DAY 3 – The Healing at The Pool

Scripture

Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

“Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded.

The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.”

Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.

Devotion

This is a story about a man in the Bible who had a condition, a physical restriction in his body. In fact, the Bible calls him an invalid. He has an encounter with Jesus and receives a healing that accelerates him forward into his destiny. It's been declared that 2020 is our year of acceleration. We are praying that this word would give you faith to move forward, whatever your condition or circumstances are today.

While this man has had this condition for 38 years, he encounters Jesus who asks him a really interesting question. Jesus asks, “would you like to be healed?” That is a crazy question here. Jesus, who sees the man in his condition, asks if he would like to be healed. We believe that question is an invitation from Jesus to him to say, “Do you want me to move in your life?”. Today, we present that same invitation to you, would you like God to move in your life?

Whatever your condition is, whatever your challenges are, this is what the Bible says. Jesus gave the man three instructions, which are our instructions to you today in order to help you move forward in your year of acceleration.

The first thing Jesus says, is to get up and out of your condition. If that was Jesus’ first instruction to get up, let's pick our thinking up today. You could get yourself up and out of your emotions or your restrictions, then make a decision to move forward.

The second thing that Jesus said to the man, was to pick up his mat. This means, don't settle where you are at today, whatever the conditions are telling you, whatever your body is telling you, you can pick yourself up and get out of a rough situation today. Maybe you’ve been in a condition for 30+ years, you can make that decision today.

The last instruction Jesus said was to walk. This means that we need to take action.

So let’s say Yes to God’s invitation. Allow Him to move in your life. Get up, and pick up your mat and let’s take action with our faith. Maybe today you can go and forgive somebody. You could take action by booking that appointment and sign up for University, or start that business, or even do something fresh in your family to accelerate your family forward. We want to leave you with those words of encouragement, whatever your condition is today. This is the year of acceleration, come on get up, pick up your mat and walk into 2020.

Prayer

Father, we pray for everyone reading and receiving this word today. No matter what their condition is, that they would get up and roll up their mat. They will make a decision to not sit and instead, take action today. We declare that acceleration starts right now, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

God bless you in the year of 2020, the year of acceleration!