Mark 2:1-12 tells us a wonderful example of persistent faith of four men who take all the risks to help a paralyzed man to bring him to Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord Jesus looked up to see four men so determined to bring their friend, a paralytic to the Lord for healing.
Lord Jesus looked down to see a man who wants to be healed but Lord saw the sickness of his heart first.
Lord Jesus Looked inside of the heart of the paralytic.
So forgave his sins and cured the sickness of his heart.
Lord Jesus looked around those front row teachers of the Law from the religious establishment.
He knew what was in their hearts and thoughts about HIM.
“He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Lord declares to them that He has the authority to forgive sins.
Yes, our Lord Jesus is the only ONE who can forgive our sins because HE IS GOD.
Then He heals the paralytic physically so that he could walk away taking up his bed.
Lord Jesus came to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God but not to become a miracle worker.
His main focus on the ministry is to heal the sickness of the soul, the sin.
In the subsequent passage we see that Lord Jesus, a great Physician who makes a perfect diagnosis and provides a final & complete cure and also pays the bill.
My friend Lord Jesus is the only one who can forgive our sins and cure the sickness of our soul.
COME TO LORD JESUS

 JAMES 2:20-26                           
Today we will look at three components of faith.
Saving Faith; Living Faith, and Doing Faith
James used Abraham and Rahab as examples of faith in God
What is Saving Faith?
The saving faith rests alone on the Lord Jesus Christ
Human sin is a like stain in the heart of a person and cannot be cleaned but cleansed.
Lord Jesus paid the penalty on the Cross and shed His precious blood to pay the price God required for human sin.
Whoever receives this free gift of salvation by faith is redeemed from their sin and saved from eternal hell as a result of sin.
This is called saving faith.
What is Living Faith?
In the life of Abraham, we see that he evidenced the living faith by offering his only son as a sacrifice to God.
Abraham had already experienced the saving faith when he obeyed God to move out of his community and believed in God’s promise that he will have a son in his old age.
Willing obedience is a clear evidence of once living faith throughout their life.
Where there is saving faith there will be a living faith.
What is Doing Faith?
Rehab, a prostitute, a Gentile woman believed in her heart in the God of Israel
Joshua 2:11 “When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.”
She lived in the wall of Jericho and protected and helped the spies from Israel who were scouting the city and the people before Israelites make move to cross Jordan river.
Rehab exercised her faith which is  a clear example of doing faith
Saving faith leads to the living faith and living faith evidenced in day to day life as doing faith.
When we are saved by His grace, we have the saving faith in our heart.
When we evidence thru our lives the deeds that confirm and affirm our saving faith, we can say that we are living out our faith.
When we live out our life for the Lord, we begin to see the doing faith in our day to day life.  Amen

In 2 Corinthians 4:6, we learn one important truth.
Creation and Conversion both have on common factor.  “THE LIGHT”
God said at the beginning of creation “Let there be light”.
Conversion of a darkened human heart begins with the light of Lord Jesus.
The lght of Gospel message dispels the darkness of human soul sianed of sin. 
Apostle Paul continues in the following verses to address the believer as Jars of Clay that holds pricesless treasure.
This jar of clay, already created human undergoes a transformation beyond human understanding.
It began to hold a priceless treasure and power of God no equal on earth.
We are to hold a power beyond anything humankind has ever seen.
We are in fact the jars of clay containing the Holy Spirit of God.
 “CHRIST IN US” living with us and in us every day 24/7.
Just think for a minute.
Almighty God places His Son in us who are faulty, weak, and sinful in order that we might have abilities that we did not have at our birth.
What is so amazing that God delights to manifest His life and grace through weak faulty, sinful people like us and Hold a priceles
treasure?
We live under pressure, perplexity, persecution, and pain throughout our life.
We can never experience a world without problems.
However Christians are to react differently to all of such pressures and perplexities.
Lord Jesus living in us and with us makes all the difference in our life.
The death of Lord Jesus Christ removes the stain and stigma of sin in our heart.
This jar of clay is now subjected to the power of the Lord and transforms inwardly into a new being.
Ego and Self are no longer running the life of a Christian for the Holy Spirit guides and directs.
The Christians allow Lord Jesus to live through their earthly life.
Others who see a Christians find something that they don't have and wish they did.
The Christian is blessed and everyone around that Christian can be blessed as well.
That is why the believer is an exclusive individual carrying the marks of the Lord.

In Ephesians 4th  chapter, Apostle Paul talks about Gentiles during his time.
He says that followers of the Lord Jesus Christ must live a life different from the gentiles.
Who are these Gentiles in the 21st Century?
Gentile is a person who heard the Gospel message but rejected it.
Gentile is a person who is convinced of the Gospel but postpones to make a decision.
Gentile is a person who is resisting the Message of the Gospel continuously.
Gentile is a person who determined to follow the ways of the world.
Apostle Paul draws a clear contrast between a believer and an unbeliever.
Contrast #1: Unbeliever lives constantly and continually in the futility of their thinking which is Empty, fruitless, unproductive and useless.
Contrast #2: Unbeliever’s mind cannot comprehend the life with God because of  ignorance and hardening of  heart.
Contrast #3: Unbeliever lost all sensitivity of God’s ways and walk.
They indulge in every kind of impurity and lust for more due to a depraved mind.
The outcome of that depraved mind is just plain ignorance of God.
The saved person has the belief and the behavior controlled by the Holy Spirit.
When we sought the Lord, His truth sets us free from the bondage of sin.
We are made new in Christ with a transformed mind and changed heartr.
The change brings new mind, new attitudes and new self.
The change brings us closure to God to give up our control and to give into His control.
The change compels us to a separated life of servant hood useful for His service.
We should be known in our community as honest, reliable people who can be trusted.
We grieve the Holy Spirit when we continue to think the way a Gentile does.
We grieve the Holy Spirit when we continue to live the same life even after the critical change.
We grieve the Holy Spirit when we continue to act, talk, and behave as a Gentile.
The non-Christian or the unbeliever will not have indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
He is living with us and grieves when we lose sight of our new identity in the Lord.
Are we grieving the Holy Spirit?
That is the question we need to answer from the pages of our life truthfully.