Desperation

Luke 15:16-17
......And no one gave him anything. But when he had come to his senses.....

It's the prodigal son.....
It's the leper who meets Jesus coming down from the mountain....
It's a man name Jairus whose daughter lies at the point of death....
It's an unnamed woman suffering with an issue of blood....
It's a blind beggar named sitting outside of the city of Jericho who refuses to be quiet as Jesus is passing by.

All of these had one thing in common.
They were desperate for their condition to change.
They were without any answers and knew that something had to happen if they were to go on living.
There is a common behavior that runs through an connects each one of these stories together.
Jesus is surrounded by a multitude of people.
In my study, I found that whenever the word "multitude" is used, it stands for multiple thousands. So we know that at least 2,000 people were around Jesus. Two thousand people who each had a story, and maybe even a need that Jesus could take care of.
But.................
It was the ones who were truly desperate that were healed.
It was the ones who refused to be quiet, but rather approached Jesus and recognized Him as the only source of healing possible for their lives.
They were not content to sit back and watch, hoping something would happen.
They were desperate.

Desperation will make you do some strange things.
Make you act in ways you thought you never would ,when it comes to change and being healed.
Desperation will make you pray...."Jesus! Either heal me or kill me, but something has got to change. I can't stand this any longer."
Healing came to the ones who were desperate.
Healing came to the ones who could no longer stand their current state of life.

This same heart-set ( I refuse to use the term "mind-set") is what it takes to break free from the bondage of addiction. If you haven't become desperate in your heart to be free once and for all time, you will not make it. The Big Book of A.A. states in the section How It works---
"Remember that we deal with alcohol (and drug use)--cunning, baffling, and powerful! Without help, it is too much for us. But there is ONE who has all Power--that One is God. May you find Him now. Half measures avail us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked for His care with complete abandon.

Desperation deals in the here and now.
It doesn't look to the future. When you desperate, you're not sure that you even have a future if something doesn't happen today.
It doesn't look to the past. In fact, the past (all your behavior and bad choices) is the fuel that has stoked this desperation into a roaring fire in your spirit. 

Desperation contains hope when set in the right direction.
When the target of your desperation is Jesus, then there is hope.
When the target of your desperation is Jesus, then there is healing.
It is the heart-set that will transfer you and change you into a new way of living, when you give will and life over to the care of Jesus.

Thanks for letting me share this morning.
God on you...
mb