April 18, 2024

“It’s All About Jesus!”
Mark 2:1-12 (The Healing of the Paralytic)
Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts?” – Mark 2:8 (NLT)
“Honest Conversations”
I love how Jesus calls out the religious leaders. Not so much because they didn’t believe or didn’t understand, but because they didn’t speak up. They were obviously disturbed by what Jesus said. His statement about forgiving the sins of the paralytic was considered blasphemous because only God could forgive sins. But rather than confront Him, ask for clarification, or ask Him to help them understand what He meant by what He said, they kept it to themselves. If Jesus hadn’t addressed what was going on in their hearts, you can bet that they would quickly have had backroom conversations about His statement and told dozens of other people what He had said. They didn’t have the guts to have an honest conversation, so Jesus called them out and had it for them.
This is so typical of our human nature. Whenever someone says something or does something that hurts us, many of us never go to them. We go to 5 or 6 other people and tell them how hurt we are. If someone does something that we think is questionable or concerning, many of us don’t ask them why they did what they did. We tell several other people why WE think they did what they did. Let me drive that deeper. This problem isn’t just with people we know from church or other social circles. For many of us, this is how we operate even with our family or closest friends. Instead of going to them (as Jesus instructs in Matthew 18) and having a heart-to-heart talk, we will sulk, pull away, be mad, or just keep smiling and be resentful on the inside. I’m convinced we could fix 90% of our relational problems if we just learned how to have honest conversations.
Can I go one step further with this? We do the same with God. Often our prayers are not honest prayers. We don’t express our true feelings to God. We don’t tell him our fears, our doubts, or our struggles. We try to act like it’s all okay when the truth is we’re angry because He isn’t responding the way we want Him to respond. But look at our passage again. Jesus KNEW their hearts. He knows yours, too. God isn’t afraid of you expressing your hurts, fears, and frustrations with Him. He's a Big God and He can handle the truth. So stop living out your relationships talking to everyone else but the people you need to be talking to. And stop hiding the hard stuff from God because He already knows about it. Give others and God the gift that everyone wants. An honest conversation. That’s God’s Word for you today.
Posted in
Posted in , ,

Recent

Archive

 2024

Categories

Tags

5000 Abraham All-in Andrew Beggar Bible Bystander Christian Conscience Ears Easter Family Free GPS Galilee God can God God’s plan God’s work God’s Good deeds He’s there Holy Spirit I can’t Israel Jericho Jerusalem Jesis Jesusisyourshepherd Jesus Jews John Joseph Judea Kesus Kongdom Larry Bird Lazarus Levi Light Lord Lord’s Prayer Martha Mary Messiah Mother’s Day Nature News Nicodemus Opportunity Palm Sunday Peter Pharisees Philip Phillip Prayer Rocks Roman Samaria Samaritan Satan Soldier Sunday Thomas Walk Word Yeast Zacchaeus able above abundance accept action active acts addictions addiction admiration advice afraid again alliswell all alone always amaze amazing anger announce another answered anxiety anyone apologize application approval around attention attitudes attitude attraction audience authority average awe back bad baptism baptize barge in become beg behavior belief believe belong better beyond be big bitterness bit blessings blessing blind man block bluff born again born box bread breakthrough breath bridegroom brokenness broken brother business busy buyer call out calling call caregiver care caring cave celebrate chains changed changes change character charge child choice church clean clear climb closed hearts comfortable comfort commitment community companion compassion confused connect control conversation correction created creation creator credit crisis critics cross crowd cryout curses daily dark daughter day dead deal death debt decisions decision deeper defend defense depression desire despair despai desperation devil die different difficult direction dirt disagreement disappointment disciples discouragement disease distance divide divine doctor does donkey don’t waste doubt draw people in drift each earthly emotionalrollercoaster emotional emotions empty enemy entertain entitlement envy equal eternal life eternal eternity every kind everyday everyone evidence example exceptional excitement expectations experience eyes eye failure fair faithful faith fall farmer far fasting father fatigue fear feeding feed feel feet fickle fire first world first five thousand five-thousand flavor flesh focus follow forever forgiveness forgiven forgive foundation freedom friends friend fruitful fulfill further gather ghost gifts gift given up gives give glory godshapedhole goodness good gospel go grace grand idea grandparent gratitude grave clothes grave great greed growing guilt hands hang ups happen hard work hardship harvest have to head healer healing healthy heal hears hearts heart hear heaven hell helpless help heroes hidden hide hiding highs holiday holy day holy home honest honored honor hopeless hope house how humble humility hungry hurting hurt if only image immediate impact important in-laws influence information insecurity inside instantly instructions integrity intention intercession interruption invite issues itsalright joy justify kind king knows ahead know label lame lamp law lazy leanonGod leper liedabout life-change life limit linen listen living water longing looker looking loss lost loved love lower lows lust made magnetic majesty make manna marriage mask matters meaning mercy ministry miracles miracle mirror mission misuse moment money moon more mother motives mount mouth move name near needhelp need negative neighbor newlife new night notable obedience obey obstacle older old onestory onetruegod one open others other out overcome overflow ownership pain palm paralytic parent party passion paths path patience peace people perfume persecuted personal person physical piece places place plank plant plan pool possessions powerful power praise pray precious prepare presence present priceless pride private problems prodigal prophets protection provision purpose questionbehindthquestion questions question quickly quiet random reach react reason recincile reckoning recognize reconnect redeemer reflect relational relationships relentless remember repent resentment resilience respond response restore rest resurrection return reveal rich right away righteous right risk road rock roof room royalty ruin rule sabbath sacrifice sad salt salvation same saveme save say scarcity school scripture searching search second-guessing security seeds seed seeing seen selfish sermon servant serve serving shadows shame share sheep shepherd sick significance signs simple sinners sinner sinner’s prayer sins sin sky small part small snake soil son sorrow sovereignty speak special spend spiritual birth spirit spread start star stereotype stewardship storms storm story stranger strength stress strong man struggle study suffering summary surrender sync talents talent talk teachable teach temple temptation tempted tenacious tender testthespirits test thankful things thinking thoughts throne time timing together tomb tomorrow tongue-tied touch tough tradition tragedy transformed treasures trials tried trust truth try turn two uncertain uncomfortable unconditional undeserving unexpected unfair unfinished unknown unseen us value view viral voice vulnerable waiting wait wake up walking walkonwater warning water waves ways way weakness weak wealth wedding weeds weep well wept what can whatcanidoforyou whatsbehindthehurt what what’s wheat when who will windows wine wink wisdom with witness woman workers working work world-changer world worry worship worthy wounded wrll wrong yourself you