Ronald Trujillo's Blog

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shinning garments. Then as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them. “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ (Luke 24:1-7)

Beloved friend, we will soon be celebrating Passover, remembering our Lord’s sacrifice on Good Friday, and celebrating with Christians around the world of the Lord’s resurrection! The tomb is empty. Praise God that He has included us in His heavenly kingdom and has gone ahead of us to prepare a place for us there. That where He is there we will be also. It is glorious to know how secure our future is for all eternity in this uncertain and very lost world. People have no idea of the coming judgment on this world. If you and I would live with the kingdom viewpoint, perhaps we would make an impact on those who are outside the family of God. I read the story of Nicholas Herman (1611-1691) who was a Carmelite mystic born in France who became a Christian at the age of 18. He became a lay brother of an order of Carmelites in Paris where he worked in the kitchen as a “servant to the servants of God” until his death. He is best known though, for his little book of sayings, published under the name Brother Lawrence, called “The Practice of the Presence of God.” When he lay on his deathbed, Brother Lawrence said to those around him, “I am not dying. I am just doing what I have been doing for the past 40 years, and doing what I expect to be doing for all eternity.” When someone asked, “What is that?” Brother Lawrence replied, “I am worshipping the God I love! ” Friends, can we do the same? Love the Lord with all of our hearts for what He has done for us? Will we be praying earnestly that He be gracious and merciful to our unsaved families and friends as we gather together for these approaching Advent days. Just the way He was merciful and gracious to us? Let us enter in our Father’s kingdom without any regrets of not doing our Father’s will. Let His standard of service to Him be ours as well. When He rewards us, it will be fair and just.

Prayer, Father God, Easter is not only Your Resurrection Day of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. But it is our day of hope, joy, and victory. And our hearts are so desperate for encouragement, as all around us lie the broken lives, failed relationships, and fading dreams of so many people whom we know and love. Through Your Son, You invited us into Your family as You tore the curtain from top to bottom of what separated us from Your holy presence. We celebrate You, and the hope of eternal life You offered to us by leaving our life of sin, and accepting Your Lordship in our lives. Lord, for those still searching, help them find hope in You today. For those who are discouraged, lift the heavy burdens. For those still in bondage from sinful habits or lifestyles, help find them find deliverance and eternal security in Your loving arms. Lord, we welcome You to be in our midst from the solemn Good Friday’s remembrance of Your death on the cross, to the fully set free life of the born again Christian who relies upon Your Spirit to fulfill Your will for us. In Jesus name, Amen

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore/Because of this, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of live. (Romans 6:1-4)

Many Christians live as “Inbetweeners”; they live between Egypt and Canaan, saved but never satisfied, living in between the cross on Good Friday, and the Resurrection Easter morning. Believing in the cross but not entering the power and glory the resurrection of Christ brings. Our union with Christ assures our future eternal salvation and our own resurrection after we die. But verse 4 teaches that we even share Christ’s resurrection power today. In Christ we have eternal life even though we are not yet living in eternity.

Sin is a terrible task master, looking for a willing servant in the human body. The body is not sinful; the body is neutral. It can be controlled either by sin or by God. A person’s fallen nature which is not changed at conversion, gives sin its arena from which it can attack us at will and trying to destroy our faith and lead us away from God.

The tendencies to presume in or even abuse God’s grace on one hand and ignore human responsibility on the other continues to be at the heart of our struggles to grow spiritually. By reading Romans chapter’s 6, 7, and 8, point to us that victory over the flesh, liberty to walk in the newness of life, and security of being sanctified in the Word of God, are all found in Jesus Christ, and what He has already done for us and not in anything we can do to earn it ourselves.

Trusting in Christ is an act of the will based on what He has done for us. It is an intellectual act, of both mind and body as completely His, not an impulsive decision nor based on an emotional level without counting the cost. We yield ourselves to God because of His grace and not by the law of performance on our part. We must not insist on always being right, but rather live righteously. Today, true Christians are walking according to the Spirit of God, abiding in His love and fulfilling His will for their lives by simply surrendering to God daily their life and their will so that Christ can be glorified in their daily walk with Him.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, You have blessed me beyond measure with Your great love by giving us Your mercy and grace. Help me to live in the fullness of the Holy Spirit’s power freely given to those who fully surrender their hearts to You. And help me to be the same to others, use me to be a blessing, just as I have been blessed by You. In Your name I pray, Amen.

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may bear under it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

When you or I are considering the promises of God, it is invaluable to keep His faithfulness in view. Our present verse helps us focus not on our temptation, trial or testing; but focus on the faithfulness of God and His promises to us.

The setting for our meditation is temptations or (testings). “No temptation has overtaken you.” It is interesting to note that this word translated temptation could also be rendered as “testing.” This gives insight into the frequently asked question raised during difficult times: ‘Is this the enemy, or is this the Lord?” In the midst of the battles of life, the enemy of our soul wants to tempt us into wrong responses like doubt, fear, or compromise. Yet, God uses all things to work together for our good, by tests to exercise our faith in Him. Appropriately, this is one place in Scripture which can be used in both situations. Thus, in any temptation or testing, we can be assured that our struggles are not unique. Because “No temptation {or, testing} has overtaken you except such as is common to man.” Whatever we struggle with, the Lord has dealt with it innumerable times before.

More significant than the commonplace nature of our difficulties is the faithfulness of God: “but God is faithful.” This is pivotal to our belief and trust in God, inspite of our impossibilities. Too often, we find ourselves fearful and doubtful at the challenges we’re facing. We sense or own inadequate strength and lack of resources as unreliable. We are concerned that we may prove to be unfaithful when we keep our eyes on ourselves instead of looking to the Lord. God wants us to concentrate on His faithfulness.

After reminding us of God’s faithfulness, the Spirit brings forth two promises that provide hope to those in temptations and testing’s. First, God will not allow battles that are inappropriate for our stage of spiritual growth. “He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.” Second, God will lead the way out of your battle. He “will also make the way of escape.” If we respond in godly faith to the enemy’s fiery arrows, the Lord will not allow him to destroy us. Whatever the difficulty involves, the Lord will see us through “that you may be able to bear it.” We can count on God fulfilling these promises, because “God is faithful.”

Dear Lord, Thank You for exposing the lie of the enemy that my trials are unique. Thank You for promising to see me through and bring me out from underneath it’s condemning weight. Lord, help me to rest my expectations on Your faithfulness, and for Your glory. In Jesus name, Amen.

The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate. (Matthew 19:3-6)

When Jesus answered the Pharisees about marriage, He knew they were not really interested in the true meaning of its commitment, but rather in how they might trap Him contradicting the law of Moses. So instead of beginning with the laws in Deuteronomy, He went all the way back to the beginning, in Genesis. The Edenic law, Jesus reminded his listeners of what God created in the true characteristics of marriage.

What God designed when He established the first marriage teaches us positively what He had in mind for a man and a woman. If we build our marriage after God’s ideal pattern, we will not have to worry about divorce laws.

Marriage is a divinely appointed union. God established marriage to procreate the earth and established a man’s need for suitable companionship through a helper comparable to him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman. because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:21-25)

Marriage is an illustration of the loving and intimate relationship between Christ and His church (Ephesians 5:22-33). Paul called this a “great mystery” that is, a profound spiritual truth that was once hidden but is now revealed by the Spirit. Christ loves the church, cares for her, and seeks to cleanse her, making her as adorned bride awaiting her Groomsman. One day Christ will return for His bride, the church and present her faultless and in purity in the glory of heaven.

Happy marriages are not by accident. They are the result of commitment, love, mutual understanding, sacrifice, and hard work. If a husband and wife are fulfilling their marriage vows, they will enjoy a growing relationship that will satisfy them and keep them true to each other. Except for the possibility of sudden temptation, no husband or wife would think of a relationship with another person that crosses the boundaries of marriage. Proverbs 5 :15-23 tells us, that married love can be compared with drinking pure water from a fresh well and being unfaithful between husband and wife like drinking from a polluted well.

When a husband and wife are faithful to the Lord and to each other and obeying the Scriptures like 1 Corinthians 7:1-5, Ephesians 5:22-33, finding satisfaction nowhere else, their relationship will be one of deepening joy and satisfaction in the Lord and with each other. This couple will know how to make the most out of life, complementing each other, and capitalizing on each other’s strengths to form an effective marriage relationship team. Never being mentioned separately in marriage, and ministry, always abounding in the work of the Lord’s hands upon them. Bringing forth demonstrations of patience, mature understanding, and compassion between them for God’s glory.

Lord Jesus, we invite You to come and rule in our marriage. We do want a marriage relationship that lasts a lifetime, be glorified in our earthly marriage to follow after what is divinely written about what You desire marriage to be like. As You shape our hearts into being the man, and woman, husband and father, wife and mother, father in-law, and mother in-law, grandfather, and grandmother You created us to be. By Your Spirit’s power, create in us, the examples to bring a lasting legacy of Your great love and faithfulness in marriage and family life that will be like a “cemented footprint” as a reminder in our children’s home and family life. Lord Jesus, come fill our marriage and heart of our family with Your love, Your peace, Your presence, and with Your Spirit’s power. In Your name we pray. Amen

I say then, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so you do not do the things you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

Galatians 5:16-18

When you experience the inner conflict of your flesh, the Holy Spirit who lives in the life of the believer, wants us to remember this, I have been set free by Christ, I am no longer under any bondage to the law (5:1-12). But I need something–Someone–to control my life from within. That Someone is the Holy Spirit (5:13-26) and through the Spirit’s love, I have a desire to live for others, bearing the fruit of the Spirit that glorifies God, and not just live for myself (6:1-10).

Just as Isaac and Ishmael were unable to get along, so the Spirit and flesh (the old nature) are at war with each other. While we are born again in Christ, we are still wrestling with the sinfulness of our flesh. It can be so alarming that before we were in Christ, our sin may not have bothered us at all. But now as a Christian, we have the Holy Spirit in us who convicts us of our sin.

The writer of Hebrews chapter 12 viewed the trials of the Christian life as spiritual discipline that could help the believer mature through God’s chastening to whom it is said, “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son He receives” (12:6). Chastening is the evidence of the Father’s love.

We cannot overcome sin and its desires on our own. We cannot do the work God has called us to do in our own strength. We need a Helper, who is the Holy Spirit and as we read His Word, and pray to the Lord to search our hearts, it’s through the Holy Spirit’s power within us that we can say, “no” to the things of our sinful flesh reckoning ourselves dead to the old life, but alive to God in walking by His Spirit and in His power.

In Roman’s 8:5, Paul said it this way, “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” Yes, we are in Christ and have His Spirit living in us. But we still have to choose daily to walk in the Spirit. As we spend time in God’s Word, learning of Him, praying and seeking to know His will for our life. Our minds will be transformed, and if we let God transform us into new persons in Christ, we will become original creations of His. God transforms our minds and makes us spiritually minded by using His Word, as we memorize it, meditating and making it a part of our daily life. God will make our inner selves to be more like Christ.

Dear Friend, submit to the Holy Spirit today. Ask God to forgive you of your sins and ask Him to bring you eternal life He offers through Jesus Christ. Ask Him to lead you. Fill your mind with God’s Word and let the power of the Holy Spirit have free rein to work in you and help you overcome your battle with the flesh.

Lord Jesus, I invite You to come and rule in my life. I do want Your Holy Spirit to empower me to say, “no” to my sinful flesh and live my life for You.

In Jesus name, Amen

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” Psalm 91:2 (NKJV)

The psalmist is declaring that he will trust the Lord regardless how difficult his circumstances may be. And so let’s take a closer look at what it means to have trusted in the Lord and to speak these words as well.

Trusting in the Lord is difficult partly because He works on a different time frame than we do. While we may want immediate results for example, “I’ve fasted and prayed for the Lord’s healing, or deliverance from this stronghold in my life, yet the Lord has not moved as we would want Him too. Oh, dear friend, waiting on the Lord is so much apart of our trusting in Him and His Word of promise to us. Because He sees the bigger picture and because He so often works behind the scenes in our life; we don’t often know He is at work in our life. We know from Scripture the Lord was willing to wait 400 years before the Israelites returned to the Promised Land. God is a mystery to us at times when He allows prayers to sometimes remain unanswered.

But trusting in the Lord is worth it. He has proven to be faithful in our lives and in the world. And His greatest demonstration of His faithfulness is Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. His promised Messiah that would come that Isaiah prophesied 800 years before that Messiah would set people free from sin and it’s consequence of death and eternal separation from God. Jesus suffered a cruel death and paid the price of our shame that we might have eternal life in Him. So even if right now our circumstances are difficult, we can be confident that the Lord is good. . . He proves His goodness through the cross of Christ.

When we choose to articulate that we trust in the Lord, we are training our hearts and minds to think rightly of God. The Lord is our refuge and fortress, sometimes though when things are hard, it might feel foolish to say that we trust God. Articulating truth of His Word of promises which fill the pages of Scripture, reminds us of His goodness giving us hope and stirs a renewed trust in Him. The psalmist wrote for us a declaration if you will by training our minds to think in accordance with this truth from the Bible. As we train ourselves to speak aloud the truth from God’s Word, we will grow in our belief in that truth, and put our hope and trust what Christians are called to embody.

Dear Lord, I am so grateful that You are everything that I need. There is nothing too hard for You, when things are too hard for me. You are the One who upholds me and supports me. You give me strength when no one else can. Help remember to turn to You and cling to the hope that You give us when we rely upon Your Words in the Scriptures. Father, thank You for Your love we receive from reading and meditating on Your Word, declaring Your truth to be our promises for life. In Jesus’ name, Amen

He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. (Isaiah 40:29)

When life is unfolding hard and very painful lessons it can feel as though it’s impossible to understand why God would allow hurtful pain that is mixed with fragile emotions and to expect us to remain faithfully trusting while we wait upon Him to intercede for us. How could He possibly use any of this for good?

While we see more unnecessary heartbreak. He sees where we are and the exact pieces and parts of us that must be yielded into His nail pierced scarred hands of grace that protects us and provides for us His strength working through our circumstances whatever is needed. God, our Master Potter forms us and shapes our broken parts and pieces by adding in His living water filling our empty hearts and molding us into new vessels filled with His Spirit’s power that will bring Him honor. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us (2 Cor. 4:7).

Do you know that wise experienced potters not only know how to form beautiful things from clay, but also know the importance by adding some dust from previously broken pottery to their clay this type of dust is called “grog.” When shattered just right, the grog dust added to the new clay will enable the potter to form the clay into a larger and stronger vessel than before. How? you may ask. Because it can now withstand fires much hotter and when glazed these pieces end up having a much more beautiful finish than they would have before. We read in Isaiah 45:9, “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands?’ God’s relationship to all created things is compared to that of the potter to the clay–neither can we see or ever know all that God who created us is doing or has in mind for us in this life without our fully trusting in His working in us.

A potsherd by definition; (broken piece or fragment of a broken vessel or pot) can lie on the ground and be nothing more than a constant reminder of our brokenness. It can also be used to continually scrape our wounds and painful sores from this life (Job 2:7-10) and never more when kept in our hands. But when we surrender our broken potsherd pieces into the Master Potter’s hands, in His skillful loving hands, we can trust all the broken places in our life that need to be and will be shattered just right and then reused again to make us stronger and even more beautiful than before (Jeremiah 18:1-6).

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak

Isaiah 40:29

Prayer:

Lord, I’m choosing to trust in You in all the broken places in my life. For You heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds (Psalm 147:3). May You show Your lovingkindness to Your servants who welcome Your molding and shaping us into what You have for our lives. In Jesus name, Amen

O Lord, You have searched me and known me, You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thoughts afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways (Psalm 139:1-3).

The psalmist David knew something about God that very few people of his day could have ever known. His relationship with God was from his devotion to God and was as his Creator and thus realized that there was nothing in David’s life that he could do, without God being made aware of it. God’s perfect knowledge of man for us today, as New Testament believers is not that hard to believe having all the knowledge of the New Testament before us which confirms for us what the writers of the Old Testament led by God’s Spirit inspired the written word for us in the pages of the Old Testament.

It has been said that David’s most famous psalm for which he is known for Psalm 23, that as a youth he looked after his father’s sheep, and protected them from danger by guiding them and caring for them with loving hands of a shepherd, this characteristic God used to show Samuel “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart,” (1 Samuel 16:7). That this was a qualification to become Israel’s greatest king. Another psalm, Psalm 78, A contemplation of Asaph wrote about God’s kindness to rebellious Israel, mentions David at the very end in verses 70-72; He also chose David His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the ewes that had young He brought him, to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

As the shepherd lay each night across the door of the sheepfold, he looked back over his day and gave thanks to God for His many blessings of goodness and mercy. As an older man, David looked back over his long life and came to this same conclusion. The road ahead of us no matter where we are with our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and His offer of eternal life through faith in Him. Will lead us as a shepherd leads his sheep. “Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture” (Psalm 100:3). We should look at our life and circumstances like these are the ingredients God will use to create a life that will glorify Him and bring to us adventures in life that will reproduce the righteousness of Christ in us.

When we choose to follow Christ, be encouraged knowing that God’s plans for your life have no expiration date until His return for us. And His biggest adventure for you may be just around the corner. Ask God in prayer to ignite a new passion in your heart for the road ahead. Pray that He will use your life experiences and abilities to add to His kingdom those who will be led to believe in Him through your example of your faith and trust in Him as you travel the road that lies ahead.

May the Lord richly bless you! Amen

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble, for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  2 Peter 1:10-11

The kingdom of God is a kingdom that is in abundance. Righteousness prevails in it, so there will be no sin, and the consequences of sin as reminders. What will be in abundance will be peace, righteousness, and love. God’s love for us that draws us to Himself, that we may walk in sweet communion with Him. Peter here in our text, is reminding his readers of a future time ahead that will come to those who await by faith the promises of God, the Father. In times of crisis many people today tend to collapse in defeat against what they perceive are insurmountable problems. But to everyone who believes in Him, Jesus Christ offers a life of abundance. So we read from the beginning of this chapter in 2 Peter, who this epistle or letter is written to: To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ (v.1). The word “obtained,” can be translated “received,” and can mean “attaining by divine will.” So right off we can see that without the intervention of God on our behalf, there is no way of attaining any help.

God and Savior—Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, and part of the Triune Godhead, which is made up of: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, all of which has a role in the believers life for salvation. Do you notice what Peter calls precious? Like precious—The Greek word translated “Like precious,” was used to designate equal in rank, position, honor, standing, price, or value. It was used in the ancient world with strangers and foreigners who were given equal citizenship in a city. Here, Peter was emphasizing that Christians have all received the same precious, priceless saving faith. They are not separated by the world’s class standards of racial or gender distinctions. But rather, we are all one (church)  body in Christ. And since Peter’s audience may have been made up of Gentiles too, he may have been emphasizing that they have received the same like precious faith as the Jewish people of his day.

Faith—Peter is speaking of subjective faith, i.e., the Christian’s power to believe God for their salvation. Faith is the capacity to believe in the precious promises(v.v.3-4), this can also describe what our role and response to God’s invitation to come to Him by faith. Yet, God still must grant this faith to us. God initiates faith to us when the Holy Spirit awakens our dead soul, that was once in darkness, but now has been made alive again. To no longer walk in darkness, but rather in the light (Ephesians 2:1-8). This is in response to hearing the good news of the gospel message. That Christ, has come to save sinners. And that His death on the cross, was our substitute for the atonement of our sins. We can not ever earn our way into heaven, but must come to believe through faith, the righteousness offering of Jesus Christ for our salvation. We receive our faith and knowledge of Him through the hearing of the Word, but it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we allow this “Divine power,” which is Christ’s power the source of the believer’s sufficiency and perseverance. The genuine Christian is eternally secure in their salvation and does persevere and grow because he has received everything offered to him that is necessary for maturity and growth by the abundance of Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord(v.2). You don’t have do anything but simply believe in the Lord to receive this gift of eternal life. Rely upon Christ’s resurrected power, to sustain you to live a godly life, to live godly, is to live reverently and obediently to God. To be at one with Him, is to be completely surrendered, that is, yielded to God in every area of your life. That He would be Lord over your life, marriage, family, home, work, recreation, etc. Jesus wants to bless you exceedingly and abundantly with His love, joy, and peace. To know Jesus in an intimate way, is to humble yourself before Him. That your desires would be all for the glory of God, through His relationship through you. That will witness to others where your allegiance is. Make not the mistake of thinking there is still time to one day share my faith with others, my family, my friends, co-workers, neighbors. Satan’s influence cannot be denied in this ever rapidly declining world, and their intolerance of people of faith in Jesus Christ. Persecution, trials, and suffering are still going on in parts of this world all because they have chosen to believe in Jesus Christ, for their salvation. If we don’t influence our children for Christ, this world and public school system will make them deny His authority, by even threatening failure in school work, in higher education. All because your beliefs contradict their worldly way of thinking, as they despise persons of faith, because of the hardness of their hearts.

Beloved friend, The Lord offers you His Holy Spirit if you surrender yourself to Him. It is His Spirit who gives you the ability to handle life’s problems successfully. Whatever your circumstances may be, remember that Jesus is constantly by your side, guiding you and helping you. Place your trust in Him today, as He leads you to God’s eternal kingdom, and home of righteousness where there will be only harmony and peace with all who are there, as we all become one with God, the Father, through Jesus Christ!

May the Lord bless your walk with Him today!

 

 

 

 

And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him, because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”Immediately he arose, took up his bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”   Mark 2:1-12

The Bible teaches that sickness and death entered this world through the misused freedom of our original parents, Adam and Eve (Genesis 3). Since then it has been the saga of humankind to deal with all kinds of diseases and sickness. And in the Scriptures, we can read that Jesus not only cured diseases by laying His hands on some people, but also like our text, merely had to speak the word, and this man, a paralytic was healed. Let’s go deeper into God’s Word. First off, let’s take notice that by now Jesus had made quite an impact on the lives of the people around them. And so now we read that He’s entered a house in Capernaum, and word got around that He was there. So they gathered there, in what I’m sure was a tiny house and all, that the people crammed their way into the house, and there was no way for anyone to make entry through the door. A second observation is what drew the people, And He preached the word to them.(v.2) God draws His people in where His Word is being taught and rightly divided. The works of the Lord are great, Studied by all who have pleasure in them.(Psalm 111:2) Imagine being taught the Scriptures by Jesus Himself, the good news of the gospel, that salvation is by grace alone, our response through faith alone, for the forgiveness of sins.

So Jesus was sitting in this house. The place was packed both inside and outside, you couldn’t even get near the door because of the multitude of people. And here come four men carrying perhaps their friend or family member, and they become desperate, because they know Jesus is near by. So it is with us today. We have this chronic and reoccurring problem with our lives, if its medical, doctors don’t seem to know what to do? If its something else, financially, or the loss of a loved one, whatever the case it may be. How desperate do we become in finding Jesus Christ for our lives? We know He is near, but are we desperate enough to “breakthrough” the barriers of what other people might think of you, by doing so? Seems we care often too much of what another person might think of us, instead of what God says to us in His word. In this case, these men became so desperate that they tore through the roof of this house so that could lower their friend down in front of Jesus. They didn’t care what others might think of their actions. They did what they believed to be the right thing for their friend.

Jesus saw their faith—When Jesus saw what lengths they went to just get His attention, and to bring healing, He deemed it to be that their faith in Him was strong. And He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” Now, imagine the reaction from these four friends at Jesus’ words was probably that of disappointment. “Lord, we didn’t bring him here to be saved!” “We brought him here to get healed!” But Jesus is taking care of the most important thing first. He sees the condition of our heart, and knows what it needs most. So we too must ask ourselves, “What is really most important, my loved one’s healing, or their salvation?” Better to have suffered in this life so that it would draw me to Christ, that I might be saved, than to go on with life without ever concerning myself to what awaits me after this life, eternally separated from God for my sins were never dealt with in this life.

Now what is so significant of this healing is that it cannot be explained? This was not about a man’s ability to believe, but about withered twisted legs that became immediately and visibly whole again at the authority and word of Jesus. Yet, the greatest miracle God can ever perform and work in any of our lives is the miracle of freeing us from the power of sin and transforming us into the kingdom of light.

The scribes response—What these men were there for our text doesn’t say, but most definitely they were listening to Jesus speak to the crowds about the kingdom of God, as rulers and teachers in the synagogues they knew the Law of Moses; but when they seen His actions which included this miracle of healing, rather than believing like the rest of them the amazing work of God; they reason in their hearts that He, Jesus is an imposter, because He is giving His authority to forgive sins. “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” They were absolutely right about the second statement, but were dead wrong on the first. And immediately Jesus picked up on their thinking and reasoning inside. I love this! We can never hide our true nature from God, He is the One who created us! David wrote in Psalm 139: O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether(vv.1-4). David understood that nothing inside of him could be hidden from God. A valuable lesson for us too!

Which is easier—To say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk?  Well, if you’re Jesus Christ, neither one of them is difficult. Here is an observation: To say “Your sins are forgiven you.” Is in fact easier to say, because we cannot see the condition of the heart. Yet, when in fact to see a miracle of physical healing right before your eyes would be more difficult for us to say, convincingly, because of the response would be immediately made known to verify this. Yet, Jesus is giving us the priority of the heavenly kingdom. Which the spiritual life of man comes before the earthly natural life of man. Indeed, it is looking at the bigger picture, of where we will spend eternity at.

Beloved friend, The Greek word translated “amazed” is existemi or literally “to be beside oneself,” but the reaction of the crowd was not just of awe of this never seen before and unexplainable act. The miracle also prompted the crowd to glorify God (v.12). The onlookers recognized that the source of the miraculous healing was the Creator God who had initiated the healing process by supernatural means. Now they had reason to take Jesus at His word seriously when He offered to forgive their sins. Jesus said to His disciples on the Sermon on the Mount, “Let your light so shine before men, that when they see your good works, they glorify your Father which is in heaven.”What Jesus demonstrated for us is that we should be Christians who love God in how we love others. Meaning our works on this earth which can be seen by men, should be bringing glory to God the Father, by His love radiating through us, so that others may live and give their praise at what they have witnessed in the lives of believers, and they too would desire for all eternity to be in the presence of God.

May the Lord bless your walk with Him today!