Latest / The Daily Word / April 22 – Faith You Can See
Transcript
- Robert Rosales: Good morning, Lakeshore family, and welcome to today's Daily Word podcast. I'm Robert Rosales, and my wife Yolanda and I have the privilege of serving as the campus pastors at our Gastonia location. Each day on this podcast, we take a few moments to reflect on what God is highlighting from our daily Bible reading. And as a church family, we're intentional about creating space to meet with God through prayer, the scriptures, and by writing down what the Holy Spirit is speaking and how it connects to everyday life. We're reading together using the Life Journal reading plan. And today, we're focusing on the New Testament passage from that plan. When I sit down for my time with the Lord, I keep it simple, but I always bring these things, my Bible, my Life Journal, and a pen for writing down what I catch and a highlighter, because I like to mark the verses that stand out. as I'm reading. I'll also use a couple of trusted study tools. One is Blue Letter Bible. I use that to explore ⁓ word meanings, Greek, Hebrew, and I also use BibleRef.com. That gives me a real clear verse by verse understanding of the scripture. just, I want to remind you, these are just tools. They don't replace the scripture, but they help me slow down, study a little deeper, and listen more carefully. I also want to remind you we're using the SOAP method. Come on, scripture, observation, application, and prayer. It's not legalistic, but it's a great tool. It will help you to engage God's word in a very practical way and respond to what he's doing in your heart. Now, before we read today's passage and get into what I got, let's take a moment to pray. Agree with me in your heart. As we open your word, open us. By your spirit, make what is written living and active in our hearts. Give us ears to hear, hearts to receive, and faith to obey. Speak, Lord, we're listening. In Jesus' name, everybody said, amen. Today's passage for April 22nd is Matthew chapter nine, and I journaled from verses one, through two, one and two. So listen to what it says out of the New King James. So he got into a boat, crossed over and came to his own city. This is speaking of Jesus. Then behold, they brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you. Let me read verse two in the amplified version. It's really cool. Seeing their faith active, springing from confidence in Him. The title of my journal entry is this, Faith That Is Visible. Come on, say it with me. Faith that is visible. And here's my observation. In Matthew 9, one and two, we see a clear picture of Jesus' mission and we also see faith that is visible. Jesus returns to his city, demonstrating his willingness to be present with those in need. A paralytic is brought to him by others, most likely his friends, demonstrating that real faith is active and is often released in community. Their willingness to carry this man to Jesus reveals a faith that acts on behalf of others. And the text emphasizes that Jesus responds to their faith, not just the man's. Now what's most striking is Jesus' response. Instead of immediately healing the man physically, he addresses his deeper need by saying, take heart son, your sins are forgiven. This reveals that spiritual restoration is the priority over physical healing. At the same time, Jesus speaks with compassion and personal care, offering encouragement and identity before any visible change occurs. Now overall, the passage shows that true faith is active and often shared, that Jesus responds to such faith and that the greatest need he meets is not always physical but spiritual, the forgiveness of sins. Now here's the application. In other words, how does this apply to my life? This is what I wrote down. Through this passage, I'm reminded that sometimes true faith is visible and it's accompanied by action. This encourages me to position my heart to listen to what the Spirit is saying throughout the day and to look for opportunities to exercise my faith, to walk it out, to do something that substantiates it. Second, as a follower of Christ, I must at times share my faith with others. What I mean is I must exercise my faith on behalf of others. I'm not sure where the paralyzed man's faith was, but like his friends, I will extend my faith to others when they might need it. Here's my prayer. Father God, Thank you for speaking to me today through your word. Holy Spirit, help me to walk in a visible faith when necessary. Teach me to look for opportunities to exercise my faith, not only for myself, but also on behalf of others. In Jesus' name, amen. Lakeshore family, as you go into your day, my prayer is that you'll develop a hunger for God and his word like you've never had before. As you do, God will open your eyes to the riches of His Word, giving you revelation and life-changing insight that will help you become everything God has called you to be, fulfilling your mission, purpose, and plan for our great Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thanks for joining me today on the Daily Word Podcast. I hope this encourages you to stay faithful in the Word and sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading. God bless you, and we'll catch you again tomorrow.