Do You Really Want To Get Well???

A lot of us know the story of the man who waited by the pool called Bethesda to be healed. He had a lingering disorder for 38 years!!! Apparently there was a story going around that a long time ago an angel stirred the pool and the first person to get in when it stirred would get healed! You can read the whole story in John 5:1-9.

But there are two main things I would like to highlight that stand out in this story.

1. This man had been sick for 38 years!!!! No wonder Jesus asked him if he really wanted to get well! As I thought about his situation I realized we are like that at times. We have been battling things for so long it’s crazy. I have no right to criticize the man because I realized I am in the same boat. There are some things I have been struggling with for ages….. There is a way of life that I have become used to that is not what Christ has planned for me. Are you in the same situation? Is there a mindset that is stopping you from progressing that you have had for years, or a habit you just can’t break??? What excuses have you memorized for people who would stop and ask? When Jesus approached him and asked him what was going on the man gave Jesus a reason. It sounded rehearsed. Listen to it:

The invalid answered, Sir, I have nobody when the water is moving to put me into the pool; but while I am trying to come [into it] myself, somebody else steps down ahead of me.   John 5:7

That’s it!!!! After 38 years that’s all he had to say!! Wow! That’s what I was thinking but I realized we have excuses that we have come to believe. They sound like this:

I don’t have this because I grew up like…..
I am never going to amount to anything because…….
People don’t like me because…..

The list goes on and on but we have these excuses. Not anymore. The excuses need to stop. They are stopping our growth. They are stealing our life and we don’t even know it. We are supposed to be enjoying life but we are burdened and weak and sick. The enemy has lied to us as well as our bad decisions!!!

2.This is the second thing that stands out in this story. There is hope for us. This man with all his wrong thinking and excuses received grace and mercy from God!!! Jesus didn’t leave him in his mess. Instead he helped him!!!! He healed him. This is how the man put it,

He answered them, The Man who healed me and gave me back my strength, He Himself said to me, Pick up your bed and walk! John 5:11

I like that. Jesus is the one who heals us and gives us back our strength!!! Do you believe that?? No matter how long you have been in your situation know that God is for you. He doesn’t want you to stay where you are. He is patient and merciful and kind and gracious. I hope that makes sense!!!

What excuses have you been making?? There are excuses I have been holding on to that need to go. I am tired of going round the same mountain. I am tired of fighting the same battles. It’s time for change. What do you want? God can do the same thing for you. Will you look to Him, will you trust Him??

Rolain.

Do You Know The Value Of A Relationship??

God is a giving God and in His spirit of giving He has blessed us with relationships. How do you view the relationships God has given you? God created relationships for a purpose. God is a relational God. He knows the importance of relationships. Without relationships we lose a very vital part of ourselves. We need relationships, we cannot do without them.
In the beginning when God created Adam everything was perfect. (Genesis 1:31)

He said everything was very good but notice what He says about Adam, “it is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18).
It is interesting to me that God created man to have a relationship with Him but He said that Adam was alone!!!
God met with with Adam on a daily basis but He still created Eve!!?? Why? Did God make Adam with a defect??
No, He didn’t. He knew exactly what He was doing.

We were created to have a relationship with God and at the same time we were created for each other!!

With that in mind, how much value do you place on your relationships? I have been taught that relationships are very important. We should not take them for granted because they complete us. There is a reason that you know the people you know from the prominent to the not so prominent.
God brought those people into your life for a reason. You may not understand it but know that God has a plan.

The enemy will try anything to break the relationships in your life. He will use things like familiarity, pride, envy and so on to get in the way. Don’t let him take one of God’s most precious gifts to you, relationships and destroy it. Refuse to be familiar with the relationships God has given you. Stop comparing yourself to your friend. Stop looking down on the people you know that don’t have what you have. Stop envying the friends in your life who have more than you. How will you be there for them if you got all those negative things against them? How will God”s plan for your life and their lives come to pass if we have all these negative attitudes?

Remember, the enemy will try everything he can to destroy your relationships. He will even bring the wrong kind of people into your life to poison you, to tear you down, and to corrupt you.                         Understand that if relationships are vital to your growth then the wrong relationships can destroy you!!!

Let us be people who take the people God has put in our lives seriously. They are all important to your purpose even if you cannot see it. Let us honor God in our relationships. God bless.

Rolain.

What You Need To Know If You Are Called.

I was listening to a pod cast by Christine Caine today and she was speaking about discerning the will of God in your life over your own will. It was a very insightful pod cast I must say. As she was speaking she made a statement that hit me.

She was speaking about how a lot of people have had words spoken over them. Those people are so busy trying to pursue what has been spoken over them but they are not faithful with what has been given to them now!

 

That was so deep because what God has planned for us is so amazing but in our own strength we cannot accomplish it. What we should be doing right now is to be faithful with what He has given us now until the word that God has spoken over us comes to pass. We need to be faithful with what God has placed in our hands now because as we are faithful with that He will bless us with our own, but how can God give you your own if you are not faithful with what He has placed In your hands???

So in conclusion I am agreeing with Christine Caine. We need to be faithful with what God has put in our hands. Another thing I want to clarify is, the call of God on your life is so important. Don’t despise it or think it wrong to follow it. As you bring it to God and wait and trust, you must also be faithful with what He has placed in your hands!!!!

Before Jesus went into ministry He was under the authority of His parents. Luke 2:51 says,

                                                                                                                     

And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them; but His mother kept all these things in her heart.

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

 

Did you read that? Jesus didn’t abandon His parents to accomplish the call of God on His life. Instead, He submitted to them being faithful with what was put in His hands and in the meantime His mother pondered all the things that had happened in her heart!!!!!

That is what we need to do as well. As we have been given words of prophecy, we need to ponder them in our hearts but at the same time be faithful with what is in our hands…..

God will bring what He has spoken over you to pass in the right time. Amen

 

 

Rolain.