“Now there was a man who had been disabled for thirty-eight years lying among the multitude of the sick. When Jesus saw him lying there, he knew that the man had been crippled for a long time. So Jesus said to him, “Do you truly long to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, there’s no way I can get healed, for I have no one who will lower me into the water when the angel comes. As soon as I try to crawl to the edge of the pool, someone else jumps in ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your sleeping mat and you will walk!””
John 5:5-8 TPT
Why would Jesus ever ask that man if he truly longed to be healed,
I asked.
He had been there–
at that place of provision, limited provision for years-
Thirty-eight years.
Waiting for an opportunity.
I thought of this place,
this pool,
(Read the scripture from last post)
like winning the lottery.
Then the Holy Spirit answered me, and said,
“Jesus always asked permission.
Every thing that we receive from God is a response to who He is.”
That’s why He asked him that.
Jesus needed this man to get his eyes off what had been wearing on him,
Which was his dependency on others for his needs.
“Sir, there’s no one….” the man first responded.
He believed His healing was limited to someone else’s abilities.
So many of us are looking for someone to put us in the water.
The Water I’m speaking of today is the Water of the Word.
I saw in my Spirit, as I thought on this-
oceans full of the Goodness of God,
swallowing up every form of decay in my life,
as I pictured myself stepping into that water.
I want to tell you friend,
No one can take what God has done and is willing for you to have,
But you.
Our excuses often limit us to receiving all that God has for us.
We think;
If I just had someone…
If I just had more money…
If I just had more friends….
Let me show you something;
“In the beginning [before all time] was the Word ( Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was [continually existing] in the beginning [co-eternally] with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him not even one thing was made that has come into being.”
JOHN 1:1-3 AMP
Jesus made the water and He made the Angel.
And,
He made you.
Jesus was trying to get this man’s attention off of creation (the pool and the people, and even the Angel)
and onto the Creator!
He’s doing the same with us today.
He knows what you need and how to get it to you.
But you have to look to the right source.
The fall brought in destruction and desperation.
The dog eat dog mentality.
Jesus came to redeem us from that.
He made provision for all.
For whosoever wills.
Like I said in the last post, God was looking for ways to be able to bless the people,
Even in a limited covenant-
Not ways to keep them bound.
But you and I have to see how Jesus does things.
I believe had that fellow not gotten his eyes off the people and onto Jesus, He would have stayed there the rest of his life.
And we can see that that wouldn’t have been Jesus’ will.
In another translation Jesus was asking the man if He willed to be whole?
Some people would rather be bound, and remain in their excuses than to be free and obedient.
That’s sharp,
But what Jesus instructed the man to do-
Set Him Free!
“Take up your bed”….
Jesus told Him.
Jesus didn’t just cuddle up to him in his pallet of excuses.
No, He caused the Man to Rise above them.
First in his thinking.
Can I ask you this morning,
What’s been wearing on you?
What situation have you laid around in for years.
Waiting?
Thinking;
“if this person would just change, then…..”
“If I had this, then.”
“If I had that?”
I tell you this morning,
You have this Word.
This access to The Creator Himself.
Greater,
than whatever “it” is that you think is holding you back.
Rise up.
Step into the Water of His Word this morning.
Whatever He says do, do it.
Be made whole, and Be set Free.
ThankFully Restored 