Healing (Physical-Emotional): When the body breaks down, it rightly cries out for our attention. Displaying a tremendous heart of compassion, Jesus healed everyone brought before Him. He didn’t just do it once. He did it on every recorded occasion. This shows us our Father’s heart as well: No matter how or why we get sick, God wants us healed! Because Jesus is the same today as He was yesterday, you can count on it that He is just as ready and willing to heal us now as He was then.
The Lord also wants to heal us from the inside out. Both Solomon and Jesus declare that the important issues of life flow out from the depths of our hearts. Practically all of us carry stuff from our past which can spill over and influence, even control, the new life that Jesus wants to give us. Emotions that overwhelm us in the present (like fear, anxiety, hurt feelings, anger, depression, etc.) are things God wants to free us from. Go for this glorious liberty!
Have you ever fallen into the trap of the Scarlett O’Hara syndrome? I have observed many people adopting it as a coping strategy. It seems highly favored by us. It certainly feels evident and right at the moment of pain or pressure. For me it was a pattern that began early in childhood. Here is an excerpt that describes it from the book I wrote a few years back. See if you can relate: There were shadowy sides to me that I preferred…
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Suppose the Lord were giving you a report card each day. Suppose you don’t have to wait until the Final Day to read the report… Consider life from a teacher’s perspective: 1) Why do teachers give tests? So they can see how well the students are doing. The student’s grade gives them a “grade” on how well they are doing as teachers and where they need to focus more effort. 2) Why do teachers grade those same tests and return…
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We live in a real world that is also a moral and spiritual universe. Every thought, word and deed whether good or bad, right or wrong, intended or unintended, has consequences in our lives and in the lives that surround us. Blessings—the positive consequences—abound whenever we consciously or unconsciously “do the right thing.” The “curse of the law”—the negative consequences—arrive when we depart from God’s way or God’s truth (Deuteronomy 27-28).
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“I will never get over this!” Really? That’s just what I used to think about all kinds of awful, evil stuff that had wrecked my life. But the Spirit of the Lord wouldn’t leave me alone. He kept reminding me about the promise of Romans 8:28. You know, the one which says that we know that God is working all things together for our good. Well, I didn’t know it. I couldn’t see how my past could possibly be made to work for my good. I…
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