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Unsearchable

Unsearchable
Words of Faith 10-6-16
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2016
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
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John 5
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, [10] and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat."
[11] But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'"
[12] So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?"
[13] The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
[14] Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." [15] The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Have you noticed that every time you think you have God figured out He will surprise you with something you didn’t know about Him? This is a good example.
We often note that when Jesus healed people it was because they had faith in Him. This makes sense. There are many examples. On several occasions Jesus even said as much. “Jesus turned and saw her. ‘Take heart, daughter,’ he said, ‘your faith has healed you.’ And the woman was healed from that moment (Matthew 9:22).” Other examples are in Mark 5:34, Mark 10:52, Luke 8:48; 7:19; 8:42.
We might say—Okay, so now I have got it figured out, right? Healing is related to faith. We must have faith in order to be healed. That is the ticket, right? Well… not so fast.
The man Jesus healed at the pool of Bethesda didn’t have a clue who Jesus was. He didn’t know if Jesus was a Messiah or a teacher or what. Jesus just walked up out of the blue and told the man to get up. He did and that was it. No cry for mercy. No call to “Jesus, Son of David…” or any other Messianic identification. And no repentance.
It was only later that Jesus slipped up to the man at the Temple to introduce Himself. "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." Then the man gave witness of what Jesus had done for him. Healing first, faith later.
Interesting, huh? We know that we are saved by grace. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephes. 2:8-9).”
Apparently healings and blessings from God are also an act of such grace. We are not healed because we worked up enough faith. We are healed because in His mercy God chose to heal us, by His grace. Jesus did not heal people that He “happened upon”. He healed those He sought.
Healing is not a matter of luck or a matter of formula. It is not something we earn or deserve. It is not something we gain because of a pretty smile or an earnest look toward the Master. He decides in His wisdom whom He will heal, how, and when. And even our faith is a gift from Him.
Does that mean our prayers have no meaning? Absolutely not. God desires communication with His children. But even the faith we need to pray originates with Him. Everything that we know and experience of God originates with Him. The Apostle Paul put it powerfully in His letter to the church at Rome:
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)

O God, I am in awe of You and Your unsearchable judgments. I have never given to You that You should repay. Yet You have relentlessly given to me in such ways that I can never repay! So I will simply love You. I will enjoy Your remarkable grace. I will listen and obey. In Jesus’ Name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2002, 2016
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.