Broken... for you

 

This is His body, which was broken for you…

As I tore the bread from the loaf at today’s Good Friday service, these words – broken for YOU – took on new meaning. On this day so many years ago, Good Friday, His body was broken for me. Because I was broken.

We all enter this world broken. But because of Christ’s great sacrifice, we don’t have to stay broken.

He was broken, so we could become WHOLE.

In exchange for death, He gives us life. (Ephesians 2:4-5)

In exchange for our nothingness, He gives us abundance and fullness. (John 10:10)

In exchange for our hearts of stone, He gives us hearts of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)

 

In exchange for our sin and shame, He gives us hope and healing. (Isaiah 53:5)

Thank you, Jesus, for bearing my sins on that old rugged cross. I stand before you with nothing, empty hands raised to heaven in praise, and I offer you my heart.

 

Your body was broken for me, and for all who would someday become your children.

In your brokenness, we have found blessing.

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This is an entry for Five Minute Friday. Every Friday hundreds of writers join in this five minute writing exercise at Lisa-Jo Baker's blog, Tales from a Gypsy Mama.

We write for five minutes flat. All on the same prompt that Lisa-Jo posts on her blog. And we connect on Twitter with the hashtag #FiveMinuteFriday

No extreme editing; no worrying about perfect grammar, font, or punctuation.

Unscripted. Unedited. Real.

Have a blog? You can join in, too!

 

 

Crazy Faith

Their plan was unconventional. Out-of-the-box. Maybe even just plain crazy.

But they were determined to get their friend to Jesus.

A massive crowd swirled around the entrance to the house, blocking what seemed to be the only way to see the famous healer.

But this group of persistent friends found another way.

Sure, climbing a roof with a paralyzed man on a mat might be an insane idea. But these men had a singular focus, and they had a spectacular faith.

You probably know the rest of the story: These amazing friends removed the tiles from the roof of the house and lowered their paralyzed friend right in front of Jesus.

What surprised me was what happened next. Five little words at the beginning of Luke 5:20:

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

Did you catch that? When Jesus saw THEIR faith!

Jesus recognized these friends and their crazy, wild, unwavering faith. And He went far beyond  healing the paralyzed man of his physical affliction (verse 24-25)... Jesus saved his soul!

Have you been praying for a lost loved one, a troubled teen, a wayward adult child? Be encouraged by this: Jesus sees your faith! Your prayers are not falling on deaf ears.

This verse has given me such hope, and I pray it will do the same for you. Keep believing. Keep praying. No one is beyond the reach of His saving grace. YOUR faith can make a difference in eternity for your friends and family.

Don’t give up: Jesus sees your faith!