God of Comfort

On January 27, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   1 Comment

2nd Corinthians 1: 3 – 4

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Do you wish to be a disciple of Christ? Do you want to be a person that God can use? If so, then you have to make yourself ready. You have to receive the comfort which you will need for others.

Most of us want to be soldiers for the Lord but we fail to understand that God’s soldiers don’t carry swords, they come with healing. They come bearing good news of the Kingdom. Jesus said he came to set free those who are downtrodden (Luke 4: 18). This statement he quoted from a passage in Isaiah, which reads, “to bind up the brokenhearted.” This is such a big part of the ministry of the gospel. People are hurting. In many ways most of us have broken hearts. Jesus came to heal those hearts. As Disciples of Christ, we are to continue his work. Here is the thing though, most of us are so injured and scarred that all we bring is judgment and criticism. If we are going to be useful to Jesus, we must first get healed ourselves.

Why does this frighten people so? We walk around badly injured but do very little to receive healing. Do we delude ourselves that if we just let time pass, we will heal. Observation suggests that just the opposite is true. Our wounds fester rather than heal. Then the hurts of our hearts make it not only impossible to carry out the works of the good news but instead we go about hurting others. You cannot give what you have not first received. We cannot comfort others with the good news of the gospel if we will not first receive the comfort and healing that we promise to others. Our words will not ring true and our testimony of our fruit will scream, “Hypocrite!” I realize we are all trying our best but success isn’t in trying alone. We must be equipped with the right tools, the first of which is our own healed heart.

There are plenty of methods, modalities, tools and mechanisms for healing. Our big brother is THE great healer and he got all of his skill and anointing from our Father. Healing is in our house. Is it even rational to think that God has not provided the means by which we are to be emotionally and mentally healed? Did we think healing was only for our bodies? We are three-dimensional beings. Do you think God did not know that and provide for wholeness for every aspect of our lives? That seems an unreasonable speculation.

It is high time the body of Christ stopped going around as the walking wounded. It is time we cooperate with the Holy Spirit for the healing of our hearts. It is time to let Dad repair the damage of our past and of just living in the world. Won’t you trust Him with your heart, with your wounds? Will you reach out to receive, not only the comfort of God, but also the myriad of tools and methodologies He has provided for our healing. Bless the Lord and trust Him with your heart.

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Health and Healing

On October 31, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Exodus 15: 26

And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.”

There is healing, and then there is health. Yahweh, our Father is also known as Jehovah Rophe which is translated as either Jehovah heals or Jehovah my health. That is fascinating because, while they are similar offices, the names certainly imply a difference in application. Our father, who is our health, prefers that we walk in health. When we walk in health, we do not need healing. However, if we need a super-natural healing, just a one touch and you’re done, He can do that as well.

Today’s verse reveals God, our health. Since His plan was that we would walk in health, He is careful to give us the life strategy which will yield that end result. Therefore, He told the Israelites, “In order to walk in continual health, listen to my counsel. I will always lead you in the paths of health and wholeness.” He told them to give heed to His commandments, statutes and to follow His voice. Now some people will read this verse as a threat, as if God is saying do what I tell you or else I am going to curse you with plagues and disease. That is not the case at all. He was telling them to keep His words because He was telling them things that would prevent them from getting sick. He was leading them into wellness.

God was daily giving them the inside scoop on that which would make the Israelites healthy and wealthy and do know what, He is still doing that today. Some of the healing He wishes to give to us comes by way of lifestyle changes. Maybe He wants you to give up soft drinks or smoking. Maybe He is encouraging you to drink water everyday or take a walk. There are so many things He is trying to teach His people today about living healthy. Some of us, though, are so busy praying for a supernatural healing that we cannot hear His counsel on health. One minor adjustment in your diet may be all you need to restore you to health.

Quiet yourself down and listen to the voice of God in your heart. Pray while you grocery shop. If you will tune into God’s voice I believe you will hear him telling you many ways to be healthy. He will also lead you to scripture after scripture with wisdom for health. God’s will is for you to be healthy and whole so He always seeks to lead you in that direction. Hearken to the voice of the Lord and be made whole.

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Healthy Advice

On October 7, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Chronicles 16: 12

And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.

How completely idiotic does Asa seem to you? Of course, this is what most of us do but it sounds really goofy when it is written out. You can hear the incredulity in the author’s tone. 
 
What is your first reaction when you get sick? Do you run for your Bible? I wish I could say that I do but it is often an afterthought. If we do pray without ceasing, pray at all times, then it would only be natural for us to immediately put our symptoms at the Father’s feet. Our immediate impulse ought to be to tell our Father how we feel at any point in our daily conversation with Him. 
One gets the impression from this brief statement about Asa that he allowed his condition to worsen without inquiring of the Master Healer. I would wish that you would tell God about every symptom, no matter how minor as soon as we become aware of it. Certainly, though, as symptoms progress we should seek not only healing but the Father’s advice. Even in small matters there will be things He can tell us that will help us feel better. Mostly, however, we should seek the Lord’s face and with that comes His healing power. 
 
It is not wrong to seek the advice of physicians as Asa did in this passage. God gave us physicians and has revealed truth to them in order to help us. Asa’s problem, and ours, is that we seek the physician’s guidance without ever consulting the one who has all health knowledge and who created us in the first place. He knows how our bodies work better than anyone and everything that human beings know, they got from the Father. So, the moral of this story is that we should not limit getting our medical advice from the medical community only. We should inquire also of our Father and God.

God is able to supernaturally heal you. He is also willing and able to tell you remedies which you can employ on your own. Most of all, Don’t be an Asa. Don’t wait for your sickness or disease to grow severe before you begin to seek the Lord. If you will start out looking to Him, you can avoid a great deal of discomfort and that is always a good thing.

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Believe It

On September 20, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Exodus 15: 26


I am the Lord that heals you.

That is short, sweet and to the point. You would need help in confusing this scripture because it is so simple. And yet, we really are not walking in this simple belief. Most of us believe that God heals. All you have to do is go to a hospital to see that truth. People will receive prayer when they are sick even if they have refused God all of their lives. Why do we ask people to pray for us if we do not believe God heals? Well of course we do believe. Then why are we not all walking in health? Somehow in the body of Christ we have let this simple truth slip away from our daily walk. We know that He is our Lord that heals us. We know it! But I think we only know it with our minds. We don’t believe it with our heart of hearts. We pray for healing when someone is seriously sick hoping that God will heal them rather than believing that God is going to heal them. Then in our daily lives we receive all manner of sickness, pain and suffering. We do not mean to. We have just been led along by the world; by those who do not have a hope of healing. We have started acting like them instead of acting like children of the great healer.

It might be a great task for all of us to get ourselves turned back around but we can do it because all things are possible in Him and to those who believe. We just need to take one small step and then another. We need to encourage one another and we need to keep on praying as we have been but now with greater expectation that the God of miracles really is present for us and that He really will show up on the scene. Help your friends increase their expectation and demands on God’s promises. Encourage them and when you have a sickness or a disease attack your body, ask them to pray for your health too. Working together we can turn around the body of Christ and reclaim the promises of God in our life.

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Healed by Grace

On August 29, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 107: 20

He sent His word and healed them.

Query – does this mean supernatural, divine healing? What comes to your mind as you carefully ponder this verse? I believe in the supernatural power of God to touch you such that your healing manifests instantaneously. I have also learned, however, that there is an additional type of healing that our Father provides.

This type of healing is spiritually significant in that it takes prayer and communication with the Father to effectuate it. As you spend this extended time in the presence of the Lord you begin to learn about changes you can make in your life which will speed your healing on its way. Maybe in your quiet time with the Lord the thought floats upon your mind that you need to drink more water. Perhaps there are dietary adjustments Father would like to make with you. If you begin to feel better; if your joints work better from implementing God’s advice, does that make the solution any less spiritual? I think sometimes we want to continue in abusive patterns but expect the healing power of God to flow anyway. Is it possible that we, by our habits, are interfering with the healing power of God which is flowing in our veins? Worse still, do we pray on Sunday, have God start His flow of healing power and then quench it on Monday morning?

Speaking for myself only, I used to skip breakfast Monday morning, get to the office and start drinking coffee, drink coffee all day, rarely drink a glass of water and if I did it was not from a good clean source; then I would have junk for lunch and sit at my desk for 8 – 12 hours straight. Now, why was I surprised that I was physically challenged? My joints felt like they had concrete in them. It took me several minutes to straighten up after sitting or lying down. Was my problem that God’s healing power doesn’t work? Was it because when He sent His Word and healed them, He skipped me. And now that I have made many changes and feel amazingly better, is it because of my brilliance, my effort or is it simple obedience to God’s Word and guidance? Did He in fact heal me or did I?

Believe me, it has been a long journey back from the precipice and I am not done but I am so relieved not to be where I was. There is healing in the Word. God told us to give Him our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice (Romans 12: 2). Surely, He has also provided the means by which we can do so. He also told us that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth (John 14: 13). Now all truth must mean truths even beyond spiritual things, although, I am not sure that our Father would consider your health anything less than a spiritual matter. In fact, when it comes right down to it, is not everything ultimately a spiritual matter? My point is that the Holy Spirit has wisdom from the Father on every single thing in the world. So, the answer you need for your physical health and well-being may be found in prayer, no doubt, but do not be surprised if God gives you practical, earthly things to do.

You were meant to live a long, healthy life. This rubbish about beginning to fall apart at age 40, 50 or whatever arbitrary date people use is just that, rubbish. Moses was climbing mountains at age 120. I can make you this promise, God’s vision for you includes a healthy, well-functioning body. Now, let’s get in line with His Word and His counsel and grow strong in spirit and body.

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Dr. Yahweh

On July 19, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Jeremiah 30: 17

For I will restore you to health and I will heal you of your wounds, declares the Lord.

It is never too late to walk in the healing that the Lord has prepared for you. It is certainly never too late to start declaring that your God, your Father, is a God of healing and health. In these times it seems there is some catastrophic illness around every corner. Every winter it seems that there is a new flu that threatens to decimate the human population. In these times, know that our God is a God who heals and who provides health. Even once you have become sick or injured, He is still on the job to heal you. He is a God of restoration. He can take what is broken and mend it. He can restore the diseased and infirm to wholeness. That is the essence of what He has for us, wholeness. He wants to put you into a place where no sickness, disease or lack of any kind is permitted to deprive you. And do not forget that He heals wounds as well as curing sickness. He heals all wounds, even emotional ones. He will remove the scars from you and restore you to the condition that you enjoyed prior to the injury.

For your part, you must first believe that He is a God who heals. Then you invite him to be the Lord over your physical and emotional health. Give to him all the damage in your body and soul. Pray asking Him to heal all of the injured parts of your body and life. If you will let him, he really will meet you at your point of need. He is love and He loves you dearly. He wants to help you with the problems that vex you. Expect Him to do just that and leave the door open for Him to heal you.

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Revealed and Healed

On April 1, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 53: 5               Index Card 14

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Are you beginning to notice that I have a lot of verses on healing in my private collection? I told you, there are these old injuries. Frankly, I am quite active despite the injuries but I really don’t think I would be able to be active if I was not receiving a revelation of “I am the Lord who heals you” (Exodus 15: 26).

Peter quoted this passage of scripture in the New Testament. He says, “ … by His wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2: 24).  So, I am trying to let the revelation that I WAS healed penetrate every cell and membrane in my body. I don’t need to GET healed, I am healed. Jesus was wounded so that I would be whole. My healing was in the miracle he wrought for us in his scourging, the cross, the grave and his glorious resurrection. He took those injuries, sicknesses and diseases to the cross and then buried them in the grave. Then he arose, renewed and restored. We now have that resurrection power working in our bones. “By his wounds we are healed.”

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