{"id":731,"date":"2019-01-08T07:37:29","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T07:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=731"},"modified":"2019-01-08T12:44:21","modified_gmt":"2019-01-08T12:44:21","slug":"the-power-of-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/the-power-of-together.html","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Together"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"unsplash-logoShane
Shane Rounce<\/span><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The following is a devotion from my message series\u00a010 Steps to Freedom<\/a>. I hope these devotionals help you experience lasting freedom in Jesus!<\/em><\/p>\n

STEP SIX: day\u00a02<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Do life\u00a0<\/i>together<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Our ability to influence others and others\u2019 ability to influence us goes far beyond what most of us could even imagine. Jesus himself attested to the power of together in a first century miracle.<\/span><\/p>\n

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.\u00a0They gathered in such large numbers\u00a0that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.\u00a0Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man,\u00a0carried by four of them.\u00a0Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.\u00a0When Jesus saw <\/i>their<\/i><\/b> faith, he said to the paralyzed man,\u00a0\u201cSon, your sins are forgiven.\u201d Mark 2:1-5<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t rush past the incredible meaning hidden within this miracle: it wasn\u2019t the faith of the crippled man that healed him. We don\u2019t know if he had faith. We don\u2019t know if he was carried to Jesus against his will. All we know is that he got there, and he got there because four of his buddies believed that if they could just get him to Jesus, Jesus could heal him. It was their<\/i> faith that moved Jesus to heal the man. Our actions and inactions have consequences (both positive and negative) not just in our lives but in those around us. When we leverage the power of together, we lean into the eternal truth that the faith of other people in us can in fact heal us and help us towards freedom.<\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. These friends brought this paralyzed man to Jesus. Who are the people who helped bring you to Jesus?<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The paralyzed man thought he simply needed physical healing, but Jesus went deeper and forgave him of his sins. What are the deeper needs in your life that you need healing from and forgiveness for?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    You can read other devotional entries\u00a0for 10 Steps to Freedom\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The following is a devotion from my message series\u00a010 Steps to Freedom. I hope these devotionals help you experience lasting freedom in Jesus! STEP SIX: day\u00a02 Do life\u00a0together Our ability to influence others and others\u2019 ability to influence us goes far beyond what most of us could even imagine. Jesus himself attested to the power…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[316,2],"tags":[318,65,130,359],"class_list":["post-731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-10-steps-to-freedom","category-next-steps","tag-freedom","tag-jesus","tag-power","tag-together"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Power of Together - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You have far more power than you might imagine to affect positive change in someone's life. 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