The First Step Toward Freedom

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" (John 5:2-6).

Jesus asked this man a seemingly ridiculous question, "Do you want to be made well?"  It's obvious isn't it?  He is at the pool, isn't he?  The only reason people went there was to be healed.  What kind of a question is that to be asking?  Of course, he wanted to be healed.

But Jesus was not convinced.  This man had been stuck in his condition for a long time.  He was not only lying down on the outside, he was lying down on the inside.

No Going Back

Written by Kristi Huseby

Take our online study to explore the value and necessity of self-control in our lives today.

“Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family. But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9: 61-62, NLT)

Have you ever told yourself, “I’m done with that sin and I’m never going back to it?” I have – about a bazillion times! I get so disgusted with my sin that I dissociate myself from it. However, this dissociation only lasts a couple of days before I begin to miss my comfortable sin. At the point of missing it, I wish I had it back.

Why do we go back? Here are some reasons: the past always seems to be better, we don’t like the present, we’re afraid of the future, we can’t let go, our sin feels so much more comfortable than the unknown. These are all excuses, excuses and more excuses.

Stuck

Written by Debbie West

Take today’s next step: Take the 35 Day Challenge and get unstuck.

“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12b-13)

When my niece Caroline was almost two years old, I took her to the mall to run an errand for her mom. While we were there, we went to the indoor playground. It was a closed-in area for preschoolers. I sat among parents who watched their children crawl through and climb over the pint-sized obstacle course.

At one point I realized that I couldn’t see Caroline, so I stood and began walking toward the other end of the play area. I hadn’t taken two steps when I heard a child’s loud cry. Sure enough, it was Caroline. Another dad was holding her, scanning the play area to find the parent. I reached out and took her from him. “She stuck her head in one of the shoe cubbies and couldn’t get out,” he told me. “I don’t think she’s hurt but it scared her.”