John 5:1- 14
Encounters with Jesus
The above account is that of a man who has been lame for 38 years waiting for his healing.
He carried his bed after being healed and was queried by the teachers of the law for his act because it’s not normal for people to carry their bed on a Sabbath day. It’s not a season for the supernatural to take place. Jesus is a protocol breaker, He is the game changer.
The protocol behind this healing was that an angel comes down and stirs the water and the first person that jumps in gets saved. The limitation of this agenda was that it was done once yearly and only one person gets healed. It becomes the survival of the fittest.
As powerful as the encounter can be, it was limited. A thing can produce results but there can be a limitation around it. But Jesus showed up.
When Jesus was talking to the man at the pool of Bethsaida, he was still thinking someone has to carry him into the water. He was still thinking the protocol must be followed and the fact that it was a Sabbath day. Meaning the angel has never come on a Sabbath day.
If an Angel had come before on a Sabbath day, they wouldn’t have been questioning the man for carrying his bed on a Sabbath day because they would have witnessed it over time. So even the angels respect the Sabbath day.
To them, an angel doesn’t show up on a Sabbath day but there is one that is bigger than those protocols, who is bigger than the Sabbath, he himself is the lord of the Sabbath.
The lord of the Sabbath showed up and protocols was chartered.
When a man has stayed too long in a problem, he gets used to it. When Jesus was asking if he want to be made whole, he was narrating his experiences of thirty-eight years, he was busy saying he has no man to help him.
Likewise some of us, when we are in a situation, we believe it is because we don’t have the man to help us, that is why we are not moving forward. We need to come to a place where we recognise Jesus as our voice, Jesus as the one that can speak on our behalf, the one that can break the protocols.
God uses men but don’t ever come to a place where you think you are helpless because you think you don’t have any one. God can use any man for you but when a man gets to a place where your focus and your hope is in a man, you are actually taking yourself out of the agenda of God you are already bringing limitations to your life.
That does not mean you should not recognise the help of man when God sends one, because God won’t come down to help us, he uses men. But when you make men your source, you are taking God out of the equation..
Don’t get to a point when you are in need and the first thing that comes to your mind is to dial the number of a man instead of praying. Don’t make a man who God has used for you over time as your source. God is your source and no man can replace him in your life.
That God uses a man for you per time does not make the man your source or your helper.
The healer is standing beside the man at the pool of Bethesda and he is looking at the pool, the one that can raise the dead back to life is standing by him and he is looking at the pool.
We need to come to a place where we develop our confidence in God, not despising the help of men. We should understand that men are channels and Jesus is the source.
God wants to take us to a place where we have encounters with him. Encounters that solidify our confidence and hope in him. Our confidence must be rooted in God and until we get there, we will be missing out on encounters and the supernatural.
The man at the pool of Bethesda was so used to the protocol,the seasons and the time. When Jesus showed up and was speaking to this man, he was busy saying “I have no man.
“I have no man” is a product of too much consumption, depending on your situation. That man was buried in the situation.
When a man gets too used to his issues, his mind, hope and faith shuts down that even when God is saying something different and he is bringing a different dimension, he may not see it. And if he does not see it, he would miss out on the supernatural, an encounter.
The supernatural is not always spectacular, you may not be familiar with it but simple obedience to instructions, leading of God and willingness to follow a path that is unfamiliar, our sensitivity in following God can help us to lay hold on the encounters that will change our lives forever.
Don’t be too used to the ways of God. God can come in different ways. Have an open heart. Next time you have a need, don’t think man, think God. “Thinking men” limits. This is very tough. It will take you to have a series of dealings with God to embrace encounters. Many of us are strategic., full of plans. We have borrowed money that should have come to us supernaturally.
This could be because you are not used to miracles and you may not get there overnight. It will be through dealings. This means that a time will come as regards the dealings of God in your life where you will be in need of something and it will not come but something will happen to you that will not leave you the same.
You should labour with your hands but your eyes should be on him. This should be your mindset. You have to learn how to trust God and focus on him. There is a principle about looking up to the hills from where our help comes. Some people feel their lives would have been better if they had a relative abroad. The Lord is your source.
The statement “I have no man” is a place of helplessness that makes you look down on what God has placed in your hands.
Nobody is coming to save you. Nobody is coming. Until we come to that reality that if God does not help us we are doomed. Jesus is constantly with us. He is not coming every year. He is constantly with us. He is the river of life. The river came and asked Him to jump into the river.
The issue we have is that helplessness that we have developed in our minds. We would not know it because it is very subtle. It comes from the reason that someone has helped you before, it is now a reason for you to think he is your source.
This is why you have programmed yourself for backwardness, stagnation and heartbreak. The person you thought is going to help you may not be able to help. This is because he also needs help. He does not wait for water to be stirred. He is constantly available.
Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him (KJV).
Can you survive the yearly blessing? When that blessing comes and you have exhausted it and still waiting on God is a major breakthrough. The major breakthrough is that God shows up for us everyday and any day. He will always show up.
The reason why most believers do not grow beyond their means of livelihood is that they have always believed that they cannot live beyond what they earn. We are not saying we should all give room for reckless spending. The truth is: when we live within the expectation of our salary there will not be room for any idea to pass through our minds. That is why we are boxed on the salary job, having structured minds towards our salaries.
The wealthy are not limited to monthly income, they are entrepreneurs .
Fasting and prayer do not make a man wealthy. It is meant to open our minds. Many believers have been disappointed because they felt fasting has been made available. We have a model.
The model is to sharpen our minds. You should not be found saying salary is what you are given to get your dream. Fasting is practiced to make us in tune with what the Lord is saying.
You must not wait monthly. It’s like you’re stirring the water monthly. What Christianity should do to us is to bring us salvation and the empowerment of our mind.
This is why we must not think we are in trouble. We must not program our minds that what we have is limited. We must see with the eyes of the Lord that we are not limited.
The man said he had no man. Our needs may be that we have no job and what a view. A man that has God has gotten everything.
Until we start to believe that He is our only source, the devil and its world system has programmed our minds. This is why it is not .We see God. We do not see the circumstances.
Make God your source. Don’t pick on some siblings that didn’t support you. God is who you should depend on. Don’t feel entitled to relatives who are financially stable, you’d be disappointed because they are not your help.
The angel came only once to stir the water but when Jesus came to the scene he suspended the usual and made the supernatural take place.
Jesus was not limited. Mary and Martha were stuck to the knowledge of the supernatural but didn’t trust that encounters could happen until Jesus stepped in and raised their brother to life. He brought resurrection to the scene because he is the resurrection and the life.
John 11:23-27
Don’t put yourself in a situation where you box God. Give room to the supernatural. Let God show up for you, allow him to surpass your understanding. Be open to encounters. Let Jesus walk into your situation.