Choose Life (Part Forty Three)

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?  

― John 5:5-6, NKJV

We continue this week with the story of the sick man healed at the Pool of Bethesda. [John 5:1-15].

To restate how we got here, we said the first reason people get stuck is PRIDE. Then, we followed with a second reason, "People coming to God, and/or approaching life, based on SENTIMENTS, rather than COVENANT." God does not respond to sentiments. He responds to His Word. He responds in His person. His word is a statement of His covenant. His Word is a statement of His person. His Word is the constitution of the kingdom.

Our getting blessed or not wouldn't stop Him from being all that He is. He has made His move. The next move is ours, not His. He has finished His work. It is up to us to tap into it. So, if we are not getting that which the word says is available to us, we need to ask why, in true sincerity of heart and purpose? This is what the Word request of us. It says, "seek, and you will find." [Matthew 7:7b] If the asking is not receiving, it is time to do the seeking.

The Discipline of Grace (Jerry Bridges)

Life, itself, does not respond to sentiments. It responds to LAWS and PRINCIPLES. We either get in line with the program and win, or we stay stuck. Life, Laws, and Principles are neutral. They are blind. They respond to us according to the way we access them. They don’t care who we are, where we come from, what we have done, or how we feel.

They care only about our rightly accessing (activating) them. They care about our sowing the RIGHT seeds, and/or pushing the right buttons. That is the ONLY way they can give us the RIGHT harvest, our desire. The choice is ours! And, always ours to make. [Galatians 6:7]

The third reason people get stuck: "They have given up hope." My heart goes out to a whole lot of people who have desired a particular breakout/ breakthrough but are yet to receive after a VERY LONG TIME. Some, like the sick man by the pool of Bethesda, has probably given up hope. They are no more actively believing. They are no more actively pushing. They are simply going through the motions. They have lost faith in ever receiving that which they desire. My word to such is,

“Hold on!” Hold on strong. You have no other choice, but to hope, even against all hope. Let your testimony be, “Died hoping, rather than gave up.” [Hebrews 11:13-16; Romans 4:18-22; Job 14:14]

Grace: The Power To Change (James B. Richards)

Unfortunately, there are those who have built a doctrine of their own experience. They teach funny doctrines like, “God does not give you what you want. He only gives you what you need.” “The days of miracles are over.” Yet, worst still is the fact these funny doctrines are being perpetuated by those who should know better. These are those who have refused to press in and will not let others in.

Rather than pushing to all God has for them, they seek to bring God down to their own level. They have a form of religion but have lost the power therein. [2 Timothy 3:5]

© 2018 Akin Akinbodunse

Links to Study Series:

Choose Life (Part Forty-Two)

Choose Life (Part Forty-Four)

Link to Related Articles:

Questions and Answers (Twenty Seven): Trusting God

Link to Other Resources:
Unchanged Word of God (David Jeremiah)
Don't Tell Me There Ain't No God (Gary McDougall)
Stay Salt: The World Has Changed (Rebecca Manley Pippert)
God Has Not Changed His Mind About You (Andrea Lynn Gates)