Romans 8:25-26 - But if we hope for what is still unseen by us, we wait for it with patience and composure. So too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness...
Well, we've been waiting on some news for about 5 weeks now - news that could significantly impact our lives. For the first 2 weeks, I had sufficient patience. It was okay with me that we hadn't heard anything. I knew that God takes His time and doesn't rush on account of making it easier on me. No problem - I can wait.
Weeks three and four - well, I'm surprised we haven't heard anything, but I don't want a rushed decision. I really just want what's best for us. So if we have to wait a little longer, that's fine.
Well, here it is, week five. What's taking so long? Why haven't we heard anything? I wish they would let us know one way or the other... Hold on - is that impatience surfacing? Yes, I believe it is. And what had God been showing me at the beginning of all of this? To WAIT on Him. To wait and expect Him, and believe that He is working, and believe that He is working all for good. Wait.
Well, yesterday I was reading and came across something that stood out to me. The main tactic of Satan, although it can come in several forms, is to defeat us by wearing us out. If I want any victory in my life, the I must ENDURE - I must outlast him. I must stay patient, and continue to wait on God.
So today, I came across Romans 8:25, which says we are to wait with 1) Patience and 2) Composure. And we have the help of the Holy Spirit. In the Bible, God acknowledges our human weaknesses - and apparently patience is an area where I am weak (which is not wholly a surprise to me, or to my family, I'm sure). But we are promised the help of the Holy Spirit to aid us in our weakness, to bear us up and help us to continue on.
So I guess this is His way of reminding me to wait, to believe in Him - in His power, His goodness, and His wisdom - and be patient while He works. The Bible says His timing is perfect, and He is never even a second late. So even though news has not come as quickly as I would have liked, it will come exactly when He would like. Until then, it is my responsibility to wait with patience and composure, leaning on the Holy Spirit to help me.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Rooted in Love
Well, I guess the month of July isn't going to have many posts in the archives, since it's been over 20 days since I last posted. Strange, every time I studied this month, I didn't feel like I was able to share anything or pass it along. So, I stayed quiet. Hope you didn't think I had forgotten about you! (wink)
Well, today I did a little studying on my own, and then listened to a little teaching. The teaching was about the love of God. I started thinking about that. It has always been very easy for me to say the blanket statement that God loves the world. God loves you. God loves everyone. But, to say 'God loves ME' - well, it hasn't always really been so easy for me to believe.
Thankfully, I am at a place now where I know God loves me - even when I slack, He loves me. Even when I slip up, He loves me. Even when I mess up, make mistakes, do wrong things, make poor choices, He loves me. I KNOW it because He has shown me. He has shown me in His word. He has shown me in the little things He does for me in my daily life. He has shown me in certain experiences in prayer. He has shown me through the love of others.
Still, I know that my knowledge of His love could still grow deeper. The Bible talks about being like a tree that is deeply rooted, so as not to be tossed around when storms come. It says to be rooted and firmly founded in love.
There's one set of scripture that I want to share with you today from Ephesians 3, but I have reworded it to make it a personal prayer, rather than a scripture written to a group of people that lived thousands of years ago. It comes from Ephesians 3:16-19.
- Lord, by Your glory, strengthen me with the mighty power of the Holy Spirit Himself dwelling in me and filling every part of me. Jesus, may you, through my faith, settle down and make your permanent home in my heart. May I be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love. Lord give me the strength and the power to understand and grasp the breadth and length and height and depth of Your love for me, that I may come to know Your love through my own experiences, a knowledge that far surpasses mere knowledge without experience. Lord, that I would be filled through my entire being unto all the fullness of You, that I may have the richest measure of Your divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself! - Amen.
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (NIV)
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Speak Life
For the last 2 days now, I've been writing out long-hand the scriptures that I've collected regarding healing. I wanted to have them all in one place to look at collectively instead of having to flip back and forth to read them. I'm only about half way through writing them out, but I'm already seeing a few patterns emerge. The one that stands out to me the most is our words.
I know I've written before about the impact our words can have on our lives...but I'm going to write it again. There are a few verses that I wanted to share today.
I know I've written before about the impact our words can have on our lives...but I'm going to write it again. There are a few verses that I wanted to share today.
- He sends forth His word and heals them and rescues them from the pit and destruction. (Psalm 107:20)
- My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings.
Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart.
For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. (Proverbs 4:20-22) - Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]. (Proverbs 18:21)
He sends forth His word and heals them. I can see a few ways to take that, and I think both ways are truth. First, God speaks healing. When God speaks, things happen. God spoke creation. He speaks us into being, and He speaks forth our healing.
Secondly, God's word brings healing. But what does that mean? Well, the Bible is God's word. Jesus is also called the Word of God - the living word, the word come to life. Both are God's word. Both have been sent by God. Both have the power to heal. If we want to truly see healing, I'd say we need both. We need a relationship with Jesus, abiding in Him and trusting Him. And we need God's word - the Bible. We need to know what it says about us, and about Him - who He is, how He is, what He is.
If the power of life and death is in the tongue, and if God's words are life and healing, then it seems to follow that we ought to speak (not just think or believe, but SPEAK) God's word over our lives and the lives of those we love. If God has given us the power of life and death in the little muscle in our mouth, we may as well use it! Just like my friend I told you about yesterday, I believe if we speak in agreement with what God has to say about healing and restoration in our lives, we ourselves, body, mind, and spirit, also come into agreement with that word. Just to say something as simple as 'God, I thank You that You forgive all my sins, and You heal all my diseases.' (see Psalm 103:2-5) I don't think it has to be complex or bizarre. I think it can be very effective if it's simple and sincere.
Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s (strong, overcoming and soaring)! (Psalm 103:2-5)
Monday, July 2, 2007
Get Well
Someone in my life has recently come across a serious medical issue and is struggling to keep perspective. While I know that God is completely capable of handling the situation, I also know that He cannot work in our lives until our attitudes, our faith, our actions, and our words line up in agreement with what God wants to do for us. It worries me when people I know are hoping for God to intervene, but are not really believing that He will because doubt is the first step to being defeated. It prevents God from moving in our lives and on our behalf.
This particular person, and their situation, has been on my heart quite regularly since I first heard the news. And God has put it on my heart to start studying and really understanding the way He works in our lives, in our bodies, for healing.
It starts with belief. Nothing short of fully believing God is capable and wants to heal us - WILL heal us - will prompt Him to move. Then we have to be willing to turn it over to Him, letting go of our own ideas of HOW He will heal us. Not all healing comes in the most 'miraculous' of ways. In the Bible, healing is done in many different manners, from a simple touch to washing in the river seven times, and on and on. There is not one cookie cutter way that God goes about His business, and we should not expect our illness to just vanish before we believe it is God doing the healing. In fact, often, and in more situations than just our physical well-being, God will not do what we are able to do on our own. We have to do what we can, and let Him do what we can't. So if we can eat better, take certain medicines, get adequate sleep, drink enough water, etc, then we need to do all of that. If there are treatments available, we should pursue them. We must do our part, fully expecting God to do His in His perfect timing. But often when we are waiting on Him, He is really waiting on us.
If we are truly believing God is working on our behalf, our thoughts, our actions, our attitudes, and our WORDS must align with that belief. If we are to walk together with God, we must agree on where we are going. (Can two walk together, except they be agreed? - Amos 3:3) We MUST KNOW what God says about us, about His willingness and ability to heal us, and we must STAY in agreement with that, in every way.
So, I started looking up verses that deal, either directly or indirectly, with healing. There are quite a few that I've come across in only a matter of two or three days of searching. Many of them also deal with the faith attitude we are to maintain, as faith is the key for healing to take place. For now, I want to share just one with you. This particular passage of scripture was the first one that came to my mind when I heard of my friend's illness. It had been shared with me about two months ago when a man at our church shared his story, and I want to share it with you:
This man had been living a dedicated life for Jesus for nearly thirty-five years when he was diagnosed with cancer. His cancer was rather serious, and doctors did not give him a positive prognosis. He was up in years at the time, and they worried that certain procedures would take too much of a toll on him. They promised to do what they could, but they encouraged him to get his affairs in order in case their efforts didn't help him. He admitted that his reaction was full-fledged fear, followed by anger and depression.
This man, who had loved God's word, and had read it daily for years, could not bring himself to open his Bible. He struggled even to pray. One day, on a visit to his doctor's for a check up, one of his nurses was just getting off duty, and she stopped in his room to see how he was doing. Nurses were not allowed to share their faith with patients, but since she was off duty, she approached him as a visiting friend. Still, not wanting to push the limits, she simply gave him two or three scriptures on slips of paper to keep with him. That way, he didn't have to open his Bible, he could just get them out and look at them when he wanted. He says he hooked the papers to his key chain and kept them with him at all times. Although he was still angry, frightened, and depressed, he began reading these few verses out loud to himself regularly. Over time, he began to feel a change in his attitude. He began to notice that his fears were subsiding and were being replaced with a glimmer of hope, which eventually grew into belief.
Now, several years later, he is cancer-free. Ultimately, it was not the doctor's medicine that healed him. He had gone as far as he could with medical treatments, with some, but not complete, success. He did what he could, and God did the rest. He now goes for check-ups on a regular basis, but they have not been able to find anything more than a mild case of arthritis in his knee. He just celebrated his 88th birthday. And he will be the first to say that, had he not chosen to stand on God's word, and to confess God's word out loud, even when he did not feel like it, he would probably not be here today. This is the verse he stood on most heavily:
This particular person, and their situation, has been on my heart quite regularly since I first heard the news. And God has put it on my heart to start studying and really understanding the way He works in our lives, in our bodies, for healing.
It starts with belief. Nothing short of fully believing God is capable and wants to heal us - WILL heal us - will prompt Him to move. Then we have to be willing to turn it over to Him, letting go of our own ideas of HOW He will heal us. Not all healing comes in the most 'miraculous' of ways. In the Bible, healing is done in many different manners, from a simple touch to washing in the river seven times, and on and on. There is not one cookie cutter way that God goes about His business, and we should not expect our illness to just vanish before we believe it is God doing the healing. In fact, often, and in more situations than just our physical well-being, God will not do what we are able to do on our own. We have to do what we can, and let Him do what we can't. So if we can eat better, take certain medicines, get adequate sleep, drink enough water, etc, then we need to do all of that. If there are treatments available, we should pursue them. We must do our part, fully expecting God to do His in His perfect timing. But often when we are waiting on Him, He is really waiting on us.
If we are truly believing God is working on our behalf, our thoughts, our actions, our attitudes, and our WORDS must align with that belief. If we are to walk together with God, we must agree on where we are going. (Can two walk together, except they be agreed? - Amos 3:3) We MUST KNOW what God says about us, about His willingness and ability to heal us, and we must STAY in agreement with that, in every way.
So, I started looking up verses that deal, either directly or indirectly, with healing. There are quite a few that I've come across in only a matter of two or three days of searching. Many of them also deal with the faith attitude we are to maintain, as faith is the key for healing to take place. For now, I want to share just one with you. This particular passage of scripture was the first one that came to my mind when I heard of my friend's illness. It had been shared with me about two months ago when a man at our church shared his story, and I want to share it with you:
This man had been living a dedicated life for Jesus for nearly thirty-five years when he was diagnosed with cancer. His cancer was rather serious, and doctors did not give him a positive prognosis. He was up in years at the time, and they worried that certain procedures would take too much of a toll on him. They promised to do what they could, but they encouraged him to get his affairs in order in case their efforts didn't help him. He admitted that his reaction was full-fledged fear, followed by anger and depression.
This man, who had loved God's word, and had read it daily for years, could not bring himself to open his Bible. He struggled even to pray. One day, on a visit to his doctor's for a check up, one of his nurses was just getting off duty, and she stopped in his room to see how he was doing. Nurses were not allowed to share their faith with patients, but since she was off duty, she approached him as a visiting friend. Still, not wanting to push the limits, she simply gave him two or three scriptures on slips of paper to keep with him. That way, he didn't have to open his Bible, he could just get them out and look at them when he wanted. He says he hooked the papers to his key chain and kept them with him at all times. Although he was still angry, frightened, and depressed, he began reading these few verses out loud to himself regularly. Over time, he began to feel a change in his attitude. He began to notice that his fears were subsiding and were being replaced with a glimmer of hope, which eventually grew into belief.
Now, several years later, he is cancer-free. Ultimately, it was not the doctor's medicine that healed him. He had gone as far as he could with medical treatments, with some, but not complete, success. He did what he could, and God did the rest. He now goes for check-ups on a regular basis, but they have not been able to find anything more than a mild case of arthritis in his knee. He just celebrated his 88th birthday. And he will be the first to say that, had he not chosen to stand on God's word, and to confess God's word out loud, even when he did not feel like it, he would probably not be here today. This is the verse he stood on most heavily:
- I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done. The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. (Psalm 118:17-18)
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These are just my thoughts on things related to my daily walk with God. I've always been a journal-keeper, and this is the area that demands most of the space in every journal I've ever kept. This is my passion, and I hope that by sharing my thoughts on the things I'm going through, I might be able to bless you in some way. Enjoy.