Healing Begins Now

 

For a while now I have had an inward struggle against a certain temptation. I am reminded of Paul when he opens up about a certain thorn,sent from Satan, that God had allowed in his life (2 Corinthians 12:7). Just like any human being would, Paul pleaded for it to be taken away, but God had deeper, greater intentions than just taking it away. Jesus replied, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (verse 9). Paul took it to heart and began to see a greater joy in the midst of his suffering knowing that Jesus’s power was being made more evident through it. Rather than being free of suffering, Paul found a deeper dependance on God’s grace through the pain. Just as I have in my own suffering.

Last night I was reading a post of a friend of mine. It was an amazing testimony of God’s graciousness and miraculous healing in their life. I was truly inspired and amazed! But I also was a bit disappointed of the lack of healing in my own life from this thorn. Being the selfish human I am, I cried out to God asking Him why this can’t be my testimony? Rather than feeling a force of anger or wrath at my selfishness, which I would have deserved, God sent a revelation to me instead. He basically told me, “Don’t you see I already have healed you? What do you think I did on that cross for you?” God opened my eyes to a new way of healing, not only a physical healing, but more importantly a spiritual one! I was limiting His healing to only the physical type, that I forgot about the most important one! I’ve allowed this ignorance to blind me and keep me from true healing. It’s because I’ve been looking in the eyes of my worst enemy, rather than focusing on the power of the cross. I’ve allowed fear to bind me, that I forgot that His grace is enough to free me. After God revealed this truth to me I looked up in the back of my bible verses on healing. He gave me three verses to focus on: Psalm 41, Isaiah 53,and Romans 8:12-14.

In Psalm 41, it begins to say that those who regard the weak are blessed and God helps them in their own trouble (verse 1). Verse 2 continues, “The Lord will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land and not surrender him to the desire of his foes.” God has not just left us on this earth to defend ourselves against the evil that wages against us. He has been constant in our lives and protects us as we stay near to Him. As the verse continues it talks about being on a sick bed and how God sustains him (David). David cries out to God to have mercy on him and heal him for the sin he had committed. I related to this, as we all can, in the fact that we all have sinned against God and need mercy and healing. We are not undeserving of any suffering God allows to send our way because of our sin. But rather than looking at that suffering as punishment to harm us, God has allowed it to make us stronger in Him. “I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me” (verse 11). God does not allow us to be defeated, but the opposite! He has given us the victory over our enemy!

We see that victory in the prophecy in Isaiah 53. The prophecy is of Jesus and all that He was going to endure for us. “He was despised and rejected…he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows…He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth…By oppression and judgement he was taken away…He was assigned a grave with the wicked…though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth…yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer…his life a guilt offering…after the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied…for he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (verses 3,4,5-6,7,8,9,10,11,12). Because of this we are healed, we are saved. Because Jesus had victory, we too, as His children, share in that victory! Thank you Jesus!

Now that we have this victory, we have an obligation. That obligation is to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and set us free from the chains that we are allowing to bind us! Romans 8:12-14 backs this up, “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” We are no longer bound to the ways of the enemy! So there is no reason to allow fear or our thorns to get in the way of our freedom and healing! Claim the victory that is rightfully yours in Jesus name!

So healing is not only in the physical form, but more importantly in a spiritual form. We do not have to wait for spiritual healing, because it has been available to us since the day Christ died on that cross. We may still deal with the physical ailment that our thorns might cause us, but we are not deprived of spiritual healing from them. We do not have to cower in fear, because we can boldly profess Jesus’s victory! Do not be deceived by the enemy and his lies! No matter the struggle, no matter the thorn, God’s grace is sufficient for you! Trust and believe that! We have an obligation to live according to the Spirit, not to the enemy!

Thank you for reading! I hope you found some healing in these words. They are not only words, but truth! I challenge you to look at your own life and see if there are any thorns that you are being enslaved by. Just like Paul, let us find truth and joy in the grace of God, rather than hiding behind fear of the enemy’s lies. Let us claim our victory in Christ! We are not slaves to fear, but to righteousness!

God Bless You!

Love,

theblessingsgirl

(P.S. Photo credit to Micaiah Bushnell!)

 

Faith and Deed’s

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”

James 2:14-19

I was really encouraged by this verse today as I was doing a bible study with a friend. It made me think about so many people who get so caught up in just saying they believe in God yet don’t have anything to show for it. I wanted to point this out and encourage anyone who may be in this boat. It’s not an impossible thing to change, but it may require a lot of commitment in order to change. I am going to break down the verse a little and give some pointers.

The verse begins by indicating the fact that we cannot have a saving faith if said faith is not backed up with deeds. It continues by giving us an illustration of how pointless our faith is if we stand back and watch as we see people in need, yet do nothing about it. When we do this we are putting ourselves on our hand-made throne and looking down at those we see not worth of truly helping. When what we should be doing is taking after Christ Jesus’ example; He had a God-made throne to sit at, but rather than look on us and do nothing, He did something. He got down off His throne and humbled Himself to be like us, to be human. He lived a life as an example for us to live; healing people, giving to the needy, associating with the lowly, and loving unconditionally.

Although, we must be careful not to be so consumed with the good deeds that we miss the faith. Jesus not only used His actions as an example, but also the actions of the Pharisees. Unfortunately, it was a “how not to live” example. The Pharisees were so consumed with having a nice outward appearance that they failed to make sure the inside looked just as nice, if not better. They only cared that the people around them thought they were perfect, they didn’t truly care how God saw them. Good works became the center of their religion rather than faith. We too can be like the Pharisees when we think that it is by good works we are saved and can go to heaven. The problem is that we are really leaving God out and making ourselves god instead. We make it into a self-saving religion rather than a Christ redeeming faith. What we ought to be doing is first establishing that it is by Christ Jesus we are truly saved. It was Him dying on the cross that saved us and not anything that we have done. It is when we understand this that our works can come into play as an outflow of that faith. We see the need to start living this life for Christ who gave up His own life for our sake. Our deeds are a reflection of His example given to us.

Also, it is not enough just to believe in God, because just as the verse says; even the demons believe! We need to distinguish ourselves against the demons who are with the enemy, the devil. Otherwise we will also could be identified with them. How then can we be made separate from them? By allowing our actions to be influenced by God! We must put on the characteristics and the very nature of God! It says in 1 John 4:16 that “…God is love..” So we too are to be characterized by our love. It should pour out into our words and more importantly our actions! Which leads me to another verse in the same book, 1 John, but in chapter three. 1 John 3:18 says, “Dear Children, let us not love with words or tongue but with action and in truth.”

Further more, the verse of 1 John 3:18 continues with 19-20 that get into the matter of the heart. The verse says, “This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” Our hearts, and/or conscience, can be so over powering with condemnation that tell us we are not doing enough. But we need to remember that God sees where our hearts are. And as long as we are doing the best we can in everything we do and giving Him the glory, then we have nothing to worry about. It is good, though, to examine our actions and be honest with ourselves to see if we are doing all we can to show God’s love to others. If we aren’t, all we need to do is change it. Also, it is good to keep the heart in check by seeing where the motivation is coming from to do our acts of love and who is getting the glory. If we are doing if for ourselves and to get all the glory, than that is where change needs to come in as well. When these things change and are put back in focus with the Word, than we can rest in knowing that we are following the truth.

Over all, our faith is dead without deeds. But don’t be confused with good deeds being our saving grace. Jesus Christ is our saving grace. To have faith in Jesus is to live by His example. We can say all these things to encourage people and enlighten them, but they will best know God by seeing Him in us. It is never enough to only say we believe in God, because even our enemy does. We need to be distinct and different, set apart. We can only do that by letting God’s love flow through us into our words and actions.

I hope that this has been encouraging for you! Go out there and live your faith! Don’t just speak about your faith, act it out for others to see and be inspired by! Actions really do speak louder than words.

Thank you to my friends who brought these verses to my attention and allowed me to be inspired to write this! You know who you are!

God Bless You All!

Love,

theblessingsgirl

Find Your Passion

What is the point of life if you have no passion? What is there to look forward to? Passion gives you drive; it gives you purpose. And with purpose you find contentment in life. Finding your passion is the key to finding contentment. One of my favorite quotes says, “Discontentment comes from focusing on others. Contentment comes from focusing on God” (Unknown). God is our Creator and He has created us for a purpose. We are given gifts that enable us to fulfill that purpose. Instead of trying to acquire the gifts of someone else, we need to stop and realize the greatness of our own. The passion, the purpose, the gifts we are given are uniquely our own and no one else is ever going to possess them quite like us. So why waste your life trying to live like someone else? Live your own life! No matter what your passion may be, live it out for Christ.

Unfortunately, it is so common to see people giving up what they are passionate about because it can’t support them financially. Instead we choose whatever job will get us the most money, no matter what it is. I understand people have bills to pay and families to support; but what about our purpose? Is it really worth it to give up the very passions that make us feel alive? That make us feel like we have a greater purpose? Are we so willing to give up the passion and the gifts God has given us in order to follow the worlds way? Now if you are able to find a job that fits your passion and it supports you financially, then great! What a blessing! The problem is not earning money to be able to support yourself; the problem is letting it consume us rather than God. If you find yourself having a job you aren’t passionate about, but you can make time to fit in volunteering somewhere in the field you are passionate about, then that is great as well! Make time to fulfill the God given passion that was meant for you! Don’t be so consumed with the ways of the world! Let God be your guide and He will lead you to your intended purpose.

Now if you read my last blog, Which Road Are You On?, then you might recall the part I mentioned about how hard it is to follow Jesus and what He asks us to give up in order to follow Him (Read Matthew 8:19-22; 19:16-22 for more). Jesus is clear that in order to follow Him, worldly comforts must go. We strive for that nine to five job and the American dream; the pursuit of happiness we call it. To the world, happiness and a life worth living is gaining everything we desire. All the money we need and then some, the fancy materials, and the perfect family are all to show off to everyone. This is what we cling to to give us purpose. But how is this truly living? Where is the passion? Where is that pure joy that comes in just doing something that you are gifted in, without looking for a worldly reward. Whether that be painting, creating, serving, speaking, and so on! Take a look at your life; is it filled with worldly comforts and long forgotten passions? Then ask yourself if this is really where you were meant to be? Have you lost touch with the God who created you? Have you forfeited a relationship with Him, because you are to busy chasing the world? If this is you then it’s time for a wake up call. This is not how your life is meant to be lived. God has greater things in store then the American dream and the worldly comforts. As scary as that may sound to give it up, it is much better than living a lie. True happiness comes from fulfilling your God given passion and purpose. So maybe your passion is to serve overseas and share Jesus to those in a third world country. Are you willing to give up your worldly comforts in order to truly live out that passion?

God may be calling you to live out a passion that calls you far away from the norm of the worldly ways. And as scary as it may be, I promise you it will be the most fulfilling journey you will ever take. God calls us to do hard things, not to torture us, but to mature us and show us how freeing it is to live totally abandoned for Him. God’s focus is not earthly comforts, but rather heavenly dwellings. He is giving us a life that leads to glory in heaven! Let us not forfeit that because of fear of the unknown! Trust the God you are serving! He knows what He is doing! Find your passion! Seek God’s purpose for your life! Use the gifts He has given you and glorify Him!

I pray that no matter the situation you are in, whether you have a family, bills, etc., you will not let it stop you from living out a life in service to Him. I pray you have the courage to trust Him enough to do the hard things. I pray you have enough faith to believe in the Almighty God we serve, because nothing is impossible for Him. AMEN!

Find your passion. Serve our God. Live the true life.

God Bless You!

Love,

theblessingsgirl