You are forgiven

​10/11/21
Today's devotion for today is based on Mark 2:5, where we hear Jesus tell a man who was paralyzed, "My son, your sins are forgiven."
How strange. I doubt that the man and those who carried him to Jesus expected those words.  Jesus saw their faith, for they had dug through the house's ceiling to lower him to Jesus. They wanted to hear Jesus say, "Be healed" or "Get up and walk."
We assume that the most significant issues in life are suffering, sickness, poverty, or injustice. Jesus, however, shows that behind all these big issues is a deeper problem; something has to be straightened out first. He wants us to know that evil itself.  Evil defies God and destroys his creation and all that live in it. This ever-present evil has to be conquered so that we can come to grips with its consequences, what we consider the big issues of life.
First, we must be restored into a right relationship with God through the forgiveness of our sins.
In this restoration, we can come to grips with suffering either through God's healing power or his giving us the ability to carry it. Hence, it becomes a victory in faith. Have faith that God loves you even when you might not think he does.
Please pray with me: Lord Jesus, you have the power to forgive sins because you have carried all sin to the cross, making atonement for everyone. Help me to trust in your love and promises to help me through life's struggles. Let me know your peace during sickness and death so that I will be welcomed into your eternal presence in the end.  In your holy name, I pray. Amen.