2:4 - they made an opening - I love this story. You have a guy who has a major need to get near Jesus but he can't. He is paralyzed and their is a crowd. And, the text doesn't tell us, but it isn't even clear whether he wants to get near Jesus. But his friends want him to be healed. His friends love him so much that they want to make sure if healing is even possible that their friend gets his shot at it. When they encounter the crowd they don't walk away and they don't wait. The Bible says they made an opening. They climbed up on the roof and DUG A HOLE IN IT. YES! They were so set on getting their friend near Jesus that they didn't let anything stand in the way. And when the man is lowered in front of Jesus ( a scene I would LOVED to have seen) Jesus tells the man and the crowd that because of THEIR faith the young man is forgiven and then He heals them. THEIR faith. Your faith and the action it creates can help others get forgiven AND healed.
What are you like with your friends? Do you let the crowd or the problems stop you from getting your friends near Jesus? Do you stand around waiting for things to clear out when you know Jesus is close? We have got to become the kinds of friends that dig a hole in a roof so our friends can meet Jesus. We need to start making an opening instead of waiting for one to magically appear.
2:8 - Do you believe God still allows us to know things in our spirit about people and circumstances or was this just for Jesus or just for then? I firmly believe that as we walk with Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit that God continues to allow this to happen. He speaks something clearly in our souls that we would otherwise have no way of knowing. The caution is, we need to be careful that we do not mistake hunches for the Holy Spirit.
2:14 - Do you reason with God when He calls or do you get up and follow?
2:17 - It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.
2:21-22 - This passage confuses some people. Jesus is simply teaching that His way of doing life and faith are not an add-on or a patch, but a whole new way of doing life. The change Jesus calls for is a total remaking of your heart, mind and daily living. Anything short of that will only end up tearing you apart.
2:27 - The Sabbath was made for people... - We totally don't get this. God has called us to a day of rest as a gift to us and not as some rule or regulation. It is His gift.
3:2 - Do people watch you closely because they KNOW you will do something righteous or does it surprise them when you do?
3:5 - This passage tells us one of the things that ANGERS Jesus - stubborn hearts. You may think your stubborn heart is no big deal, because of god's grace, but you would be wrong. God is gracious, but you and I need to understand He has little patience for those who know better and yet choose to live like they didn't.
3:29 - The only unforgivable sin I have ever found in the Bible is in this passage. It is not suicide or adultery or drug use or prison or any of that. The unforgivable sin is intentionally attributing what God is doing to Satan for the point of leading others away. I believe it is an intentional sin and not something you accidentally do.
3:35 - Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother.
Love, Michael
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