Greeting from the Deid
The weather here has really been turning cooler. It's bearable almost all the time now. It still reaches 100 every once in a while but not much.
We are almost to the half way point of this excursion and I can tell that I am really just going with the flow. The newness and excitement wore off a long time ago. I still believe in what we are doing over here, protecting the people of the US, our men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the good law respecting citizens of those countries and our allies around the world. And I still enjoy my job. But everyday seems the same for the most part.
So I'll tell you about what is new, my perspective on a few things. I had mentioned to Candace several times throughout our marriage that I did not really feel like I knew how to read the bible. I know how to read of coarse, but I mean where to read, how much to read and where to start reading. Being a fairly new Christian and not hearing those stories growing up and having no foundation to build on I often feel lost in that part of my faith. I often thought if I could read the bible cover to cover once I would have a better understanding and at least a basic knowledge of the entire thing and how it was laid out. I tried a few times to do this with little success. So for Christmas last year Candace bought me a one year chronological bible. It is set up in daily reading chunks and proportioned so that you can read the whole bible in a year. So I started on January 1st of this year and am still going strong. I am finally to the New Testament and I have noticed a few things about reading the bible this way.
I came to the story in Mark 2, Matthew 9, and Luke 5 of the paralytic being lowered through the roof and healed by Jesus. Here is what struck me about this story that I think came because of the way I was reading. Because the bible I'm reading is laid out in chronological order, I read all 3 accounts one right after another. I heard Jesus say something to me that I had never heard in this story before.
He told the people there who doubted that he could forgive sin, "which is easier, to forgive sin or to say to this man, pick up your mat and walk out of here healed?" He then told the man to do just that and he did, and the people were astounded at what they saw and they praised God.
The only thing I came away with the first few times that I heard this story was that Jesus did this, healed this man to prove to the people there that he was who he said he was and he had the authority to do the things he said he could do. Forgive sin. And he does, and he did.
But I heard something else as well. Jesus wants to heal us, wants to heal me. He wants to heal my heart and heal my soul so that I can pick up my mat and walk with him. He wants to heal the things that keep me paralyzed when I should be doing something or saying something or praying or listening. He forgives my sin, and then heals the brokenness that comes from it. And he will continue to heal me and tell me and you to get up and walk...with him.
This has been my prayer lately, that I would be not only forgiven but healed. And it is my prayer for all of you as well.
God bless, Kelly
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