"Nurturing Emmanuel Emancipates Daily Souls! (N.E.E.D.S)"

By Ramesh C.Reddy
Pittsburgh Standard

February 26, 2008

Editors Note: The devotional has a background song which can be heard if you use Internet Explorer.

Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent. (Mark 3:4, NIV)

 “He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.” (3:5-6, NIV)

Observations:
I asked myself who are all the characters involved?

1. Man
2. Jesus
3. Synagogue attendees
4. Pharisees
5. Herodians

I asked myself what role each of them played?

Character 1: Man

1. A man with a shriveled hand was in the synagogue.
2. The disabled man was requested to stand up in front of everyone.
3. The disabled man was used as an example to ask people a question.
4. The disabled man was requested to stretch out his hand.
5. The disabled man obeyed and stretched out his hand.
6. The disabled man became a testimony to his complete healing!

Character 2: Jesus

Character 3: Synagogue Attendees

Characters 4 & 5: Pharisees and Herodians

Interpretations:
I decided to focus on what I can learn about the character of Jesus.

Right after Jesus had spoken to the Pharisees regarding the Sabbath and how He is even Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus uses the opportunity at another time to show the Sabbath should be used for good.

Wherever Jesus is, He is very attentive to people's needs. This is evidenced by Jesus noticing the man with the shriveled hand when He went into the synagogue. Once Jesus noticed a need, Jesus acted on it by asking the disabled man to stand in front of the synagogue.

It was the Sabbath but people had a different notion of what people could and could not do on the Sabbath. Jesus used the man as an example to teach them all that it is good to do good things on the Sabbath such as healing. Jesus was also angry and deeply distressed because the Pharisees were indignant to the needs of the people. Jesus wanted people’s needs to be taken care of.

Application/Implications:
I saw important implications for my own life. This passage made me realize how attentive Jesus is to the needs of people. Jesus could have walked right into the synagogue and given His sermon or sat down but instead He notices a need and acts on it. It is a need of a person in the synagogue. This reminded me of the needs in the church. Jesus notices the needs of people in His church. He will act upon them in His good timing. He notices my needs even before I could mention them. That is so awesome to know! I am so excited and my heart leaps into thanksgiving.

This also is a lesson for me that I should be aware of the needs of those around me and act on them. 

I ask you now dear friend, whose needs do you meet?
Dear friend, there are so many people out there with needs. Many times we overlook people around us but when we step foot into a place whether it is a workplace, home life, church, synagogue, etc, there are needs around us. We learn from Jesus how attentive He was to a person's need. You and I should do the same and meet the needs of those around us as we experience Jesus meeting our own needs.

The needs of people are not always physical but many times they can be financial, emotional, spiritual, and even psychological. If we come across those who we sense are in need of something and we are able to help, we should take that opportunity remembering how much Jesus loves us and meets our own needs.

It is awesome to know that Jesus notices your needs when you are at church worshipping, when you are at home, when you are at work, when you are at school, etc. In His timing, He will meet those needs. Yes, He will! I know He will. You can be a testimony to those around you as Jesus meets your needs just as the man with the shriveled hand became a testimony to those around Him. You can use that event in your life to be a springboard to meet other people's needs with the help of the Lord.

One day Jesus even noticed the need of my mommy. She had gone out with my dad (who is now in heaven with Jesus) and when my mommy came home, her right eye was bothering her because a some small object had gone into her right eye and did not come out. She could not use her eyes properly because every time she moved her right eye, there would be a needle like pain because whatever went into the eye was pricking at the eye.

I prayed with my mommy for her healing and reminded the Lord what an awesome Great Physician He has been for us and how He had brought all of us through the years of infancy too. I knew if Jesus said the word from Heaven, “Be Healed”, my mom's eye would be healed.

Hours went by and morning became evening. We knew Jesus had His timing and kept praying and believing for healing. My mom told me the words of Jesus have not reached her eye yet but we believed Jesus could if He chose too. While praying, I felt we should watch the 700 Club program and we did.

We prayed for Jesus' will and the strength to bear the outcome. My mom came back shouting, “Praise the Lord, Ramesh my eye has been healed.”

My mom had gone to take a shower and told me she kept praying and praising the Lord through the pain. The Lord spoke the word and my mommy’s eye was healed. This healing means so much to me now as I have done this devotional time.

Jesus knows our needs and will meet them in His timing. Depend on Him and do not give up. His ways are not our ways but His ways have a reason behind them for our good.

More than anything, He notices the condition of our soul and wants to heal us. He died to bring you and me into His Eternal Kingdom. He shed His blood for you and me friend. Yes, He did. He came back to life to save us, delivering us from the virus known as sin. He has the antidote but won’t force it upon us. He waits for us to receive the antidote for the virus known as sin.

Won’t you take it my friend?

He knows we need it and offers it to us to give us new life.

May we know that He is all we need and depend on Him forever more! Amen!

"Nurturing Emmanuel Emancipates Daily Souls!"(N.E.E.D.S)/"Whose needs do you meet?"

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, thank you so much for noticing the man with the shriveled hand in the synagogue and healing him on the Sabbath. I thank you how attentive you are to peoples needs including our own. Thank you for healing my mommy. Help us Oh Lord to be attentive to the needs of people around us as we learn from your example. Oh Lord, you know what the needs that people are facing. You know their sorrows and their pain. Come Lord Jesus and please intervene. I thank you Jesus that you do. You did not bring us this far to leave us. You did not build your home in us to move away. Thank you so much Jesus. We know your timing is not ours so help us to keep the faith and be dependent on you. Draw us closer to you and never let us go. Thank you for dying for our sin and coming back to life to save us. We are sorry for our sin and ask you for your healing. Thank you for noticing our sin and going to the cross to pay for our sin so we can be set free. We acknowledge you as our Lord and Personal Savior. Please be our Lord and Personal Savior Jesus. I thank you for being our Lord and Personal Savior. Thank you Jesus you have heard our prayer and answered us. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

If you would like to invite Jesus Christ into your heart and make Him a daily part of your life, you can this very moment. You will never be alone. You can claim God's promises for you in the Bible and see them come true, before your eyes, in His wonderful timing. You don't have to wait for a special time to come to the Lord. You can come right now as you pray this prayer, meaning it in your heart.

Dear Jesus, thank you for healing the paralytic after forgiving his sins. You set him free to go home. I want to be free. I don’t know everything about you. I still have a lot of questions. What I do know is that you died on the cross for my sins. When it comes to sin, I am a paralytic Oh Lord. I am infected with this deadly disease known as sin. I am not perfect but a sinner who needs your cleansing blood to clean me of my sin everyday. I confess to you my sin and repent of my sin. I know you have forgiven me when you died on the cross. I want to accept that forgiveness. Thank you for shedding your cleansing precious blood for me. You were nailed to the cross because of me. It is like I actually held the hammer and pounded the nails so I could be free. Thank you for willingly dying for me Jesus. Thank you for taking the shame and pain for me. Thank you for doing that to set me free. I come to the cross and ask you for your healing in my life. Thank you for the power of your Blood to redeem humanity. Thank you for coming back to life to save us and give us Eternal Life as we yield to you. Your blood can heal us where we are. I love you Jesus. Even with my questions, I come to you now and accept you into my heart. Please Jesus come into my heart and make my heart your home. Give me a transfusion of change. Live in me Jesus and I will live for you and serve you the rest of the days of my life. I thank you Jesus for coming into my heart and making my heart your home. Thank you for living in me Jesus. I acknowledge you now as my Lord and Personal Savior. Please be the Lord and Savior of my life. Thank you for being my Lord and Personal Savior Jesus and because of what you have done for me when God looks at me, He now sees me covered in your blood and His judgment passes over me. Thank you that you have heard my prayer and answered me. Thank you for being with me Lord. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit. Thank you Jesus I now belong to you and never need to be alone! You will always be with me and have given me Salvation.  In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

Friend, if you have prayed this prayer and meant it in your heart, you are a new creation in Christ and all old things are passed away and everything has become new! You may feel something or may not but don’t base it on feelings but base your new life in Christ on the promises of our Savior who will never leave you nor forsake you! Amen!