This is a devotional based on the message shared by Pastor Brenton Goldman at our Embrace Grace conference - you can watch the message on YouTube.

“Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’ And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.” John 5:8–9 (NKJV)

Imagine being stuck in the same condition for thirty-eight years—watching others move forward while you feel left behind. That was the reality for the man at the Pool of Bethesda. But one encounter with Jesus changed everything. No crowd could hide him. No system could keep him stuck. When Jesus saw him, He didn’t just offer healing—He offered a command: “Rise, take up your bed, and walk.”

Jesus didn’t carry him. He empowered him. The mat that once symbolized his limitation became the very testimony of his transformation. He didn’t leave it behind—he carried it. Not as a crutch, but as proof: “I’m not who I used to be.”

Sometimes we wait for someone else to lift us. But Jesus asks us, “Do you want to be made well?” He calls us to rise—to change our posture, break agreement with our past, and walk into the new. Because healing isn’t just physical. It’s spiritual. Jesus said, “Sin no more.” When God heals you, He also calls you higher.

The mat isn’t the end—it’s the beginning.

From the mat to the mission. From the condition to your calling. From waiting... to walking.

Declaration Prayer:

Jesus, thank You that You see me—even in the crowd. Thank You that my condition is not my conclusion. I choose today to rise, to take up what once held me down, and to walk into the future You’ve called me to. I will not return to the place You’ve rescued me from. Empower me by Your Word, and strengthen me by Your Spirit. I’m stepping into purpose—into mission. In Your name I pray, Amen.