Daily Archives: December 11, 2011

Proven Path Ministries

>Healing

>This morning I will be teaching on the gifts of healings, miracles, and discernment.

and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 
1 Corinthians 12:9-10
 
My heart this morning in this post is to share what I have learned from the Scriptures concerning healings.
First of all, does God heal?
Yes!
He most absolutely and positively does.
 
However, my heart breaks from one particular thought or belief or teaching that permeates through christendom. This teaching that the stripes of my Savior were meant to heal me of every physical ailment and that God is obligated to heal me here on earth simply because I claim it.I can’t claim what is not mine to claim. You see this life is no longer mine in Christ. He bought it at a price, a very high price. My life is His to do with as He pleases. I have no claim on it any longer. I don’t want claim on it. This life that I live now in this flesh I live by faith in Christ, for I died, and I live only in and through Him.

Let us look at the root of this teaching that so concerns me. We find it rooted in the interpretation of a passage found in Isaiah 53.

 
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
Isaiah 53:4-5
 
Precious one, let us let Scripture interpret Scripture:
 
When evening came,
they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed;
and He cast out the spirits with a word,
and healed all who were ill. 
This was to fulfill what was spoken
through Isaiah the prophet:
“HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES
AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.”
Matthew 8:16-17
 
and He Himself bore our sins
in His body on the cross,
so that we might die to sin
and live to righteousness;
for by His wounds you were healed. 
For you were continually straying like sheep,
but now you have returned to the Shepherd
and Guardian of your souls.
1 Peter 2:24-25
 
The healings that Christ performed were to confirm His Diety. It was to confirm that He was indeed the Promised Seed, the Christ! They were to fulfill the Scriptures. The sickness that His wounds healed was our sin sickness. By His stripes we were healed of the leprous gangrene of sin. This terminal illness of sin is the one that we were promised deliverance from on and by that cross.
 
When we enter glory then we will be delivered from every affliction of this flesh… but until then:
 
strengthening the souls of the disciples,
encouraging them to continue in the faith,
and saying,
“Through many tribulations
we must enter the kingdom of God.”
Acts 14:22
 
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren,
as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged,
and the love of each one of you
toward one another grows ever greater; 
therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you
among the churches of God
for your perseverance and faith
in the midst of all your persecutions
and afflictions which you endure. 
This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment
so that you will be considered worthy
of the kingdom of God,
for which indeed you are suffering.
2 Thessalonians 1:3-5
 
For you have been called for this purpose,
since Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example
for you to follow in His steps
1 Peter 2:21
 
Can you praise God in your suffering?
Do you give more glory to God and praise Him more when he cures cancer or when He cures a sin sick to the point of dead heart?
Should we as the church give more credit over a deliverance from earthly pain than a deliverance from eternal hell?
Should we credit the stripes that our Savior bore to something as limited as earthly comfort? 
 
I am sorry but I have yet to find where God has promised me a life of wealth and comfort free from suffering, pain, illnesses, hurt, struggles, etc because of the cross.
No, what I read is that I am to take up my cross,
whatever that cross might be.
I am to walk by faith through whatever trials and toils that come my way and 
 
  “Though He slay me,
I will hope in Him. 
Job 13:15

Because this is truth.
Every suffering I go through God will use for His glory.
Nothing will be in vain.
I will look for His glory in suffering.
I will pray for mercy and ask for healing, but if that request is denied, I will know it was for God’s greater glory. His grander will. His eternal purpose. And I will praise Him still.

Sometimes the purpose of an illness is in fact to bring us home… and why on earth would you not want to go home if your Father is calling?

When Elisha became sick with the illness
of which he was to die,…
Elisha died, and they buried him
2 Kings 13:14,20
 
Why do we fight death so hard if we have been delivered from its sting through the victorious cross of our Christ? Why had we rather fight to cling to this life then surrender to the will of God for final freedom? Why is not our first response to an illness to ask God if He is finally bringing us home… or if this illness is to serve another purpose?
 
I beg of you, brethren, become as I am,
for I also have become as you are.
You have done me no wrong; 
but you know that it was because of a bodily illness
that I preached the gospel to you the first time; 
and that which was a trial to you
in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe,
but you received me as an angel of God,
as Christ Jesus Himself.
Galatians 4:12-14
 
What?
Paul, who had the power in the name of Jesus to heal others was afflicted with a bodily illness and could not heal himself?
Did Paul lack faith?
Was the stripes of Christ and the wounds of our Saviour insufficient for Paul?
NO!
 
His illness served a greater purpose!
The furtherance of the gospel!
The eternal deliverance from death due to the sickness of sin for all who would believe in God’s only begotten Son, the Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ!
Paul’s bodily illness, his eathly discomfort, served a purpose in God’s grander plan.
Greater Glory to God!
 
Was Paul healed from this illness?
 
Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,
for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself,
there was given me a thorn in the flesh,
a messenger of Satan to torment me—
to keep me from exalting myself!
2 Corinthians 12:7
 
Possibly not…
Did that lessen his faith?
Did this thorn cause him to shake his fist in the face of God and doubt Him?
Did you ever read of Paul saying, In the name of Jesus remove this thorn from me?
 
Greater Glory!
Greater Glory to God!
 
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…
 
And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw,
and He knelt down and began to pray, 
saying,
“Father, if You are willing,
remove this cup from Me;
yet not My will,
but Yours be done.”
Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him,
strengthening Him.
 Luke 22:41-43
 
Are we to pray for healing?
Oh yes, precious one we are!
But when God says no…
Then we trust that He will send us all the help we need to go through whatever we must go through for His will and purpose to be accomplished in and through us.
 
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! 
For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD,
OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? 
Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM
THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? 
For from Him and through Him and to Him
are all things.
To Him be the glory forever.
Amen.
Romans 11:33-36
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
Confessions of a Christian Wife

>Perspective

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>WARNING: This post is for the LADIES 🙂

When I was younger… just married… at a mere twenty-two years of age. I was under the strictest conviction that I had to look perfect for my husband to be faithful to me. I thought if I stayed in perfect shape and “pleased” him often enough then he would not cheat on me or desire to cheat on me. So I worked out for hours a day, because I have always leaned on the chunky side being short and short wasted all my weight gathers in the middle…

I would stress over magazine covers and any tv shows and movies that showed half-naked women because I feared that my husband would see that and look at me and be… well… repulsed. I feared every wrinkle, every site of cellulite, every hint of things no longer being where they used to be, if you know what I mean. I feared that my husband would not desire me and would one day move on to bigger, tighter things…

Then like a brick in the head it hit me.

I saw the headlines over and over again where these super models and famous actresses where being cheated on by there husbands. I mean really even here recently… Jennifer Lopez, Sandra Bullock, and well honestly you would think these particular guys would have realized they had “married up”, yet these women, who men all over the world gawk over and dream about where not able to keep there husbands from cheating… 

So what I realized was it must be more…

I realized that either my husband would be faithful to me or he wouldn’t…
He would desire me or he wouldn’t…
He would honor God enough to honor me… or he wouldn’t.

And you know what else I realized.

I realized that when I let down this guard and self-conscienceness that I had about my own appearance and looked at myself through the mirror of my husband’s eyes… I saw that he liked what he saw when he saw me… and he was not comparing me to anyone… I was the one comparing.

Now I want to keep myself as beautiful and appealing to my husband as I can… not to “keep” him, but to simply honor him, and to tell him by doing so that I love him.

As thirty-five quickly approaches me in two short days… I do not fear it like I once did. I still feel like I did when I was twenty-two… even if my body does not agree with me… most of the time… and well when my husband looks at me… I have realized he still sees twenty-one just like I still see that strong, determined, and handsome twenty-nine year old man who made me weak in the knees when I actually got him to talk to me…

Just this evening the headlines popped up about the ‘sexiest women ever’ stuff… my husband looked at me and said, “Well that’s not accurate” and I just looked at him questioningly and he said “They ain’t never seen you. How can they say that’s an accurate list when you haven’t even been considered?”

And yes I melted and blushed and got butterflies as I looked in his eyes and saw that he said this with all sincerity… that’s my man and he loves me 🙂

He said this and he thought of me and then I thought of all the beautiful women I know (that were not considered for that list either) whose husband’s no doubt look at them and think the very same thing…

Oh ladies, look at yourself in the mirror of your husband’s eyes and stop comparing yourself to airbrushed magazine covers and ladies with personal trainers and eight hours to do nothing but workout and eat specially prepared meals by professional dietitians… because guess what… not even all that could keep their men faithful to them… so there must be more.

Find the more.
Find a new perspective.

Do not let the fear of how you see yourself in your mirror keep you from “letting go”. See yourself in the mirror of your husband’s eyes and let go…

Devotional Studies Through the Bible

>Now I See

>

But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him.
Genesis 42:8
 
In the previous devotion we discussed how Joseph’s brothers’ ignorance in recognizing who he would be allowed him to become who he is now, second in power over all of Egypt. We learned how their sin against him was used by God to save them and the world. Now their sin once again keeps them from recognizing him, even when he stands right in front of them.
 
Joseph had power over his brothers not just because of the authority of the position he held, but also because of the advantage he held in the knowledge that his brothers would only recognize him if he chose to reveal himself to them. The whens, wheres, and hows were all completely in Joseph’s control.
 
For you see, Joseph’s brothers could not recognize him because they were not looking for him. If they had been searching for him with all their heart, they would have recognized him immediately.
 
You see, the brothers were not looking for Joseph because to find Joseph would mean they would be faced with the guilt of their sin, and this guilt they wanted to keep hidden.
 
When I read this verse in Genesis and this part of Joseph’s life, I am reminded of Luke 24:15–14: “While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.” When Peter made his confession in Matthew 16:16, Jesus replied, “Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”
 
We are so blinded by our own sin and by the god of this world, Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4) that we cannot and could not see God if He did not reveal Himself to us. We would not even know to look for Him if He did not call out for us. To find Him means we must come face-to-face with our sin against Him. We, like the brothers, want to keep this sin hidden.
 
God, in His great mercy and grace, reveals Himself to us through His creation (Psalm 19:1–6), through His Word (Psalm 19:7–13), and through Jesus Christ (Psalm 19:14). God has never left us without a witness or without signs declaring that He exists and He is God. Psalm 65:8 says, “They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs.”
 
It doesn’t matter where we are or who we are, God has revealed Himself openly, outwardly, and publicly to all men. Not only this, but God calls us each individually through His gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:22–32).
 
Oh, how He loves us! We think we need to hide our sin. We think as long as it is hidden then no consequences will come. However, He knows that this sin, which we think is well hidden, is killing us. He has provided the cure for this disease that ends in death. He has opened the door, has a free clinic (Revelation 22:17); all we have to do is believe and receive.
 
Oh Father,
 
I love You! Thank You for revealing Yourself to me. Thank You for seeking me and choosing me. Thank You for opening my eyes to the depth of my sin against You through Your Word, through Your law. Thank You for providing the way by which I and any who would come can be saved. You are worthy of all my praise. All glory belongs to You! My Jesus, I worship You, the Author and Finisher of my faith. You are my Lord and my God. You are my Rock and Redeemer. You are He who cleansed me of all unrighteousness and clothed me in Your own. You revealed Yourself to me, and You called me by name. I once was blind, but oh, now I see! All praise to You, my King.
 
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,
Amen.