Our story starts with blind Bartemaeus sitting by the wayside begging for a living.
He had a crisis in his life, He was blind and he was a beggar
Somebody here knows what it feels like to have a crisis in your life.
Somebody came to this service today in a crisis situation.
*You may have just received that bad doctors report.
*You may have just been told by your spouse that they don’t love you anymore, and they’ve found someone else.
*Your lawyer may have just told you that everything you have been working for and planning for is gone, the money you thought you had is gone.
*A company you worked for, for 20 years is downsizing and they’re laying you off.
I don’t know what your crisis might be, but I’ve come to give you some good news.
Your crisis can be the turning point in your life
It is sad that many people never think about God until they have a crisis in their life.
A Crisis is a problem or situation or condition that is beyond your control or ability to change.
Bartemaeus had a crisis a problem, a condition beyond his ability to change, he could not heal himself, he could not deliver himself.
The woman with the issue of blood for 12 years had a crisis in her life, she had exhausted every natural possible solution (she had been to many physicians and spent all of her money, and was in worse condition than ever).
Jairus the ruler of the synagogue was also at a crisis point in his life, (his daughter was at the point of death).
The good news is: that for all three of these people their crisis became their turning point.
Lets see how Bartemaeus crisis became his turning point.
#1 He recognized his need:,
You can’t be helped until you admit you need it.
#2 He made a choice:
He chose to cry out to Jesus
Your life to date is the product of choices you have made.
Your life may be a wreck because of wrong choices you have made, but today like bartemaeus you can make the right choice and cry out to Jesus.
One right choice can turn your life around.
#3 He conquered pride:
One of the biggest hindrances to people receiving from God is the spirit of pride.
Pride will tell you, you’re too good for that.
If Naaman the Leper would have let it, his pride would have sentenced him to death by leprosy.
Pride will tell you that you can do it yourself,
Pride will tell you that real men don’t cry.
Pride will tell you that all your friends are watching you.
If Bartemaeus would have let his pride keep him from crying out to Jesus he would have missed his miracle.
Jesus was near to him, but it was his cry of desperation that got the attention of Jesus.
I can pray for you and intercede on your behalf but it is your cry coming from your heart that gets Jesus attention.
If you are too proud to cry out to him he will pass you by.
The next thing is: People around you will try and stop you from receiving from God.
They told him to be quiet, he was too emotional too loud, he was making too much noise.
But when you get desperate you won’t let public opinion keep you from your miracle
*He cried the louder (he turned up the volume).
Somebody today needs to turn up the volume,
The people said be quiet:
You might as well know that everybody don’t want you blessed.
Everybody that says they’re your friends are not really your friends.
Anybody that would try and stop you from getting to Jesus and being blessed, delivered or healed is not really your friend.
Some of you are experiencing pain in your life right now because somebody you thought was your friend, wasn’t really.
Because when you really needed them they weren’t there.
When Bartemaeus pushed through his pride and the objections of his so called friends, (he got Jesus attention).
I believe somebody listening to this message has made up their mind, that this is my turning point
I don’t care what other people say or do, I have got to get to Jesus.
You can call me weak if you want to
You can call me crazy if you want to
You can call me a weirdo or you can call me a wimp
I don’t care what you call me, as long as I can touch him.
It don’t matter what you say about me.
I’m past that now ( a little while ago it would have bothered me, it may have offended me, it probably would have distracted me and got me off track, but I’m past that now).
Bartemaeus said: This is my day, I’m not leaving like I came,
I’m not going to be a blind beggar anymore, I’m not going to be a slave to anger or resentment or bitterness any longer.
I’m not living in the past anymore.
Then Jesus Stood Still:
What a powerful phrase, Jesus stood still, Bartemaeus had the masters attention, Something miraculous is getting ready to happen for Bartemaeus.
Then came the consolation:
Rise the master calleth for thee.
Wow: the master calleth for thee, first Bartemaeus is crying out for the master, now the master is calling for him.
I came to tell somebody who has been crying out to Jesus, you have not been forgotten, he has heard your cry,
He is here today because you called him.
*Bartemaeus rose casting away his garment, (everything that identified him as a blind beggar and tied him to his past) he threw it off.
*He could see himself healed:
In other words he could see himself living the life he was destined to live, Happy, prosperous, a Godly marriage, a healthy body, A nice home, a wonderful family, a ministry that glorifies God.
Bartemaeus rose casting away his garment:
Somebody today needs to throw it off:
You’ve been carrying around those hurts and disappointments for too long.
You’ve been bound to your past for too long.
You’ve let people label you, and limit you for too long.
Saul tried to put David in his Armour but David threw it off.
The future is calling you, and it’s awesome but you have to throw off those binding garments of the past.
His crisis brought him to a turning point in his life
I’ve come to tell you tonight that what looked like the end is just the beginning of a new chapter.
What the devil meant for evil, God is going to turn it for good.
You may be at what from all human perception is a crisis in your life, But I believe God is turning your crisis into a turning point, to point you in the direction of his glory in your life.
Everything in your life may be shouting Crisis
But I stopped by to tell you that God wants to make your crisis a turning point, to experience the miracle power of God.
That very day, Bartemaues received his sight and followed Jesus in the way.
His crisis turned him to Jesus and Jesus set him free.
God has a history of turning Crisis’s into Turning Points.
And He is no respecter of persons.
