2022
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Before you click on the link below, you can read the transcript of the video below the link and the project Kevin suggests.
Fellowship Project: Blog Posting
After you watch the video and read the study notes below, answer these questions here:
Discuss:
How often have we not discerned that Jesus was present and healing was in the room or available to us?
Why do you think we as the church are not seeing what’s in front of us and what do you think it will take for our eyes to open?
How have you learned who Jesus is? What are some ways you can get to know Him more intimately?1. What things may you be doing like the man at the pool waiting for the waters to be stirred? Do you find that you're in that kind of mode?
2. Talk about spiritual discernment.
3. Ask and answer these questions: Why am I in the country where I live? Why are things the way they are? Is there something that I can do? Am I waiting for God to move, or is God waiting for me to move?
4. Pray for each other.
Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 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 1:5-6
DISCUSSION:
Jesus showed me that there were several incidences in the Bible where men and women could not discern who He was, and today I would like to highlight the story of the man at the pool of Bethesda. People would gather around the pool, waiting to be healed. As soon as the angel would stir the waters, whoever would jump in first at the time of the stirring would receive their healing. At the entrance sat a man who complained that no one would put him in when the water was stirred, and therefore, he was unable to receive his healing. The person whom he was telling this to at the time was Jesus.
Jesus shared this story with me when I was in Heaven, and the way He presented it to me was that the man did not discern who He was. The man was complaining to Him almost in a sort of preemptive way that if the angel stirs the water, would you just throw me in. He didn’t know who He was talking to and that he could be healed right then. It was common among the people of the day not to discern that Jesus the Messiah was walking amidst them and that He was the healer. Jesus said if you notice the people who got healed were the ones who yelled out, “Jesus, Son of David.” He said that was a sign that they observed and knew that I was the Messiah because it was prophesied that Jesus would come through the line of David. If somebody yelled out, have mercy on me, Son of David, what they were saying was, "You're the Messiah and come my way and heal me. They knew the scriptures talked about the Messiah coming and healing.” The man at the pool did not call Him Son of David, nor did he have any conversation with Jesus like that.
How often have we not discerned that Jesus was present and healing was in the room or available to us?
DISCERNING THE HEALER
Jesus showed me that this is where the Church is right now. They're talking about the few times they randomly received healing. As if it were an act of an angel, like maybe an angel will come and brush by me, and I’ll get healed. Jesus was saying, “This man didn't discern, just like the Church doesn't discern who's standing before them.” He addressed Jesus as though this was a random act of the Old Covenant. He doesn’t realize that the New Covenant is standing before him.
It's just like the story of the woman at the well. Jesus said, “If you knew who was speaking to you now, you would ask for water where you'd never thirst again.” He was coaching her into discerning who He was and getting eternal life. It's the same thing here. Jesus looks at this man, thinking, I am the healer. I remember when I breathed you into your mother’s womb. Jesus is considering this as He's looking at the man complaining about his condition and the people's inability to help him. The man was blaming others because he couldn't do it himself. Jesus is saying this is where the Church is. The Church isn't discerning that we're in the New Covenant and that the one who's standing before them speaking is the healer, the Messiah.”
Why do you think we as the church are not seeing what’s in front of us and what do you think it will take for our eyes to open?
UNDERSTANDING WHO JESUS IS
Psalm 16:8: I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
• The church of the Lord Jesus Christ needs to set the Lord always before them.
• The man could’ve immediately been healed if he knew who Jesus was.
People say that you just have to have faith, but if that were the case, then Peter, James, and John, would’ve been willing to step in and cast the demons out after seeing Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. They let Jesus do it instead. They had not discerned, even though the revelation was given to them about who Jesus was. They didn't think, “Greater things are you going to do, because I go to my Father.” (John 14:12). They had not made the connection. It's the same with us. It's not just us building our faith until we have enough faith to believe for healing. You have to understand who Jesus is, get other people on the same page, and out of their circumstances.
When you're fighting for your life, it’s not easy to do by yourself. That's why you need others to strengthen you. You have to discern that Jesus will always be the healer. He will always be the one to say, “I'm willing.” Here at the pool of Bethesda, Jesus was the healer, and He stood there at the time of the crossing over from the Old Testament into the New Testament. He was the New Testament, yet that person did not recognize Him. He did not discern who Jesus was. That’s why it's so important before you ever pray again that you meditate on who the Son of God is, and that there is no sickness in Heaven, and there's no doubt or fear in Heaven.
There's no trying up there. Jesus told me, “We don't use the word try up here.” He said that God has never tried anything. “He determines what He wants, and He gets it and speaks it out.”
How have you learned who Jesus is? What are some ways you can get to know Him more intimately?