A teaching by Rev. Barbara Williams, President of the Ministry of the Watchman International
Week of November 18-22, 2024
MONDAY
And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
Mark 2:1-12
There is a need for healing. As long as we are in this earth plagued with sin, there will be a need for healing. Sickness is a part of the curse of the broken law. Thank God Jesus heals.
Everything that we receive from God, we receive by faith. Faith is the vehicle upon which our promise is delivered. Faith is a spiritual substance. Faith comes to us when we incline our ears to hear the word of God.
How about the young man in our story? What is the condition of his faith? Well, as the young man is being carried on a litter by four other persons. Jesus is already preaching the word.
Faith is being sent out, but is he hearing?
If you are in need of healing, there is good news! Proverbs 4:20-22 SAYS:
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
So there is life and health in God’s word. Since God’s word is medicine, we must take it like we would a prescription. I suggest three times a day, like you would your food. Remember, healing is the children’s bread. Consider this your “dose” for today. Remember, read, and meditate three times a day the following:
Rx: Psalm 21:4 ~ He asked life from You, and You gave it to him—Length of days forever and ever.
“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15
If you’ve never studied the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we invite you to join us as we read through the Bible in a year. Read and meditate on these chapters this week:
November 18: 1 Chronicles 11-12, Hebrews 13, Amos 7, Luke 2
November 19: 1 Chronicles 13-14, James 1, Amos 8, Luke 3
November 20: 1 Chronicles 15, James 2, Amos 9, Luke 4
November 21: 1 Chronicles 16, James 3, Obidiah, Luke 5
November 22: 1 Chronicles 17, James 4, Jonah 1, Luke 6
November 23: 1 Chronicles 18, James 5, Jonah 2, Luke 7
November 24: 1 Chronicles 19-20, 1 Peter 1, Jonah 3, Luke 8
TUESDAY
When the young man cannot get through the door to see Jesus, he leaves. What is the condition of his faith?
Many people leave discouraged from a service when their healing does not come on the first try. I remember sitting through a healing service checking every few minutes or so to see if I were healed. I learned later that that was not faith.
Faith is an assurance.
We must know that something is granted or the permission to receive that thing is already given before we can call it faith. So what is the condition of this man’s faith?
We can tell something about the condition of his faith by his actions. He leaves the door, then he is later seen on the roof taking up tiles so he can be lowered down to where Jesus is.
WEDNESDAY
When Jesus sees their faith, He does something wonderful. He pronounces the man’s sins forgiven. Forgiveness is everything. It removes the curse of the broken law from our lives. But how was this accomplished? It was done with the man’s faith.
Faith finds a way to get you to the point of the manifestation of your miracle. Faith is a spiritual substance that assures you that one day you will stand face to face with the source of your healing. When we walk by faith, we are being led to places where the promises of God manifest.
Faith finds the way to the throne of God where the release of every good and perfect gift takes place.
THURSDAY
So Jesus sees their faith and speaks to them. Faith will lead you to eliminate the source of the problem that is keeping you in bondage. Jesus tells the man that his sins are forgiven, because the man needs to know it.
Often healing can be affected by one word from the Master. Whatever word Jesus would have spoken at the point of the manifestation of the man’s healing would have made him well. The important thing to know is that the man’s faith led him to do the things he did. His faith would not take “no” for an answer. As he moved closer and closer to Jesus, his faith grew.
Finally in the presence of the Master he was ready to release his faith onto Jesus.
FRIDAY
But Jesus must stop and answer the questions of the skeptics…those onlookers who are in reasonably good health and are not seeking any thing from the Lord. People like this need healing, too. They need to be enlightened to know how healing works, and Jesus has the remedy for that, also.
They question Jesus’ ability to forgive sins. Since he knew they would question this, He informs them that He said the words He said for that very reason: to give them understanding that man is able to forgive sins. Jesus notices great faith, and He notices unbelief. He also needs to make the connection between sin and sickness, which He does.
The most important thing is the end result, of course. He commands the man to get up and walk, which he does, and walks away perfectly whole.
When faith finds the way to the Master, healing always results.