Ocean Dancer

This morning I was sitting in my car at the beach while a young girl was braving the cold water. These words simply flowed from my pen to the paper:

The cold water surrounds you
Like a warm woolen blanket
The micro currents rippling
Around your bare legs
The ocean, alive with promise
While holding centuries of secrets
Rejuvenates the part of you
That has forgotten how to live
Freely and unselfconciously
You jump, you move, you dance, and forget
The strangers on the shore
Watching every move
Because your graceful moves
Are not for them
Only for yourself
Only for your own soul
For the nourishment of
The places that have become parched
The places that have learned to survive
On strict rations
Of glimmers of hope
Even when there was none
You feel life in the salty water
You feel that you can go forward
You know, suddenly, that life
Does have meaning
That tomorrow
You can face the day
That all is not lost
And that life will be good again.

Love yourself

Children are often taught that God will not be pleased with them if they are naughty. God becomes the weapon that parents use to force their children into obeying them and then the children build an unrealistic image of a God who is just waiting for them to put a foot wrong so that he can punish them. Unfortunately many people also feel this way because of the manner their earthly father’s treated them. If we are brought up with condemnation it is easy to believe that God is also going to condemn us when we do something that is not pleasing to Him. And if everything about our upbringing was performance based, we will believe that we have to perform correctly in order to win God’s love. Unfortunately some people never believe that God loves them regardless of what they do.

 

If we keep believing that we have to do things a certain way in order to please people, we are soon convinced that it is impossible. Instead of making peace with it, we try harder and harder and very soon are in a state of fear and fear because nothing we do is ever good enough. You see, there’s a difference between US and what we DO. Our DOING is not US. We can think things like, “I don’t deserve nice things because I’m too fat’, or, ‘I don’t deserve to go on holiday because I don’t work hard enough.

Everything that happens can then be put into two categories:

Things are going well therefore God is pleased with me.

Or

Things are really bad therefore God is punishing me.

But God doesn’t operate like that. He is the only one who accepts us 100% the way we are. Where my husband might say that I need to wash the dishes more often, God doesn’t use things that we do as a measuring stick for His love. He loves us regardless of what we do.

The next step is self-hatred because instead of realizing the problem is not ours, we believe that it is us that are not good enough and not our actions. I know that self-hatred sounds really, really bad and if you were to hold it up against yourself you will say, who me? Never!

But think about it like this:

If you work for a boss who is really demanding and whatever you do he is never satisfied. He always complains and finds fault and never, never, ever compliments or acknowledges that you have done a good job. Sound familiar? This could also be a spouse, parent or child! Once you fall into the trap of trying to do better and win favour you start to believe you are not good enough. Believing you are not good enough is essentially self-hatred. It is said that 87% of all diseases are caused by our thought life, and many auto immune diseases are caused by self-hate! While I’m on the topic of disease, people blame God for their diseases or they claim that God put a disease on them to teach them some kind of a lesson. Forget it. It is simply not true!

 

So if hating ourselves is so bad, what should we do about it? We have to learn to love ourselves.

Let me establish that by loving yourself I am not implying selfishness, arrogance, being conceited, self-seeking, self-centred or vain. Those are never attributes of love anyway.

1 Corinthians 13 is known as the love chapter.

Let’s look at what love looks like.

Verse 4 -8:

Love suffers long

and is kind;

love does not envy;

love does not parade itself,

is not puffed up;

does not behave rudely,

does not seek its own,

is not provoked,

thinks no evil;

does not rejoice in iniquity,

but rejoices in the truth;

bears all things,

believes all things,

hopes all things,

endures all things.

Love never fails.

 

We normally look at these verses in the light of how we show love to others. But what about looking at them and measuring ourselves against them?

Are we long suffering (patient) with ourselves, or do we beat ourselves up because we don’t get things right the first time. How many people haven’t reached their potential because they aren’t patient with themselves?

And kind. Are we kind to ourselves? Do we give ourselves any grace?

And what about ‘love keeps no record of wrongs, (NKJV thinks no evil), We forgive others for what they have done but to we forgive ourselves and forget the bad decisions we made? Do we lie awake at night and beat ourselves up about stupid things we did, and wish we could change the past. When we do something wrong the procedure is as follows: Ask God to forgive you, and immediately move on and learn from what you did. And drop it! Fill that void with love.

We can go down the list and I would encourage you to measure your self-love against this list.

Mark 12:31 as well as Matthew 22:39 both say that we have to love our neighbour as we love ourself. So Jesus said that we have to love ourselves.

If we don’t love ourselves we are going to be miserable and sick most of the time. We aren’t going to be pleasant to be around.

 

 

The first step towards loving ourselves is to accept ourselves. Nobody is perfect. That has been used over and over as a self-defence phrase. “”nobody’s perfect!!!!!”” But seriously, not one person is perfect or is ever going to be and the sooner we accept that the better. We need to start seeing ourselves the way God sees us.

We need to start accepting ourselves the way we are.

Now I know there are a lot of Christians who will condemn me for this statement because how can I be telling homosexuals to accept themselves the way they are. But think about this: If I accept myself and all my hang-ups, whether it is sexual orientation, alcoholism, anxiety, depression or whatever, I have a better chance of giving God the freedom to start working in my life than when I am struggling with whatever state I am in, trying to hide it, flaunt it, or fix it myself.

If I am trying to fix myself, God can’t do it, and that is what He does!

What happens when we become a believer.

Ephesians 4:24,

and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

The new man includes your new victorious attitude. The new man has been created to be like God. If we have been renewed to be like God, How is God?

Genesis 1:26-27,

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

And what’s more, God uses weak instruments to accomplish great things:

Exodus 4:2, He used the staff in Moses’s hand to do great signs.

Judges 15:15, Sampson killed a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey.

1 Samuel 17:40, David selected 5 smooth stones and killed a giant.

1 Kings 17:12, A widow showed compassion on Elijah and as a result her oil and flour lasted throughout the famine.

1 Kings 18:44, there was a cloud the size of a man’s hand that ended the drought.

Matthew 13:31-32,  Jesus talks about faith the size of a mustard seed.

John 6:9, five barley loaves and two small fish feed 5000 people

And then one that we sometimes have a hard time coming to grips with:

Zechariah 4:10, For who has despised the day of small things?…

We don’t want small beginnings and insignificant things. We want loud thunder and torrents of rain. We want thousands of souls being won for the Kingdom. We want the big and the great and the significant. We don’t think that little things mean anything. We want to be able to measure our success and our victories. We don’t want to do something if it isn’t going to bring us a big profit.

But here it says we shouldn’t despise the day of small things.

That day we gave the cashier at the supermarket a smile. That day we helped change a tyre. You know that day? That day might have been the start of something bigger than you would ever know but what if you ignored it?

Because we are weak instruments God can use us greatly.

Romans 8:11, But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Colossians 3:1, If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.

Because I have been raised with Christ, I set my heart on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

 

A Jesuit, Bernard Bush wrote:

It takes a profound conversion to accept the belief that God is tender and loves us just as we are, not in spite of our sins and faults, but with them. God does not condone or sanction evil, but He does not withhold His love because there is evil in us. The key to this understanding is the way we feel about ourselves. We cannot even stand or accept love from another human being when we do not love ourselves, much less believe or accept that God possibly could.

 

God is not the father who comes home drunk and beats up his wife and terrorises his children. God is not the father who expects you to be seen and not heard and is the tyrant who has to be obeyed without question. God is not the father who measures your performance and always finds you lacking. God is also not the absent father who doesn’t care what you do.

This is who God is:

John 3:17, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Zephaniah 3:17, The Lord your God in your midst,

The Mighty One, will save;

He will rejoice over you with gladness,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.

 

Who else feels about you the way God feels about you? Nobody! But you have to start feeling that way about yourself so that you can reflect God’s glory into the dark world.

 

If you are having feelings of guilt, anxiety or fear, those feeling are not a reflection of what God feels about you. The only time our feelings line up with God’s feelings is when we love ourselves intensely and freely. We should also not be measuring our virtue because in our own strength it is impossible to be good. People who are perfectionists are always measuring themselves, and others, to the ideal. There’s a huge canyon between the real and the ideal. Ideal is in their imaginations. Ideal and perfect does not exist!

The next thing to do is to turn the focus away from ourselves towards others. Focusing on our own problems and failures is not going to help. Neither is focusing on our own abilities and achievements. Achievements are like money. We will never have enough if that is our focus. Just like we will never be good enough if pleasing people is our focus.

We need to get rid of our baggage. The more baggage we drop the better we start loving ourselves. I

think that love fills the space that the emotional baggage was occupying. If we have to forgive, then we have to go and do it, we can’t cling to the past. Look at it this way: A balloon represents the past, we all have a varied past. Now if you pop the balloon it becomes useless. It loses its function. If you are going to keep dragging this balloon with you, you are going to get some strange looks. If fact you are going to look really stupid. That is like yesterday. Yesterday is gone, its usefulness has been spent. There’s only one good place for it and that is in the trash can. It has the ability to cause harm if it isn’t disposed of properly, just like the hurts from our past that will harm us if we don’t deal with them. Good memories are great. They’re like an inflated balloon bobbing on the breeze, but they’re just memories and good or bad, we can’t dwell on the past. We need to live in today and today this popped balloon has outstayed its welcome. So we get rid of it.

 

Just remember that God loves you and that Jesus died for you. If you are good enough for Jesus to die for you are good enough for people and you are certainly good enough for yourself!

 

 

 

Evidence

How do you know there’s been an elephant in your fridge? Remember that one? The answer is: “There are footprints in the butter.” All they’re really saying is, “There is evidence.” How do police solve crimes? Evidence. How do I know if someone is a South African citizen? He has his SA ID document as evidence. How do I know if someone is a Christian? He says so? That seems to be the common consensus. If I say anything about someone not acting like he’s a Christian I hear, “but you can’t say he’s not a Christian. He says he is so he must be.” It seems like evidence is need for just about anything except for your faith. I just don’t understand how there is apparently no criteria to measure whether someone is a follower of Jesus or not. Or is there?

 

Matthew 7:15-20, “Constantly be on your guard against phony prophets. They come disguised as lambs, appearing to be genuine, but on the inside they are like wild, ravenous wolves! You can spot them by their actions, for the fruits of their character will be obvious. You won’t find sweet grapes hanging on a thorn bush, and you’ll never pick good fruit from a tumbleweed. So if the tree is good, it will produce good fruit; but if the tree is bad, it will bear only rotten fruit and it deserves to be cut down and burned. Look at the obvious fruit of their lives and ministries, and then you’ll know whether they are true or false.”

 

This is quite clear. Look for the fruit. It speaks here of false prophets, but I don’t think it just applies to prophets or the five-fold ministry for that matter. It certainly applies to each and every person who calls himself a Christian. What are the fruit?

Galatians 5:19-23, The cravings of the self-life are obvious: Sexual immorality, lustful thoughts, pornography, chasing after things instead of God, manipulating others, hatred of those who get in your way, senseless arguments, resentment when others are favored, temper tantrums, angry quarrels, only thinking of yourself, being in love with your own opinions, being envious of the blessings of others, murder, uncontrolled addictions, wild parties, and all other similar behavior.

Haven’t I already warned you that those who use their “freedom” for these things will not inherit the kingdom realm of God!

But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions:

joy that overflows,

peace that subdues,

patience that endures,

kindness in action,

a life full of virtue,

faith that prevails,

gentleness of heart, and

strength of spirit.

Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.

That is the fruit. If you look at my life and there is no love, joy or peace can I call myself a Christian? Will I have any credibility? What about patience and self-control, or gentleness? As far as I’m concerned gentleness is a fruit that is overlooked most of the time. It is also often mistaken for weakness. What is more heart-warming than being with a person who is gentle of spirit? It makes you feel safe and accepted.

Matthew 11:29, Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me.

Jesus is gentle and humble. But people in today’s society think that the way to get ahead in life is by being controlling and harsh. By looking out for their own interests above all else. Being gentle does not mean you have to let people walk all over you and it definitely doesn’t mean you are weak. Gentleness is like dew on dry grass, like a butterfly touching down on a flower, like a bird slowly gliding on an air current. Gentle has power.

We don’t need to judge others, but we do need to ask ourselves daily whether we live up to these criteria. Does the Spirit of God dwell inside of us and are we bearing appropriate fruit? If we are doubtful of the answer we need to ask ourselves some very serious questions and decide what to do about it. Remember, God is waiting for us to start speaking to Him. It’s easy and He is gentle and He loves us.

Our good Father

Chris Tomlin sings a song called, You’re a good, good Father. These are the lyrics simplified.

I’ve heard a thousand stories of what they think you’re like

But I’ve heard the tender whispers of love in the dead of night

And you tell me that you’re pleased

And that I’m never alone

You’re a good good father

It’s who you are, it’s who you are, it’s who you are

And I’m loved by you

It’s who I am,

I’ve seen many searching for answers far and wide

But I know we’re all searching

For answers only you provide

‘Cause you know just what we need

Before we say a word

You’re a good good father

It’s who you are

And I’m loved by you

It’s who I am,

Because you are perfect in all of your ways

You are perfect in all of your ways to us

Oh, it’s love so undeniable

I can hardly speak

Peace so unexplainable

I can hardly think

As you call me deeper still

Into love, love, love

You’re a good good father

You are perfect in all of your ways

It’s who you are,

And I’m loved by you

You are perfect in all of your ways

It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am

 

I really love this song and I looked up some versed which tell of the goodness of God our Father.

 

Psalm 103:13: “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.”

 

2 Samuel 7:14-15: “I will be a father to him, and he’ll be a son to me. When he does wrong, I’ll discipline him in the usual ways, the pitfalls and obstacles of this mortal life. But I’ll never remove my gracious love from him.”

 

Psalm 32:7-8: “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”

 

Proverbs 4:11-12: “I will guide you in the way of wisdom and I will lead you in upright paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered, and when you run, you will not stumble.”

 

1 Corinthians 8:6

yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him

 

Isaiah 64:8

But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand

 

Jeremiah 3:19

“Then I said, ‘How I would set you among My sons And give you a pleasant land, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’ And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father, And not turn away from following Me.

 

Psalm 68:5

A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation

 

Matthew 6:26

“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

 

Luke 12:29-31

“And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. “For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. “But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

 

I’d like to encourage you in your walk with this good Father.
Ephesians 3:14-19

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

 

 

God’s Love

God’s love

If the Wise Men who brought gifts to the new born King

Had lived in the times of now

They might have needed visas and passports

And enough money for fuel

They would have had to rely on Google Maps

And a very good GPS

But all they had was a star.

If the shepherds who went to worship the new born King

Had lived in the times of now

They might have had to stop off at a drive through

To buy some burgers and chips

Because everyone knows that a man needs to eat

Even if he just goes a little way

But they had heard the angels sing.

If the innkeeper had known that the couple

He turned away from his door

Would be the parents of the Saviour of the world

He might have changed his mind

About letting them in and found a room

Maybe a room with a view

But all he gave was a shack.

If Herod had known that Jesus was not a threat

If just he had known

He could have embraced the salvation that was free for all

And been loved by his people

Instead of being hated and dying a hideous painful death

Before his appointed time

If only he had known.

It doesn’t matter who says the prayer

Or lays on the hands

It doesn’t matter who the anointing belongs to

Or who the visiting prophet is

It doesn’t matter how big the venue is

Or how many people attend

Because it’s God who does the healing.

If we were to open the doors of our hearts

And allow the love to God

To saturate every little corner, even the dark ones

The change in us would be visible

Brighter than the sun and moon and all the stars

That bring light to a broken world

Because its Jesus who does the saving.

What rights do Christians have?

When my children were still living at home they were free to help themselves to whatever was available. If they were hungry they could open the fridge and find food to eat, or cook themselves something if that was their choice. Their friends that visited didn’t have the same freedom, just as my children didn’t have at their friend’s homes.  I’ve often heard sermons that say that’s the same with God’s children. We should have access to everything that God has because we are His children. We aren’t visitors who have to ask permission to get something. So I started questioning what we are entitled to as children of God.

The first thing that comes to mind is security. As children of God we do not have to fear. In fact, we aren’t allowed to fear. We do not have to fear people, we do not have to fear being attacked or hurt because God said so.

2 Timothy 1:7, For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Romans 8:15, For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Deuteronomy 20:3, And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;

We have the absolute right to walk in freedom. God said so in His Word.

We also have the right not to worry. Worry and fear aren’t the same thing even though worry is most often motivated by fear.

Matthew 6:31 – 34, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

We also have authority. Just like our own children have authority in our houses, we have authority in our Father’s house.

Romans 8:14 – 17,  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

We have authority over the devil and his demons, but we do not just have this authority, we have the responsibility to use this authority. It doesn’t help one bit that we have authority but never use it. It’s like having a car and keeping it parked in the garage for one day. When one day comes the battery will be flat and we will have forgotten how to drive.

In verse 15 of Romans 8, it says we can call out “Abba, Father.” We therefore have the right to intimacy with God.  Abba is the term for father in the Aramaic language which Jesus spoke while on earth. In English it would be Daddy, and is not only used as a child-like term but an intimate name for a father. We can approach our Father the way a child approaches a loving dad here on earth; with confidence that we won’t be rejected.

We have the right to healing.

Isaiah 53:5, By His stripes we are healed.

I realize that not everybody is healed when they pray for healing and I really can’t explain it, but I do believe we have the right to be healed.

The last right I am going to touch on in the time I have available is peace. Peace is a fruit of the Spirit and is also mentioned many time is the Bible.

Psalm 29:11, The Lord will bless His people with peace.

Philippians 4:6-7,  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

This verse also touches on anxiety and fear. Our greatest enemy is fear. The devil wants us to live in fear so that we don’t claim the rights God has given us. Let us start to exercise these rights and become confident children of the living God.

Are you good enough for God’s Kingdom?

Are you good enough? Do you measure up? Measure up to your family’s expectations, to the media’s propoganda,to the worlds standards? No, you don’t and you never will. You never will because the criteria keeps changing. As soon as you’ve got something perfected something new of different appears. You will always be too short, too tall, too thin or too fat. You will have too little compassion or too much. You will be under qualified and the next moment overqualified. You are not going to win, not ever, if you are trying to be part of the world’s system. You can’t, and you aren’t supposed to.
Rather try being part of God’s system. The rules are a lot different. Obviously you will fit into the world system even less then, but the rewards are far greater than anything the world has to offer.
In my study Bible it gives the conditions of entrance into the Kingdom of God:
Humility, Sympathetic Service, Perseverance, New Birth, Endurance, and Faith and Love. Now these are definitely not character traits that the world puts much store by. These are often interpreted as signs of weakness and aren’t supposed to take you far in any business pursuits. Humility will be seen as allowing people to walk all over you and you are supposed to be able to look after yourself and fight your own battles. Sympathetic service is also just not putting yourself first. After all you have to make provision for the future and you have to look after your own interests above all else. If you don’t who is? Perseverance isn’t something you have to do. Sell out to the highest bidder. Don’t be loyal, don’t stay with any job, product or idea that doesn’t put you first. New Birth? Well that’s just listening to the mumbo jumbo that gets preached in some churches and that stuff is so old fashioned. Endurance is called striving and once again looking after your own interests. Not persevering in hardship, but continually striving to get to the top. Faith and love definitely don’t fit in unless it’s faith in your own abilities, your intellect, your money. And love has to be carnal love.
So why does the Kingdom of God look so different to the world? Because the devil is in charge of the world.
2 Corinthians 4:4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Ephesians 2:1 – 2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.
So in what way is it going to profit you to follow the Kingdom of God instead of the world?
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever.
Daniel 7:14 And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
1 Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God consist in talk but in power.
Luke 1:32 – 33 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
2 Peter 1:11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you and entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
You will never be good enough for the world but you will always be and have always been good enough for the Kingdom of God. Jesus died so that you could get your citizenship of the Kingdom. All you have to do is confess Him as Savior. No waiting period, no entrance exam, no screening. Just give him your heart.
And if you are already serving Him and you are a part of the kingdom you are going to be able to testify of its goodness. The world is going to be able to see that you look different, speak different, and live differently to the rest of the world because you have made the better choice.

Healed – or not.

I read something today that made so much sense to me. It was in the book, ‘Healing comes by Sanctification’ by Dr Michelle Strydom. It came down to that more non-believers get miraculous healing than believers do. Just think about the prayer lines in churches on a Sunday. How many people actually get healed? How many people get healed at a crusade in Africa where no one has even heard about Jesus? Lots! Blind eyes are opened, the deaf hear, the lame walk. We have all heard the testimonies and seen videos. So why would God choose to heal people who don’t honor Him and who haven’t accepted Jesus as their savior? But people who have been serving Him for years and go to church every Sunday still have multiple medical issues? Just think about it this way: If you’ve never heard the Gospel, never been given the chance to follow Jesus, then some guy from a far away country has a meeting and you go. He calls up everyone who is sick and you go because you have severe arthritis and have been unable to work for the last 10 years. He says some words in a language you don’t understand and suddenly your fingers straighten, your toes and feet come into line, and the pain disappears. You test this newness in your limbs and very soon you are jumping up and down like a child and running around the arena. What is your first question? “Who did this? How is it possible?” The ministry workers tell you about Jesus and you decide that if this Jesus God could do this then He deserves your loyalty. Your family and friends are in awe and they all decide that Jesus is the way to go. You see what’s happening? If non-believers see miracles they become converted. But what happens when a believer is healed? And it does happen. Not much. Hopefully they will become more zealous in their witnessing.

 

What does the Bible say about healing? Reading through the Gospels it seems like most of the people Jesus healed were not believers yet. Probably obviously because His ministry on earth only lasted 3 years. . The Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts are the spreading of the message of salvation. They are foremost for non-believers. This is about coming to Christ and in these books there are many healings. The Books from Romans to Jude are about sanctification after Salvation. They were written for believers. Psalm 31:10, “For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.”

Psalm 38:3-8 in the Message, “I’ve lost twenty pounds in two months because of your accusation. My bones are brittle as dry sticks because of my sin. I’m swamped by my bad behavior, collapsed under gunnysacks of guilt. The cuts in my flesh stink and grow maggots because I’ve lived so badly. And now I’m flat on my face feeling sorry for myself morning to night. All my insides are on fire, my body is a wreck. I’m on my last legs; I’ve had it – my life is a vomit of groans.”

These are only two of many verses that illustrate how the way you live affects your health.

 

James 5:16, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” You may think that confessing your sins, or the bad way you’ve been doing things takes a lot of courage, but what it really takes it true repentance. The realization that you are wrong. And we don’t like being wrong. It’s not something we do well. Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is near those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart – These, O God, You will not despise.”

I other words, we have to be brought to our knees by the realization that we are wrong in whatever it is we have been doing and we have to be willing to speak to someone about it so that we can be healed. Have you ever done something that you know is wrong and then worked up enough courage to tell someone you trust what you did? How did you feel once you told them? Way better, right? That’s how it works. Sometimes you only have to confess to God, but you have to confess and you have to sincerely turn away from what you were doing wrong. And you will be healed. Or maybe you won’t but your heart will be healed and that is way more important than your body. God doesn’t work by formulas, He works by love.

Abortion

Facebook has been bombarding us with anti-abortion posts. I think its high time that people take a stand against abortion. Its high time people stand up for what they believe in regardless. Taking a stand and standing with what you say is always better than sitting on the fence.

I was thinking about what I would do if someone close to me were to decide to have an abortion. I know that I wouldn’t like it, but I also know that I wouldn’t be able to judge her. Firstly if I only found out about it after it was done I wouldn’t have been part of the process and thus had no insight into the situation. I wouldn’t know how much fear she possibly went through. Secondly I am not allowed to judge. James 4;12 says, “There is one Lawgiver, who is able to judge to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?” Romans 2:1, “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” It’s like the woman who was caught in adultery in John 8:1-11. Jesus told her accusers that the one who is without sin, should cast the first stone. Everyone dropped their stones and left. Not one of us is perfect and we do not have the right to judge anyone else. So is abortion wrong? Yes, most decidedly so. Abortion is murder and murder is always wrong. But, as I’ve illustrated, so is judging and as far as I can discern there isn’t a difference between sins. A sin is a sin is a sin. We should hate the sin, but we need to love the sinner. Jude 1:22-23, “And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.”

How should we treat a woman or a girl who has had an abortion? Just like any other person. We should love her so much. We should love her so much that she can overcome the fear that drove her to have the abortion. 1 john 4:18, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts our fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” That is so absolutely frightening. I  can just imagine the grotesque faces of the demons who inflict the kind of fear that drives a person to ending the life of their own baby. I want to weep when I think about it. We, who are believers, are failing those who are living in fear. Fear of the consequences. Fear of what people will say. Fear that she won’t be able to take care of a new life. Fear of what her husband or boyfriend’s reaction will be. Fear that she won’t be able to complete her studies and that she will be a disappointment to her family. Those are the kind of things that are being whispered to her. The verse says hear involves torment. The Oxford Dictionary gives the meaning of torment as, “Severe physical or mental suffering.” Fear is very real and fear is from the devil. Hebrews 2:14- 15 says that Jesus will destroy the devil and release those who through fear of death were subject to bondage throughout their lives. 2 Timothy 1;7, “ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  The ESV version says, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self control.” I would think that a sound mind would practice self control.

If we show love to this poor girl who has been through all that trauma we are doing the will of God. That is the only way she is ever going to have a chance to get away from the torment of the enemy. If we were to push her away and judge her as a sinner and mark her as a bad person she is not going to have a hope and a future. Who is she going to turn to if she can’t turn to believers when the tormentors don’t stop tormenting her. And they won’t stop. The devil is a liar.  John 8:44, (paraphrased) “…the devil was a liar from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.“  So, as I see it, the devil or rather one of his demons sets about tormenting someone who is vulnerable. Then, once they are good and scared, he tells them that the only way out of the situation is the abortion, then everything will be okay because it will be over, there will be no consequences and nobody will even know. She goes ahead with the procedure but she doesn’t realize that the torment won’t stop. She will have feelings of guilt and failure. Until she is set free by the love of Jesus she will not be whole.

Our duty is to show her that love and to guide her into perfect freedom.

Just Start!

Quite a few weeds have spring up after the rain. I don’t have much time so every time I go into the garden I pull up a few. When I saw how many were still left I wondered if it was worth the effort, but it struck me that the weeds I had just pulled up wouldn’t grow again. At least they were gone. It’s like the little boy on the beach throwing stranded starfish back into the sea. When someone told him he would never be able to rescue them all, he said that at least the one’s he threw back would be fine.

Life is like that. We can’t help everyone. We can’t rescue everyone, but we can still make a difference, even if it’s a very small difference. Giving one homeless person a meal does make a difference. Telling one person that Jesus loves them does make a difference. Mentioning to the cashier at the supermarket that she has a lovely smile does make a difference. Just smiling at a stranger does make a difference. Praying for someone that God puts on your heart does make a difference.

There may be a lot of things in your own life that you would like to change and maybe it’s so overwhelming that you don’t even know where to start. Just start – anywhere. Every little change makes a difference. If you have a bad habit that you know is a problem start working on it today. It’s never too late to start and before you know it you’re going to be working on the next thing.

Start by changing the way you think. Take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). Don’t allow your mind to become a breeding ground for toxic thoughts that can poison your whole system. Philippians 4:8 tells us what we should be thinking about. Everything that is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, has virtue and is praiseworthy. Now if we fill our minds with those things we surely can’t sit around feeling sorry for ourselves. Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Matthew 6:33 – 34, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. If we take Jesus at His word we won’t need to worry about our circumstances.

Worrying isn’t going to add one day to your life. In fact, there are so many diseases that are caused by stress that it is going to take days away from your life. Start by reading the Bible and believing what it says. Start looking for the promises God is giving you and own them. Start today. Tomorrow may be too late.