Take Heart, My Son

Matthew 9:1-8
[1] And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. [2] And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” [3] And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” [4] But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? [5] For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? [6] But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” [7] And he rose and went home. [8] When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men

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I want to start by saying how thankful I am for the grace that God has bestowed to me. I'm not the greatest guy in the world, by any means. I make mistake after mistake, I hurt others, I shame myself and my family with some of the things I've said/done in the past, and worst of all I have moments of deliberate disobedience to my Lord. On top of these things, I am fearful of many things; by my own admitance, subconciously, I sometimes do not believe God can do things better/bigger/faster than I can. I'm not proud of it, and I do not say these things to gain attention or to gain sympathy or empathy, but to share this encouragement that Jesus shares throughout the gospels: "Take heart."

There are a lot of other things that could be said about this passage, but these words of Christ stuck out to me today. This post is not a long one (and was not intended to be), but it is a challenging/encouraging one to me, and prayerfully to others as well.

What is something that is burdening you right now? What is something that is scaring you? What is something you feel guilty for? Is there something that is holding you back from full surrender? Is your faith hurting?
 
"Take heart, my son."

Be A Leper

Matthew 8:1-2

    [1] When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. [2] And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean."

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Jesus performed so many miracles, we can barely keep track of who, when, and where they all occurred. Even in John 20, after a recording of so many miracles and signs and wonders, John writes in verse 30 "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;"

So, the question comes, What is so special about this particular sign/miracle? Well, in a sense, absolutely nothing. Other than the fact that it is indeed a miracle, there is nothing extraordinary about this particular healing that Jesus did. My focus is not to be on Jesus' miracle, but rather the words uttered by the man that was stricken with leprosy. According to the National Institute of Health, "Leprosy is an infectious disease that has been known since biblical times. It is characterized by disfiguring skin sores, nerve damage, and progressive debilitation." It's painful, in sight and in feel, and the sores can smell absolutely awful. Cases of leprosy can result in loss of the use of your hands and feet cause by the nerve damage and muscle weakness. Doesn't sound very pleasant, does it? THIS is why I love what the leper says here in the 2nd verse of Matthew 8:
 
"Lord, if you will..."

Picture Christ walking down from a mountain: He's just finished preaching the most famous sermon in history and He's being followed by an enormous amount of people. He's probably tired, physically and spiritually; who knows, He may even be annoyed by how many people are following Him so closely (I'm not assuming anything here, don't worry. Just trying to paint a picture.) and probably giving Him way more attention than He wants at this time of His day. Jesus reaches the bottom of the mountain, and leper stops Him and kneels before Him.
 
[Just as a side note, and to put this in perspective; have you ever been really wiped out, maybe not necessarily from preaching or teaching, but you're just kinda physically and spiritually drained? And then someone comes to you with a legitimate need? It's pretty difficult to want to help them and have the patience to do so. Anyway, back to the story...]

As Jesus stands there, probably tired and worn out, there kneels a leper in front of Him with a genuine need: cleansing. And this is where I want to focus--directly on what the leper says. "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." Notice that there is no direct question. The leper doesn't say, "Lord, please heal me! I hate this crap!" The leper, in my opinion, sort of declares his faith to Jesus right there in that moment; he recognizes Christ as an authority ("Lord,..") and recognizes the power that Jesus possesses ("..if you will..").

How often do we just ask for stuff from God? "God, can I have this? God, can you help me achieve that? God, can you tell so-and-so this?" Is asking God for things wrong? Not at all! Especially when you ask for the right things and you ask in the proper manner. (Hint: Wisdom is a great one to ask for. Look at how God blessed Solomon with wisdom, and look at James 1:5-6. Also see how you're NOT supposed to ask for stuff in James 4:2-3). But, maybe instead of asking for junk all the time, acknowledge God's sovreignty and recognize His will for your life.
 
"...you can make me clean."

I'm sure addressing Him as Lord, the leper had Jesus' attention; the leper knew who Jesus was and recognized it. And the leper finishes his statement (not his question, his declaration): "...you can make me clean." There's the faith. Starting the statement off right by declaring Christ as Lord, recognizing Jesus' will and the exercise of that, the leper knows and states that Jesus can make Him well.

In my opinion, this can be in direct corolation with our prayer lives. See, we got the first part right, I hope, in that we recognize Christ as God and we open our prayers with that. Sometimes, hopefully more often than not, we have the next part right in recognizing God's sovreignty over our lives and that His will is greater than our own and is more purposeful and fulfilling than our own. But, I think sometimes we struggle way too much with this last part, the part that makes this leper stick out to me: Do we really believe God can take care of us? If so, do you pray as such?


Do you always simply ask God if He could, or do you recognize/believe that He can?

I'm not sayin... I'm just sayin.

James 2:14-26
[14] What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? [15] If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, [16] and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? [17] So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
    [18] But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. [19] You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! [20] Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? [21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? [22] You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; [23] and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. [24] You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. [25] And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? [26] For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.  

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This passage left me with a question: Is my faith being shown? If so, what does it look like? But, I'll get to that later on...

It's passages like this one that can drop your heart into your stomach, I think. It's all about questioning your faith; but maybe not in the way that we're used to. The passage starts out with the question, "What good is it?" (I was immediately intrigued...) See, we all have faith. We tell our family and friends we have faith. We tell strangers we have faith by wearing corny T-shirts or having the ICTHUS fish on the back of our cars. Now those things are well and good, but we go back to the previous question... "What good is it?"

It's all about action. James plays out a short scenario in vs. 15-16: someone is poor, they explain to us that they need clothing and they need food. So, we say something encouraging or uplifting like, "Just give the situation to God," or "God will provide," or we quote a verse from the Scriptures out of context. Encouraging words, advice, and verses from Scripture are great, but this person needs food! They need clothing! Words don't mean a terrible amount to someone who isn't sure where their next meal is coming from, especially when you have the means to help them.

Faith is a beautiful thing, but verse 19 explains that even the demons believe in God; and they're scared of Him! So you tell others, "I believe in God!" Well, that's great, but if demons believe in God too, where do you stand? Abraham knew where he stood. A man who was asked to give up his only son, a son that was a miracle of God. But, Abraham knew God had promised that Abraham would father many nations, and without children, that's not possible. So Abraham had faith, and he acted on it. As did Rahab. A prostitute who helped hide some messengers of God and helped them escape possible captivity and potential persecution. These were just two that James used as examples, but they are prime examples of individuals who were justified by their faith being put into action. Faith really is a beautiful thing... when you put it into action.

So, is your faith being shown? Other than hearing about your faith, do people SEE it and/or EXPERIENCE it? And if it is seen, is your faith genuine? Does it bless the heart of God?