Faith can be seen. Just as Jesus explained to Nicodemus in John 3:8, faith is like the wind. Faith itself is invisible, but saving faith is always accompanied by corresponding actions which can be seen (Jas. 2:17-26).

It was not only the faith of the paralytic that Jesus saw, but also that of his four friends (Mk. 2:3). This demonstrates the effect our intercession in faith can have upon others. Jesus saw their faith. However, although our faith released on behalf of others is powerful, it is not a substitute for their faith. It is simply a help. The person who is to receive the miracle must have some degree of faith, also. Even Jesus could not produce healing in those who would not believe (Mk. 6:5-6). In this instance, it is evident that the paralytic himself also had faith because he was not resistant to the four who brought him; and he got up and obeyed Jesus’ command (v. 7) without having to be helped.

Why did Jesus minister forgiveness of sins to this man instead of meeting the obvious need he had of healing? God is more concerned with the spiritual health of a man than his physical health. Or, Jesus, through a word of knowledge, may have perceived that the real heart-cry of this man was to be reconciled to God. In some instances (not all – Jn. 9:2-3), sickness was a direct result of sin. Therefore, Jesus would be dealing with the very root of the paralysis. Whether or not this man’s paralysis was a direct result of sin, sin in our life (that has not been forgiven) will allow Satan to keep us in his bondage. Through Jesus’ act of forgiving this man’s sins, the paralytic was free to receive all the blessings of God, which certainly included healing.

The point Jesus is making is that both forgiveness of sins and the healing of the paralytic are humanly impossible. If Jesus could do one of these things, He could do the other. He then healed the paralytic showing that He did, indeed, have the authority to forgive sins. In Jesus’ day, the people were more inclined to accept His willingness to heal than they were to accept His forgiveness of sins without the keeping of the law. Today, the church world basically accepts forgiveness of sins, but doubts His willingness to heal. They were never meant to be separated. Believe and receive all God has for you today.

Only Mark records this important statement that Jesus was “moved with compassion” in the healing of this leper. There are three other instances in the gospels when Jesus was moved with compassion which resulted in healing (Mt. 14:14; 20:34; Lk. 7:13; and once in deliverance – Mk.5:19). The difference between seeing a person healed or not healed many times is this all-important ingredient of love.

All three of the Gospel accounts record Jesus touching this leper. This not only illustrates the doctrine of “laying on of hands”, but was probably included because according to Numbers 19:22, this action would have made Jesus unclean. This illustrates the New Testament ministry of the Spirit versus the Old Testament ministry of the letter of the law (2 Cor. 3:6).

Jesus did not have to avoid the ceremonial uncleanness that would come from physical contact with a leper because He came to bear our sins in His own body. As can be seen from Mark’s account, two things happened: (1) the leprosy departed and (2) the man was cleansed. Jesus not only removed the disease but restored the damaged parts of his body. This leper was healed as soon as Jesus spoke.

The Word of God is the will of God, and it reveals that it is always God’s will to heal. Jesus often healed people by touching them, and others received their healing as they touched Jesus. You can transmit the power or the anointing of God through the laying on of hands. Let Him use you today to touch others.

Leprosy was a hated disease and its symptoms are described in detail in Leviticus 13:1-46. This leper believed Jesus could heal him, but doubted His willingness to heal him. Jesus showed him His willingness to heal, and since He is no respecter of persons, He established a precedent for us (Rom. 2:11). This leper did not know God’s will concerning healing, but this is not the case with us. The Word of God is the will of God, and it reveals that it is always God’s will to heal.

Isaiah 53:5, makes it clear that when Isaiah said “with his stripes we are healed”, he was speaking of the physical healing of our bodies. Jesus provided for physical healing as well as forgiveness of sins. The very word “save” (Gk.-“sozo”) is translated “made whole” in reference to physical healing in Matthew 9:22, Mark 5:34, and Luke 8:48. James 5:15 says, “the prayer of faith shall save (Gk.-“sozo”) the sick.” Many scriptures mention the healing of our bodies in conjunction with the forgiveness of our sins. Healing is a part of our salvation, just as much as the forgiveness of our sins.

Nowhere do we find Jesus refusing to heal anyone. In light of Jesus’ statement that He could do nothing of Himself, but only what He saw the Father do (Jn. 5:19 and 8:28-29), His actions are proof enough that it is always God’s will to heal. There are certain things Jesus suffered for us that we should not suffer. Jesus died for our sins so that we would not have to pay for them (Rom. 6:23). Jesus took our sicknesses and diseases so that we could walk in health (Mt. 8:17; 1 Pet. 2:24). Jesus became poor so that we, through His poverty, might be rich (2 Cor. 8:9). If God be for us, then no one can successfully be against us.

The Lord has made every provision for you to walk in all He has provided for you today. Don’t put it off a minute longer.

The way that you can tell whether a person is genuine or not is by the fruit they produce. This fruit is speaking of lifestyle. Jesus made the point that you don’t get bad fruit from a good tree, and you don’t get good fruit from a bad tree. Many people say one thing, but their actions speak so loudly that you really can’t hear what they are saying. If you are in doubt about whether a person is genuine or not, or whether you should receive from them and follow their teaching, look at the fruit they are producing.

In evaluating ministers and ministries, more attention should be given to the fruit that is being produced. Failure to do this could lead someone to reject and even discredit a minister who simply makes a mistake or is wrong in one area. Every minister has shortcomings, just as every other member of the Body of Christ does. But that doesn’t mean his ministry is bad. Look at the fruit.

Fruit is the true test of ministers and ministries. If people are being saved, if lives are being changed, there is good fruit. Even though the minister may say something bad and make mistakes, the fruit is good.

Therefore, you can say that the tree is good. When a person says all of the right things and may seem sincere, but you see the lives of people around them shattered and torn, and in confusion and distress, then the fruit is bad. You can judge the effectiveness of a person by the fruit that they are producing in their life. In ministry you can judge the effectiveness of a minister by the fruit that his ministry is producing.

Today, make sure that the fruit that comes from your life is positive. Make sure that you are making a positive impact on people’s lives, that you are turning people to the Lord and not leaving them hurt and confused. People are looking at you to see what type of fruit you are bearing.

What kind of parent would ever deny their children, the necessities of life? If you have children would you fail to feed them? Or provide for them? Or if they ask you for food would you give them poison instead? Of, course not. This is the point Jesus is making.

God is love (1 Jn. 4:8)! And His love for us is infinitely greater than any loving relationship here on earth. We can apply this truth about God’s love for us to any command or example we find in God’s Word where His standards for relationship are revealed. Be assured that He will much more than meet those standards Himself.

This gives us confidence that, in the same way we respond in love to our children and to those who are in need, our God, who is love, will also respond to us. God is a faithful God, and He will always give us the things that we need.

Today, let the Lord be magnified in your life as Psalm 35:27 says, “Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.” It pleases God to minister to you. Let God have pleasure today by meeting your needs. You have not, because you ask not (James 4:2). God wants you to ask so that you can receive (John 16:24). Believe God. He gets pleasure when you ask Him.

Prayer which meets the requirements outlined in God’s Word is always answered. Many times we don’t perceive the answer because it always comes in the spiritual realm first before it is manifested in the physical realm. If we waver from our confident faith, then we abort the manifestation of that answer (Jas. 1:6-7; Heb. 10:35). But God did answer. Everyone who asks receives.

In the book of Daniel chapter 9, Daniel prayed a prayer and waited a relatively short period of time to see his answer to prayer. In less than three minutes the angel Gabriel appeared and answered all of his questions.

This same man prayed another prayer in Daniel chapter 10, but this time it took three weeks before he had an angelic messenger come and answer his questions. What was the difference? Most people believe that God answered one prayer in three minutes and the next prayer in three weeks. But Daniel 10:12, says “from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand,…thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.” Satan had hindered the second prayer from reaching Daniel. God was not the variable. God answers every prayer.

This is confirmed in Matthew 7:8, which says that everyone who asks receives, he that seeks will find, to him that knocks it is opened. God answers, but Satan can hinder our prayers in the spiritual realm before they ever physically manifest. If we understand that God gives the answer and that Satan is the one hindering, the truths of these scriptures will encourage us. God does answer prayer.

God is always answering your prayer. If you haven’t seen it manifest, don’t doubt God, but recognize that you’re fighting an enemy, and persevere. Stand on your faith. Pray without ceasing until you see the answer.

There are many examples of people judging others in the scriptures. Paul prayed that our love would abound more and more in all judgment (Phil. 1:9). In light of the scriptures where Jesus and the disciples spoke of judging, it is evident that there must be a right and a wrong type of judging.

In Luke 12:56-57, Jesus uses the words “discern” and “judge” interchangeably. A dictionary definition of “judge” can mean many things from “condemn” to “appraise, to form an opinion about; to think or consider.” There is certainly nothing wrong with discerning or appraising a situation or person. Quite the contrary, we need to try the spirits (1 Jn. 4:1). Judging when done as discernment, is good.

It is the condemning type of judgment that is wrong. We can defer passing sentence on people to God, and know that He will make a perfect judgment (Rom. 2:2, Rev. 20:13). God is ultimately the only qualified judge.

Jesus is not forbidding judgment, but rather He is warning to be careful with our judgment because we will be judged accordingly. There are certain cases where we have to pass a condemning sentence as Paul did or as a judge would do today. Pastors and elders are charged with rebuking and even disciplining church members, but it is not something to be done lightly. Judging is not aimed at the person, but the actions of that person. This warning constrains us to be certain that we have heard from God. We must not simply vent our own frustrations.

Every Christian has a need for wisdom in making judgments about how to live from day to day. How wonderful to know that God through His Word has already equipped us to judge.

The Greek word used here for “thought” is “merimnao” and denotes “to be anxious or careful”. In this passage, as well as the parallel passage in Luke 12:22-32, Jesus is commanding us not to worry or be anxious about our material needs being met. It would be impossible to have no thought whatsoever about our physical needs. Even Jesus thought about His need for money to pay taxes (Mt. 17:24-27). We are simply not to be preoccupied with thinking about riches or spending our time worrying about necessities. These things will be added unto us as we seek first the Kingdom of God.

The way we take or receive an anxious thought is by speaking it. Doubtful thoughts will come, but we do not sin until we entertain them. According to this verse, speaking forth these thoughts is one way of entertaining them; therefore, don’t speak forth these negative thoughts.

It is imperative that we watch the words we say. Begin to speak words in faith that line up with God’s Word, then positive results will follow. If we speak words of doubt, we will eventually believe them and have the negative things that these words produce. There are no such things as “idle” words which will not work for or against us. Death or life is in the power of every word we speak (Prov. 18:21). Our words can be our most powerful weapon against the devil, or they can become a snare of the devil (Prov. 6:2).

Today watch your words. Speak only things that will express your faith, trust, and confidence in the Lord and not your fear about the situations you face.

Jesus is speaking of spiritual vision. If we keep our attention (eye) single upon Jesus, the Word, then all that we will be filled with is the light of His Word (Jn. 1:1-14; Ps. 119:105). The key to victory is this singleness of purpose (Phil. 3:13). The strength of the laser lies in the fact that all of the light is concentrated on one single point. Likewise, the strength of the Christian lies in how single his or her vision is upon Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith.” (Heb. 12:1-3)

You may have God and riches, but you can only serve one of them. In Matthew 6:24, the Lord amplifies this by saying that we cannot serve two masters. Why is this so? Because we do not have the capability of faithfully serving both of them. You will cleave to one more than the other. You cannot serve both with all of your heart. We just don’t have the capacity to do our best in two areas at the same time. God wants singleness of vision, singleness of purpose. He wants us to serve Him with all of our heart.

You may be wondering how you can still make a living without always thinking about money. Where will it come from? How will you get more of it? In verse 33, Jesus goes on to say that He will supply all of your need when you seek first the Kingdom of God. All of these other things (food and clothing etc.) will be added unto you. If we will simply put God and His Kingdom first in every area of our lives, He will add to us all the wealth that we need. It’s when we covet after money that we “pierce ourselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim. 6:10). Put God to the test today. Put Him first in every area of your life and see if He won’t provide all the other things for you.

If isolated from the rest of God’s Word, there are some scriptures that could be interpreted to mean that having money or wealth is wrong. However there are other scriptures that speak of riches as a blessing. The harmony between these two apparently opposite positions is that money is neither good nor bad. It is the love of money that is the root of all evil, and many have committed the sin of loving money who don’t even have a dime (1 Tim. 6:10)! The love of things (covetousness) is idolatry, and this is what Jesus is addressing.

Because it is so easy to lust after money and the things it can provide, the Lord established a system whereby prosperity is a by-product of putting God first. As Matthew 6:33 states, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” We should no more reject the blessing of prosperity than we should covet it, which is idolatry.

The reason for not laying up treasures on this earth is so that we will not have our hearts drawn away from the things of God. A key to success in the Kingdom of God is singleness of purpose. We don’t have the capacity to do our best in two areas at the same time. If we will simply put God and His Kingdom first in every area of our lives, He will add to us all the wealth that we need. What is more valuable or important than knowing Him?