Elevated Friday, February 7th, 2020

Happy Elevated Friday! Today we highlight a story that shows the difference between being a helper and being a deliverer. In Florida, a family was rushing to the hospital because one member was having a medical emergency. However, on the way their minivan ran out of gas on the side of the road. They called 911 and first responders Dennis Noble, Joe Clark, and Duane Norman rushed to the scene. They quickly attended to the family member needing medical help and had them transported to the hospital. However, that left the rest of the family stranded on the side of the road with no gas, no money, and a quickly deflating tire. Noble, Norman, and Clark pushed the minivan a quarter mile to the nearest gas station. Then, they paid for the gas fill-up and fixed the leaking tire. These men went well above the call of their duty and made sure, as far as it depended on them, that family would be in a good position going forward.

Jesus traveled far and wide in his ministry and performed miracles in people’s lives. While none of us can truly live up to Jesus’ example, one of the things we fail at is confusing being helpful with being a deliverer. If Jesus had just helped people, he would have given band-aids to the bleeding, ointment to the lepers, and canes to the blind. Jesus completely changed people’s lives and delivered them to a new place in life. While we cannot perform miracle cures like Jesus, what we can do is go the extra mile to deliver someone to a better place. Today, instead of just helping others with one particular thing, commit to finishing the job.

“As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”“Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.” – Matthew 9:27-31 ESV

Original Article:

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