Good Morning Friends,
The next time someone suggests in an attempt to praise you that you have fallen from heaven to earth remind them that the devil did exactly that. There are behaviors and experiences that can get in the way of a healthy relationship with Jesus. Being puffed up is one of them but it gets more complicated. Today’s devotional is about personal responsibility and paralysis in the face of God’s sovereignty. It is about the effects of kings, kin and kindness in motivating us to action. But is also about those things that might restrain us from our better selves and how we deal with them. Friends, sometimes we must crack open our comfort zone and not just follow the crowd. It comes down to this question. How Will We Respond When The Holy Spirit Creatively Helps Us To Overcome Obstacles?
Scripture: Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.” Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. So Samuel reported all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, “No! but we are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.” When Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and set a king over them.” Samuel then said to the people of Israel, “Each of you return home.”
1 Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22a (NRSV)
When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” —he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.” And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Mark 2:1-12 (NRSV)
Message: The elder leaders of Israel seem to typically have the wrong spirit and a lack of heart. In today’s text from Samuel they demand a king be appointed to rule over them. If only they had chosen to follow God they would not have needed a king. In comparison, in the story of the friends bringing the paralytic man to Jesus we have an example of kind love not neediness. This is a great story, a great heartwarming testimony of faith and friendship that gives us guidance in how we can overcome the obstacles of life. In the face of opposition of the power brokers, these friends find a way that not only honors God but pragmatically helps their friend. We do not know much about this paralyzed man or his friends. Some suggest that they were masons. We do not know if it was a long-term paralysis or something new in his life. We do not know whether it is the result of an illness or an accident. We do however know is this guy has a condition and is unable to move. He is paralyzed and is unable to get around on his own. And we do know he had friends. And when the friends had heard about Jesus, heard about what He was saying and what He had been doing they immediately went to their friend, put him on a bed, and carried him to where Jesus was. They were willing to do what it took to get their friend to Jesus, even if it meant raising the roof. Moved by the Holy Spirit the man was healed and then all he had to do was to be obedient to Jesus.
And So, if the King and ruler of our hearts is Jesus, we have a chance at overcoming our sins through the power of the Holy Spirit and more over be a true friend to others. In a society that overvalues progress and personal achievement even our spiritual lives could become performance oriented. We think about levels and phases and stages, but in the life of the Spirit these measurements are not important. What really matters is love. When Jesus is in the heart of our home good things can happen. But the heart and the head need to have unity for conversion to be completed and friends caring for each other helps this occur in the power of the Holy Spirit. The journey is both inward and outward. Here we learn from our friends not so much by what they say but by what they do. We read the Bible aloud. We meditate on its message. We pray. And on occasions we ask questions and then radically apply the answers we glean to our present situations. Some of us are churchmen, others are missionaries and philanthropists…still others seekers. And here I have learned that the spiritual journey is about unity, diversity, opportunity and God’s glory. What I have discovered is that the crisis of our times calls for neither politics nor piety but a new spirituality rooted in ancient traditions and applied to our present circumstances…I have learned that we need a prayer life that gets us to stand up as a witness that our physical, emotional, intellectual, volitional and moral energies can converge in community and healthier lifestyles. Then we need to apply this vast and largely untapped power to the issues of what is keeping us from being in a better relationship with God. What matters is that we descend with our mind through the roof and into the heart of our condition and there at the feet of the Lord who sees everything within us, stand facing God in the prayer of our friends and then take it to the streets and into our homes. Here we discover that we are not in control. Here we discover God moving in our lives. Here we discover that Jesus really is our friend. Here we discover that when all is said and done, it is faith and trust in God, experienced in fellowship that is important. This is how we experience love. What really matters friends is not the hole in the roof or the debris on the floor but the love of others. All else is a shadow.
Pray we not neglect our spiritual development of love. Pray that our inward spiritual development is forming, reforming and transforming in that place of the heart where we individually experience love and collectively encounter God. Pray we are moved to express this love received in love given for others through ministry. Pray that the seat of our will come together with the source of all our physical, emotional, intellectual, volitional and moral energies so that we are moved in a constant prayer to a place where we are chiseled day by day into the likeness of Christ…in the law of love. Pray we rejoice in the authority of Christ. Pray we learn through prayer God’s agenda. Pray we learn in fellowship to love God and one another. Pray this love cuts through our barriers to open up a connection…a change…a transformation that glorifies God. Pray we follow the right rules. Pray we are not prideful. Pray we are not hypocritical. Pray we do not lack joy. Pray we are not selfish. Pray we have friends. Pray we persevere. Pray we find new ways to share the experience of Jesus. Pray our lives become great stories that inspire others. Pray we realize that Jesus is all the king we need. Pray we have reliance and creativity. Pray we realize that we do not have to follow the crowd, but we must follow Jesus.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 