "Have you come to a place in your spiritual life where if you were to die tonight, you know for sure that you would go to heaven?" Second question: "Suppose you were to die tonight and stand before Father God, and He were to ask you, "Why should I let you into My heaven, what do you think you would say?" Those 2 questions, especially the second one solidifies who and what the person has put their trust in for salvation. Sometimes I find that that they're trusting in their good works to get them into heaven, or maybe it's because they have been raised in a religion, and there's some people who believe they can ride on the coat tails of their parents or grand-parents salvation to get in. The Bible clearly says that we can't earn our way into heaven, that our good works are like filthy rags to God. And religion does not save anyone! The Bible clearly says that "JESUS IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE, AND THAT NO ONE GOES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH HIM." (John 14:6). The Bible also says, "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."( Romans 10:9,10). So... any answer that starts with "I" usually indicates that the person has been trusting in their good works, and any answer OTHER than that they have put their faith in Jesus because He died on the cross for their sins helps us to discover that the person has not yet transferred their faith from themselves over to Jesus.
PRAYER: Lord, I desire to be used by You. You have proven Yourself faithful to me, and I have experienced Your love, Your forgiveness, Your justification, and Your supernatural healing power. I pray I will be willing and ready to take the step of faith when and where Your Spirit leads me, so that more and more people will be able to discover and experience Your love, forgiveness, and healing all for themselves.
- Robin Orefice
