Month: August 2021

HABAKKUK 1: 2 – 42. O LORD, how long must I call for help before you listen, before you save us from violence ?3. Why do you make me see such trouble ? How can you endure to look on such wrongdoing ? Destruction and violence are all round me, and there’s fighting and quarrelling everywhere.4. The Law is weak and useless, and justice is never done. Evil people get the better of the righteous, and so justice is perverted.HABAKKUK 2 : 2 – 42. The LORD gave me this answer: “Write down clearly on clay tablets what I reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance.3. Put it in writing, because it is not yet time for it to come true. But the time is coming quickly, and what I show you will come true. It may seem slow in coming, but wait for it; it will certainly take place, and it will not be delayed.4. And this is the message: “Those who are evil will not survive, but those who are righteous will live because they are faithful to God.'”JOHN 16 : 33I have told you this so that you will have peace by being united to me. The world will make you suffer. But be brave ! I have defeated the world !HEBREWS 10 : 23Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess, because we can trust God to keep his promise. When we examine all that are happening to us and around us; when we watch and experience the sheer brutality, the trauma enveloping us; and when we observe the unbelievable helplessness of those saddled with the responsibility of securing lives and properties, we cannot but understand the need to draw nearer to the Author of Life for deliverance. The Bible, the authentic word of God, gives vivid account of what we are to expect and experience as this world folds up. “”As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him in private, ” Tell us when all this will be,” they asked, “and what will happen to show that it is the time for your coming and the end of the age.” Jesus answered, “Be on your guard, and do not let anyone deceive you. Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come and say, ‘I am the Messiah !’ and they will deceive many people. You are going to hear the noise of battles close by and the news of battles far away; but do not be troubled. Such things must happen, but they do not mean the end has come. Countries will fight each other, kingdoms will attack one another. There will be famines and earthquakes everywhere. All these things are like the first pains of childbirth. Then you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and be put to death. All nations will hate you because of me. Many will give up their faith at that time; they will betray one another and hate one another. Then many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Such will be the spread of evil that many people’s love will grow cold. But whoever holds out to the end will be saved. And this Good News about the Kingdom will be preached through all the world for a witness to all nations; and then the end will come.”” (Matthew 24 : 3 – 14). When faced with dire situations, the tendency for most people is to query God on why He permits evil men and evil deeds to exist; on why they are the victims of horrific deeds; and on when God will put an end to terror. The Prophet HABAKKUK in his time, observing the atrocities unleashed on his nation by invaders, had to ask God why He allowed so much pain for his people to bear and God answered him. God is not indifferent to our plight as His children. God loves His children with everlasting love for they are His heritage . No one tramples upon His heritage and escapes punishment for God always fights for His children. The ways of God differ from the ways of man. God is Omnipotent. God is Omniscient. God is Omnipresent. God permits evil for an appointed time and always for a purpose, though unfathomable to man and, though unpleasant to God Himself for the sufferings of His children pain Him. Even then, God permits man to ask Him to reveal mysteries and He would oblige. Jeremiah 33 : 3. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, made the mind of God clear to the world : the disciples wanted to know how this world will fold up and how the second coming of the ONLY Saviour of mankind will be. Matthew 24:3-14. IT IS NOT A TRAGEDY TO BE KILLED FOR BEING A CHRISTIAN FOR TO DIE IN CHRIST IS LIFE EVERLASTING. The world is not going to get better. The “folding up” scenarios are manifesting right before our eyes. THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO WEEP. THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO CRINGE. THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO SURRENDER TO THE ANTICHRIST. THIS IS THE TIME TO DRAW CLOSER TO GOD THAT HE MIGHT COMFORT US. THIS IS THE TIME TO HAVE TOTAL FAITH IN GOD WHO IS ABLE TO KEEP US. ” Trust in the LORD. Have faith, do not despair. Trust in the LORD.” (Psalm 27 : 14).

MICAH 2:1-51. How terrible it will be for those who lie awake and plan evil ! When morning comes, as soon as they have the chance, they do evil they planned.2. When they want fields, they seize them; when they want houses, they take them. No one’s family or property is safe.3. And so the LORD says, “I am planning to bring disaster on you, and you will not be able to escape it. You are going to find yourselves in trouble, and then you will not walk so proudly any more.4. When that time comes, people will use your story as an example of disaster, and they will sing this song of despair about your experience: We are completely ruined ! The LORD has taken our land away And given it to those who took us captive.”5. So then, when the time comes for the land to be given back to the LORD’s people, there will be no share for any of you.MICAH 3: 1-71. Listen, you rulers of Israel ! You are supposed to be concerned about justice,2. yet you hate what is good and you love what is evil. You skin my people alive and tear the flesh off their bones.3. You eat my people up. You strip off their skin, break their bones, and chop them up like meat for the pot.4. The time is coming when you will cry out to the LORD, but he will not answer you. He will not listen to your prayers, for you have done evil.5. My people are deceived by prophets who promise peace to those who pay them, but threaten war for those who don’t. To these prophets the LORD says, 6. “Prophets, your day is almost over; the sun is going down on you. Because you mislead my people, you will have no more prophetic visions, and you will not be able to predict anything.”7. Those who predict the future will be disgraced by their failure. They will be humiliated because God does not answer them.(GOOD NEWS BIBLE).

THE LORD HAS SPOKEN BY HIMSELF :IT IS TIME FOR SELF EXAMINATION. IT IS TIME TO REPENT OF YOUR EVIL THOUGHTS AND WAYS. IT IS TIME TO SURRENDER YOUR LIFE TO JESUS CHRIST AND BE LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE LIFE IS PASSING AWAY. THIS WORLD IS FOLDING UP. GOD WILL SURELY ASK YOU HOW YOU SPENT YOUR TIME HERE. THERE WILL BE RIGHTEOUS JUDGEMENT IN THE END. WHY MUST YOU GAIN THE WORLD AND LOSE YOUR SOUL ? WHY NOT CHOOSE LIFE AFTER LIFE INSTEAD OF ETERNAL DAMNATION AFTER LIFE ? THE CHOICE IS YOURS. CHOOSE JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOUR IN ORDER TO AVERT THE IMMINENT DOOM AWAITING THE UNREPENTANT.

” Nor does the Father himself judge anyone. He has given his Son the full right to judge, so that all will honour the Son in the same way as they honour the Father. Whosoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him.” (John 5:22-23).

SHALOM.

For counselling, prayers and interpretation of dreams : Whatsapp :+234 8037172308e-mail : abiodunmichael3075@yahoo.commobile no. 08037172308 , 08141887911website:https://rebirthchristianministry.cw.center/Host Pastor: Michael Gbemiga Abiodun Re-birth Christian Ministry (International Outreach).

JEREMIAH 1:10 Today I give you authority over nations and kingdoms to uproot and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.JOHN 15:18-1918. If the world hates you, just remember that it has hated me first.19. If you belonged to the world, then the world would love you as its own. But I chose you from this world, and you do not belong to it; that is why the world hates you.LUKE 23 35 The people stood there watching while the Jewish leaders jeered at him: “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah whom God has chosen ! “(GOOD NEWS BIBLE). God created you for a purpose. Your being born is not a coincidence: it was planned and executed by Divine authority. So, you are not a mistake for you are wondrously made. You were created to build up something that is good and tear down something bad. You are made light to consume darkness: to dissipate the forces of darkness. Someone will hate you. Someone will antagonize you. Someone will want you dead. Light and Darkness do not cohabit. Your purpose on earth will always have an enemy because your assignment will paralyze the influence of the ungodly. But, your enemy will never comprehend you because whatever they assume is your end will always be your entry into something greater; into a season of promotion. To live a fulfilled life, you must always have it at the back of your mind that there will be an adversary to oppose you at every turn. You must understand that Satan is your real enemy. You must take cognizance of the fact that your sufficiency is not in yourself but is of God. You must put on Divine spiritual armour that protects and defends you as you fight back the forces of antagonism. You must allow the daily mentoring of the Holy Spirit. You must focus on winning the battle by constantly reminding yourself of the rewards of overcoming. In order to win the warfare against the world and earn the reward of overcoming, you must have the mindset of a winner : you must always expect someone to be unhappy over your progress; you must stay focussed on your assignment; and above all, you must live in Jesus Christ and be empowered by the Holy Spirit. There is no way you can overcome the antagonists and live a purposeful life unless you surrender yourself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. There is no other name given through which total victory can be won. Jesus Christ remains the only one way to God’s Kingdom. It has been ordained that after life here on earth, there will be a time of judgement concerning our deeds on earth. The rewards await us all: Those who died in Jesus Christ will have everlasting life of the saved. Those who died as anti Jesus Christ will end up in perdition. Beloved, it is time to accept the Lordship of Jesus Christ if you have not done so.

ISAIAH 31:1 Those who go to Egypt for help are doomed ! They are relying on Egypt’s vast military strength — horses, chariots, and soldiers. But they do not rely on the LORD, the holy God of Israel, or ask him for help. ISAIAH 33:1-2 Our enemies are doomed ! They have robbed and betrayed, although no one has robbed them or betrayed them. But their time to rob and betray will end, and they themselves will become victims of robbery and treachery.2. LORD, have mercy on us. We have put our hope in you. Protect us day by day and save us in times of trouble.JOHN 14:27 “Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid.(GOOD NEWS BIBLE) The anger of the LORD is kindled for wickedness prevails and the cries of the victims have reached the Lord. The shed blood of the innocent cry for justice. The judgment of God Almighty on the disobedient is imminent. The wicked rely on diabolical forces and continually sow sorrow and tears with impunity but the time of retribution from the Lord has come. The season of judgement is here. Let the distraught look up to God for the enemy is doomed. Let feeble knees receive strength and weary hands be lifted up again for the battle is the Lord’s. The peace of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, is with us, hence we have nothing to fear. Let us have faith.

2 CHRONICLES 20 :15Jahaziel said, “Your Majesty and all you people of Judah and Jerusalem, the LORD says that you must not be discouraged or be afraid for this large army. The battle depends on God, not on you.NUMBERS 23 : 19God is not like men, who lie;He is not a human who changes his mind.Whatever he promises, he does;He speaks, and it is done.JOHN 15 : 5″ I am the vine, and you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me.”1 JOHN 5 : 5Who can defeat the world ? Only the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.(GOOD NEWS BIBLE) David went against Goliath not because he was feeling like a giant that day, but because he remembered how God had always been with him. David remembered how God had helped him in his past travails. David knew that in confronting Goliath, he needed not king Saul’s armour but just the presence of God. David trusting in the strength of God went against Goliath and killed the giant. Satan wants us to believe that God can do a lot of things, but not all things. But Numbers 23:19 tells us that God is not a man that he should lie. Satan wants us to depend partly on God and partly on our own understanding, but it’s just a ploy for us to be defeated because we really need to depend totally on God for our victory. Satan has always antagonized God’s people, to destroy them. The predicament being faced right now in the world and particularly in this country can not be overcome through human understanding. The battle is spiritual: Satanic agents, parading as ‘angels of light” are everywhere killing, maiming, destroying other people’s lives and properties, in the name of fighting for their false gods which cannot fight battles for themselves; demonic beings tutored by Satan are claiming the ‘supremacy’ of human intelligence over that of the Creator of Knowledge, wisdom and understanding thereby drawing the misled away from the victory attainable only in God; rulers, held captive by satanic forces, lose sight of their mortality and with ruthless cum reckless abandonment crush their pauperized subjects into fearful submission, dehumanizing God’s people; in desperation people want to lean on their understanding of the times and how to survive in the battle. But, leaning on our own understanding is the wrong way to survive this scourge from hell’s gates. Challenges teaches us two things : something about God, and something about us. If we choose to believe that God will give us the victory, we will see how powerful God is. If, instead, we choose to trust in our own strength or intelligence, we will quickly see how inadequate we are. We need to truly believe John 15:5 which says we can do nothing apart from God. God’s grace is new every morning. God knows what I will encounter today since He has already been here.He is the God of all times. He is never caught off guard by our trials. He knows what will be before it becomes. Hr knows how to avoid what will be that it be not, and He knows how to overcome the travails of what must be when it has become. I know with certainty that I have enough grace for whatever He places before me.I do not say I will have enough grace for tomorrow. Tomorrow is not on God’s list for me today. I have no anxiety about tomorrow because tomorrow’s grace is for tomorrow. All I need is grace of God for today. If we let God fight our battles, we will always be on the winning side. There is no way you can have God on your side by fighting God. There is no way you can say you’re fighting for God when you’re destroying God’s heritage. There is no way that you can claim to be led by God when you’re sponsoring and encouraging vandals from the gates of hell. There is no way you can claim to belong to God’s family when you can not commit your battles to Him. There is no way you can claim to serve the Living God when you do not believe Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Son of God. Children of God, the turbulence can be calmed. The raging fire can be quenched. The boisterous wind can be stilled. The floods can be stopped The rampaging hordes can be conquered. It is certain that we can do nothing on our own. We need to call on our God to deliver us and we need to believe that God is able to deliver us. We do not need Saul’s armour . ARISE, O GOD.

1 JOHN 5:14-1514. This is the confidence we have in approaching God that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.15. And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.ROMANS 8:26-2726. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.27. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.(NIV). Many people wonder why God wants His children to pray to Him for their needs when, being Omniscient God, He knows the needs of the children. Why not just give to them their needs without even asking, these set of people wonder. There are other sets of people who do not believe that God concerns Himself with our prayers. This group believes that God is resting and Man is on his own to make or to mar; that praying is futile and only for the ignorant. It is painful seeing the hopelessness in another group of people who wonder between whether God is deaf or whether their own shortcomings are so repugnant to God that He would not have mercy enough to hear and answer their prayers. Unfortunately, there is yet another group that does not even believe that God exists. So, how can they pray to a nonexisting Being, they scoff. I read the story of a father who wanted to carry a table. He could have done it on his own, but asked his five year old son to help him. The father carried 95% while the son carried 5% of the weight. This boy felt really special because he and his father did it together. God can do all we desire all by Himself but He lovingly wants to do it with us, His children.” As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain ” 2Cor.6:1.One major way in which we work with God is through prayer. But, how do we pray effectively ?1. Pray with compassion.2. Pray with boldness3. Pray with perseverance4. Pray with trust, faith5. Pray for the help of the Spirit6. Pray in the name of Jesus Christ always 7. Pray and fast as the Spirit directs. Beloved, it is of paramount importance that we seek first the Kingdom of God and when we pray as children of this Kingdom, we receive because dominion belongs to our God, our father. Anything we ask according to God’s will and in the name of Jesus Christ will be received. ” Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. ” Matthew 7:7-8. This decaying World urgently needs intercessory prayer warriors to salvage the drowning souls from imminent doom. God is calling on you to do the work of the evangelist. Be born again. Remain in God’s presence. Shalom.

MATTHEW 23:13 – 17.13. “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees ! You hypocrites ! You lock the door to the Kingdom of heaven in people’s faces, and you yourselves don’t go in, nor do you allow in those who are trying to enter !”15. “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees ! You hypocrites! You sail the seas and cross whole countries to win one convert; and when you succeed, you make him twice as deserving of going to hell as you yourselves are !16. ” How terrible for you, blind guides ! You teach, “If someone swears by the Temple, he isn’t bound by his vow; but if he swears by the gold in the Temple, he is bound.”17. Blind fools ! Which is more important, the gold or the Temple which makes the gold holy ?(GOOD NEWS BIBLE). The Land is on the verge of witnessing the most horrific spectacle since it’s formation. The Country is on the path to the most horrendous carnage ever witnessed. The forces of evil are in a conspiracy to kill and destroy with impunity leaving in their trails unforgettable trauma and inconsolable remnants of avoidable pogrom. The siege is on and very soon the onslaught will commence with brutal effectiveness. Whatever we are experiencing presently is a mere rehearsal leading to the real act. The merchants of death are deployed. The sky is heavily laden with the cloud of sorrow and the rain of death and wanton destruction is about to fall. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and stone the messengers God has sent you! How many times have I wanted to put my arms round all your people, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not let me! And so your temple will be abandoned and empty. (Matthew 23:37-38). The Land and God’s people are facing this avoidable calamity because of the failure of the Church. In the quest for accumulation of perishable riches , the Church has abandoned her spirituality. In romancing with the world and its captivating radiance, the Church has lost her voice. In secularization of religion, the Church lost her beauty. The leadership of the Church, entrapped by splendour,has succumbed to the avarice of inimical power and has lost the courage to speak the truth to the forces of anti Christ. Like Judas Iscariot, the Church has preferred the ” pieces of silver” to ruling with Jesus Christ. The Church now plays the ostrich while the hordes from hell’s gates; barbaric invaders with symbol of false god and religion trample upon the land wantonly. Yet, there is still hope to stop this carnage if only the Church will wake up to her spirituality: watch and pray. * Pray for a spirit of courage to lift up and condemn the dross of bloated greed and power madness.* Pray for a spirit of power to speak truths to those who hold power and can use it to silence prophets.*Pray for a spirit of subtlety to understand the ambiguities of righteousness and upholding it*Pray for a spirit of humility to see when our righteousness become false righteousness and our moral certainties turn out to be foolishness.*Pray for a spirit of faith that shows Jesus Christ’s death to be the only saving one and suffering on our part is not cosmically noble, only sad.*Pray for a spirit of hope that contains us when the enemy corrupting our covenant turns out to be our own interests and the institutions that sustain them.*Pray for a spirit of love. Unless, the Church wakes up to her spirituality now, this rain of sorrow will fall and with devastating and consuming effect on the Church herself. It is not too late to stop this impending doom. Deliver us O Lord.

ECCLESIASTES 5:8Don’t be surprised when you see that the government oppresses the poor and denies them justice and their rights. Every official is protected by the one over him, and both are protected by still higher officials.ECCLESIASTES 4:1Then I looked again at all the injustice that goes on in this world. The oppressed were weeping, and no one would help them. No one would help them, because their oppressors had power on their side.(GOOD NEWS BIBLE) This world is temporary. The life you have is God’s gift and it’s not permanent. Everything we have here is transient. We came into the world with nothing and no matter our acquisitions here, we will leave without anything. We were made from dust and the breathe of God and at the end, to dust we must return but the breathe, the soul, returns to God to account for his stewardship as sojourner on earth.” Then the LORD God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.” Genesis 2:7″ You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again ” Genesis 3:19 Death is not the end of this earthly pilgrimage. At the end of times, we shall all be brought before the God Almighty to be judged and rewarded, with paradise or hell. How you live your life here determines where you go in the hereafter. You cannot live a life pleasing to God without Jesus Christ being in control. You cannot live right unless you operate through the Holy Spirit and you cannot have the Holy Spirit unless you belong to Jesus Christ. You use the opportunity God has given you to molest and trample on others just because you don’t have Jesus Christ in your life. You live your life as if you own it just because you don’t have the Holy Spirit working in you. You turn yourself into a god, killing and maiming as dictated by your whims because you have rejected God. Your stinking opulence, amassed through corruption and shedding of blood of the innocent, will only lead you to eternal damnation. The power you use so oppressively to perpetuate so much pain, so much anguish and so much destruction of lives and properties, cannot stop the grim reaper, death, from destroying you when your time is up. It is time to look into the Mirror. It is time for self-examination. It is time to remember that life here is not permanent. It is time to reflect on where we end up on the day of judgement. It is time to stop injustice and our grievous lives of corruption. It is time to love one another. It is time to stand up for Jesus Christ and be numbered among the children of God. Having looked into the Mirror , what do you see ? Are you ready to meet your Creator if death should come now ? If yes, watch and pray that you remain so. If not, it is not too late to make amends:Surrender your life to Jesus Christ now. There are no other names through whom you can be saved. There are no other religious organizations, prophets, creeds or doctrines that can save you from hellfire. Only through Jesus Christ can we receive eternal rest. Look into the Mirror now and take a positive decision: choose Jesus Christ; choose everlasting life with God Almighty. Shalom.

JOHN 16 : 33.I’ve told you this so that my peace will be with you. In the world you’ll have trouble. But cheer up ! I have overcome the world. “PSALM 55 : 22Turn your burdens over to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will never let the righteous person stumble .EXODUS 3 : 13-14 13. Then Moses replied to God, suppose I go to the people of Israel and say to them, “The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘what is his name ?’ What should I tell them ?”14. God answered Moses, “I Am Who I Am. This is what you must say to the people of Israel: ‘I Am has sent me to you.’ (GOD’S WORD). This message is to that soul who has been struggling to meet God’s Standard in lifestyle and has not been successful. The message is to that soul who has lost faith in redemption because of his inability to rise above his miserable state. This message is to the discouraged. What exactly is that challenge that has dispirited you; that has taken away your peace ? ; that has enslaved you? : Arrogance ?, Addiction?, Anger ?, Hatred ?, Anxiety ?, Impatience ?, Revenge ?, Gossip ?, Guilt ?, Fear ?, Envy ?, Lying ?, Loneliness ?, Laziness ?, Sexual sin ?, Low self esteem ?, Temptation to sin ?. The I Am that I Am has sent me to you.The message is simple : Fear not; be not discouraged; you’re not alone; your situation is not insurmountable; come to Jesus Christ with your situation, your fears: your heavy heart, your lack of peace, your bondage and you will have peace. “Listen ! Whoever is thirsty, come to the water ! Whoever has no money can come, buy, and eat !Come, buy wine and milk . You don’t have to pay; it’s free !” ( Isaiah 55 : 1) Come to Jesus Christ, the King of Peace. Jesus Christ understands your predicament and He’s not judging you now. He wants to deliver you from this bondage and all He demands is that you will come to Him. Redemption is free. Jesus Christ already paid the price. As you reaffirm your faith in God today and encourage yourself in the faithfulness of God, may you experience an uplifting, in the precious name of Jesus Christ.

JOHN 5: 1-9.1. After this, Jesus went to Jerusalem for a religious festival.2. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool with five porches; in Hebrew, it is called Bethzatha.3. A large crowd of sick people were lying in the porches — the blind, the lame, and the paralysed.5. A man was there who had been I’ll for 38 years.6. Jesus saw him lying there, and he knew that the man had been I’ll for such a long time; so he asked him, “Do you want to get well ?”7. The sick man answered, “Sir, I have no one here to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am trying to get in, somebody else gets there first.8. Jesus said to him, ” Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.”9. Immediately the man got well; he picked up his mat and started walking.(GOOD NEWS BIBLE) In summary, Jesus healed a man whose case was really and seemingly hopeless. Jesus brought succour to a man who had resigned to fate. Jesus became Someone to this man who had no one. Jesus helped this man who could not be party to the festivities around him because of his discomfiting immobility. This man who could not have an encounter with the miracle performing angel had an unexpected and unsolicited encounter with the Lord of Angels, Jesus Christ. This man who had been written off, even by himself, became a celebrity. A hopeless case became the reference point for Divine intervention in sordid situations. The name of the man in the narrative in the Bible was never mentioned. This story is not just about a disabled man in Jerusalem. This story is not just about a pool in Jerusalem either. This story is not just about the past events only. This story is more than meets the eyes. Looking deeper into the mirror, one sees that the man actually has a name — yours. The man really has a face — mine. The man has a problem — just like ours. Though Jesus Christ was in Jerusalem for the festival, He did not go there to feast; to draw crowd around Him; to teach disciples or to frolic with dignitaries. No, Jesus Christ was aware of the endless waves of groans coming from the camps of the destitute. Jesus Christ saw beyond the festival and into the world of the societal dregs; into the lives of the ostracized and hopeless living in tattered penury. Jesus Christ recognised the ignored. Jesus Christ felt the hurt of these ones who probably already felt abandoned by God ! And Jesus Christ brought succour. Jesus Christ is with the sick to heal. Jesus Christ is walking slowly and carefully among the beggars and the blind. Jesus Christ suffers when we suffer. Jesus Christ cares for us more than any one cares. Jesus Christ lived and lives forever. Jesus Christ is Compassion. The Bible makes it clear that anyone whose life is not holy will never see God. Hebrews 12:14. That’s our predicament. Only the holy will see God. Only the perfect will make heaven. But, our righteousness is filthiness before God. Now, you see why we are like the paralysed man. We’re the invalid and we’re trapped – no one around to assist us. We have no solution for our situation. We’re the wounded and weary. We’re the one lying on the ground, hopelessly. We don’t have what it takes to be healed. Our only hope is that God will do for us what He did for the man at Bethesda; that He steps into our ward of hurt and helplessness; into our world of insecurity and trepidation. We need Jesus Christ in our lives. We need the righteousness of Jesus Christ to make eternity in bliss; and we need Jesus Christ as the Solution to our situations. We need to surrender to His Lordship. Jesus Christ is standing by the door. He wants to come in and give His peace NOW. Jesus Christ is the Hope of the Hopeless. Whatever your predicament may be now, may the King of kings; the Lord of lords; the Unchanging Changer , Jesus Christ, visit you NOW to wipe away your tears of sorrow and turn your gloom to bloom.Amen.