Grace For The Journey

  I spend a great deal of my time as a pastor in ministry to a great many hurting people.  It is a wonderful privilege to be used by God in the lives of others and to help them fix their eyes on Jesus in the midst of their storms.

The Bible tells us that Jesus is the Friend who sticks closer to us than a brother.  We have no need to rip through a roof to get to Him who has promised never to leave us or forsake us, but some situations seem so desperate; I know I would do it if I thought I had to, and I’m sure you would too.

The Bible presents us such a case in Luke 5:17-19, “Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had ocme out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.  And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.  Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before him.  And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.  When He saw their faith, He said to him, “’Man, your sins are forgiven you.’”

Take a moment to think about the great faith in this passage – not only the faith of the paralyzed man, but also that of his friends, who were willing to rip through the roof to get their friend to Jesus.  This is a powerful challenge in this passage directed at you and me!

In the days when Jesus walked the earth, the homes were generally made of stone with flat roofs constructed of a mixture of straw and mud.  On an outside wall you could find a stairway that led to the roof.  The friends of the paralyzed man were filled with so much faith in Jesus that when they could not find a way to get to Jesus because of the crowd, they climbed the stairs and ripped through the roof to get the man to their Redeemer.

The Bible teaches about the power of faith as small as a mustard seed (Luke 17:6).  Well, this is the faith as big as a roof-ripping machine!  Jesus responded to their faith with forgiveness and healing.  Do you see how the faith of the friends of the paralyzed man impacted his life?  They refused to let anything stand in their way of bringing their friend to Jesus.

So the question we all must ask ourselves is this . . .

“What kind of faith do I demonstrate when it comes to the friends and

family members who have never trusted in Jesus as Savior & Lord?”

To be sure, we are not the ones responsible for another’s salvation.  Only Jesus saves!  But God is pleased to use means, and that is what we are in the hands of the Almighty: a foreordained means for His foreordained ends.  The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:10 that we “are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Are we willing to be used by God in the lives of others to bring them to Jesus?  Are we willing to get past any of the obstacles that stand in our way?  Those obstacles might be . . .

• ·Fear
• ·Doubt
• ·Indifference
• ·Circumstances
• ·Self-protection
• ·Unforgiveness

Think about this . . .

God had ordained that paralyzed man to be saved through the faith of his friends.

God has also ordained some to be saved through you.

The key is that we simply are to be faithful

To do what God has called us to do

And leave the results up to Him.

We are called by God to be used of God as instruments for the salvation of others.  The only thing left for us to do is to overcome every obstacle that stands in the way of answering that call.

Are you ready for some roof-ripping?

Be faithful and see what God will do!

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”