Are You Using Your Situation as an Excuse? JESUS’ Most Surprising Question | John Giftah | Christian Sermon

0:01 Speaker 1: Do you ever look around and think, Wow, the world is a crazy place and it just seems to get crazier and crazier. Ease your mind and take a break. This is Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We're a hub for inspirational Christian sermons, practical keys for Christian living, and Christian discussions and interviews. You'll be inspired to live the life that you were created for. Your host is a top ranking podcaster, best selling author, world record holder, aerospace engineer, life coach, evangelist and founder of John Gifta International.

0:41 Speaker 1: Welcome to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta.

0:46 Speaker 2: Hello, everyone, is such a joy for me to join you on this segment of the Field for the Soul with John Gifta Podcast. Today. I want to talk to you today from an incident recorded in John chapter five and share something with you. There's a moment when Jesus is a roaching a man who had been a cripple for the past thirty eight years, and the Bible says in verse six, when Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time. Okay I'm reading from the LT version. Is what he says he had known that he had been in hell for a long time.

1:15 Speaker 2: The scrippled man, he asks him, would you like to get well? Would you like to get well? Now, think about this now in the nutshell, it feels like that's a very irrelevant question to ask. Like a person who is sick, obviously they want to get well. A person who's broke, obviously they want to get rich, or they want financial assistance. Somebody who is not faring well in school, they want some assistance so that they will be able to do better in their examinations. So why would Jesus ask this question, would you like to get well?

1:46 Speaker 2: In fact, the response the man gives is I can't, sir, for there's no one to help me get into the pool. When the water bubbles, someone else obways gets ahead of me. Now that's the context of the pool of Betesta, where every now and then the Angel of the Load will come and stir the water of the pool, and over jumped in first would get the miracle. Right, So this man is saying, I can't. I'm not able to get it. It just doesn't work for me. And he's been here in this state for the past thirty eight years.

2:17 Speaker 2: Right, and when Jesus asked him would you like to get well? It's like a position where God is asking this question to each one of us, where we are saying, yes, I'm stuck in this area. I'm not in a position to move. I'm not in a position to see a breakthrough. I feel like, you know what, this is the end of the road for me. Maybe in the area of relationship, you feel like, oh my gosh, I'm single for a long time, nothing is working, Or maybe you feel like there's a cycle of brokenness coming in through your family line, or maybe there is a cycle of just being broke, or money just comes and then it just runs away, like you don't understand what is happening, but there's something broken, and you're saying, what is going on?

2:55 Speaker 2: So the thing I wanted to understand is as much as you know we say that we want to be keyre, sometimes the question is are you actually in a sense comfortable or glad for that disadvantage in your life because you can use it as an excuse for you to not progress in your life. Think about this for a minute, because you see the reason why God asked this question is do you want to get well? Do you want to get out of this is because he wants to check what is your motive? Like a person who's broke, sometimes they say, you know what, I feel it's better because now I can just get this support system, you know, financial aid from somebody.

3:35 Speaker 2: I've seen people actually do that. They don't want to take up something because they just say, oh, you know what, being broke means, I get assistance from the government, or if I'm sick, I will get sympathy from people or some help from certain people. I can use this for my advantage. So the question to you is what is your motive? What is your actual thing within you? Do you really want to get well or do you actually be in a place where you're actually happy that you have this disadvantage for you?

4:05 Speaker 2: Do you actually feel like, you know what, I actually don't want to get well. I actually don't want that promotion. I actually don't want to get married. I actually don't want to move her head in life. I just feel like this is a good excuse for me to stay here and then blame everybody else or blame God for the situation. Think about this. I want you to check the intent of your heart, because I've seen people talk about this. I remember there was a moment where a man got healed in a renowned minister's healing crusade, and he got healed, he testified, and then later on when he was interviewed, he said he didn't get his healing.

4:43 Speaker 2: And when this renowned minister contacted him and said you got healed, why are you saying you didn't get healed? The man said, don't tell anyone. I get this subsidiary aid from this particular group. So if I tell I'm healed, they won't give me that aida go and work. And this minister god so and angry. He said, don't play games with God. And if you continue like this, you will get back that sickness. And I mean you can debate the geology of that statement, but yes the thing, that man got the sickness back after a couple of months and probably ended up dying as well.

5:20 Speaker 2: So the point I'm trying to say here is this, right, you you can't play games with God. Right when you say that you have something, are you using it as an excuse or do you actually want to get well? Do you actually want to see an improvement? Do you actually want to grow? And you know, see like for example, you know people ask me this question. You know you have all of these issues, these challenges. Are you using it as an excuse or is it actually something that you want to actual deliverance from?

5:54 Speaker 2: Think about this so today, if there's an area in your life where you know you feel stuck, you feel like nothing is moving and whatever, I want you to introspect the intent of your heart. Are you actually looking for a miracle in that area or are you just pushing away? Because here's the thing, what did Jesus do. Jesus didn't touch the man, or heal the man or anything. He just said, stand up, pick up your mat, and walk an instant miracle. That's what Jesus said. Today, the Lord is saying, you know what, if you're praying for the miracle that breakthrough, if that is not an excuse for you, I'm giving you this instruction to take this step of faith.

6:34 Speaker 2: I am giving you this instruction to do this. I'm giving you this instruction to receive this by a word of faith. Are you taking it or are you giving it as an excuse and just staying where you are? Today? I pray in the name of Jesus that this word will convict you to show you areas where you portray on the outside that oh my gosh, I'm stuck. I'm not able to move ahead because of this issue. But the real reason you're not getting deleverance from that issue is because you're actually not willing to pick up your matt pick up your excuses, get up and to take the step of faith that God is asking you to take.

7:16 Speaker 2: Emmen, God bless you.

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