HOLY SPIRIT
open our eyes.
Stir in us
fresh vision.
Breathe into any hint
of languishing spirit
God’s Own words
about Life and Restoration.
Pour into us
what it is we need
most today.
“Now there is in Jerusalem a pool near the Sheep Gate.
This pool in the Hebrew is called Bethesda meaning
‘flowing water’, ‘house of mercy’. It has five porches,
alcoves and doorways.”
Grace upon grace
upon grace upon grace!
In these lay a great number of sick folk
– some blind, some crippled,
and some paralyzed (shriveled up)
– all hoping and waiting for
the bubbling up of the water.
For an angel of the Lord would come down
at appointed seasons to visit the pool
and move and stir up the water.
Whoever then first,
after the stirring up of the water,
stepped in and was cured
of whatever disease with which
they had been afflicted.”
John 5:2-4 AMPC
This pool of sadness
beside which I weep
is not meant to be my
permanent home
but a stage set
for an Important Meet!
“There was a certain man there
who had suffered with a deep-seated
and lingering disorder for thirty-eight years.
When Jesus noticed him lying there
powerless and helpless,
knowing that he had already been
a long time in that condition,
He said to him,
“Do you want to be well?”
John 5:5-6 AMPC
“Do you want to be well?”
Jesus speaks…and
oh the power of inward thirst
shaped by lingering need!
“The invalid answered,
“Sir, there is nobody to help me…
and when the water is moving
there is nobody here
to put me into the pool;
but while I am trying
to get to it by myself,
somebody else steps down
ahead of me.”
John 5:7 AMPC
In the stark, dismal setting
of all that is not,
I want to believe Jesus.
I want to believe!
I want to believe His promises!
…that they are meant for me!
I want to believe
that I am, indeed, heard
and loved and seen!
…and that right this very minute
He’s speaking to me!
Ah, there it is!
There’s the key!
Could it be?!
I’m beginning
to feel!
An inward
movement!
Tiny at first.
FAITH unfurls!
Upward,
upward,
upward,
outward!
“Now get up!
Pick up your mat
and walk!”
“Instantly the man became well
and recovered his strength
and picked up his bed
and walked.
It happened to be
the Sabbath.”
John 5:8-9 AMPC
I will sing of this day
…the Sweetest Visitation!
Blessed by an act of faith
that has set me apart and changed me forever!
Brought to me not thru my own struggles and efforts
but entirely those of the Almighty LORD Jesus!
“When Jesus came to the front to read the Scriptures,
He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found where it is written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
and He has anointed me to be hope for the poor,
healing for the brokenhearted,
and new eyes for the blind,
and to preach to prisoners, ‘You are set free!’
I have come to share the message of Jubilee,
for the time of God’s great acceptance has begun.”
After He read this He rolled up the scroll,
handed it back to the attendant, and sat down.
Everyone stared at Jesus, wondering what He was about to say.
Then He added,
“Today, these Scriptures came true
in front of you as I read them.””
Luke 4:16-21 TPT
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me,
he will be saved and will come in
and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal
and to kill and to destroy.
I have come so that they may have life
and have it in abundance.”
John 10:9-10 HCSB
Amen!