Faith, Healing, Purpose

During His earthly ministry, Jesus healed the sick and the dying, cleansed lepers, and raised the dead.  However, Jesus did not heal everyone, nor raise all the dead to life.  I believe that during His ministry as He walked upon the earth and even on into His continuing ministry from His throne in heaven, there have been some reasons for who is healed and who isn't.

In many cases, those who were healed were those who came to Him for healing.  They believed He could heal them, and He often said distinctly, "Your faith has made you whole."

There were times; however, when Jesus would come upon someone of His own volition to heal them, without their initiative.  For example, Jesus took His disciples across the Sea of Galilee to an area that was not Jewish.  When they arrived, they were confronted by a demon-possessed man who was living naked among the tombs.  The demons recognized Him and begged Him not to send them to the abyss.  He sent the demons per their request into a large herd of pigs, which ran into the sea and drowned.  

When those from the community came to see what had happened, they found this infamous demoniac clothed, in his right mind, sitting at Jesus' feet.  In their fear, they asked Jesus to leave.

So, Jesus traveled across the sea for the sole purpose of delivering this man.  Oh, and interestingly, on their way to meet him, they were struck by a severe and nearly deadly storm.  Jesus simply rebuked the storm and it immediately calmed.  For some reason this man's deliverance was worth fighting for!

Since His death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus by the Holy Spirit continues to heal and deliver those who are suffering.  But does He heal and deliver all who ask Him?

No.  I have a friend, the faithful Christian daughter of my pastor.  A young woman who was for a time a missionary.  She married and had children.  One of her daughters was born with a condition that caused her to experience epileptic seizures regularly.  This believing mom and her entire believing family prayed earnestly for her healing.  They also took her to some respected healing ministers for prayer.  She was not healed and subsequently endured brain surgery to help her.  She is on quite a long road to recovery.

So, why?  Why did God not heal her?

Although we do not know the reason, I believe God has a definite compassionate reason for her situation.  I believe God is love and however He responds to our prayers, He does so for a specific reason, a reason for a more loving and powerful outcome.  Do we know what that reason is?  We don't now, but I believe we will in eternity, and that it will be one more reason for us to praise and thank Him.

I am going to give one example of this.  Jesus, Himself, lived out an example of One whose prayer for rescue and protection was not answered as perhaps His heart would have wished at the time.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed to the Father, "Let this cup pass."  He spoke of the cup of His coming suffering death.  But Jesus added, "not My will but Thine be done."

Even John the Baptist, the first one to recognize Who Jesus was, believed He was the Messiah Who had come to "thoroughly clean out His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaff He 

(would) burn with unquenchable fire."  When John saw Jesus' ministry was not what he expected, i.e. that rather than His ministry leading to His kingship and His kingdom's creation, that Jesus' ministry was heading toward His death, John sent to Jesus asking if He was the Messiah or if there was someone else they should be looking for.  (BTW, John was himself in prison, soon to be executed.)

Jesus responded, "the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them."  All those who knew Scripture, knew there was a prophecy in Daniel detailing the Messiah's appearing in Jerusalem presenting Himself as King.  And Jesus did fulfill that prophecy to the very day.  However, there were two pictures of Messiah presented in the Jewish Scriptures:  The Son of David - the conquering King Who would rescue and free Israel, setting up His kingdom and the Son of Joseph - the suffering Servant who would be rejected and die.  Everyone looked for the conquering King to deliver them from Roman rule and oppression.

However, Jesus had come with a greater purpose than the deliverance of Israel and continuation of the keeping of the law (which no one could keep and which justified no one).  Isaiah 49:6 says, "it is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved one of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach the end of the earth."

God could definitely have saved Jesus from the cross and His suffering, allowing Him to set up His kingdom on earth, defeating and displacing the Romans.  However, if He had done so, the non-Jewish population would have remained outside of God's people and the Jews would have remained under the law, striving for justification and continuing to fall far short.

God had such an amazing purpose, beyond our comprehension and expectations.  His plan opened His can and His reach to the entire earth, bring together believing Jews and Gentiles into one family of God, even calling them His children.  And even more amazing, Christ died on the cross, taking our sins upon Himself, dying in our place, that we might be freely justified forever in Him.  He also defeated death!

The whole point of all of this is to say, in sickness, suffering and trials, we as children of God turn to Him for healing, deliverance and rescue, but we do so even as Christ did, adding "not my will, but Thine be done."  We do so because we trust in His merciful love for us, that He does not carelessly leave us to face hardship.  We know that if His answer is "not now" or "not in this way" He does everything from a heart of love that is far deeper than we can imagine.  We trust that whatever His answer may be, it is from His very heart of profound love and grace (favor that we have not earned).  And we know whatever He allows us to face, He will see us through, He will face it with us.

Oh, and I am going to add, we know all this from experience, from evidence of that loving grace and goodness.  I am not talking here of a blind faith of wishful thinking.  Rather, besides the amazing examples of His great love we have recorded in Scripture, we experience that love and grace day by day in our lives.  We can look back at the many, many times that God has taken what we saw as expected tragedy and loss, and blessed them in such a way that they became our greatest blessings and joys.  In some other cases, we may not see the blessed results of each experience in the present, but we have learned that God is OVERWHELMINGLY GOOD and KIND and LOVING, and so we trust Him and we entrust every situation in our lives to His will.

 Just to share with you all an interesting thought that "occurred" to me yesterday. To preface this, I need to mention that my word for 2020 was "Freedom."

Yesterday morning, I was considering how I was failing in some roles in my life and what my loved ones must think of me. Which is my usual concern. Suddenly I realized that freedom for me, and I experienced it for a precious moment, is to stop worrying about what others think of me. To stop trying to be the person I think I am supposed to be and accept the person I am, while seeking out the person God is calling me to be.

That musing stuck with me through the day. Oh, and I should mention that I am reading a called, To Be Told by Dan B. Allender, PhD, which is about discovering "the role God is giving you in His story!" Which also played into all this.

Later, as my son and I were watching Avengers - End Game, this quote hit me like a ton of bricks! "Everyone fails at who they're supposed to be, Thor. The measure of a person, of a hero, is how well they succeed at being who they are." Followed a bit later by Thor saying, "Time for me to be who I am rather than whom I'm supposed to be."

I'm thinking that maybe it is time for ME to find out and live out Whom God has created me to be rather than worrying about how much better everyone else is and feeling such a failure for not being them.

Anyway, I just love how God seems to pull things together in our lives like that. Now, if I can just get hold of that freedom and begin to live it...

But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring about as it is this day, to save many people alive.   Genesis 50:20

I love it!!  We plat, connive and purpose to do our will, many times for evil or for selfish purposes.  Yet God has already planned, purposed, and worked even through our plats to do good!  To save!  To rescue! To redeem others!!

In Acts chapter 7, we read the story of Stephen's address to the Sanhedrin.  The Jewish authorities were so set on putting an end to this belief in Jesus Christ of Nazareth as the Messiah, and they were looking for every opportunity to stop those who were teaching and speaking about Him in Jerusalem.  A group called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, were not able to resist the wisdom and Spirit by which Stephen spoke, so they induced me to lie as to what he had said and stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes to bring him before the council.

After addressing them with an overview of God's great call and work in the history of the nation from it's founding fathers through history.  And continuing on to describe their rebellion and failures, they were cut to the heart and gnashed their teeth at him.  So angry, so unwilling to repent and to see the truth.

At that point, Stephen, full of Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.  He said "Look!  I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"  And for them, that was exactly what they needed.  They ran at him with one accord and cast him out of the city where they stoned him in the sight of Saul of Tarsus.

This began the great persecution against the church in Jerusalem.  The church was founded in Jerusalem and remained gathered there, teaching, healing, ministering to one another and to the lost.  However, with the beginning of this persecution, in which Saul figured so prominently, the believers were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, EXCEPT the APOSTLES.  

I love this for two reasons.  I see in this situation the plotting of the Jews to silence and destroy this teaching, this growing (over 5,000 by this point) 'assembly,' the church, which was actually God's plan and purpose to move the believers out of Jerusalem, to spread the Gospel outward.  Just as in the plotting to arrest and put Jesus of Nazareth to death to put an end to His work, they accomplished the very plan and purpose prophesied by God throughout the Old Testament.  Here their plotting and conniving fulfilled God's purpose of moving the believers out of Jerusalem and spreading the Gospel outward.

The second reason I love this is because the believers whom God sent out into Judea and Samaria were NOT the apostles.  For me that says that God doesn't use only those in leadership, those recognized as preachers and teachers, He uses those unnamed and unrenowned believers in their unique personalities, giftings and perspectives to reach the world.  God isn't about choosing the great and the talented and the confident, He chooses the weak, the ordinary, the everyman, and then He equips them as He sees fit to reach the world!!!

As I was thinking about this and what we are seeing in our world right now, I began to think about it in the light of these passages of Scripture.  What is being done as part of plans and purposes of evil, God is already at work using these plots to accomplish His purposes!  Keep watching!  As the world and the wicked one rejoice in their works and their successes, I believe God will actually do some amazing things through all of this.  And I believe it may not be done by those we sit back and look to for leadership and guidance and teaching, but rather that God will work through the unknown, the unnamed, the unrecognized believers who respond to all that is going on by stepping out in love and faith and grace to reveal the glory and wonder of our God.  This is not a prophecy, this is just my hope based upon God's goodness and His mercy.

God bless!!!

The Wondrous Blessings of Belief

Jesus, as our first Advocate, prayed for us, even died to justify and free us.  He also came to deliver us from the Pharisaical religiosity and the Gentile paganism of the world to reveal the truth about Who God is and how we can be His!  He worked out the adoption details for us, bringing us in as sons.

Jesus then sends us another Advocate, Holy Spirit.  As Jesus claimed to be in the Father and the Father in Him, so is Their relationship with Holy Spirit.  Holy Spirit dwelling within us is also the Father and the Son dwelling within us! 

Can there be anything at all in this world that comes close to the relationship we have been given in Christ Jesus!?

I've heard people say that if they would rather believe in Christ and be wrong, which if there is no eternity, costs nothing, than refuse to believe and be wrong, which would be eternally costly.  That is of course true.  But I would say that the life even now, in this world, that Christ has given to us, this relationship with His Father is worth all.  But say there is no God, and I am wrong.  I would still say that this life of belief, this joy, this peace, and this living with the goal of love, kindness, and service makes life so much more wonderful and full and joyful.  No wealth, no fame, no power on earth could give me such a sweet life as my faith in Christ and my hope founded on His Word!!!

Did Jesus Claim to be God?

Mark 14:61-64 But He kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? “You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. Jesus here uses the title God uses in Exodus when Moses asked God whom he should say sent him to Egypt to get Pharaoh to free the Israelites. God replied, "I Am that I Am" telling Moses to say "I Am" had sent him. So here, and in other places in the Bible, Jesus claim to be "I Am" is His claim to be God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. Jesus also reverts back to a prophecy of Daniel "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Daniel 7:13-14 KJV And Jesus further claims He will be seated at God's right hand (sharing His authority and glory and power). The high priest recognizes that Jesus is claiming divinity for he tears his robes as he says "You have heard the blasphemy.". It is Jesus' claim to be God the Son, that has Him sentenced to die. Either He was a lunatic, a liar, or He was and is the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity.

To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:
I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you fond them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary.

But I have this against you,

that you have left your first love.

Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you, and will remove your lampstand out of its place--unless you repent.
Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  To him who overcomes; I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.  Rev. 2:1-7

When Christ really captivates, everything happens and anything can happen.  That is how it was with Paul and with these people (the people at the church in Phillipi).  Christ had just captivated them.  They had no other thought in life than Christ.  They may have had their businesses, their trades, their professions, their different walks of life and occupations in the world, but they had one all-dominating thought, concern and interest -- Christ...
There is no other word for it. He just captivated them. And, I see, dear friends, that that -- simple as it may sound -- explains everything.  It explains Paul ... it explains these believers, it explains their mutual love. It solved all their problems, cleared up all their difficulties. Oh, this is what we need! If only you and I were like this, if we really after all were captivated by Christ! .. After all, nine-tenths of all our troubles can be traced to the fact that we have other personal interests influencing us, governing us, controlling us -- other aspects of life than Christ. If only it could be true that Christ had captured and captivated and mastered us, and become -- yes, I will use the word -- an obsession, a glorious obsession! When it is like that, we are filled with joy. There are no regrets at having to "give up" things. We are filled with joy, filled with victory.
There is no spirit of defeatism at all. It is the joy of a great triumph. It is the triumph of Christ over the life ... but, oh, we need the captivating to wipe out our selves -- our reputations, everything that is associated with us and our own glory -- that the One who captivates may be the only One in view, the only One with a reputation, and we at His feet. This is the gospel, the good news -- that, when Christ really captivates, the kind of thing that is in this letter (Philippians) happens, it really happens! Shall we ask the Lord for that life captivation of His beloved Son.

T Austin Sparks

as quoted in Insurgence (by Frank Viola) 

And, here we have the church at Ephesus.They were doing all the "good things," all the "good works" that we are sent to do as Christ's representatives.  But they had lost the love that was intended to motivate and direct those works.  Were those works still "good?"  Yes, but did those works still represent Christ?  Did those good deeds still bring His light to the world?

Jesus warns that if they do not repent, their lampstand, their representation of Christ in the world would be "removed" from its place.  They would no longer be His light.  

Oh, for a heart that is captivated with Christ, that serves from that love and because of that love.  Oh, for a heart that remains true to that "first love."

Conform vs Transform

15 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,

2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;

6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,

8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:

11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?

13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.

14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

15 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.

16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?

17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?

18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.                                                 Matthew 15:1-20  


Jesus condemns the Pharasaical outlook for two reasons:

1) They have built up the traditions of men to have equal merit with God's law.  Even, in some cases, to overrule the law and make it void.

2) They have made their concern strictly outward and are concerned mainly with having the appearance of  righteousness, but they have neglected the heart.  Their desire is all to DO correct things, but they have seem to have little to NO desire to seek God Himself, to draw near to Him, to please Him.  Their desire is more to impress their fellow man, to appear to keep the letter of the law, to appear to live every religious principle, and to appear pious to all who see them.  And beyond that, to hold high the standard especially when they see others failing.

I is so very easy to fall into this mindset, and 'religion' encourages us to do so.  First, we are in some ways a lazy lot, so when someone outlines in any form what we shouldn't or should do, we take the easy way out and live by "the code," being quite happy with our "spirituality."  We can live just up to the minimum standard and believe God is quite pleased with us.  If we slip up, we claim God's mercy and understanding.  This makes our lives so much easier in a sense, all we must do is learn "the code," and it doesn't matter whether it is a Scriptural mandate or a man-made obligation, in fact, the man-made commandments often take on greater weight that the Scriptural, i.e. "Thou shalt not smoke" vs "Thou shalt not covet, or "Thou shalt not bring false witness."

It is so easy to learn "the code" and so difficult to push into God Himself and to seek His will.

Building a relationship with anyone takes time.  Spending time with them, sharing your life with them, inviting them in to the intimacy of  your dreams and your longings, really listening to their heart's longings, seeking to understand their ways and their concerns does not happen overnight.  And so it is with seeking to really know God.  It can't be done on a Sunday morning, a quick prayer time, a rushed worship service.  Knowing Him comes as we run after Him, putting aside all the hustle and bustle of our lives, and really listening for Him in His word and by His Holy Spirit.  Not a quick devotional reading, not a predigested passage of Scripture with a short inspirational comment to follow.  But digging into the word with Holy Spirit's leading and looking to find Him there, listening for His voice, beholding His beauty and His love, reaching out to Him in prayer that is more than a list of requests or a ACTS formula.  It takes time and commitment and longing.

As I said, it is so much easier to conform ourselves to Christian "images."  Living up to the religious image is sure to win admiration and applause from our fellows.  But the one who seeks after God Himself and a relationship with God that is heart deep may find himself misunderstood and judged false because he will not always keep the man-made commandments, he will not always "look" saintly.

Our "heart" -- the seat of our desires, our thoughts, and our feelings -- was corrupted by sin and had become utterly wicked.  But after the new birth, as we walk by the Spirit, He can change our hearts.  This too comes by seeking God and allowing the Spirit free access to recreate our hearts, to give us a new heart.  But we must seek Him, not religion, not the outward appearance, which disciplines the outside, cleanses the outside, but doesn't reach inward to the heart.

I just came upon these notes in my journal from way back in 1993, and I am so being reminded that I must let go of my own desires and understandings and strengths and instead seek the Lord Himself and submit to His recreation, which is an inward work that proceeds sometimes unseen.  I spend too much time looking at the outward and waste so much time trying to conform to some "image" of who I think I need to be, but my heart has strayed far from Him over the last few years.

So my goal is,

Give up:

• "images" of what it is to be a mature, consistent, spiritual child of God
• programs for how to get there
• demands of what I want God to do for me and with me and to me
• standards of judgement for whether He is doing it or not
• depending on my strength of will to obey

Instead:

• seek God for Himself alone
• spend time with Him, personally seeking Him, Himself, quieting my heart from all the distractions and the expectations
• submit to the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the word of God 
• conviction
• leading
• inspiration
• empowering
• encouraging
• trust God to draw me to Himself and to recreate my heart and life as He sees fit

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