City Church Stories

By Elder Ariann Sentino

Day 19 — Think and Speak

EXPAND, A Devotional

by Elder Ariann Sentino

“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 5:6 NKJV

Think about your community. Think about your family. Think about you.

How many people do you see that are blessed financially?

What is clear is that there is a system in operation, a system of poverty. I am reminded of the man that sat at the pool of Bethesda for 38 years with an infirmity — John 5:10–16. The man was surrounded by a multitude of sick, blind, lame and paralyzed people waiting. Waiting!

Take a moment and let that sink in. He was waiting for 38 years in a system that was unlikely to produce any victory or success.

Jesus asked this man “Do you want to be made well?” (John 5:6 NKJV)

It is a very interesting question. The question implies that the man was sick by choice. He had the ability to change his circumstance, but rather decided that he didn’t want to. The man responds by providing an excuse as to why he was unable to get well. Jesus in an attempt to get him to operate in another system ignores him and simply says, “RISE, take up your bed and walk,” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed and walked. Could it be that we are laying in a position waiting to be blessed in an environment that can only sustain poverty?

As believers, we must be active participants in the manifestation of God’s promises in our lives. In order to do this we must change the way we think and the way we speak. There are no greater seeds than words.

Words will produce a harvest of either blessing or cursing in your life.
Points to Ponder:
1. Think about the excuses we tell ourselves that keep us laying by our pool of Bethesda.
2. Identify your thinking patterns that conform your mind to living in a system of poverty.

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