I Need a Doctor

There’s an awesome story about Jesus.  It’s about when he went to Jerusalem for a festival and in this part of Jerusalem there was a pool called Bethesda.  In this part of town there were a large number of people whom were disabled.  But, there was this one particular man; he had been there for 38 years and Jesus noticed him.  When he saw him he asked him this question “do you want to get well?” The man replied “that he had no one to help into the pool when the water was stirred” and then Jesus said to the man “Get up pick up you mat and walk” and at once the man was cured. John 5: 1-19

  

This scripture goes into conjunction with our lives at certain points.  We want to get well of whatever we are suffering from (physical and emotional pain).  But, it seems like when we try to get up we are unable.  What I find interesting about this, is that Jesus asked the man if he wanted to get well?  Seems like a silly question right? But it’s the perfect question. Because in order to get well, it requires the full participation of the patient, the man in the scripture was ill for 38 years and in one split second he was healed.  How? Because he believed and because for the first time he really wanted it.  Mark 2:17  On Hearing this Jesus said to them. "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Friends it doesn't matter how long you have been suffering, in a split second the Lord can heal you.  But the real question is “are you ready?”  Like Jesus asked “do you want to get well?”  How do we get well? Take action!  Pray read the Bible and develop a personal relationship with our Lord, and tell him you are ready. Psalm 107:20 says “He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave”.

No Pain No Gain

For a while I was using my pain as AMO...I was using it to throw in the face of those who hurt me. I had it locked up inside of me and I held onto it and I used when need be..while really the only one I was hurting was myself...I was miserable. I decided one day to give it God.  Literally, I was in my closet getting dressed and I said "I don't want to feel like this any longer"  I asked God to take away my hurt and my anger at the person who hurt me. The Lord heard my prayers and he took that pain away. How did that pain go away? It wasn't easy..... But I chose to forgive. Why did I do this?  because I am forgiven.  Matthew 6:14-15 "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins". 

 The worst pain I've experienced in my life has brought about the biggest change in me. Spiritually, mentally, and physically. Does it still hurt? Yes. But I don't live there anymore. I moved on. I am better than what my past did to me. I am strong and fierce. I can handle whatever comes my way. Not because of my own capabilities, but because of what God has equipped we with. I thank him daily for standing up for me when I couldn't stand. He is my rock and my fortress. There is light beyond your darkness...there is peace where you never knew. Our pain is not meant to debilitate us, were not meant to live in it, we are meant to move on from it and learn from it. 2 Samuel 22:3 "my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. He is my refuge."

Locked Up

For 365 days I was locked in a prison cell. I was in that cell because I took something that wasn't mine. I was mad, lonely, I was angry; I thought by having something that wasn't mine it  was giving me some type of power, but instead of having power I had nothing. I had nothing in that prison cell. At times I blamed everyone else for locking me up; until I realized that I put myself in this prison.  

The prison cell was not an actual prison. Although it felt like it was. This was a prison that I had encapsulated myself in from holding grudges; from having un-forgiveness towards those that I felt that didn't deserve my forgiveness. I thought that by holding on to everything that anyone has ever done to me, was going to give me a leg up on them. But it was quite the contrary.  You see, I was really the one that was being held in a cell of misery, of pain, of anguish because I refused to let go. Luke 6:27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you”

As I was in meditation I was shown something in the Bible ““Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; Luke 6:37.  On that day I knew had to change.  I had to forgive those who had hurt me.  I had to forgive, not for them, but for me.  Once I forgave them and truly forgave them I was released from my prison.  I became more relived, I felt lighter, I felt happier, I wasn't carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders anymore.  I was able to live a happier life. I also wanted to make sure that I had forgiveness reciprocated to me. Colossians 3:13 Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive”

Sometimes we feel that forgiveness is doing a favor to those who have harmed us.  When in reality we are releasing ourselves from the burden of holding on to such pain, stress, and heartache.  I never knew what real happiness was until I truly forgave the ones that hurt me.  I realized that you can’t go back and change the past. You can’t change a mistake. Most importantly what I have learned is that if we want to be forgiven we must give it and sometimes we have to do it daily.  Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you”

Living in anger and in un-forgiveness is just as bad as being in prison cell. Let go of the anger, the pain, the hurt, the grudges that you are holding onto. Because, we never know when we might need the same forgiveness shown unto us.  Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”