Do You Want Your Life Back?

WOW! Jesus is moving so powerfully on the earth and Sanctioned Love has been about the Father’s business. Thanksgiving is flowing and hunger is deepening in all of us for the power of God to be released on the earth, as well as, in the lives of those we are privileged to encounter. Last year, during a 24-hour prayer time, the Lord spoke to us and said, “Go from field to field and be a spiritual medical team. This has surely been the case. The changing times on the earth have opened many effectual doors for powerful kingdom opportunities. The leaders we minister to consist of all ages as well as different population groups.    

The Lord had put on my (Lynda’s) heart and had impressed on me to study the fear of the Lord and healing, as well as teach it to my team. During our quarterly prayer and strategizing weekend, we took a morning to look at and really study John 5:1-16 —about the man by the pool of Bethesda. Here is a part of the teaching that I brought to the team.

John 5: 1-16  

5 Now a man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 

6 Jesus, upon seeing this man lying there and knowing that he had already been in that condition for a long time, said to him, “Do you want to get well?” 

7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 

8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” 

9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet, and began to walk. Now it was a Sabbath on that day. 

10 So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is a Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.” 

11 But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’” 

12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick it up and walk’?” 

13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. 

14 Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” 

15 The man went away and informed the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 

16 For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus because He was doing these things on a Sabbath.

Jesus asked the man, “Do you want to be made whole?” The word whole in the Greek is olókli̱ros, meaning: entire, total, integral, lifelong, which more accurately can be translated, “Do you want to get your life back?”  This question is one we must really look at for ourselves. What is our part?  What are the changes that Jesus is asking us to make to receive this supernatural healing gift? Jesus has paid a beautiful and costly price for us to receive this gift of divine health. 

“…for by His stripes, we were healed”- Isaiah 53:5.  

Glory to God!      

John 5:5 says, “Now a man was there who had  been ill – [had an infirmity] – for thirty-eight years”.  When you read this in the Greek text, the word “had” is very important.  It is the word echo, which means, to have, hold, possess, and grip. In this case, we find the man was “in the grip of an infirmity” or more accurately he did not have the infirmity, but the infirmity had him. He was literally in the grip of his infirmity.  

He was a man who was financially destitute. He had lost everything due to the sickness and had been lying there for thirty-eight years. Then Jesus came. When He saw this man, Jesus literally fixed His eyes on him.   The word “saw” in Greek is the word: ὁράω.-(Transliteration: horaó) which means: I see, look upon, experience, perceive, discern, to make an investigation, an examination or to take a scrutinizing look. So, when Jesus saw this man, it was not just a superficial look; Jesus’ love scrutinized him. He observed that he was lying down physically, but Jesus saw more than that, He saw that this man was lying down on the inside. The Book of Proverbs tells us that, hope deferred is what makes the heart sad. This man had been there for thirty-eight years. That fact alone tells us that he had faith. He was at the pool of Bethesda (buh-THEZ-duh), which means House of Mercy, House of Grace in Greek. This man went there believing he would be one of the next to hopefully receive a miracle.  

It was at this place of mercy Jesus asked the man, “Do you want to get well?” (Do you want your life back?) The man answered, “Kurios,” meaning Sir or Lord. This answer is what opened the door for Jesus, yet the man continued with excuses. “I have no man to put me into the pool.” This was not the question Jesus asked him. He asked, “Do you want your life back?” Because the man called Jesus Lord, this gave Jesus access to go past the circumstances and excuses. “I have no one…”  We do not have to have it all together or be perfect. Jesus’ love sees right through us. He knows us. He sees what’s inside. He knows what is happening in us, with us, and all around us. He knows all the voices of doubt, unbelief, fear, guilt, shame, anger. We may feel like we can’t have our life back. The voices of the day say we need to get back on our beds. Don’t walk! Don’t even try!  

It was the Sabbath, and unlawful to heal on the Sabbath. But the man who was healed took up his bed and walked straight into the temple. The religious men of that day objected. “It is against the law to be healed or carry anything on the Sabbath.”  The man answered, “He that made me whole, (healed) is the same that said unto me, take up your bed, and walk.”             

 John 5:14-16 TPT   14 A short time later, Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “Look at you now! You’re healed! Walk away from your sin so that nothing worse will happen to you.”  

The word sin here isn’t what we would define as sin-the idea of making bad mistakes. Jesus didn’t want this man to go back to his “old life”.  Jesus didn’t want him to think like he used to think or talk like he used to talk or make excuses like he used to. This man had his life back now. Jesus did not want him to go back to where he came from. Think about it. What things are holding you from getting your life back, being healed, and made whole? 

Sanctioned Love is learning to move and operate in the healing resurrection power of the Lord. We want to be about the Father’s business.

Come with us.