Life Plan Devotion #158 [Do you want to get well?]

Hi, Everyone.
For those of you following the "great romance of the century" (between my 33-year-old daughter and the godly man God has brought into her and my 9-year-old grandson's life), he is coming to visit for a week, on Tuesday, to "court" my daughter. How cute is that! I'm excited to meet the man for whom I've prayed since the day my daughter was born. I'll keep you posted. :)
Please pray for all those having surgery today, for those having surgery this week, and for those recovering from surgery. Please pray for those awaiting insurance approval, and for those who have been denied but are working the appeal process. Pray for God's awesome intervention in each cir****tance. Pray, also, for those who are dealing with personal trials, whether physically, financially, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, that each one will seek God's face in prayer and look to God's Word for guidance. Thank you for lifting up each other in prayer.

Life Plan Devotion #158 [Do you want to get well?]

John 5:6-8 [NLT] "When Jesus saw [the paralyzed man lying by the pool of Bethesda] and knew he had been ill for [38 years], He asked him, 'Would you like to get well?' 'I can't, sir,' the sick man said, 'for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.' Jesus told him, 'Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!'" [Note: Information added in brackets by author, for clarity.]

     In Jesus' day, there was a pool where people went, hoping to experience miraculous healing. Can you imagine the surprise this hopelessly-paralyzed man must have experienced when he heard Jesus ask him, "Would you like to get well?" Perhaps this was the first time anyone responded with "Duh!" Surely the man felt frustrated that he had gone as far as he could, was so close to the place where healing could happen, yet, year after year, nothing changed.
     Nothing had changed, so it was easy for this paralyzed man to answer Jesus' question "Would you like to get well?" with, "I can't,...for I have no one to put me into the [water]..." Jesus wanted to know that the man had done all he could do. The paralyzed man needed to know that Jesus would do what he could not. The result? Jesus commanded, the man responded, and he walked!

What this has to do with weight loss: When someone lives year after year after year with the physical and emotional results of overeating, it is easy to become so discouraged that you doubt that anything can change. However, there is always hope for a changed body, a changed life.

Today, hear Jesus ask you, "Do you want to get well?" If your honest answer is "Yes," prove that by doing all you can do, each day, and then trust Him to meet you and take you the rest of the way. Listen to Tonya Ferguson singing "I Can't Make It On My Own," and make it your prayer today. http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=d06474593700d2931e0 a

Blessings,
Mary