Whatever it Takes
"Whatever it takes, I'm all in." Everybody is belting out this Maranda Curtis song. I ain't gon lie I want to break out and run every time I hear it, but then I started to think....am I really all in? Not only that, but what does being all in really mean? We're so quick to say it, but we don't even really understand the true weight of that statement.
So God brought me to the story of the blind man in Bethesda.
Here we find a man that's been blind for whatever dispensation in time being brought before Jesus. Pause--remember last week we talked about who you are connected to? These people wanted this man to be healed probably almost as bad as he wanted to be healed. How do I know that? They begged Jesus to heal him. Not only that but they found Jesus and brought the man to Jesus. You have to be connected to people that love you enough that they want you to be healed, and they know who is the ultimate healer. They didn't try to heal the man themselves. They took him to Jesus.
What I had to understand is that I needed to be that person for the people in my life. I can't fix everything for everybody. No matter how hard I try, I---Briana Nicole Brown--am not able to fix everything. If I had to label myself, it would be 2 things: a protector and a fixer. I always want to protect people and I always try to fix everything. Listen, I took it to heart when Whitney said "I'm every woman, it's all in me. Anything you want done, baby, I do it naturally." I was like THAT IS ME!
But then revelation came. I wanted to fix everything for everybody so that they wouldn't be like everybody else where we were. In my eyes, they were special. I remember dating this guy years ago, and he wasn't exactly from the place where I met him. He was from up north and we were here in Georgia. So when I met him, he had all of this potential, but then he got connected to the wrong people (There goes that Who Ya Wit message), and he slowly started to change. I kept fighting for everything he was instead of seeing who he is in that moment. I wanted to remind him this is who you wanted to be, but this is who you are becoming. Before I knew it, he became exactly like how I saw the majority of people in Thomasville, GA--full of problems and refusing to find a solution. It's funny that I live there now (That wasn't my plan).
The man in the text was from Bethsaida. He wasn't a rarity or an anomaly. Yall forgive me because I really had to do some research on this because I was wrong when I first read this. I thought that the man was in Bethesda. Y'all remember the pool of Bethesda (John 5)? That area was filled with people with all kinds of ailments, diseases, infirmities, pains. Now my thought process is if that many people actually made it to the pool of Bethesda, how many people outside of that were dealing with the same thing? This was under 2 hours away from Bethsaida. So I started looking a little further. I started looking at all the healing miracles that Jesus performed. There were all in the same 2 hour radius from Bethesda, which is in Jerusalem by the way.
So my brain starts to going again. What is the problem here? How is it that Jesus was from the same area, and you never hear anything about Him having a cold, the flu, a sinus infection, NOTHING, but He is healing people who are literally dying. And then a light went off--What you may find is that certain areas carry certain similarities. It's not really a similarity, but it's a spirit. For this region, it is the spirit of infirmity.
I'm not sure if you have traveled long distance before, but climates can change. Back in September, I drove down to the Ocala area to hear my pastor from back home preach. The minute I crossed back into Georgia, it was like something took over my body. I couldn't breathe, my eyes were itchy and watering, my nose started running. It was the allergens in the Georgia air. Not to say that there aren't allergens in Florida, but it's not nearly as bad as Georgia. But because I got exposed to a different environment, my body had to adapt to the change.
Sometimes you can be living in something so detrimental so long that you don't even know that it's bad for you. I crossed back into Georgia and it was like an instant sinus infection. But because I've lived in Georgia most of my life, my allergies don't really bother me until March-April time frame because I had become accustomed to it.
For some of you, you have become accustomed to what is around. The mindset, habits, all of it comes with the territory LITERALLY. If you flip over to chapter right before, here we have Jesus about disbelief that the pharisees had.
Even those who were following Jesus didn't even know that it's not about putting on a show at all. It's not about being a parakeet. It's not about going through the formalities. It's not about shouting when the leader says shout. We're not playing Simon Says. It's what comes out of the heart. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
So now we go to the text, and Jesus is with the blind man. Now if you notice, over the course of the last chapter leading up to this, Jesus has performed 3 different miracles. None of those miracles required him to take the person from one place to another. He always performed it there.
But this one was different. Sometimes, God has to move you to perform the miracle. For me personally, I went through something like an identity crisis recently. I was a little discouraged about who I was and what I knew God called me to be because of where I am. He had to take me away mentally a little over a week ago and remind me not only who I am, but who He is.
So the man is alone with Jesus waiting for his miracle, and Jesus spits on him. Now I can't speak for yall, but if somebody even motions like they're going to spit on me, I'm. setting. it. off. No questions asked. I'm just being honest. Ain't nobody bout to spit on me and think I'm just gonna let it happen. Nooooooooo
But honestly I think that Jesus did it to see how bad he wanted the miracle. Are you willing to be taken out of your comfort zone? Are you willing to do the unorthodox? I know this man had heard about how Jesus was laying hands on people and they were healed immediately. Gossip travels quick. Jesus wanted to know if the man would do whatever it took to be healed.
Not only that but if you look at the last verse, Jesus gave him specific instructions--DON'T GO BACK IN THE VILLAGE. Too many times people think that they can get their deliverance, get their breakthrough, get their miracle and go right back to what they were doing before they got it! No! That's like going to rehab and getting clean and going right back to the same atmosphere.
So God brought me to the story of the blind man in Bethesda.
Mark 8:22-25 New Living Translation (NLT)
Jesus Heals a Blind Man
22 When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. 23 Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?”
24 The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”
25 Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly.
Here we find a man that's been blind for whatever dispensation in time being brought before Jesus. Pause--remember last week we talked about who you are connected to? These people wanted this man to be healed probably almost as bad as he wanted to be healed. How do I know that? They begged Jesus to heal him. Not only that but they found Jesus and brought the man to Jesus. You have to be connected to people that love you enough that they want you to be healed, and they know who is the ultimate healer. They didn't try to heal the man themselves. They took him to Jesus.
What I had to understand is that I needed to be that person for the people in my life. I can't fix everything for everybody. No matter how hard I try, I---Briana Nicole Brown--am not able to fix everything. If I had to label myself, it would be 2 things: a protector and a fixer. I always want to protect people and I always try to fix everything. Listen, I took it to heart when Whitney said "I'm every woman, it's all in me. Anything you want done, baby, I do it naturally." I was like THAT IS ME!
But then revelation came. I wanted to fix everything for everybody so that they wouldn't be like everybody else where we were. In my eyes, they were special. I remember dating this guy years ago, and he wasn't exactly from the place where I met him. He was from up north and we were here in Georgia. So when I met him, he had all of this potential, but then he got connected to the wrong people (There goes that Who Ya Wit message), and he slowly started to change. I kept fighting for everything he was instead of seeing who he is in that moment. I wanted to remind him this is who you wanted to be, but this is who you are becoming. Before I knew it, he became exactly like how I saw the majority of people in Thomasville, GA--full of problems and refusing to find a solution. It's funny that I live there now (That wasn't my plan).
The man in the text was from Bethsaida. He wasn't a rarity or an anomaly. Yall forgive me because I really had to do some research on this because I was wrong when I first read this. I thought that the man was in Bethesda. Y'all remember the pool of Bethesda (John 5)? That area was filled with people with all kinds of ailments, diseases, infirmities, pains. Now my thought process is if that many people actually made it to the pool of Bethesda, how many people outside of that were dealing with the same thing? This was under 2 hours away from Bethsaida. So I started looking a little further. I started looking at all the healing miracles that Jesus performed. There were all in the same 2 hour radius from Bethesda, which is in Jerusalem by the way.
So my brain starts to going again. What is the problem here? How is it that Jesus was from the same area, and you never hear anything about Him having a cold, the flu, a sinus infection, NOTHING, but He is healing people who are literally dying. And then a light went off--What you may find is that certain areas carry certain similarities. It's not really a similarity, but it's a spirit. For this region, it is the spirit of infirmity.
I'm not sure if you have traveled long distance before, but climates can change. Back in September, I drove down to the Ocala area to hear my pastor from back home preach. The minute I crossed back into Georgia, it was like something took over my body. I couldn't breathe, my eyes were itchy and watering, my nose started running. It was the allergens in the Georgia air. Not to say that there aren't allergens in Florida, but it's not nearly as bad as Georgia. But because I got exposed to a different environment, my body had to adapt to the change.
Sometimes you can be living in something so detrimental so long that you don't even know that it's bad for you. I crossed back into Georgia and it was like an instant sinus infection. But because I've lived in Georgia most of my life, my allergies don't really bother me until March-April time frame because I had become accustomed to it.
For some of you, you have become accustomed to what is around. The mindset, habits, all of it comes with the territory LITERALLY. If you flip over to chapter right before, here we have Jesus about disbelief that the pharisees had.
Mark 7:1-23 The Message (MSG)
The Source of Your Pollution
7 1-4 The Pharisees, along with some religion scholars who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around him. They noticed that some of his disciples weren’t being careful with ritual washings before meals. The Pharisees—Jews in general, in fact—would never eat a meal without going through the motions of a ritual hand-washing, with an especially vigorous scrubbing if they had just come from the market (to say nothing of the scourings they’d give jugs and pots and pans).
5 The Pharisees and religion scholars asked, “Why do your disciples flout the rules, showing up at meals without washing their hands?”
6-8 Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right about frauds like you, hit the bull’s-eye in fact:
These people make a big show of saying the right thing,
but their heart isn’t in it.
They act like they are worshiping me,
but they don’t mean it.
They just use me as a cover
for teaching whatever suits their fancy,
Ditching God’s command
and taking up the latest fads.”
but their heart isn’t in it.
They act like they are worshiping me,
but they don’t mean it.
They just use me as a cover
for teaching whatever suits their fancy,
Ditching God’s command
and taking up the latest fads.”
9-13 He went on, “Well, good for you. You get rid of God’s command so you won’t be inconvenienced in following the religious fashions! Moses said, ‘Respect your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.’ But you weasel out of that by saying that it’s perfectly acceptable to say to father or mother, ‘Gift! What I owed you I’ve given as a gift to God,’ thus relieving yourselves of obligation to father or mother. You scratch out God’s Word and scrawl a whim in its place. You do a lot of things like this.”
14-15 Jesus called the crowd together again and said, “Listen now, all of you—take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life; it’s what you vomit—that’s the real pollution.”
17 When he was back home after being with the crowd, his disciples said, “We don’t get it. Put it in plain language.”
18-19 Jesus said, “Are you being willfully stupid? Don’t you see that what you swallow can’t contaminate you? It doesn’t enter your heart but your stomach, works its way through the intestines, and is finally flushed.” (That took care of dietary quibbling; Jesus was saying that all foods are fit to eat.)
20-23 He went on: “It’s what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness—all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution.” Even those who were following Jesus didn't even know that it's not about putting on a show at all. It's not about being a parakeet. It's not about going through the formalities. It's not about shouting when the leader says shout. We're not playing Simon Says. It's what comes out of the heart. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
So now we go to the text, and Jesus is with the blind man. Now if you notice, over the course of the last chapter leading up to this, Jesus has performed 3 different miracles. None of those miracles required him to take the person from one place to another. He always performed it there.
But this one was different. Sometimes, God has to move you to perform the miracle. For me personally, I went through something like an identity crisis recently. I was a little discouraged about who I was and what I knew God called me to be because of where I am. He had to take me away mentally a little over a week ago and remind me not only who I am, but who He is.
So the man is alone with Jesus waiting for his miracle, and Jesus spits on him. Now I can't speak for yall, but if somebody even motions like they're going to spit on me, I'm. setting. it. off. No questions asked. I'm just being honest. Ain't nobody bout to spit on me and think I'm just gonna let it happen. Nooooooooo
But honestly I think that Jesus did it to see how bad he wanted the miracle. Are you willing to be taken out of your comfort zone? Are you willing to do the unorthodox? I know this man had heard about how Jesus was laying hands on people and they were healed immediately. Gossip travels quick. Jesus wanted to know if the man would do whatever it took to be healed.
Not only that but if you look at the last verse, Jesus gave him specific instructions--DON'T GO BACK IN THE VILLAGE. Too many times people think that they can get their deliverance, get their breakthrough, get their miracle and go right back to what they were doing before they got it! No! That's like going to rehab and getting clean and going right back to the same atmosphere.
Luke 12:48 New Living Translation (NLT)
48 But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.
He gave it to you so now you're in debt to Him. You can't cry and plead "God if you get me out of this, I'll never cuss again." "God, if you get me out of this, I'll start going to church again." You can't give Him a condition but then get mad when He gives you in condition. You have to do whatever it takes.
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