John 5:8 – “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

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Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!

Lord Jesus, I hear you telling me to “Get up!”, to quit lying on the ground in my paralysis. For so long, I have been paralyzed by the wounds of the past, by bitterness and regret and by insecurities and self-loathing.  I didn’t see how I could get out of the spot I was in.  I have been trying to move myself closer to where I should be, but my attempts have been futile and frustrating and have solidified my fear that I am stuck in this nowhere land forever.

But now You speak the words to me, “Get up and walk!”  Right here, in this moment, everything changes.  Right now, You have spoken words that drive a stake into the heart of my captors and I am healed.

Lord Jesus, at your word, I pick up my mat and walk out of paralysis.  I won’t need that mat to wallow in my distress any longer.  This mat reeks of regret, judgment of myself and others, anxiety, and shame.  Lord, these mindsets and sins have been my bed for too long.  And while I have hated and resented them in my life, they have been carrying me. But now I am no longer a victim lying helplessly in this spot.  Today, I take up that smelly mat, roll it up under my arm and look for the nearest trash can to dump it in!

Thank You, Lord, that based on the authority and self-fulfilling power of Your Word, I can get up and start moving again.  Every dry and atrophied place in my soul is receiving grace to be strengthened and restored.  I declare that I am moving forward and walking in all of my purpose by the power of God.  I declare right now that every mindset that held me in paralysis is shattered.  I am free to get up and walk in courage and confidence.

When I go to sleep tonight, I will offer up thanksgiving that today You set me back on my feet and strengthened what was weak and atrophied.  Your Word and Your presence are my resting place.  In You and with You, I am made whole, lacking nothing.  I love you, Jesus.  Thank you for restoring me to new life!

Now you:

  • Have your bitterness, failures, regrets, or shame kept you paralyzed and unable to move forward in your life with power and confidence?
  • Do you feel stuck?

Over time, I had allowed debris from my life to clog the flow of God’s power and grace that I needed to move forward in my purpose.  I knew that God was calling me to do some new things for Him, things I should have been able to do, but I was stuck and I didn’t know how to get unstuck. I spent a lot of time whining to God about the problem and beating myself up about my weakness.  I felt that I should have been more mature in Christ than to allow myself to get sidelined so easily.  But none of that was working.

Then came the day that the Lord in His sovereignty and power said, Enough! Just as Jesus did with the paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda, He asked me if I wanted to be healed and then commanded my healing.  Jesus is stern with everything that is out of alignment in our lives but He is so gentle with us.  His fierce love countermands every scheme that tries to keep us bound.

If you are crying out for freedom, take it right now.  If you have been stuck, receive your freedom today.  Take these timeless and power-filled words of Jesus as your personal promise and as the command that all bondage must leave you NOW!