“...Rise, Take Up Your Bed and Walk.” - John 5:5-9 (NKJV)

Hello beautiful people of God! 😊

I know I’ve been talking about soul restoration and the healing of my heart, but some of you may have never heard anyone talk about the restoration of the soul. Healing a broken heart? Yes. But the soul? That was talked about less often, until more recently at least.

So I want to mention a few things concerning what the soul is, so we can better understand the role it plays in everything concerning us.

The soul (Hebrew *nepeš*, pronounced “neh-fesh”) refers to the self—life, a person or living being—and includes our appetite, mind, desires, emotions, and passions. In other words, the soul is made up of the mind, the will, and the emotions.

We are a spirit with a soul, living inside of a body. As you can see, the soul touches the entirety of who we are.

In Matthew 22:37, “Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’” (NKJV) When our souls are fragmented—broken up into several disconnected parts—It clouds the way we see Him and make it difficult to love Him with all our soul. That’s why restoration matters: we must first allow the Lord to heal and make our souls whole.

SIDEBAR - This doesn't mean the Lord can't use us in this state, because He absolutely does. I share this because I know I wrestled with believing He could still use me while on this journey.

Psalm 23:2-3 tells us, “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.” (NKJV). It is the Lord who leads us into—and carries us through—soul restoration; it isn’t a solo process. We’re on this journey together as brothers and sisters in Christ, yet the Holy Spirit leads each of us personally through our own path of healing.

This blog is not meant to replace your relationship with the Lord. It was created to point you back to Him. He is your Healer and Restorer.

Why soul restoration? Because we were created in the image and likeness of God—and that is where our true identity is found. God is not fragmented; He is whole, complete, and undivided.

When our souls are restored, we begin to walk in that wholeness too—holistic, undivided well-being. Without soul restoration there cannot be true freedom, lasting deliverance and healing.

Isaiah 61:1 (NKJV) “The Spirit of the Lord GOD [is] upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to [those who are] bound…”

When our souls have been shaped by wounds and brokenness, we're not walking in the freedom Jesus came to give—we can still feel bound in certain areas. Jesus came to set us free, but we have to open those places to Him and allow Him to heal and restore them.

I do want to mention, I’m an advocate for Jesus and for Christian therapy. The Lord is our healer and restorer above all—but He also heals through many different means. One of the ways He often provides healing is through the people He places around us: those who have devoted their work to loving their neighbor as themselves (Matthew 22:39; Leviticus 19:18). I encourage you to seek the Lord for yourself in this (I don't need anyone complaining about a therapist they have and blame me for suggesting it 😂). All jokes aside, I want to say plainly: therapy can be a wise, God-given resource alongside prayer, Scripture, and community. I've had great therapists in the past and am in the process of acquiring one in this season.

We need one another to make it. Healing doesn’t take place in isolation—it takes place as He leads us, restores us, and walks with us as beautifully spoken in Psalm 23:2–3. Sometimes those “still waters” look like safe people, wise counsel, and practical support the Lord provides right on time.

James 2:17 (NKJV) reminds us: “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” In other words, our actions reveal what we truly believe. Faith isn’t only what we confess—it’s also what we step into when God opens a door.

That’s why this passage in John 5:5-8 has been speaking to me so deeply. The man had been suffering for thirty-eight years, and Jesus asked him a question that still reaches us today: Do you really want to be made well? Not because Jesus doubted His power—but because healing often requires a response.

Here, let’s read it for ourselves:

“Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been [in that condition] a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked."

How many of us are crying out to God for healing, yet still saying, “I have no one”—while He’s already placing help within reach? (I’m speaking to myself too.) Jesus’ question invites an honest response, and His command calls for a step of faith: to rise, to receive what He provides, and to walk forward in obedience. Sometimes that “pool” looks like the resources He sends—counseling, wise mentors, a support group, a trusted friend, a doctor, a pastor—people He uses to help us move from stuck places into healing.

If you’re reading this today, I want to encourage you: don’t despise the ways God chooses to help you. Keep praying. Keep seeking Him. And when He provides a next step, take it. The same Jesus who heals also leads—and when He says, “Rise,” He also supplies the strength to stand.

He has not left us without help. He is with us, and He is faithful to restore.

This is the season the Lord is directing us back to the Garden— back to where it all began, where the original structure and order of God was birthed, where anything outside of freedom was unknown. It's a return to the place where we walked in our God given authority and dominion and where our minds were aligned with His.

Genesis 1:26a (NKJV) Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness... 27 So God created man in His [own] image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

God is intentional about our healing because He's intentional about us. He was intentional about us from the very beginning (Gen. 1:26-27). We're not waiting on Him, He's waiting on us, so let's choose to be intentional and Heal. Out. Loud.

3 John 1:2 (NKJV) Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

Daughter. Son. Arise.

We'll talk soon. I love you. But most importantly, Jesus loves you. 🤎