Healing

As I said, there is no formula for healing.  We do know that healing exists because of Christ’s sacrifice.  The prophet Isaiah prophesied about this fact hundreds of years before Christ.  Isaiah showed us amazing evidence of (at that time) the coming Messiah who would come and would wash away sin and heal us.

Isaiah 53.

⁵ 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.

This is spoken of further in Matthew 8:17

¹⁷ This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
   “He took up our infirmities
   and bore our diseases.”

We see in Mark 16:17-18 that because God has the power to heal and if we believe in Christ, His Spirit lives in us, that He has given us power to accomplish great things in His name for His glory…according to His providence.

¹⁷ And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”


So what do we do when we are sick?  Do we just hope for the best?  While there is no formula for healing, there is mention of going to the elders for prayer.  This deals with purifying yourself, confession of sins, and having righteous people pray over you for healing. 

James 5

¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

Healing happened in the Bible, but does it still happen today?

Hebrews 13

⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

There are times in healing when God does give specific details to how to receive healing.  This is the example in Exodus 15.  If we do these things, it isn’t a sure fire way to being healed.  This was a specific situation here.  This passage also proves, though, that God is the Healer.

²⁶ He said, “If you listen carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.”

I Peter 2 gives us further assurance that we can receive healing from God because of Christ’s work on the cross. 

²⁴ “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

There is no formula to healing, but there is a loving God that wants to bring us healing.  He alone knows what is best and we must trust that whether we are healed or not, He is trustworthy and knows what He is doing.  I hope this helps bring hope to someone today.  God bless.

Defeated

The matter of discouragement is not to be taken lightly.  We know that if morale is low in a work place that there is less work that gets done.  Low morale in the home leads to an unhealthy family environment and so forth.  The enemy would love to keep our morale low when it comes to life and God matters.  Imagine the little amount of work that we would do in God’s name if we had low faith morale?  Yes, we have an enemy and if we want to know what type of person he is we can find out what the Bible tells us about him.

I Peter 5

 ⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

God has a great plan for us, and there will be struggles, but He is able to keep us from stumbling.  It is His joy to strengthen us.  It is His hope that we become more like Christ and fulfill the calling He has given us. 

Jude

 ²⁴ To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy—

We will have trials, but God provides a way to “get out” if it is more than we can handle.  We don’t always get to decide if it is too much, but we have to rely on the fact that He knows what is best and will remove us at just the right time.  Trials can also prepare us and stretch us to make us more as God wants us to be.  However, we can bank on it never being too much.

I Corinthians 10

¹³ No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

How do we know what God wants us to do?  The best thing is for us to draw close to Him, get to know Him better, listen to Him, and see what direction He is leading us.

James 4

 ⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you.

In the midst of your trials and struggles…remember, our Father is more powerful!  Not only defeating or overpowering the enemy but making a spectacle of them.  We are not to be overcome because He overcame the enemy for us!

Colossians 2

¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Return of Christ

I just have some Scripture on the topic…

I can’t even envision what this is going to look like.  That is how I study the Bible, I read and then picture it in my mind and with these matters I can only imagine in part what that will look like.  A friend of mine suggested that the sky will look like a paper bag being ripped open.  I don’t know if that is true or not, but that would be pretty amazing.

I Thessalonians 4

¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

This is another great passage, the promise of Christ coming back and the reassurance that we should not feel troubled or worried.  We should be about His business and when the time comes we should not be worried or scared, but overjoyed.

John 14

 ¹ “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

I like this one, it is a challenge for us to be doing the work we are called to and not sit around just waiting and looking at the sky.  There is a time for that, but it shouldn’t be all we are doing.

Acts 1

¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

And of course this passage has to be mentioned.  It is pretty self explanatory, but speaks to the issue of predicting God’s timing.

Matthew 24

³⁶ “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷ As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹ and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

   ⁴² “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

The Person of God

As I mentioned before in a previous blog (A Routine Faithfulness), He is faithful

I Corinthians 1:9

⁹ God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

God is holy, full holiness is hard to understand.  However, the deeper the relationship we have with God the more we gain in this understanding.  In part it is a complete absence of darkness, of sin, of wrong doing.  This one goes hand in hand with the Light.

I Peter 1:16

¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.

As I mentioned earlier today, He is light.

I John 1:5

 ⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

God is love, this one has been so hard for me to grow in.  That He doesn’t just love, He IS love.  He is the epitome of love.  In a world that has seemed to lose the true understanding of love, this is a hard characteristic to explain.  Once we experience it though, we understand the magnitude and power behind it.  The world needs us to continually grasp at a deeper understanding of this (the truth of it) and live it out before them.  It isn’t the” fluffy” Gospel, but rather  the “get your hands dirty” Gospel.

I John 4:8

⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

God is Spirit. I find this one to be refreshing.  Being Spirit goes hand and hand with being omnipresent.  He is everywhere.  Not only is he in everyplace, but His Spirit connects with ours and He resides in our hearts.  What a comfort to know that He is there, no matter where, when we need Him.  He is there when we search for Him, and when we do not.  Amazing.

John 4:24

²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

He is omnipresent, this goes hand and hand with the Spirit.

Psalm 139:1-16

 ¹ You have searched me, LORD,
   and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
   you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
   you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
   you, LORD, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
   and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
   too lofty for me to attain.

 ⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
   Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
   if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
   if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
   your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
   and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
   the night will shine like the day,
   for darkness is as light to you.

God is omnipotent or all powerful.  Nothing is greater than Him, nothing can overcome Him.  He can make all things happen, and carry out any plan He has.

 Matt 19:26

²⁶ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

God is omniscient, He is all knowing. (You Know)

I John 3:20

²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.

God is our Creator and the Creator of all things.  Think about that, the depths of the universe, the simplicities that we all rely on so much.  The heart beating in our chest, the lungs that take in air to give oxygen to our blood streams, the brains that we use to think, rationalize, and feel emotion.  It is overwhelming to think of how creative He is.

 Colossians 1:16-17

¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

We covered this one today, but God is our rock

Deuteronomy 32:4

⁴ He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
   and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
   upright and just is He.

There are so many other characteristics of God throughout the Bible.  These are just several I have looked up.  The point is to get to know Him, know how to describe Him to those who do not know Him.  With our knowledge and understanding of who He is, we gain credibility with those who do not know Him as we shed light on the depths of who He is.  Yes, God is indescribable in His fullness, but we are called to study Him and get to know Him more so that we can communicate who He is to a world that has no relationship with Him, doesn’t know His character, or His features.  Spend some time, get to know Him in a greater way.  Happy searching.

Trinity

Today we are looking at what the Scriptures say about the trinity.  There are several Scripture we could bring in, but I want to just use a few that are the clearest on the matter.  It is hard for the human mind to completely digest, but it is none the less true.  As I explained in the other blog, it is easiest for me to understand it by thinking about it as my own body, spirit, and soul. 

Even though there is one God, the Bible starts out very clearly that there is more to it.  The Bible speaks to the matter of us being made in His image, and what that means.  This passage speaks of mankind being made in “our image.”  It is apparent that there is three in one.

Genesis 1

 ²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

The last passage talks about there being an “us”, but we know that there is only one God from what we read in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 6

 ⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

In Matthew 3 we get a visible glimpse of all three coming together in the sight of man.  This happens at Jesus baptism. 

Matthew 3

 ¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

 ¹⁵ Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

 ¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

We then see in Jesus’ commission to us that part of it is us baptizing new believers in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

Matthew 28

¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

There are a few other passages, I Timothy 2:5 speaks of there being one God and one Mediator, that being Jesus.  We know that Jesus is part of the trinity as we read John 1 (1-14) because He was there at the beginning of time and was a part of the creating process.  There is one God and He operates in three joined capacities.  Hard to explain, but none the less, true.

Justification

Justification

There are two passages in Romans 5 that touch on the thought of justification.  The first one speaks to the issue of separation from God that I discussed when covering the process of atonement.  There was separation because of sin, Christ paid the price and was the atonement for our sins, because of that we are justified or are able to stand in innocence before God if we believe in Christ.  Now there is peace between us and God.  Our sins brought pain to God, which caused the distance, but through Christ we are connected and at peace with God.

Romans 5

 ¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

The second Scripture in Romans 5 continues to explain the effects of the separation and how now, since we are justified, we are connected and therefore, saved from His wrath. 

⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

I mentioned this Scripture when talking about atonement, but it also speaks to being justified (being put in right standing with God).  Because of Christ, we, who were His enemies, become His righteousness when we accept Christ.

II Corinthians

²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

I discussed atonement before, which dealt with the price of our sin.  Justification deals with not only forgiving us, but then drawing us close and making us more than acceptable despite our crimes.  Our sins are erased and we are undeservedly proclaimed innocent, not by just anyone, but by the holy God of the universe.

So profound.