God, I need a friend RAISE THE ROOF March 2:1-4 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven. (ESV) Four men brought their friend, a paralytic to Jesus for healing. Jesus was preaching in Capernaum in a certain house- unanimously agreed in bible commentaries to be the house of Peter and Andrew; a large crowd gathered to hear him, see him, touched him and to be healed by him. The crowd was so thick, it was impossible to penetrate. People were pressing to get in. After many frantic efforts at the front entrance, they may have tried the back. They tried the windows too, there was no room anywhere. I see them looking around the house for any opening big enough to squeeze through; all the while carrying their friend on the stretcher. They found none; then they remembered that there is always space at the top. They climbed on to the roof and began removing the roof in a bit to make a hole. They made a hole sufficient to lower the bed and the man on it. Shift your attention to Peter at this time. Just imagine what was running through Peter’s mind. I don’t believe that Peter and Andrew were just standing and happily watching the men rip off their roof. Knowing Peter as a short tempered fellow, he may have tried to ‘persuade them nicely’ with HIS SWORD. How the men managed to remove the roof still only shows the level of their determination to get their friend to Jesus at all cost. They may have been fighting with one hand and lowering with the other. When they finally lowered the man down at the feet of Jesus, the bible says Jesus saw the faith of the men. He says nothing of the man’s faith. He then healed the man. Friends abi? They wanted healing for their friend and whatever it took, they were going to get it. The crowd could not stop them. If it took vandalizing a man’s house to get in, that’s how it was going to be. Unstoppable! Even Jesus (no blasphemy intended) would have had it difficult with these guys if He didn’t heal their friend. I HAVE NO ONE John 5:2-7 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, Do you want to be healed? The sick man answered him, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me. A man had been ill for 38years. He was at this pool with many other invalids. Once in a while the angel of God will stir the pool and a rush to get in will ensue. Anyone that got in was made whole. He had been there a long time and witnessed people get healed. Anyone who could get into the pool at the stirring of the water was made whole. One day Jesus came around and saw this man by the pool. Notice this man had been sick for longer than Jesus had been alive. Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be well. His answer was a bit off. He said: “I have no one”. He had connected healing at this point with getting into the pool and getting into the pool with having someone. His answer suggests that he had seen many invalids like him helped into the water and instantly made whole. His problem at this point was not his sickness; it was his LACK OF SOMEONE to throw him in at the stirring of the water. So, when the man answered: “I have no one”. He was stating what he had seen as his limitation. Jesus did not scold the man for his answer. We scold the man for his lack of faith. We do because we fail to see that in the man’s answer we are convicted. His response is the cry of many. “I have no one”. WHERE WERE THE FRIENDS OF THIS MAN? I have no one, he said. For 38years he was an invalid. For a long time he sat and watched people get what he wanted but could not get. The only reason he did not get it was because: “he had no one”. We just saw friends of a paralyzed man vandalize a man’s house to get him help; where were the friends of this one? No matter how close one gets to one’s dreams, people are inevitable; we need people. But isn’t it a sad reality that many people today can get as near as they like to what they want but never get it because they have no one? A young man may never get admission or a job regardless of his qualification because he has no one. A man’s talent may never come to fore because he has no one. People are dying daily unfulfilled because they have no one and we’re overpopulated. The atmosphere around the pool is very similar to ours today. There are opportunities but you need to have someone. It does not matter how long you have been waiting or how desperately you need the opportunity. The question is always who you have. The man was saying I don’t have friends. If you will be my friend and throw me in the next time the water is stirred, I know I will be healed. Was the man relying on people as we like to preach this scripture? We like to say he should have depended on God. Yes! But God had already made available the healing pool and the man’s friends. These revelations got me praying: “God, I need a friend”. I need friends who will go to any length to get me to Jesus. I need friends who will tear down any opposition to get me help. I want friends who will be my strength even when I am weak. I need friends whose faith can carry me; represent me. I need friends that believe in my good so much they’ll do anything, break rules if necessary to make it manifest. But more than these, I want to be such a friend. In his answer, God began to reveal mysteries about friendships in the scriptures that worked and why they worked etc. I also saw friendships that didn’t work and why they didn’t work. I began to learn how to make right friends, but above all; how to be a right friend. These revelations I have put together in this book I titled: “GOD, I NEED A FRIEND… HOW TO MAKE AND MAXIMIZE RELATIONSHIPS”. This message shall bless all those who can lay their hands on it. It is revolutionary. It changed my life, it will change yours too. I am passionate about it. I need to get this message to the world. And I need you, my friend to help me get this message to everyone. Every day I get a new friend request on face book. I have well over 200 friends on face book now. You may have more than a 1000. Can I rely on these friends to get me to where I need to be? Can you rely on yours to get you there? We need this message. The world needs it. Friendship is the only form of relationship you make on your own accord. You don’t choose your family, your colleagues, church members etc. But from these you can make a conscious choice of who your friends should be. We need to learn how to make and maximize these friendships. Please contact me to help me send this message out to the world. Your FRIEND Soul 07033644064 avindigh@gmail
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 10:35:34 +0000
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