Jesus Among Us

I’ve just returned from a six day stint in the hospital. Five of those days were spent in the ICU. What started out as a cold for me turned into a collapsed lung and a pulmonary embolism. Needless to say, I survived and am back on my beloved laptop wasting no time to share with you what I’ve learned.

During the entire six days at the hospital there was a steady stream of family and friends coming through my room. People prayed for me, with me, and while away from me. I was shown encouragement and love by people with the heart of Jesus. All I could think about was the passage below.

When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” – Mark 2:1 – 5 (NLT)

This Scripture teaches me that Jesus saw their faith (friends of the paralyzed man) and the man’s sins were forgiven. And the friends weren’t shy about it either. In the house where Jesus was preaching, there was no standing room. But these determined young men lowered the paralyzed man right down into Jesus’ face! My guess is people had pieces of the roof falling on their heads and in their eyes when they looked up to see a man coming down on a mat. They had no choice but to back up five steps and let the man be seen by Jesus.

Have you ever prayed for other people and wondered if it makes a difference? I have. I wasn’t praying much myself during this ICU visit. My thoughts went from I’m having a hard time breathing to I’m just waiting to die! And although I was allowing the devil to needle away at my thoughts instead of praying, others were praying for me. Not only were my personal friends and family praying for me, I was on prayer lists, Facebook updates and more. I believe that even people I’ve never met were praying. And God honors their prayers. He honors our prayers. When we pray together Jesus is among us. Can you imagine that? I can now.

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.

– Matthew 18:20 (KJB)