{"id":700,"date":"2021-01-19T14:34:58","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T14:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ariseestherconference.com\/?p=700"},"modified":"2021-01-19T14:35:00","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T14:35:00","slug":"make-the-choice-to-take-the-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ariseestherconference.com\/?p=700","title":{"rendered":"Make the Choice To Take the Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Patty Mason<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Have you ever wanted to be somewhere, but didn\u2019t want to make the effort to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted to attend a women\u2019s fellowship gathering, but it had been raining for hours, leaving my spirit as gloomy as the day. I longed to be with friends and share times of laughter, but it was dark and I didn\u2019t want to make the long drive on that back country road. Allowing my feelings to overrule my desires, I stayed home where I was comfortable and only thought about being at the gathering.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, this is how it is in our walk with Jesus. We yearn for peace. We want healing. We long for the joy of the Lord. We wish we could walk in freedom. Trouble is, we don\u2019t want to take the journey to get there. We make reasonable excuses and talk ourselves out of what needs to be done. Content with our comfortable surroundings, we settle for less than.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not how Jesus wants us to live. He wants us to find our courage in Him, to push past our discomfort and take the journey. At times, the road may be long, dark, uncomfortable, even stormy, but if we want real change, we need to make the choice to stop making excuses, to get up, take the hand of Jesus, and start walking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cOne 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, <\/em>\u201cDo you want to get well?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSir,\u201d the invalid replied, \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Jesus said to him, <\/em>\u201cGet up! Pick up your mat and walk.\u201d<\/em> At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked\u201d (John 5:5-9 NIV).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just like this invalid man, I understand the desperate cries for healing. I also understand how easy it is to give up, make excuses, or lie in the problem. When Jesus asked the invalid man the question, \u201cDo you want to get well?\u201d<\/em> he made excuses. \u201cSir, 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\u201d (John 5:7 NIV). <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For thirty-eight years this man remained stuck. His past became his present, and if he didn\u2019t stop making excuses, his present would become his future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each New Year we have an opportunity to begin again and find fresh hope. If we want to be somewhere in our walk with Jesus, enjoying His peace, joy, and freedom, then we need to be willing to take the journey and do what needs to be done. Together, let\u2019s discover what is possible in this New Year as we stop making excuses and follow Jesus instructions, \u201cGet up! Pick up your mat and walk.\u201d (John 5:8 NIV).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWalk in obedience to all that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.\u201d Deuteronomy 5:33 NIV<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Patty Mason Have you ever wanted to be somewhere, but didn\u2019t want to make the effort to get there? I wanted to attend a women\u2019s fellowship gathering, but it had been raining for hours, leaving my spirit as gloomy as the day. I longed to be with friends and share times of laughter, but it … Read More about Make the Choice To Take the Journey<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9,16],"class_list":["post-700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized","tag-hope","tag-workshop-leader","entry"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/ariseestherconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/people-2567915_1920-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/ariseestherconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/people-2567915_1920-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"ariseesther","author_link":"https:\/\/ariseestherconference.com\/?author=1"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ariseestherconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ariseestherconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ariseestherconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ariseestherconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ariseestherconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ariseestherconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ariseestherconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ariseestherconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ariseestherconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ariseestherconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}