I’ll help you get well!

I am thankful for the gift of healing. Several times in my life I have experienced God’s intervention to restore wholeness- a few times instantly, many times by the amazing restorative processes He built into my body, and often because of the skills of another who helped me find wholeness. And, because I live in a world still filled with the Curse of sin, I have experienced loss, too. Some of my prayers for healing have been answered with a ‘no.’  Bev’s death a little over a year ago left me wrestling with issues surrounding healing. Did I trust God enough? Why would He seem to refuse our requests?  Those questions remain to be answered farther along the road of life.

Truth remains that Christians are healers! A key part of the Gospel is restoration of wholeness.  The Bible says, "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:17, NIV)  The word we read as ‘save’ is a translation of the original NT Greek word that means both ‘saved’ and ‘healed.’  “Sozo” was a word used to describe a rescue, a restoration, and healing! The Bible, from Genesis on, tells us that sin’s curse causes affliction and death. God’s plan is to bring His reign to us with ‘salvation’ so that we may enjoy wholeness. Jesus was not just a teacher of morals with a mission to help people make better choices! He came to confront evil and to defeat sin for us and in us so that we could gain eternal life as well as life that is abundant.  He came to heal! "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10, NIV) 

When we talk of healing, we must widen our lens to take in God’s view of the matter. It is not just limited to broken or sick bodies. Healing is for the heart, the mind, the soul, too. Wholeness starts on the inside, with a transformation of the person. Charles Mayo, physician and founder of the famed Mayo Clinic, asserted that 75% of disease was rooted in emotional and/or spiritual issues! The Gospel of Christ, when received by faith, restores the identity of the person as God’s child and brings eternal life, the best healing!  And, then there is restoration of relationships when we learn to forgive and love. There is healing our world when we make peace. There is wholeness in Creation when we care for the earth instead of exploiting the planet God put in our management!  And, then, too, there is healing of our bodies through prayer.

Part of the work of every Christian is the ministry of healing. We work under the guidance and in the power of the Spirit Who shows us how to set wrong right, how to defeat evil, and how to lead others to freedom from slavery to sin! Are you a healer?  Perhaps that causes you to think of the ‘divine healers’ that pray dramatic and loud prayers over those who suffer. Maybe the ideas of ‘divine healing’ and old snake oil salesmen are one and the same in your mind. Before you dismiss healing as part of the Christian life because of the abuses of those who try to profit God’s gift, consider the truth. The gift of healing is given by the Spirit to the Church.  Jesus went about healing during His entire ministry.

In the letter of James, the Spirit teaches us that experiencing wholeness requires authentic confession, too. We cannot divorce our choices from consequence, but we can face the past, look at our lives honestly, and find forgiveness and healing. "Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master." (James 5:14, The Message)  "Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with." (James 5:16, The Message)  We know that ultimately all sickness, disease, and even death are the result of sin and the Curse. However, we need to be careful about judging those who suffer (and even ourselves!) by attempting to draw direct cause and effect lines from sickness to personal sin.  Only God ultimately judges in that way. However, when we suffer, when we are sick, we do well to ask the Spirit to reveal if there is something in us, some choice we make, that literally is making us sick. Things like forgiveness, bitterness, hatred, faithlessness will negatively affect our health – emotional, spiritual, and physical.  That’s why confession is so important to healing.  We deal with cause rather than just symptom.

Remember, we are not healers in ourselves, we are given the ministry of healing.  Only God heals, and He does so in His will, and in His time. So, full of faith (the kind that trusts radically) let’s pray to make our world a better place, to restore what Satan and sin have stolen, for the glory of God.  Let this word from the Word stir faith in you and lead you to become a person who lives ‘in the Spirit,’ so that you can be a healer – of broken hearts, of lost souls, of people consumed by hatred, and of broken bodies.  The story comes from Acts, where the simple faith of the apostles, led them to offer a gift to a man.  "Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him." (Acts 3:6-10, NIV)

Lord, use us as healers in a broken, sick world – for Christ’s honor. Amen

_______________

The Hurt And The Healer

Why

The question that is never far away

But healing doesn't come from the explained

Jesus please don't let this go in vain

You're all I have all that remains

So here I am

What's left of me

Where glory meets my suffering

I'm alive

Even though a part of me has died

You take my (this) heart and breathe it back to life

I fall into Your arms open wide

When the hurt and the healer collide

Breathe

Sometimes I feel it's all that I can do

Pain so deep that I can hardly move

Just keep my eyes completely fixed on You

Lord take hold and pull me through

It's the moment when humanity

Is overcome by majesty

When grace is ushered in for good

And all our scars are understood

When mercy takes its rightful place

And all these questions fade away

When out of weakness we must bow

And hear You say

It's over now

Jesus come and break my fear

Wake my heart and take my tears

Find Your glory even here

(When the hurt and the healer collide)

Jesus come and break my fear

Wake my heart and take my tears

Find Your glory even here

(When the hurt and the healer collide)

Jesus come and break my fear

Wake my heart and take my tears

And find Your glory even here

Barry Graul | Bart Millard | Jim Bryson | Mike Scheuchzer | Nathan Cochran | Robby Shaffer

© 2012 Simpleville Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)

Wet As A Fish Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)

For use solely with the SongSelect. Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com

CCLI License # 810055

Can I come back to this church?

The story that spilled out in the confession was not pretty. There were sins, regrettable choices, human failures, and disappointments. After telling it, the person asked, “Can I come back to this church?” The question hurt! What a misunderstanding of what the church is and why she exists. More on that in a moment, but first, let me ask you -  do you find yourself avoiding the company of other Christians, or concealing your past, or wondering if you belong?

I did not dismiss the sins of that person as insignificant. They were.  God does not look at my sins, or yours, and wave them off as inconsequential either. We are not made whole by excusing ourselves, by comparing ourselves, or by insisting that ‘everybody does it.’  We need to be loved, forgiven, and justified. And, that is exactly what Jesus Christ offers to those who receive Him in faith. John reminds us that "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 John 4:9-10, NIV) Our self will, our pride, our greed, our hatred were evidence of our true state; sinful, deserving of destruction. "But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)" (Ephesians 2:4-5, NLT)  No one should ever forget that grace gift is his or her only hope.

Moreover, the Word reminds that God goes beyond forgiveness. "Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5:1-2, NIV)  The profound love of the Father invites us to be ‘at one’ with Him.  He does not merely tolerate us, trying to overlook our past; He makes us ‘just as if we had never sinned.’  The stain is erased and we are reconciled completely to Him, accepted wholly into His holy family. Shame and guilt are to drive us to the Father, but once we have confessed those things, they are no longer needed for "there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1, NLT)

That is why that question about coming to church, about belonging, need not be asked.  
First, those who come to Christ stand on level ground before the Cross, none greater or less.

Second, the church is a place to find wholeness, to be healed, to have the wounds that  sin and life cut into us healed by His mercy and the love of the people of God.

Remember the story Jesus told (my favorite, one I cannot tell without tears of love spilling over) about a wayward, selfish, sinful son? The man abused his father, rejected the love freely given, and was ultimately ruined by his sins. He thought he could make a deal with his father so he headed for home, his defense and appeal readied.  But, “while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." (Luke 15:20, NIV)  Take note of that little phrase tucked into the story – “He ran to his son.”  God is not waiting for you, glaring, loaded with condemnation, ready to heap scorn on you.  He is looking for you to come home. And when you do, He will RUN TO YOU, with amazing, scandalous grace that offers love, forgiveness, justification, and a place at His table.

So, come on home!

______________

When God Ran  (listen at this link)

Almighty God the great I Am

Immovable Rock omnipotent

Powerful awesome Lord

Victorious Warrior

Commanding King of kings mighty Conqueror

And the only time

The only time I ever saw Him run

 (Was) when He ran to me

Took me in His arms

Held my head to His chest

Said My son's come home again

Lifted my face

Wiped the tears from my eyes

With forgiveness in His voice

He said son do you know

I still love you

He caught me by surprise

(He brought me to my knees)

When God ran

After I left home I knew I'd broken His heart

I wondered then if things

Would ever be the same but one night

I remembered His love for me

And down that dusty road ahead I could see

It's the only time

The only time I ever saw Him run

I saw Him run to me

And then I ran to Him

I was so ashamed all alone and far away

But now I know He's been waiting for this day

 (And then) He ran to me

Took me in His arms

Held my head to His chest

Said My son's come home again

Lifted my face

Wiped the tears from my eyes

With forgiveness in His voice

(I felt His love call me again)

He said son He said son

My son do you know I still love you

He ran to me

When God ran

Benny Hester | John Parenti

© 1985 Word Music, LLC (a div. of Word Music Group, Inc.)

CCLI License # 810055

Oil Changes

As the young woman drove her car into the bay in the shop where I was getting the Jeep’s oil changed last week, its engine tapped noisily. The man working on my car looked up and said, “Oh no, that engine is shot!”  When she turned it off, he raised the hood and discovered, as suspected, an engine with next to no oil in it.  Her neglect of regular maintenance, a $35 item, had likely destroyed that engine, and replacement was a huge expense. I felt great compassion as they told her the news and I saw tears well up in her eyes.

That, dear friend, is a parable for so many things in life. Millions of us continue with life-styles that destroy our bodies, knowing full well that a little exercise, a little discipline about the amount and quality of food we eat, will lengthen and improve the quality of our lives; yet we go on eating those donuts and chips.  We know that tightening the screws on the door will keep it on the hinges, but we ignore it until it falls off. We know that taking time for our spouse, to really listen, to care, to serve, will make our marriage so much better, but we keep on staring at the TV or working too many hours and act surprised when the threat of divorce is made.

Our Christianity needs preventative maintenance, too. To be sure, we cannot earn God’s favor by ‘being good,’ but there are daily choices that create opportunities for the Holy Spirit to make us fruitful, effective, joyful disciples. Smile, if you want, but consistent choices matter in shaping us.  I have heard so many people dismiss church attendance with a flip phrase, “going church does not make me a Christian, any more than standing in the garage makes me a car.” Funny? Yes. True? Sort of.  Actually, God created the “church” to be His Body, a place to find strength, to join in worship, to experience the Spirit’s gifts, and to hear the Word.  The strongest Christians I know are people who obey His call into His Body in an active faithful way.

You can make Sunday into a play day: golfing, fishing, and visiting with family. Truthfully, you won't see much impact on your spiritual life, short-term. However, a subtle erosion of spiritual health will start immediately when you neglect the fellowship of the Church.  With time, the edge will go out of your faith. Without teaching that helps you to apply the unchanging Word to an ever-changing world your spiritual understanding will stagnate. If you are a parent, know this: your kids will conclude that church is just one of life’s options, and as young adults, they will discard church attendance all together, along with saving faith.

There are other daily choices that enhance our engagement with God, the Holy Spirit.   We take the Word and read it, much as we eat dinner each evening.  If we fail to take in the Scripture on a daily basis, will we fall into gross sin in a few days time? No. But, we will miss out on hearing from God and wander farther from Him over time.  In much the same way, failure to pray won't turn a person into an atheist overnight, but without that daily conversation, distance will develop as the Spirit becomes a stranger.   We are invited to serve. When we do that faithfully, month after month, giving ourselves away it is like exercise of the body. Benefit accrues in basic spiritual health.

I love a phrase I learned from author and pastor, Eugene Peterson, who describes our Christian walk as a “a long obedience in the same direction!’

Perhaps you read these words and struggle with the dutifulness of it all. That is because we have been sold a romantic notion that we can always ‘feel’ like worship, prayer, giving, service, and such disciplines. I will burst that bubble. Somedays there is real delight in loving Christ and somedays we just do the right thing because we know in our heart and mind it is the right thing to do.  Ask any married person if they always feel deep delight and affection for their spouse. Of course they do not, nobody does. But, marriage are made by fidelity- ‘for better, for worse.’   

Here is wisdom from the Word.  "Jesus said, “The first (commandment) in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”  (Mark 12:29-31, The Message)

"Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber." (Proverbs 6:6-11, NLT)  The principle is spiritual, too.

By the way, is your car due for an oil change?

____________

Take My Life

Take my life and let it be consecrated

Lord to Thee

Take my moments and my days

Let them flow in ceaseless praise

Take my hands and let them move

At the impulse of Thy love

Take my feet and let them be

Swift and beautiful for Thee

Take my voice and let me sing

Always only for my King

Take my lips and let them be

Filled with messages from Thee

Take my silver and my gold

Not a mite would I withhold

Take my intellect and use

Ev'ry power as You choose

Here am I all of me

Take my life it's all for Thee

Chris Tomlin | Frances Ridley Havergal | Henri Abraham Cesar Malan | Louie Giglio

© 2003 sixsteps Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055