Daily Bread - 05/24/07
John 5:8 - Jesus said to him, Rise up and take up your cot and walk.
Jesus commands the man who has been a cripple to do something that he was totally unable to do. This miracle did not take place because of the faith that this crippled man had in Jesus because he did not even know who Jesus was. The miracle happened first and foremost by the faith of Jesus and the power and authority that He had in His words. The crippled man simply had to be willing to obey the command that was given to him. The nature of this man was very pathetic. When he was asked by Jesus if he wanted to be healed he responded by telling Jesus of his helpless situation. It would have been easy for this man to sink down into despair when he was commanded by Jesus to do something that was absolutely impossible for him to do but instead he obeyed the word of the stranger and was immediately cured!
It was not unlike Jesus to ask someone to do something that was impossible for them to do in order to participate in the miracle that God had for them. He commanded the paralytic to do the exact same thing in Mark 2:1-12. He told the man with the withered hand to do that which was impossible for him to do (Matthew 12:13). When the multitudes were hungry, he told the disciples to feed them (Matthew 14:16). As we interact with Jesus and fellowship with the Holy Spirit a confidence and boldness will take over and we will learn to do the impossible. We will find ourselves overwhelmed with an assurance that the things written in the Word of God are the directions given to us by God and we will find the strength to do what we thought was impossible (Mark 9:23; 2 Chronicles 20:20; Matthew 19:26).
There is a very small step between the ordinary and the miraculous and that is the step of faith (Mark 11:22, 9:23; Matthew 17:20, 21:21-22; John 11:40). Faith is not a hope but a direction given to us by the Word of God (Romans 10:17, 10:8; Hebrews 4:2; Romans 4:17-18). We must move from the realm of the impersonal to a personal interaction with God as we read and hear His word being spoken. As we do, the faith that has been given to us will grow and increase and we will find ourselves participating with God in all the realms of His glorious salvation. Jesus our Savior wants you to hear Him speak directly to the needs that you have in your life right now. Hear His voice telling you to do what you could not do before.
Be blessed!
Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
abidingplace.org
About Me
- Carol L
- San Diego area, California, United States
- I started this blog back in 2005, but in 2006 began dedicating it solely for the purpose of posting email messages called, Daily Bread, sent out Monday through Saturday by my pastor, Mark Spitsbergen. These daily emails contain fresh revelation that Mark gets from the Word of God by the Holy Spirit for that day for the church that God has called him to pastor, Abiding Place. 1 Peter 4:11 says, "If any man speak let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister let him do it as of the ability which God gives that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen." Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, (John 14:6), and He says, "The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are Life." (John 6:63). For the Word of God is quick (alive), and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12).
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