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How Jesus Can Elevate My Life

Jesus can elevate my life when:

I am ready to listen

Afterward, Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city near the Sheep Gage, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” John 5:1-6 NLT

I am done with excuses

“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” John 5:7 NLT

Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! Hosea 4:4 NLT

In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God. Job 1:22 NLT

I am obedient to his commands

Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!” But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded. The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. John 5:8-13 NLT

So why do you keep calling me “Lord, Lord!” when you don’t do what I say? Luke 6:46 NLT

When I elevate my fear of God:

I get overwhelmed by life when I am underwhelmed by God

But afterward, Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him. John 5:14-15

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28 ESV

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12 NIV

God elevates my love for others

You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:14 ESV

You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 25:17 ESV

You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:32 ESV

God elevates the blessings in my life

Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways! Psalms 128:1 NLT

My Notes

Personal Reflection Guide

Take a few minutes to break from your normal routine, spending some alone time with God. Invite him into this moment, asking him to help you be real with yourself and to hear him clearly. Quietly examine your heart toward God. Do you feel overwhelmed by him? Underwhelmed by him? Be honest with yourself and God here, asking him to reveal any personal obstacles that stand in your way of being ready to move toward him. As you do this, pay attention to what comes up, and ask God for the strength and motivation to put these barriers aside in order to follow him more closely. As you practice this, ask God to increase your faith in his heart toward you—that he will elevate your life, filling it with real and lasting joy. Thank him for your time together, asking him to provide gentle reminders throughout the week—both for when you wander, but also for the ability to see the blessings he pours your way.

Discussion Questions

  1. What have you been learning lately about God or yourself in your personal Bible reading time? What stood out to you this week?
  2. Read John 5:1-6. What is one sin that you would like to heal from that you are sick of doing to yourself?
  3. Continue reading John 5:7. What excuses have you made to remain in this sin, and what is one thing you can do this week to begin to make a change?
  4. Continue reading John 5:8-13. What specific things, systems or people in your life need to change for your motivation to increase in order to more consistently obey Jesus and to see that change through?
  5. Continue reading John 5:14. What sin have you previously eliminated that you eventually return to, and in what ways has it been harder than the first time?
  6. Read Psalm 128:1. In what specific ways has your life been blessed because you have feared and obeyed God?