Let the Angel Stir the Waters - YOU walk in Peace! During a recent time of conflict, the Holy Spirit brought to my remembrance this passage of scripture: John 5:1-9 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed--and they waited for the moving of the waters. From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. . And it was as if I could actually see this pool surrounded by five colonnades (or covered porches) and all these sick and disabled people. They were believers waiting for their deliverance. Possibly as they tarried there, they spoke of God's goodness and the scriptures, and perhaps of past healings they had seen. As time for the angel came to stir the waters, however, things changed. They became agitated, and began to jocky for position. You see, they couldn't be in the water BEFORE the angel came, they had to enter immediately AFTER the angel came. There was cursing and shoving, bullying and discord. One person managed to get into the water and WAS healed. The rest fussed and quarrled, but after a while settled down and waited for the angel to return. So it came to me by revelation, that amidst the conflict, when the angel stirred the waters, that someone WAS healed. I don't know who it was, or what he/she was healed of. But if this word is for you, receive it in Jesus' Name. And as I was musing upon this, I asked God, well if ONE was healed, what of all the others? What about all the discord and contention that arose? And He brought this passage to my mind: Hebrews 12:25-27 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain. And He reminded me that in every believer's life, a shaking occurs, to purge us of the worldy things that are keeping us from fulfilling our heavenly calling. At first, the Lord attempts to shake us as we read the Word. If we submit to what it says, the change in our nature is accomplished. If we refuse to see, or refuse to let Him change us, or justify our unrighteous behavior, then He allows satan to sift us, as He did Peter. What is sifting and how does this sifting occur? The Bible speaks in many places about the trial of our faith, which is described as BY FIRE, as a purging process necessary to refine our faith - taking out the impurities - so we shall be as PURE (24 carat) gold. Part of the refining comes from us rubbing off each others rough edges as living stones, and part of the refining comes as we react to offenses and negative circumstances. satan means these offenses and negative circumstances to destroy us, or at least rob us of victory and fellowship. God ALLOWS the sifting process, the refining process, to occur to remove from us those earthly things, those unrigheous things, that make us unfit for Heaven. How LONG the sifting, refining process occurs depends entirely upon us. Will we walk in love and forgiveness, or in unforgiveness, strife and discord? For a Biblical example of this process, look at Simon Peter. He was the first to recognize Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. He was the ONLY disciple recorded to have walked on water. He was with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. He probably had more revelation knowledge of who Jesus is than any of the other disciples before the crucifixion and resurrection. Yet on one occasion, Jesus turned and rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind me satan!". And before Jesus' crucifixion when Peter had vowed to follow Jesus even until death, Jesus revealed to Peter that he would deny Jesus 3 times. Luke 22:31-34 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me." Notice that Jesus did not pray that satan would leave Peter alone. Jesus knew that this sifting process was necessary to show Peter that he could have no confidence in the flesh or his earthly strength - that he could only fulfill his calling to "feed my sheep" when he realized that his ONLY strength was Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh- So if you feel "sifted", rejoice! Jesus has allowed offenses and circumstances to come so that your faith can be placed on a solid foundation. The best way to handle offenses, is not to RECEIVE them. You have no contol over what someone else says or does, but you CAN control how you react to them. Settle it in your heart that you will not RECEIVE any offense, and you won't get all those ugly emotions churning up within you in the first place. However, if you have fallen for *"satan's bait"* and RECEIVED an offense and have let it churn up anger and bitterness and defensiveness within your heart, then you need to ask the Lord to forgive you and heal you. And ask forgiveness if you have spoken ugly words to someone else. Strife and conflict turn people away from Christ. They come to places of ministry seeking help, and get strife, condemnation, judgment and gossipping. What are you gonna say when you stand ALL ALONE at the Great White Throne before the Holy God, and He asks, "Why?" What excuse will then stand? "Why were you beating and cheating my sheep instead of feeding them? Why were you lying and hating the lost instead of loving and bringing them into the kingdom?" And all your cronies who've conspired against the Holy Spirit with you, where will they be then? They will be cowering in fear and murmuring against YOU! And if you have opened yourself up to the unholy spirit to rebell and to bring charges against God's elect, and given the devil a foothold, you yourselves could be lost. God's grace will do you no good when you turn against it. Today is a good day to repent. Today is a good day to die to your sins and walk in total forgiveness. Today is a good day to say, "devil get out of my life in Jesus Name!" You need to ask yourself, why am I here at this place of ministry in the first place? Did God send me here to grow and minister to others? If you're not sure, ask Him. And if He did send you here, do you think He wants you to leave over an offense? No, God never sends us out in anger, but always in peace. Isaiah 55:12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. So if you have been brought to your place of ministry by the Lord, and you are leaving in anger and due to an offense, you are being disobedient. When and if He wants you to leave, it will be to fulfill your calling and ministry elsewhere IN PEACE. You won't make it to the next level spiritually if you resist the Holy Spirit. You won't make it to the next level if you live in discord and strife. You won't make it to the next level if you rebell against authority. You won't make it to the next level if you run away whenever conflict occurs. God has appointed some into positions of leadership for your benefit, which you cannot receive if you see your leaders as evil. Personally, I'd like to be just a believer, floating along on spiritual beds of ease. But I'd rather please Jesus and be obedient, and do what He's called me to do, even when it seems more like a chore to serve you as a leader than a joy. Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of NO ADVANTAGE TO YOU. Jesus is teaching us all to be more like Him. From glory to glory, changing us into His image, if we yield to Him. 2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. I choose to walk in peace. I have one foot in the Promised Land, and I'm not turning back, no not for anything. With Paul, I know who I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed to Him against the Day of His coming. Not that I am anything, but that Jesus is everything. Never seek to leave your place of current ministry, unless the Lord leads you to leave IN PEACE. If you are being sifted, don't run or rebell, just allow the Holy Spirit to take you to a higher level of love and service. Love in Christ Your Servant OldTimer *I highly recommend "The Bait of Satan: Your Response Determines Your Future" by John Bevere on the subject of offenses. All files c1998 Karleen E. Page, All Rights Reserved. ONE copy may be printed or copied to your PC for personal use only. Please email for any other permissions. Thank You. Posted at Ask OldTimer http://www.members.tripod.com/~KarleenP/text/askoldtimer.htm