Good Morning Gorgeous,

It’s a brand new day! A fresh new start.

A new day to rise and turn to Jesus for holy instructions.

A new day to let Him direct every step.

A new day to walk in bold obedience to whatever He lays on your heart.

Today, is a new day to lower someone through the roof to meet Jesus. How drastic is that? How desperate is that? It involves inconvenience. It involves hard work like climbing up on the roof and breaking through the protective layers. It involves the intentional seeking of Jesus and then placing all of your efforts into bringing someone else to receive what Jesus has to offer!

Imagine that you have watched your friend struggle with something their whole life, and then you learn that the One who has been healing with just a Word or sometimes a touch is in town. You know in your heart that if you can just get your friend to Jesus, he will be healed. He can’t walk. You maybe never saw him take a step on his own. This is crazy and seems impossible, but hope and faith are arising on the inside of you. If your gut instincts are correct, you may get to see your friend take his first steps. You gather a few more friends to help take your friend who is paralyzed to meet Jesus. You just know in your heart this is the answer. You carry him the whole way on his mat. And then the crowds hit you right in the face. They are pressing in close. There’s no way in the house and Jesus seems out of reach. You don’t remember in hindsight whose idea it was initially, but before anyone could argue, the whole group is climbing onto the roof and working together to get your friend up there too. Now what? We have to make a hole right above where Jesus is and lower him down. What?! Okay, here goes. And you break through the roof praying you can afford to repay the owner for damages. Gently and carefully lower your friend down right before Jesus and pray under your breath for a miracle!

Jesus doesn’t seem angry. He seems pleased with your efforts. He stops everything to attend to your friend and he speaks the most peculiar words. Of all the things to say, you didn’t imagine this one… “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

At this the religious people go crazy. No one can forgive sins except God Himself. They had studied the law and the scriptures their whole life. They were waiting for the Messiah and the fulfillment of promise, yet somehow when He came, they missed it.

Jesus was firm and strong and spoke to them with an authority that made their insides tremble though they wouldn’t show it.

He told the paralyzed man to get up and walk! And he did!!! He got up in front of everyone and walked right out!

That story is found in Mark 4 and Luke 5. There are layers and layers of lessons and treasure embedded in it. Jesus dealt with the paralyzed man’s sins and spiritual needs and then his physical. Jesus has the power to forgive sins. There is NO other mediator needed. You can confess directly to Him without an intercessor. He, Himself, is our intercessor.

The treasure I want to pull out though is the faith of the four friends who brought the paralyzed man to Jesus! They knew he couldn’t get their on his own. They believed that if they could just get their friend to Jesus, then he would be healed. And they were right!

How about us? Who are we lowering through the roof to meet Jesus. Who are we inconveniencing our life for to get before Jesus. Who needs to be lowered through the roof to get just One Word from the Lord?

The crowd and the roof can symbolize roadblocks and walls to sharing Jesus with others.

Time can be a factor that keeps us from bringing friends to Jesus.

Fear of rejection can be another.

The lack of faith that they really will be healed when they encounter Jesus.

I am being challenged even further to go the extra mile to bring people to church, to rearrange my schedule to minister to friends in need, to give of my time generously, to be the one to reach out, to get out and into the community and bring Jesus to people who may not walk into a church.

It can look different for each of us. It may just be one person God is putting on your heart. It may be a group of people that He is drawing you to.

But the question is…”Who are you lowering through the roof to meet with Jesus?”

Dear Heavenly Father,

Show us with mercy and compassion who needs to be brought before You in a radical way. Who in our lives needs walls bulldozed out of the way, so that we can bring them before You? Illuminate in our minds names of people you want each of us to intentionally minister to, and show us how to do it. Show us how to lower them through the roof. Is it in invitation to church? A coffee date? Gifting them a bible? Lord, reveal to us who needs You in a radical way and direct our next steps. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Blessings!

Vanessa Lynn