"The Abundant Life"

"Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me." (Psalms 142:7)

  In contrast, nothing is more refreshing to our soul then when we are set free from whatever it is that has held us captive; but you have got to want to be set free! I was thinking of the man sitting by the pool of Bethesda, and Jesus saying, "Wilt thou be made whole?" (John 5:6) It was the compassion that He had for him, knowing that he had been in that condition for thirty eight years; not just the condition of his being lame, but the lack of want and determination that he had to be cured. Sure, he seemed to have an excuse for not having been able to make it down into the stirring water; but maybe he should have been a little closer to the edge of the pool; at least then he could have just flopped himself down into the water; unless he was unsure that it would actually heal him. Believe it or not, but the power of victory that we have is something that we determine on our own. In other words, the victory must be lived out! We are more than victorious when we allow God to work in our lives; but we have got to want it to happen, because He isn't going to make you do it. He might place you in a situation or cause you some discomfort; but it is our heart that needs to change in order to live presently and with a purpose. Don't try to figure out why I am saying what I am saying, because it would be the same as the questionable look the lame man gave to Jesus; as if to say, 'Why would you ask me that?' I can just picture the look in Jesus' eyes, as He looked at him, His eyes were saying, "Well, do you really?" And then He spoke: "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." Not that we don't already understand this, because only common sense tells us, the man still needed to rise up on his own; Jesus did not just grab hold of him and lift him up. But, there is no denying that the man was healed, he just needed to realize that it had happened by getting up. What comes next? Take up thy bed, and Walk...
Happy New Year!

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified." (Isaiah 61:1-3)