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www.biblegateway.com
JESUS' MINISTRY IN GALILEE
Mark 2 v. 1-12 (NLT) *part 2*
Emphasis on v. 5-12
Jesus Forgives the Sins of a Paralyzed Man
5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "My child, your sins are forgiven."
6 But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, 7 "What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!"
8 Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, "Why do you question this in your hearts? 9 Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man 'Your sins are forgiven,' or 'Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk'? 10 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins." Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, 11 "Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!"
12 And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, "We've never seen anything like this before!"
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Before Jesus told the paralyze man to "Get up," He said, "Your sins are forgiven."
We talk a lot about forgiving others, asking God to forgive us, BUT have you forgiven yourself.
We make mistakes! If you're someone who doesn't please share the secret with us.
I believe we acknowledge the fact that God forgives our sins, but we don't totally accept it. We don't live in it. We continually remind ourselves of what we did wrong. Our emotions are heightened when someone else makes the same mistake. We're not free from it because for some reason we don't want to let go of that burden; that horrible thing we did, or sometimes find ourselves falling back into. Or maybe we don't want to come to terms of it truly being a "wrong" thing because we want to continue in it. Let's speak the real deal here.
We're never going to be able to move on, walk in our healing; if we don't receive God's promise to forgive us and in that promise- forgive ourselves. We feel convicted because we know this doesn't please God, which is a good thing to get us to act and change. But we're not suppose to stay there in this convicted state of mind.
Truth: we'll never be perfect. We'll never get it right on our own. But we have someone who truly is larger than life. We will always have this perfect God who loves and favors us. A perfect God that even in the struggle of sin, we can turn to and depend on to be compassionate towards us.
The root of a lot of our burden, bitterness and anger is unforgiveness, but maybe it's You who needs to be forgiven by You. God is NOT a liar. He has forgiven you. It's time to let it go, "pick up Your mat and go home"- to peace, joy, happiness and purpose.
- HAVE YOU FORGIVEN YOU?
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Prayer: Jesus, I approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that I may receive mercy and find grace to help me in my time of need (Hebrew 4:16). Show me how to forgive myself and look to You for what to do next. I need You Jesus. And because You promise to never forsake Your children, I'm expecting. I'm expecting You to help us break that tie to the limitations and bondages of the past. I'm expecting You to remove the guilt LORD. I'm expecting to walk completely in the freedom of Your Spirit from this day on. Show me how to do this daily. Let me never forget what I already have, just because I'm Your child and You love me. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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"For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12
Resources: biblegateway.com, NIV Women's Devotional Bible- Classic Edition, and Life Application Study Bible.
www.thegoodnews4yourlife.blogspot.com "Providing you with what you already have access to in the most convenient way. So that we all can continue to grow in wisdom & understanding of God." LT
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