Open Heavens 12 January 2018: Friday daily devotional by Pastor Adeboye
Memorise: Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. – Hebrews 7:25
Read: Mark 2:1-12 (KJV)
1 And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.
2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.
3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)
11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
Bible in One Year: Genesis 27-28, Revelation 11, Hymn: Sing Hymn 3: What Can Wash Away My Sins
MESSAGE:
Today’s Bible reading contains an interesting story that confirms Jesus Christ as the authentic Saviour of the body, soul and spirit of mankind. A four-man squad brought a paralytic man face to face with Jesus Christ while He was preaching in a house. Amazingly, in Mark 2:5b, the first thing Jesus Christ said to the young man was,
“Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.”
To the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, this was a strange and conceited statement, which should not be uttered by any man. As they reasoned in their heart on how a man could proclaim another man’s sins to be forgiven, Jesus confronted with the truth of sin as the origin of man’s trouble on earth. Hear what He said in Mark 2:9-11:
“9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? 10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) 11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.”
On hearing this, the sick got healed; people were so happy for him, and they glorified God.
There are lots of lessons to be learnt from this story; one of which is that sin brings about physical and spiritual calamity. Another lesson is that to overcome physical calamity, the issue of sin must be dealt with first. It becomes easier for healing to take place when the issue of sin has been settled because the spiritual controls the physical. Sometimes we fail to look beyond the physical in our bid to solve spiritually-inflicted problems, and so we remain in this problem perpetually. Beloved, have you found out the root cause of the problem you are confronted with? Are they spiritual or physical in nature? The good news is that whether they are spiritual or physical, Jesus Christ is more than able to solve them today. In Luke 4:18-19, says this concerning Him:
“18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Beloved, do you want salvation in every facet of life? Jesus Christ is the one that you need. To receive His salvation, all He requires of you is a total surrender of your heart to His Lordship. If you can do this today, He will save you completely.
Action Point: Ask the Great Physician to heal you of any spiritual or physical infirmity challenging your life.
Hymn 3: What Can Wash Away My Sins
1. What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Chorus:
Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
2. For my cleansing this I see
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
For my pardon this my plea
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
3. Nothing can my sin erase
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Naught of works, ’tis all of grace
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
4. This is all my hope and peace
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
This is all my righteousness
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
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