Tuesday, July 17, 2012

A Healer?

The surgeon picked up a scalpel and cut my flesh! He made a terrible wound on my body, worse than any accidental cut in my entire life.  His work was to bring about wholeness by cutting away that part of me that was diseased, that would sicken my body if not removed.  The physical therapist coaxed my damaged knee to move.  Her first efforts hurt worse than the original injury.  But, today I walk without a limp because the pain she caused strengthened the ligaments and tendons, causing them to function as they should.  The preacher spoke the Truth. His words painted a vision in my mind, giving me hope, stirring my desire to know Christ and live in the power of the Spirit. He opened my soul to the healing that Christ provided at the Cross! 

Are you a healer?  Healers bring wholeness.  You need not be a physician, a therapist, a preacher, or a counselor by profession to be a healer.  You must be filled with the Spirit and ready to forget your Self. Interestingly, healing is not externally given, though many seek it in that way.  The surgeon who cut away the diseased part of my body created a wound. He made it possible for my body to heal itself!  You and I cannot heal others spiritually, but we can bath  them in prayer that pushes the obstacles to their finding wholeness out of the way. We cannot take away addictions or habits of sin but we can offer encouragement and hope that help healing to come. We cannot forgive sin but we can point to Christ (with words and living demonstration of faith) Who restores the relationship to the Father. From the Spirit, healing flows into that person.

I pondered this wisdom about healing from Proverbs. Take a look.  "There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health. " (Proverbs 12:18, NKJV)  "A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a faithful ambassador brings health. " (Proverbs 13:17, NKJV)  "Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. " (Proverbs 16:24, NKJV)  Are my words healing or harming?  Am I wise, faithful to the truth, and kind? If so, I open up the possibility of healing!

As we read the Gospels, Jesus' work in healing is reported again and again. He saw illness of mind, soul, and body and brought wholeness.  He did so in response to faith, an openness on the part of those in need to receive.  He created possibility, they believed and received. There, too, I am challenged. Does my life create possibilities for others?  I am often tempted to assume the wrong role in my desire for wholeness in others. I want to make the choice of healing for them.  That only creates frustration.  I cannot make a marriage whole if those who are married are unwilling to make the choice to forgive and love. I cannot turn a sinner into a saint if he is unwilling to forsake his old ways and turn to Christ to receive the Spirit's life! I cannot make a sick person well if he persists in living in unhealthy ways.  Yes, I desire to be a person who brings healing, but I am only an agent.  The restoration of wholeness comes as a gift from God that can only be received by the broken.

This passage, our word from the Word, intrigues me with the possibilities offered. Read it thoughtfully, prayerfully, and ask God to make you a healer today.
"Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master.
Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven-healed inside and out.

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. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't-not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God's truth, don't write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God." (James 5:13-20, The Message)
_____________________ 

Touch Through Me

Touch through me Holy Spirit
Touch through me
Let my hands reach out to others
Touch through me
There's a lonely soul somewhere
Needing just one friend to care
Touch through me Holy Spirit
Touch through me

Flow through me Holy Spirit
Flow through me
Like a river in the desert
Flow through me
Springing fountain healing stream
Living water pure and clean
Flow through me Holy Spirit
Flow through me

Dottie Rambo
© 1981 New Spring (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.)
CCLI License # 810055

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