438. THE VALUE OF THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER WITH THE LAYING ON OF HANDS. Core 2 Topic 4A 

Posted on October 19, 2022 by Jim Holbeck

James in chapter 5:13 writes that we need to have the right sort of attitudes in life.  “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy?  Let him sing songs of praise.” If that is so, what is the person who becomes ill meant to do? James gives us the answer in  5:14,  “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.”  

1.        THE APPROPRIATE ATTITUDE IN TIME OF SICKNESS.

James 5:14,  “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church  to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.”  

What were the advantages of a sick person calling for the elders?

a.        It was an invitation to other people to support the sick person in his time of need.

It is not easy to be positive and affirming of God’s love and power when you feel weak.  Sickness takes many forms. In the New Testament there are several words used to describe sickness or weakness. They include words such as:-

  • [astheneō; ἀσθενέω] means to be weak or feeble. This is the word in James 5:14. 
  • [kamnō; κάμνω] is used in James 5:15, “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.” This has a sense of weariness and the lack of physical strength. 
  • [noseō; νοσέω] in 1 Timothy 6:4, “He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words.” This has to do with mental imbalance or unhealthy preoccupation.
  • [sunechō; συνέχω] in Acts 28:8 meaning to be  held fast or constricted, “It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery.”  The adverb [kakōs; κακῶς] is used with a derivative of this verb to denote illness in Matthew 8:16. “That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.”

Moses once needed the support of others as he prayed for victory over God’s enemies. Exodus 17:10-13. “So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11  Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12  But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13  And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.” Praying for someone is similar to this in supporting them in their weakness. 

b.        It was an invitation to God for His help in his sickness. 

The prayer that is uttered by the sick person and by the elders, is called here the prayer of faith. It means that all present look to God in faith, believing that the healing has to come from Him. The prayer of faith is not some magical chant that always works or some set form of words. Rather it is the prayer coming from the faith in an individual or in a number of people as they pray for God to work in the life of the person being prayed for. 

c.         It was an invitation to God for Him to work His work in the individual.

The prayer of faith is the means by which we humans can draw upon the resources God has for His people.  It is not faith in prayer, nor faith in faith, but faith in God Himself. Thus as James says in 5:15, the Lord will raise up the sick man, “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” The elders don’t raise up the sick man. God does, in answer to their prayers. 

2.        GOD’S GREATER PURPOSE IN HEALING US. WHOLENESS IN EVERY AREA OF LIFE

James in chapter 5, links physical healing with spiritual healing. Not only will the Lord raise up the sick person, but the person’s sins will be forgiven.  Compare the story in Mark 2, where Jesus healed a paralytic and forgave him of his sins. God is interested in wholeness in every part of our lives. 

Indeed the word for “salvation” is [sōtēria; nσωτηρία] which means wholeness, healing,  preservation, safety. The verb [sōzō; σώζω] can mean both to save and to heal as in Mark 5:34‘And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”’

The healing ministry of the church seeks to bring physical, emotional, spiritual and relationship healing to those who come seeking help. 

3.        WHY ENGAGE IN THE LAYING ON OF HANDS?

We need to look to the Bible to see its significance. We first look briefly at the Old Testament.

LAYING ON OF HANDS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

1]. It was used metaphorically to denote punishment by God. 

  • Exodus 7:4, “ Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.”
  • Jeremiah 15:6, “You have rejected me, declares the LORD; you keep going backward, so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you— I am weary of relenting.”
  • Ezekiel 39:21, “And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them.”
  • Nehemiah 13:21. ”But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath.”

2]. It was used to express human identification with God in His punishment.

Leviticus  24:14, ‘Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him...  

3]. It was used to describe being consecrated for service. 

  • Numbers 8:10, “When you bring the Levites before the LORD, the people of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites.”
  • Numbers 27:18, ‘So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.”’
  • Numbers 27:22-23, “And Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, 23  and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the LORD directed through Moses.”

4]. It was used to describe the laying on of hands on animals for sacrifice for sin.

  • Leviticus 8:14, “Then he brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering.”
  • Lev 8:18, “Then he presented the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.”
  • Lev 8:22, “Then he presented the other ram, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.”
  • Exodus 29:10, “Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull.”
  • Exod 29:15, “Then you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram”
  • Exod 29:19, “You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram”
  • Leviticus  1:4, “He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.”
  • Leviticus  16:21, “And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.”
  • Numbers 8:12, “Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the LORD to make atonement for the Levites.”

5]. It was used to describe the conferring of blessing on people.  

Gen 27:22, ‘So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”’

(IN SUMMARY. It was a means of identifying with God in His purposes. )

LAYING ON OF HANDS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

1]. It was used to impart the gift and gifts of the Holy Spirit.  

  • Acts 8:17, “Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.”
  • Acts 19:6, “And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.”
  • 1Tim 4:14, “Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.”
  • 2 Tim 1:6, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”

2]. It was used to commission or ordain.  

  • See above and 
  • Acts 6:6, “These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.”
  • Acts 13:2-3,  “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3  Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”
  • 1 Timothy 5:22, “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.”

3]. It was used to impart blessing. 

  • Matt. 19:13-15, “Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14  but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away.
  • Revelation 1:17, ‘When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last.”’

4]. It was used to impart healing and for expected healing

  • Matt. 9:18, ‘While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”’
  • Mark 6:5, “And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.”
  • Mark 7:32, “And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.”
  • Mark 8:23-25, “And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” 4  And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.”
  • Luke 4:40, “Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.”
  • Luke 13:12-13, ‘And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12  When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13  And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.’
  • Mark 16:18, “they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
  • Acts 9:11-12, “And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”
  • Acts 28:8, “It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. “

(IN SUMMARY. Again, it was a means of identifying with God in His purposes).

4.        THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IDENTIFICATION AND IMPARTATION.

Identification.  We identify with God in His desire to bring blessing. We see that in Jesus’ ministry as He laid His hands on children to bless them and on sick people to heal them

We also identify with people in their need. It is not just symbolic when people reach out to touch someone in need. An appropriate compassionate human touch often brings a great deal of comfort to those who are hurting. Those of us who have responded positively to the command in James 5 to lay hands on and pray for the sick are often amazed at the healing that follows. As I wrote in a previous article on this site, healing may be instantaneous, come progressively or come after some delay. It may come in a different way to what we might expect.  

Ultimately God Himself is the healer and He heals in His way, in His time and through whom He wishes. Our part is to identify with His desire to bring blessing and healing to His people and to make ourselves available to be used by Him in the way He wishes.

Impartation.  As I mentioned above, our responsibility is simply to identify with people in their need, and to ask God to use us as His instruments through whom His blessing and healing can be imparted.  This means that God alone gets the glory. In Acts 4:29-30, it’s the hand of the Lord that brings blessing and healing, “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30  while YOU stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”He alone heals.

We need to be humble enough to recognise and act on the difference!

It is always our responsibility and privilege to identify with people in their need and to identify with God’s purpose in wanting to bless and heal them.

But it is God who imparts His blessing and healing. It is not our responsibility to do so. But the great privilege is ours when He chooses to use us as His instruments to impart the blessing or healing through prayer with the laying of hands on those who have requested us to pray for them. He alone gets the glory and praise for what He does!

Blog No.438 posted on Wednesday 19 October 2022.

Posted in BIBLE PASSAGE OUTLINES, Bible verses. Comments, Creation, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Forgiveness, Healing, Holy Spirit, Judgement, Justification, Mental Health, Prayer, Salvation, Sanctification, spiritual warfare, Temptations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

437. GETTING THE RIGHT FOCUS TO OBTAIN WHOLENESS IN LIFE. [Based on 2 Corinthians chapters 3 and 4.] Core Teaching Stage 2 Topic 3

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Jim Holbeck

Humans need to get the right focus as they live in this world. Otherwise they miss out on the blessings the Creator God has in store for them.

  • Jesus warned that we must seek first His kingdom and our needs will then be supplied by Him. Luke 12:31 “Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.”
  • St Paul wrote that we must set our minds on things above,  Colossians 3:2  “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

It is so easy to get a wrong focus in life so that we are concentrating on the wrong things. Let’s look then to see what should be our right focus in life. 

1.        OUR FOCUS HAS TO BE OUTWARD ON GOD, NOT INWARD ON OURSELVES 

We may reflect on why we feel as we do, “In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.” Psalm 4:4. It is good to search our hearts to examine our motives and desires. But prolonged introspection is unhealthy for we often fail to understand our thoughts or our actions and we can begin to obsess on the negatives in our lives. It is much better to invite the Knowing and Searching God to examine us and to show us how He sees us, Psalm 139:23-24. We need to focus on Him and not on ourselves. [More on Psalm 139 in blogs 139-146].

1.1.    Only God Knows What We Are Really Like Within. We Don’t Really Know Ourselves

God knows us better than we can ever know ourselves and better than anyone else could know us. He tells us in His word that He searches the hearts of humans, and that is why He knows everything about everyone.

  • (Psalm 7:9)  “Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous— you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God!”

He tests every heart and mind. No one is excluded, not even those who don’t believe He exists!

  • (Psalm 139:1-6)  “O LORD, you have searched me and known me! 2  You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3  You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4  Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. There is nothing about us that God does not know. He knows our actions, our thoughts and even the unspoken words we are trying to formulate in our minds.
  • (1 Chronicles 28:9)  “… And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. ..” King David charged his son Solomon reminding him that God searches and understands every plan being thought of and every thought in the minds of people.
  • (Prov 20:27)  “The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts.” Our inward spirit enables believers to examine our innermost being but as fallen creatures it cannot be relied upon as being infallible. It needs the light of Christ to lighten our inner spirit to get real understanding. As John wrote in his prologue in John 1:9  “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”
  • (Jeremiah 17:10) “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
  • (Romans 8:27 )”And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
  • (Revelation 2:23.) ”I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve.”
  • 1Corinthians 2:10  “these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” God has revealed His mind and purpose to His people by His Spirit through His word and actions.

When God searches us He doesn’t get it wrong. He understands our thoughts, our motives and our plans in a way that no human ever could. 

1.2.    He Can Show Us What He Sees, If We Invite Him To Examine Us. 

David wanted to have a deeper walk with God. He invited God to show him the problem areas in his life.  

  • (Psalm 26:2)  “Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind.” David used 3 expressions here denoting his desire for God to be  at work in his life. ”Test” is from [dokimázō; δοκιμάζω] which means a thorough search, seeking to prove and then approve after searching. “Try” is from [peirazō; πειράζω] which means to test or try out. “Examine” is from  [puroo; πυρόω] which can have the meaning of being purged by fire. David is wide open to allow God to search him so that he remains in the will of God.
  • (Psalm 139:23-4)  “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious  thoughts.” See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. “Search” is from the Hebrew [chaqar]. The root meaning is to penetrate; hence to examine very closely. He gets it right when He examines us! In the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint [LXX] the word is  [dokimázō; δοκιμάζω] which we saw above means a thorough search, seeking to prove, and then approve after searching. King David was praying that God would search him thoroughly and reveal to him what changes he would have to make to be  in the will of God for him.

2.        FOCUSSING ON THE LORD IS LIFE CHANGING FOR US. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18. 

2 Corinthians 3:16-18, “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

Focussing on the Lord was life-changing for St Paul. It will be for us . As we focus on Him in adoration and praise and in contemplation of His Person and Work, God does something within us. He brings about an inner transformation and renewal.

2.1.    We behold His glory, and thus we reflect Him. 18  “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord.“ We begin to reflect that which we focus on. “Beholding” is from katoptrizo. [Katoptron is a mirror.]”  Behold and reflect are both correct translations of the verb. We behold the glory of the Lord and we reflect that glory in our own lives. [The picture here may be likened to a group of people sitting around a log fire in the evening.  As they keep on beholding the flames their faces reflect the light. When the fire dies down, so does the brightness of the reflection on their faces. Whenever a new log is added to the fire, the flames turn brighter and so does the reflection on the faces of those gazing at the fire. As we gaze at His glory, we are changed from one degree of glory to another. ]

We “behold” the glory of the Lord when we set our minds to consider Him, His character, His words and His deeds so that we come to a much deeper appreciation of Him. The more we do so, the more we begin to reflect or exhibit the truth we are focussing on, on Him.  That is why St Paul urged his readers in Philippi to keep on reflecting on the following things, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” [Think about] here is from [logizomai; λογίζομαι] and it can mean to reckon, to consider, to dwell on, to reason. It means making a concerted effort to keep on reflecting on these qualities so that one adopts them as one’s own.

To see ourselves as God sees us, as one with Christ, brings victory

Galatians 2:19  “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20  “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”Paul’s victory in life came as he considered himself as having died with Christ and having come alive in Him. He saw that Christ was now living His life in and through hm as Paul lived by faith in Christ.

Romans 6:11, “Consider (reckon) yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ.” Paul was encouraging his readers to recognise that they had died with Christ in His death and come to new life by being raised with Him. So now they were to present all they were to God,  “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” Romans 6:13.

Romans 13:14,  “Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about (pronoia; πρόνοια)= forethought=  make provision) how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” Paul wrote in Galatians 3:27  “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” That meant that Christ had enveloped believers with His presence, but now they needed to deliberately clothe themselves with Him so that when people saw believers they could recognise Christ in them. 

It also meant that their minds should be focussed on Him and they should  not begin to think on how they could give in to the desires of their fallen nature [the flesh].

2.2.    We are being transformed.   

18  “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”

A metamorphosis was taking place. The word for “transformed “is [metamorphoō; μεταμορφόω] meaning to change form or to be transfigured as Jesus was before the disciples on the mountain [Mathew 17:2 and Mark 9:2]. There was a change taking place in believers. They were changing, as Paul added, into the image of Christ,  becoming more like Him. “Image” is from [eikōn; εἰκών] which can be translated as “likeness.”]

Paul later in his letter commanded the believers in Rome to “be  transformed by the renewing of your mind. …”  Romans 12:2 rather than be conformed to this world. There was a part they could play in this transformation and that was by allowing their minds to be renewed by God rather than letting their thinking be conformed to the world. 

2.3.    Into His likeness. His likeness, once defaced,  but now being regained. 

The Bible describes the creation of humans in Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created  him.” However we read of the fall of humankind in Genesis 3 where the human race was destined to have that image of God defaced though not entirely obliterated.  

Paul wrote that those whom God foreknew would have faith in Jesus were “also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Romans 8:29. God’s purpose for all His children is to transform them all into the likeness of Christ. 

Paul also wrote in Colossians 3:10  that believers “ have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”  They have a new self which is undergoing transformation by being renewed in knowledge. That renewal will lead to a greater conformity to the image of God. That which was lost at the Fall of humankind is being restored through the transforming work of God in Christian believers.

2.4.    From one degree of glory to another.  Sanctification. 

This transformation into the image of God is an on-going process in believers towards wholeness, by enabling them to submit to the will of God for them, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2. The renewed minds of believers enables them to recognise the will of God as they seek to find and obey it. They then learn to approve of God’s will and discover in practice that it truly is “good and acceptable and perfect.”

2.5.    This inner transformation comes from the Lord, the Spirit. 

This transformation into the image of God is not just an ideal that believers must aim at as a means of winning God’s favour. Rather it is the will of God for every believer to try to achieve. And they can only do so with His help, “For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” What then is our part as believers in our transformation into God’s image? We note the following.

  • We do the beholding at the Lord. That means getting our minds to focus on Him as we read His word, as we pray and praise and as we share in fellowship with other believers. He is to be the object of our adoration and praise.

As we do that, God is able to work through our openness by His Spirit, to do the transforming within us. He as the Holy Spirit can make us more holy, more set apart from the things of the world to be available to Him to do His will for us.

  • It is being open to the grace of God and receiving His grace in our lives. Paul wrote that we are saved by grace, Ephesians 2:8. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Not only is salvation a gift to us by the grace of God, but His grace continues to be poured out on us as we seek to live for Him. Paul discovered that as he faced a difficult time in his life. He pleaded with God on 3 occasions for Him to remove a difficulty in his life. God’s answer was what gave him strength, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”In his weakness God gave him the strength he needed to cope.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10. Difficulties may not always be taken away but the Lord has promised that His grace will be sufficient to enable us to cope. Admitting one’s human weakness before God allows Him to grace us with His strength. 

Grace means God’s provision to enable us to live in this world as He wants us to. But it does mean cooperating with Him as He works inwardly in us. That is what St Paul wrote in Philippians 2:12-13, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13  for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” We note of course that we are to “work out” our salvation, not “work for” it. Salvation, we have seen is a gift of God’s grace. It is God who is working in us, and His work achieves two things in us. He gives us both the willingness and the ability to please Him. The desire to do God’s will and being given the ability to do so, speak of the amazing grace of God in our lives as He transforms us into His image and into the likeness of Christ.

A Principle:  We are to work OUT in our lives, what He is working IN us by His Spirit.  Philippians 2:12-13. 

Blog No.437 posted on Tuesday 18 October 2022

Posted in BIBLE PASSAGE OUTLINES, Bible verses. Comments, Creation, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Forgiveness, Glorification, Healing, Holy Spirit, Mental Health, New Covenant, Prayer, Salvation, Sanctification, spiritual warfare, Temptations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

436. Core 2 Topic 2 THE FREEDOM THAT COMES FROM  FORGIVENESS. [A Guide On How To Really Forgive Another Person.] 

Posted on October 12, 2022 by Jim Holbeck

Unfortunately many people in our world today are in bondage and are unable to live with freedom to be the people God wants them to be  [and which they would long to be if they knew it would be possible and knew how they might be able to achieve it!] This article is about forgiveness and the freedom that comes when we REALLY forgive those who hurt us.  

We see a contrast in a parable Jesus told between what could have been and what actually happened. It is the story of the Unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:27. He could have lived in the freedom of being forgiven but chose not to forgive and finished up in bondage. We saw in the parable that the three main elements of true forgiveness are namely, the decision to show mercy, cancelling all the debt owed and letting the one in debt go free. Because he chose not to show mercy, refused to cancel all the debt and had the debtor imprisoned,  he himself was imprisoned, still owing all the debt of which he could have been forgiven. 

This article is an outline for how we as individuals can learn to forgive and live in the freedom of knowing that we have been forgiven and have now become forgiving in our attitude to all people. 

As we will see below, we need to forgive others, as God does, when people repent and ask Him for forgiveness. Ephesians 4:32  “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” We have seen in previous articles that the word used here for “forgive” is {charizomai; χαρίζομαι} from [charis; χάρις] meaning grace. It is to bestow grace, giving someone something they could never earn or deserve. That is what true forgiveness really is. Granting someone complete pardon for whatever harm they have caused us. That’s how God has acted towards us. That’s how we are to behave towards others. Difficult, but by no means impossible.

A].  GOD’S FORGIVENESS OF US.   APPROPRIATING OUR FORGIVENESS

What God says about our sin. We need to be forgiven by God.  We are all sinners in God’s sight. He has told us so in His word.

Romans 3:23. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That means every person ever born [except for Christ]. The word for “sinned “ [hamartanō; ἁμαρτάνω]  means missing the mark, failing to be  perfect. No one has ever been  perfect.

1 John 1:7-10. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” Deception is the failure to be real or to accept reality. Thinking we are not sinners needing forgiveness is in the heights of self-deception. 

2 Peter 3:9,  “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” Those who fail to repent of their sins will never receive forgiveness from God nor will they ever be able to know the release that comes from forgiving others.

What God says about our forgiveness. 

Hebrews 9:22. “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. We read that God’s purpose in the shedding of the blood of His Son was to provide forgiveness of sins to all those who truly repented and trusted in His death for them.

1 Jn 5:11-13, “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12  Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” We “have” the Son when we personally come to receive Him as our Saviour and Lord or in other words, believe in His name. In receiving Him into our lives, we receive in Him, eternal life.

Ephesians 1:7, ”In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” When people trust in Jesus Christ for salvation they are seen to be  “in Christ.”  Once they were in the world  but now as believers they are “in Christ” through their faith union with Him. They belong to Him and all that He has for them, are theirs in Him, “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. “ Romans 8:17. In Him they have redemption through the shedding of His blood on the cross. That redemption includes forgiveness of all sin and the gift of eternal life. So forgiveness is a present possession for believers. That includes forgiveness for all past, present and future sin, for the death of Jesus paid the price for all the sin of all humankind.

B].  GOD WANTS US TO KNOW HOW FORGIVEN  WE ARE IN CHRIST

Having experienced the freedom of God’s forgiveness, we can be free to forgive others. What God says about our complete forgiveness. 

Psalm 32:1-2, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2  Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit .”It is a great blessing to know that God has forgiven our sins and no longer holds them against us. He has covered them over so that they no longer appear before Him. [That by the way is the meaning “of the word atonement. “ It is the “covering” of sin by God Himself.] It is interesting that the writer users 4 different words to describe sin, namely transgression, sin and iniquity and deceit. 

Psalm 103:12 “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” King David recognised the depth and extent of God’s forgiveness. He removes our sins to the extremities of the world, so that they are no longer anywhere near us. God takes them a long way away from us. To infinity!

Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.“ The stain of sin is gone. Many people have stated that they felt stained by their sin, perhaps marked out for punishment. But as they repented and asked for God’s forgiveness, they felt that the stain had disappeared. They felt that they no longer bore the stain of sin and all thoughts of punishment had disappeared.

Isaiah 38:17  “Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.”In human terms we cannot see what is behind our backs. That was how God motivated Isaiah to write this description of forgiveness. God no longer has unconfessed sin before Him. When people are forgiven by God He no longer sees their sins before Him. 

Isaiah 43:25  “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” There are two figures of speech in this verse. One is that He blots out or obliterates those sins so they no longer exist. The other has to do with God’s memory. Though He can never forget anything [being all-knowing, omniscient] He promises not to bring back into His memory the sins we have confessed to Him and which He has forgiven. 

Isaiah 44:22  I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. “Blotted out” means removing. God has blotted out or removed our sins from us even as He removes mist or clouds in His  world. 

Isaiah 55:7  “let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” As the writer of Psalm 130:7  put it, “O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.”

Forgiveness is not wrought from an unwilling God. Rather He delights to forgive those who turn to Him. 

Jeremiah 33:8, “I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me.” Cleansing, when one feels dirty is a wonderful experience. It is also wonderful in the spiritual sphere when someone confesses their sin to God and feels as though all the dirt and defilement of their sin has been washed away. The guilt they once felt has gone. 

Micah 7:18,19, “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. 19  He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

We note a number of terms associated with forgiveness in these two verses. God pardons iniquity. He passes over transgressions. He is no longer angry at the sin of the sinner. He destroys our sins by trampling them under His feet. He casts them into the depths of the sea never to be seen again. They are all wonderful word pictures that show the completeness of God’s forgiveness towards repentant sinners.

As we sum up the truths of all these verses we recognise that when God forgives, He does so, absolutely and completely, holding nothing against us of the sins we have confessed to Him.

If we are to forgive those who hurt or damaged us in any way then we have to forgive them as God in Christ forgave us, Ephesians 4:32. That is, absolutely and completely, holding nothing against them of the sins they committed against us. 

WE NOW COME TO THE PRACTICAL PART OF FORGIVENESS. 

How can we forgive those people absolutely and completely, holding nothing against them of the sins they committed against us? 

It may sound like an impossible task. 

But those who have followed the truths in the steps below have been transformed by God through the experience, and have entered into a degree of freedom and victory in their Christian lives, they never thought possible.

I Believe That If You Were To Follow These Steps, Your Lives Also Would Be Transformed!

C].  FORGIVING OTHERS. THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED.  “I know I should. I’ve decided I will.  How do I go about it?”

Forgiveness is not a feeling, though there are very deep emotional factors involved in forgiving other people. It is a decision we decide to make which may come from, or lead to varying degrees of feelings. 

Some people are at the stage of knowing that they should forgive, not only because  they know God wants then to do so but because they are held captive emotionally and spiritually by their bitterness and unforgiveness. They long to be  free.

Others have progressed from there and have decided to forgive all the people involved of all their sins against them. But how does one go about forgiving in this way.

HOW TO FORGIVE EVERYONE OF EVERYTHING. [Here are some steps to follow.]

1].      RECOGNISE THEIR GUILT – THEIR SIN AGAINST US. FACE THE FACTS! 

1.1. Do not excuse them.  Call sin, “sin”.  Sin is an offence against us, but also against God.  The prodigal son was right in seeing this! Luke 15:21 “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’” God wants to undo the damage sin has caused us.

1.2. Why people seem to excuse the person who sinned against them.  (You can’t forgive them if you don’t see them as guilty.) I remember counselling a young woman who had just shared with me that her own father had raped her when she was 15 years old. I shared that she needed to forgive her father for his sin against her to receive more healing from the Lord. Her response surprised me. She said, “I know why he did it. My mother was never affectionate nor loving towards him or me. So he turned his affections towards me!” I told her that what he had done was wrong, that he had indeed sinned against her and now she could forgive him of his sin. [The act of sin is always wrong, no matter what is the motivation behind the act.] I was glad when she recognised this truth and tearfully forgave her father. She later left my office a totally changed woman. Sin is always sin no matter how hard we try to rationalise wrong behaviour.

2].      DECIDE TO FORGIVE THE PERSON OF EVERYTHING AND TO RELEASE THE SIN.

2.1.     Not just the big things, but the little things as well. (Nothing is too big or small to cause hurt to us). Someone has said that there are no small sins because there is no small God to sin against. All sin is an affront to the majesty of God and needs to be repented of. Every sin has consequences but it seems humanly speaking that some sins have more damaging consequences than others. However every sin causes hurt and damage. 

2.2.     To forgive does not necessarily mean to forget what happened. 

Often people will say, ”I can’t forgive that person because I will never forget what he did to me!” But remember that God cannot forget anything because he is all-knowing, omniscient. But He chooses not to remember our sins when we confess them to Him. He forgives, even though He cannot forget! He tells us He will not remember our sins any more.

2.3.     To “not remember” means to try to not consciously bring the memory of their sin back against them again. As we forgive those who hurt us we can choose to let go their sins against us and can ask God to help us to break the pattern of our thoughts if they come back into our memory. We can choose not to remember and dwell upon sins committed against us. 

2.4.     God can heal the memories (ie., take away the pain and the associated feelings.) There is a danger in what is called the “healing of the memories.” There are some who engage in this ministry who go beyond what God has written in His word.  They may say to the person being prayed for, “ I want you to imagine Jesus being back with you in that sad situation. But then they may add something like,” “Can you see Him cleaning up the room around you so that it looks sparkling clean etc.” They may add other details which they try to get the person to imagine happening. This can become a form of mind-control if one is not careful.  

This is different to praying with people and allowing them time to let the Lord reveal to them anything He wants them to know. 

One woman I was praying with, in the quietness got a picture of Jesus entering a room where difficult things had taken place and cleaning and repainting the room in her favourite colour. I let her tell me what she was seeing and it was very healing for her. It is Jesus who needs to reveal to the person being counselled any pictures He wants to plant in their minds and not a counsellor getting them to imagine things that may not be real. 

Very often many of the memories remain but the Lord has healed those memories so that there is no longer any pain associated with them whenever they resurface in the person’s memory. A friend who had learned to forgive everyone, shared with me how she had always crumpled emotionally whenever she had any contact with her ex-husband. She told me that she had been to a recent wedding where her ex-husband was also in attendance. She found she could face him and even converse with him with no emotional turmoil at all. She knew the Lord had heard her prayers for healing and had answered her.

2.5.     He can set us free of bondage to those people, or to the places where hurt occurred. I know of people who travelled a great deal in the city but would bypass a certain suburb where they had been abused as children. When they had forgiven the people involved they found not only could they drive through that suburb but could also pull up outside the house where the abuse took place and thank God for His healing of their previously damaged emotions.

3].      VERBALISE TO GOD, OUR FORGIVENESS TOWARDS THEM.

3.1.     There is power in words, as we affirm our forgiveness of the person before God.The writer of Proverbs wrote in 18:21  “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” Our words can build us up or they can destroy us. I mentioned in a recent blog article that a woman who had been suffering from severe shaking of her hands, the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, went home from a Seminar I taught on forgiveness and asked God whom she needed to forgive. She realised that it was her own mother who had hurt her deeply. She asked the Lord to forgive her for holding resentment against her mother and then said, “Mother I forgive you, in Jesus’ name!” The shaking stopped immediately and never occurred again! There is great power in true affirmations!

3.2.     We need to keep affirming that forgiveness, when the person or the situation hasn’t changed. It may be that God has worked in our hearts to want to forgive everyone who hurt us of everything. But we are still faced with people who have never said “Sorry!” to us or shown any sort of softening towards us. How can you forgive someone who doesn’t want, or see the need for our forgiveness? The answer is to keep on affirming to ourselves that we have forgiven them. For example, we can affirm before the Lord, “Thank You Lord that You gave me the grace to be  able to forgive that person. I keep forgiving them and pray that You would touch their hearts to know You and to know Your love for them.” In that way you are not only affirming your own forgiveness of them but are also praying a positive blessing on them. 

4].      ASK GOD TO FORGIVE THEM AND TO BLESS THEM.

As I just mentioned above, as we forgive people, it is helpful to pray a blessing on them as well. Does it mean that because we asked God to forgive them that they are now forgiven by God? Of course not. Forgiveness for any individual comes only when they personally repent and ask God to forgive them. 

What does it mean to bless them? Praying that God would touch their hearts and bring them to Himself is praying a blessing on them. The best blessing they can receive from the Lord is to be forgiven by Him and be born again into His kingdom. 

Being willing to pray a blessing on those who hurt us is a sign that we have really forgiven them. If someone refuses to be willing to pray a blessing on those who previously hurt them after forgiving them, then they need to be encouraged to do so.  

  • Jesus said, “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” Luke 6:28. 
  • St Paul echoed almost the same words, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.” Romans 12:14.  And in 1 Corinthians 4:12 he wrote, “… When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure.”  
  • Peter also stressed the need to be positive in our attitude to those who sin against us, “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” 1 Peter 3:9. 

5].      ASK GOD TO FORGIVE ME OF ANY PART I PLAYED IN CONTRIBUTING TO THE SIN OF OTHERS AGAINST US.

It is part of our human nature to blame others when things go wrong in our lives. They are at fault, not us! They sinned against us! However we don’t always get it right when we are attributing blame. It may have been that something we said or did [or didn’t do] caused some hurt and pain to the other person and so they are negative in their attitudes against us. We may be totally oblivious to the fact that we caused them pain and that there is a reason for their negative attitude to us or their rejection of us. 

So it can be part of our prayer of openness to God [based on Psalm 139 verses 23-24] to allow Him to show us anything from the past that may have caused offence to other people. If He shows us that we were unwise or unloving in our words or behaviour, then we can recognise that as sin and confess it to God. At the same time we need to be careful not to accept any thoughts of false guilt that the devil as the accuser may have  placed in our minds. 

True guilt when recognised has to be  repented of and God’s forgiveness sought.

False guilt when recognised is to be thoroughly rejected and God’s protection of our minds sought.   

6].      ASK GOD TO HEAL ME OF THE DAMAGE DONE TO ME.

All sin has an effect, whether it’s the sin we commit or the sins committed against us.  All sin leads to hurt and damage. Everyone in this world is damaged in some way or other. And we need to remember that the damage from the sin does not always equate with the seeming sinfulness of the sin omitted. Some simple statement by one person might be received by another person as a severe criticism of them. 

In the Psalm of Asaph he tells us of the damage that holding bitterness does to us. We cease to be rational human beings and become like irrational animals,  Psalm 73:21-22, “When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, 22  I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.” No wonder St Paul wrote, “Get rid of bitterness!” Ephesians 4:31.

St Paul also wrote about the need to be careful in our speech, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31  Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32  Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:29-32. Healthy speech builds up, is always appropriate and imparts grace to those who hear it. Unhealthy speech damages people and healing is needed through forgiveness. 

Only God knows the depths of the damage that the sin of other people has done to us and that is why it is so helpful to pray the prayer of openness to God from Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test my thoughts. 24 Point out anything you find in me that makes you sad, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” [The Living Bible]. God may be grieved because of sins or attitudes He sees within us, but He is also saddened when He sees barriers to His love and grace being poured out on us because of some unresolved hurt from the past.

7].      AFFIRM TO MYSELF BEFORE GOD (AND TO OTHERS WHERE APPROPRIATE)  THAT I HAVE FORGIVEN THOSE WHO HARMED ME. 

Very often our friends who know about some of our difficulties in the past may bring up something negative about a particular person who caused us hurt and harm. They do it to show that they are aware of what we have been through and to remind us that they are on our side. But it is all too easy to adopt a victim mentality and to be negative about those people who hurt us.  However once we have really forgiven them, we can no longer do that. What we need to do, is to say that we have forgiven them and are praying for their welfare. So we are positively affirming our forgiveness of them and setting an example of how to forgive. And even how to bless them by praying for their welfare.

The more we get into the habit of affirming our forgiveness of people, the easier it is to continue in this positive way. 

8].      AFFIRM THAT I AM BEING HEALED IN ANSWER TO PRAYER. 

We believe that the Lord wants to heal His people so that they can fulfil His purpose for them. When we pray for healing, we are meant to believe that God answers prayer and will bring His healing in His way and in His time. So we need to pray with watchfulness and thanksgiving to see how He may be bringing His healing and with thanksgiving that He has heard our prayer and is answering. 

 Some folk have found it helpful after praying for healing to add something like, “Lord, thank You for hearing my prayer and I thank You now for the healing that is coming in Your way and in Your time. Give me the eyes to  recognise Your answer that I might the more glorify You for Your goodness and grace.” Then we praise God for every increment of healing we recognise.  

9].      PRAY, “LORD, WHAT SHALL I DO NOW?”

When we realise that God has been at work in us by His Spirit enabling us to forgive all those who hurt us, we need to consider what we are to do with our healing. There are as number of options, but we need the Lord’s guidance to choose the appropriate ones. For example, the Lord has healed us of our unforgiveness and bitterness towards a person who hurt us deeply and we feel we should reach out to them to see if we can re-establish some relationship. 

The questions we need to ask ourselves are these? Should I make contact with them?  If the answer appears to be Yes, then what sort of contact should I make with them? Phone? Text? eMail? Visit them at their home? What sort of attitude should  I have as I approach them? One friend asked me for advice. She and her sister had not had contact with each other for over 20 years even though they lived on the opposite sides of the same city. My friend had learned to forgive everyone including her sister who had been quite nasty to her many years before. She felt she should try to reach out to her sister but wasn’t sure how. It came to Good Friday, the celebration of the day a sinful world was reconciled to God by the death of Jesus. Could it be a time when she and her sister were reconciled? She had thought out her approach as she contacted her by phone. She was going to say, ‘Hi Sis! I thought I would ring you today because I’m sad we are not friends. If there is anything I have done to hurt you, please forgive me. I would love us to be  friends again.” To her surprise her sister said, “Oh Sis, I’m the one who should be asking you to forgive me. I was really mean to you all those years ago. I need your forgiveness. I’d love to be  friends again. Can I come over to your place? I can be there in less than an hour!” On that Good Friday a wonderful reconciliation took place as two sisters embraced and vowed to be best friends again. My friend, the first sister, was absolutely stoked that what seemed an impossible situation had been turned around by the Lord as she had learned how to forgive. 

“IT ONLY TAKES ONE TO DANCE, BUT TWO TO TANGO!”

At the end of these seminars on Forgiveness I would put on the projector screen this cryptic saying, “It only takes one to dance, but two to tango!” As I let those words sink in, eventually someone would say, “I think i’ve got it. It only takes one person to forgive for them to dance in the freedom of their forgiveness. But it takes two people to bring about a reconciliation!”

That was the meaning. When one person forgives all those who hurt them, they can dance in the freedom of being forgiven by God and in becoming forgiving. They don’t have to wait for the other person to forgive them or to ask for forgiveness. They are free to dance in the freedom God gives to those who forgive in the same way God forgives, that is, absolutely and completely, holding nothing against those who hurt them! Hopefully there may be a reconciliation but not always, as sometimes the other person doesn’t respond to an invitation to be reconciled.

“Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32. [The Message translation].

Blog No.436 the Freedom of Forgiveness. [How to Really Forgive Another Person!]. Posted on Wednesday 12 October 2022

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435. BECOMING THE PERSON GOD WANTS YOU TO BE. Living in the Kingdom of God. [Core Teaching Stage 2 Topic 1].

Posted on October 5, 2022 by Jim Holbeck

In Core Teaching Stage 1, we learnt how we can prepare for Jesus’ Second Coming by becoming the people He wants us to be, “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” 2 Peter 3:11-14.

Jesus is coming to fully establish His Kingdom on earth. “Fully establish,” for His kingdom already exists to some extent today. So we need to look at the concept of the kingdom of God.  

a]. We saw in previous articles how Jesus lived perfectly under the rule of God. 

b]. Due to His intimacy with God, He was able to know, to speak and to do what God had planned for Him to do and say in His ministry as He lived on earth. 

c].  Jesus is the only perfect human and is the only perfect example for us to follow as we seek to become the willing, loving subjects of the King in His kingdom under His kingly rule.

1].       THE CENTRALITY OF THE KINGDOM IN CHRISTIANITY

A]. The Old Testament preparation. The people of God were to live in obedience to Him, under His rule.   

God spoke to Israel through Moses, “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” Exodus 19:5-6. 

God’s people in the Old Testament period would reveal His kingdom through their witness, “All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you! 11  They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, 12 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendour of your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.]” Psalm 145:10-13.  See also Daniel 7:18, “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.”

In fact, St Peter described the church, as belonging to God and as a royal priesthood and a holy nation, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10. These words are similar to those God gave to Moses in Exodus 19:5-6.

B].        The Kingdom Was Central In The New Testament  Preaching. The Kingdom arrived with the first coming of Jesus into the world. 

John the Baptist witnessed to Jesus saying, (Mt 3:2)”Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Matthew 3:2. Then he pointed to Jesus as the Spirit-giver, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Matthew 3:11 

Jesus was later to associate the Spirit of God with the coming of the kingdom of God, Mat 12:28 “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Matthew 12:28. He also taught that one had to be born of the Spirit of God to enter the kingdom of God, “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” John 3:5.

Jesus preached and demonstrated the kingdom   

Jesus preached the good news of the kingdom and healed people, thus demonstrating the power of the kingdom, “And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.” Matthew 4:23.

Matthew 9:35 “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.”

Luke 8:1 “Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out.”

Luke 9:11, “When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing.”

It seems that healing was very much a part of the preaching of the kingdom. Jesus spoke of the kingdom and then demonstrated its power in healing people. 

The Ministry Of The Apostles 

Jesus commanded His disciples to proclaim the kingdom, (Mat 10:6-8, “but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8  Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.” 

Luke 9:1-2, “And he [Jesus] called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.” 

Matthew 24:14. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

Philip. (Acts 8:12-13)  Luke wrote of the ministry of Philip, “But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13  Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.”

St Paul. Luke wrote of the ministry of St Paul,  Acts 19:8  “And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.”

28:23, “When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.”

Acts 28:30  “He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” 

St Paul described his ministry as proclaiming the kingdom of God, Acts 20:25, “And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.”

C]. The Power Of God And The Kingdom.  Kingdom power was seen in the world and in His word.  

King David prayed to God as the King of His kingdom, “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.” 1 Chronicles  29:11.

Paul wrote of the power of the kingdom in 1 Corinthians 4:19  “But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. 20  For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.”

D]. The demonstration of Kingdom power in healing

Seen in Jesus’ ministry. Matthew 4:23 “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.” 

Matthew 9:35, “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.”

Luke 9:11  “When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing.”

Seen in the Disciples’ ministry.  Jesus gave a commission to His disciples. (Luke 9:1-2) “And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases.”

Luke 9:2  “and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.”

Luke 10:9  “Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.'”

2.        THE WISDOM OF THE KINGDOM.  DIFFERENT FROM THE WORLD’S WISDOM

A.       God’s wisdom is above human wisdom. Isaiah 55:8, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. 9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  

James wrote in 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

James contrasted earthly wisdom with the wisdom of God from above, 3:15-17. “This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”

B]. Human wisdom doesn’t understand the purposes of God. 

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:20-21, “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” 21  For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.”

1 Corinthians 2:6-8,“Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7  But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8  None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

C]. God’s kingdom wisdom is given by the Spirit to His people

We as believers have the mind of Christ because of the Holy Spirit teaching us His truths, 

“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:12-16. 

3.        A NEW WAY OF KINGDOM LIVING BY THE SPIRIT 

A].        True And Ongoing Repentance. The Greek word [metanoia], means a change of mind about God, Jesus, the way to God, and ourselves.  Repentance is commanded, but leads to forgiveness, eternal life, and a new life in the Spirit.  (Acts 2:38) “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the  name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the  gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 3:19)  “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out,  that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,” (Acts 17:30)  “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands  all people everywhere to repent.”  (Acts 20:21)  “I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.” 

True repentance is characterised by spiritual fruit. Acts 26:19  “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.”

God wants His opponents to come to Him in repentance. (2 Timothy 2:25) “Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that  God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.

God’s patience gives time for people to come to Him in repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)  “…He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

It is true that everyone who enters into the kingdom of God has come by the path of true repentance and faith in Christ. However repentance is not a once for all time experience. As we continue to mature in the Christian life we come to acknowledge that from time to time we allow things in our lives that we need to repent of. Or it may be something we said or did for which we feel ashamed. Or it may be an attitude that has formed in us that is unloving and unheathy. That is why it is helpful for us to pray the prayer for openness to God from Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” This allows God to show us anything in our lives that is not pleasing to Him and with His help we can make the necessary changes.

B].        A Deepening Intimacy In Our Relationship With Christ. By Abiding in Him

Jesus taught, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:4. AND John 15:7 “ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

Paul wrote that the Holy Spirit is able to help us in our prayers to pray according to the will of God, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 and he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27. 

C].        Allowing God To Make Changes In Our Lives.  

John R.W. Stott wrote these very helpful words in his book, Christian Mission in the Modern World… “Life is a pilgrimage of learning, a voyage of discovery, in which our mistaken views are corrected, our distorted notions adjusted, our shallow opinions deepened and some of our vast ignorances diminished.” God’s word can make great changes in our lives, by showing us wrong beliefs and deepening our understanding of the things of God.

We can have a new way of living, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians  5:17. This new creation is something that God does inwardly in people who trust in Him. He changes their way of thinking about Him and about themselves. Galatians 6:15, “For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.”

Paul wrote that in our faith-union with Christ, we died with Him and have been raised with Him to newness of life, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4.

Peter recognised that believers are new born into God’s family and must long for the true spiritual word to grow to maturity, 1 Peter 2:2, “ Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.”

D]. It Is Not What You Know, But WHO You Know.  

Paul’s desire was to come to a deepening personal knowledge of God, ”I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him.” Eph 1:16-17.

Paul’s  desire was to “know” Him and the power of His resurrection, ”that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” Philippians 3:10.

4.        HOW THE NEW LIFE IS DIFFERENT FROM THE OLD LIFE. 

The Old Testament promises of God about establishing His rule in human hearts have been fulfilled in Christ. Ezekiel prophesied God’s words, “And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20  that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” Ezekiel 11:19-20.

AND in Ezekiel 36:25 -28, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26  And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27  And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rule.”

Paul wrote in Philippians 2:12-13 that God is at work in believers by His Holy Spirit to give them the willingness and the ability to please God. The supernatural work of God in human hearts,  “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13  for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” 

Our part in serving in Christ’s kingdom is to work out in practice what He is inwardly working in us by His Spirit. He gives us the willingness and the ability to do His will for His good pleasure. 

Paul also described the kingdom of God as being spiritual and not just material, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking (natural) but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Romans 14:17. 

Blog No.435 posted on Wednesday 05 October 2022.

Posted in Bible verses. Comments, Creation, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Forgiveness, Glorification, Healing, Holy Spirit, Justification, Mental Health, New Covenant, Prayer, Salvation, Sanctification, Second coming of Jesus, Temptations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

434. “HOW TO ‘HANG IN’ FOR HEALING AND BLESSING.” [Core Teaching Stage 1 Topic 5.]

Posted on October 3, 2022 by Jim Holbeck

Having prayed for healing for people over the last 50 plus years I came to realise that many who were prayed for received a fair degree of healing from the Lord in answer to prayer. It was sad though that some who had been blessed in this way had later seemed to lose some of the healing they had experienced. So I thought I would search God’s word for some answers on how people might be able to maintain the healing they had already received. So how can people “hang in“ for healing and blessing to receive it in the first place and to maintain it as time goes on?

1. THE NEED TO AFFIRM WHAT GOD IS DOING IN ANSWER TO PRAYER.

We live in a very negative world and many people either reject God or ignore Him. Thus we are surrounded by a lot of negativity as Christian believers and that can take the edge off our faith or lessen the faith and trust we once had in the Lord.

i]. We need to affirm our faith in God’s willingness and ability to heal.  

We know that God has both the willingness and the ability to heal because we see it in the ministry of Jesus. Jesus taught that what He did was the Father working through Him, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.” John 14:10.

God’s Willingness To Heal. We see that in the life of Jesus in Mark 1: 40-42, “And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Somehow the leper believed that Jesus had the power to heal him. But his question was “Would Jesus be willing to heal me?” It is a question that many people have had in their minds as they face the possibility of healing from the Lord. They might be thinking, “Surely Almighty God has no time to help for an ordinary person like me? I’m a nobody!” Yet we read in this story of Jesus’ willingness to heal the leper,  ‘Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42  And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.’ Mark 1:41-42. We see that Jesus was motivated to heal by compassion and not on the basis of the person’s worth in the estimation of others. 

God’s Ability To Heal.  In Jesus’ ministry he was approached by another man who needed healing for his son,  “they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21  And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22  And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Mark 9:20-22.

Jesus’ response was immediate, “‘And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 9:23. The father humbly affirmed his faith, “I believe; help my unbelief!” [It might be good sometimes for us to pray the same sort of prayer. We do believe, but does God need to remove some pockets of unbelief that He knows still remain in us?] 

Jesus then rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” (25.) The spirit came out and the boy was healed. 

God has always had the willingness and the ability for He never changes, Malachi 3:6  “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”

ii. The “HOW” and “WHEN” are open to Him, unless He gives specific guidance regarding this.

  • Healing can be instantaneous. We see that in the ministry of Jesus as He healed the leper, “Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.” Mark 12:42. Many of us involved in healing ministries have seen instantaneous healings and it is a delight when healings happen this way. 
  • Healing can be progressive. We see it in the case of a blind man healed by Jesus. Jesus touched him once and asked him, “Do you see anything?” He affirmed the healing he had just experienced by saying, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then there came a second touch by Jesus, “Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.” Mark 8:25. Many healings take place in this progressive way. People came to a healing service and received prayer for healing. There was some immediate improvement for which they were profoundly thankful. However, in the hours or days that followed, more healing came to them.
  • Healing may be delayed. Jesus once came across 10 lepers who asked Him to have mercy on them. Jesus said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” They trusted in what He told them to do and we read, “And as they went they were cleansed.” There was a delay as they moved chronologically and geographically away from what they had hoped to be the source of their healing. But the story continued, “Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16  and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.” Luke 17:15-16.

The whole ten were healed but he was the only one who turned back to thank Jesus. He was the only one to hear the reassuring words of Jesus, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” Luke 17:19. I have often heard from people who attended one of our healing services where nothing seemed to happen as they received prayer for healing. But as they went home by train or bus or woke up the next morning, the healing came.  

  • Healing may come in a different way than what was expected.  

2 Kings 5:1-10. This is the story of a marvellous healing that came in a way the healed man did not expect.  It is the story of Naaman who was described as “the commander of the army of the king of Syria, [he] was a great man with his master and in high favour, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valour, but he was a leper.” For many people, their life was as good as over when they were found to have leprosy. Eventually, he found himself at the door of the home of Elisha, a prophet of Israel. We read what happened, “And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 2 Kings 5:10.

However, Naaman became angry. It was not what he expected. His thought was that Elisha himself would come to meet him, not just send a messenger. He had expected that Elisha would “surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.” How humiliating for him to be told to wash in the Jordan river seven times.  “So he turned and went away in a rage.” Fortunately, his servants reminded him that if he had been told to do some great thing he would surely have done it. Why not do as the prophet had said! “So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” 2 Kings 5:14.

Naaman had to humble himself to receive healing in the way the Lord wanted him to be healed and not in the way he thought his importance demanded. 

Mark 2:3-12.   A paralysed man is healed by Jesus. “And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5  And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’”

Jesus’ response surprised many of those who were present. There had been some expectancy that Jesus would touch the man or speak words of healing to him. But he spoke in terms of the man’s sins being forgiven. Some of the scribes who were present were also surprised, saying, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Mark 2:7. Jesus then posed them a question, “And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? Mark 2:9-10. The first saying would be easier to say for it did not demand evidence. However, the second saying did demand proof. If Jesus told the man to get up and nothing happened, then it would be obvious that Jesus was a fraud.

The scribes had questioned His authority to forgive sins, so Jesus answered them by saying,  “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” Mark 2:10-11.  The result? “And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” Mark 2:12. Jesus had shown that He did have the authority both to forgive and to heal the paralysed man.

iii.  Healing can be more profound than we asked for.

There are many people who have been challenged physically with pain or decreased mobility in their bodies who ask for prayer for healing expecting that God will deal with those physical problems. But very often the presenting problem [the pain] is not the real problem. They are in pain because there is a dis-ease within them. They are not at peace and the emotional distress they have suffered has triggered some physical problem. This is what is called “psychosomatic” illness where “psyche” is the mind and “soma” is the body.  A psychosomatic disorder is a disease that involves both mind and body. 

On several occasions I have prayed with folk who came for physical healing but after sharing their stories with me, realised their thoughts were very unhealthy. For a couple of folk, they realised that they were full of bitterness towards someone who had hurt them in the past. As they confessed their bitterness and asked God to forgive them, they received the physical healing they had been seeking. 

The cause of much physical distress may come from problems in relationships. Unforgiveness is a major barrier to receiving God’s healing. In one of my previous articles I mentioned a woman who asked me at the end of a teaching session I had given on forgiveness, “Do you mean to say that if I forgave someone, I would be more likely to receive healing?” I said that was so. She told me later that when she went home that night she realised the person she most needed to forgive was her own mother. She prayed to God asking her to forgive her for holding resentment and unforgiveness towards her mother. Then she said loudly, “Mother, I forgive you in Jesus’ name!” As she said those words, the shaking she had been experiencing for months suddenly ceased and she realised she had been healed of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Knowing she had been unable to write or sign her signature, I asked her to write her name in the back of my Bible. Which she easily did. It was the first signature she had been able to write in several months. She remained healed for many years later. 

Often a physical problem needs a spiritual answer. In the story of the paralysed man in Mark 2 above, Jesus said to the man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Later he commanded him, “Rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12  And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all.” Mark 2:11-12. I discovered after many years of running healing seminars that it was helpful to include a time when I would lead those present in praying a prayer of commitment to Christ. Many people over the years testified that after they prayed that prayer,  their physical and emotional problems subsided or disappeared.  

iv. Healing from a “common-sense” change in behaviour.

Sometimes humans are their own worst enemies. They don’t live a balanced lifestyle and because of that physical problems arise. A lot of people are driven by the desire to succeed or to accomplish many things in life. For some, the nature of their work means that they live lives under great pressure. But to the extent we should slow down we need to do so. We need to remember that as Christian believers our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20  for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. So we have a duty to keep it in good order so that Christ can do and through us what He longs to do by His indwelling Spirit.

A good question to ask ourselves from time to time is this. “Whose expectations am I trying to reach?” It may be that our own expectations of ourselves are unrealistic.  We need to be led by the Holy Spirit, not driven by some inner urge to succeed. It may be that God’s expectations of us are far more realistic than the ones we are trying to live by. It is certainly a sin to live below the level of God’s expectations of us. Perhaps it is also sinful to be doing far more than He wants us to achieve! We need to pray to the Lord that He might lead us by His Holy Spirit as we seek to live our lives from day to day.

We need to have common sense as we live in this world. We may need sometimes to change our eating and drinking patterns to gain and maintain good health. Timothy had obviously shared with St Paul his frequent stomach ailments. St Paul didn’t say, ”You don’t have enough faith!” Or “You must have some secret sin!” [Which some unwise peoples sometimes say.] Paul was full of common sense, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.”  1 Timothy 5:23. Wine was certainly preferable to the untreated water Timothy had been drinking. Those common sense words are part of the inspired word of God. 

v.  Asking God to show us the barriers hindering healing. There are many, many barriers to receiving God’s grace. I have written a lot on this subject in previous blogs and I refer readers to those articles, eg., Numbers 432 and 433 on this blog site.

2. THE NEED FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF A PRAYER OF FAITH

i.       What we say (pray) becomes a part of us

The Bible teaches that we have to be careful with our speech, “A fool’s lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating. 7 A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a  snare to his soul.” Proverbs 18:6-7. Fancy our lips being a snare to our souls. But we can see that sometimes when we hear some people talking about themselves in very down-putting terms, e.g., “I’m just useless. I’ll never amount to anything.” Saying that is a snare to the soul of the one saying it. Or “Every winter I get a bad dose of the flu and I know I’ll go down with it again this year.” These words are a snare to our bodies for we are almost looking forward to and expecting this to happen. They are negative affirmations and can be almost self-fulfilling prophecies.    It is much more healthy to have positive affirmations about ourselves, such as “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”  AND ”But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” 15 My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!” Psalm 31:14-15.

ii.      We have to thank by faith until we can thank by sight.

It is often very difficult to see how God can bring an answer to the difficulties we are facing. But we need to pray with the confidence that He is hearing us and that He will bring the answer in His way and in His time. The apostle John wrote, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15  And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15. There is a twofold confidence in those words. He hears us when we pray and He answers prayers prayed according to his will. 

God can bring the things we hoped for and asked for in prayer, into reality. The writer to the Hebrews put it like this, ”Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen.” TPT. So as we pray for healing or blessing from the Lord, very often the potential healing becomes the experienced healing.

Some people have found it helpful when praying to include these words, “and I thank You Lord for the answer that is coming in Your way and in Your time.” We are thanking God by faith until we can thank Him by sight when the healing comes. 

3. THE NEED TO COMBAT NEGATIVITY FROM OTHERS.

i.  Why some people suspect healing.  

We live in a very negative world where many people are opposed to God. They think that He does not exist or if He does, then He has no relevance to them. They certainly think that He has no power to make any difference in our world. That is the problem when people have a worldview that has no place for God. They see the world through that sort of lens which does not allow for God’s existence or His working in our world today. 

Or for others, their view is of a God who may exist and may have done miraculous things in the past but not anymore. There may be some believers who believe in the Old Testament miracles and the ones Jesus performed but fail to see that He is alive today. When people fail to see that God is living and active in His world then they have little hope of seeing answers to prayer. 

ii. Ways we can lessen the impact of negativity from others. 

Those who have received wonderful answers to prayer are surprised when many of their friends do not share in their joy. We need to recognise a very simple but important truth. That is, we are on the “inside” of our experience and we know what has happened. They are on the “outside” of our healing experience.  It has had no impact on them so they fail to appreciate the answered prayer of others. 

4. THE NEED TO RELEASE PEOPLE TO GOD’S PURPOSE FOR THEM.

  1. Healed for His sake, not ours only, to do His will. Phil 2:13. 

Many years ago I was trying to compose a prayer for healing that was less selfish than the prayers we often pray for healing. Our prayer may focus on the need to be healed to get rid of the pain or to become more mobile so that we can enjoy life more.  Eventually, I arrived at something like these words, “Lord, heal me for Your sake so that I might do Your will to Your glory for the rest of my life.” [In a previous article I mentioned an older woman who began to pray those words every day, and she became much more alive than she had been before.]  

Over the last couple of years, I have been struck with Paul’s words in Philippians chapter 2. God has work for every believer to do. He wrote, ”Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13  for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12-13. It means that we have to work out in practice what He is inwardly working in us by His Holy Spirit. He gives us the willingness and the ability to do what pleases Him.  That is why the less selfish prayer is our way of opening ourselves to His ministry in us by His Holy Spirit because our deepest desire should be to please the Lord in every moment of our lives. 

2. Variations in individual responses from the “healed.”

When Jesus healed people He asked them to respond in different ways. To some lepers He said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” As they went to do so, their healing came. He told others He healed to share with other folk what He had done for them. On another occasion, he told a man not to share with others the healing he had received. Unfortunately, he did share and it made it more difficult for Jesus to minister in that area. 

Perhaps the wisest thing to tell people who have been healed, that they should share their healing if it seems to be appropriate to do so. We need spiritual wisdom to be appropriate in every situation in our lives. 

5. THE NEED TO RECOGNIZE GOD AS THE HEALER

i.       He always is faithful; we are not.

It is always a delight when we have prayed for someone and they have received some degree of healing. They may even thank us for healing them. But it is unwise to think that it was us who healed them. God is THE healer and He may heal directly or He may work through a human instrument to impart His healing. So we can say to people who thank us for healing them, “Praise God that He healed you. It was a privilege to pray for you. Isn’t God good!”

When Jesus spoke of His healing ministry, He attributed all the healing to God,  John 5:19, “So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” AND John 14:10, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.“ It was the Father who was at work through the ministry of Jesus. 

Paul recognised that it was God at work through his ministry  and also at work through the ministry of Peter, ”On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8  for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles.” God was at work through both of these apostles.

Humility demands that we give all the glory to God when people are healed or blessed through our prayers. He is the healer as He said in Exo 15:26,  “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”

  1. The discrediting of the human instrument used in healing does not necessarily discredit the healing.

I have had the privilege of being present at meetings when marvellous healings took place through the ministry of world-renowned preachers. But it was disturbing when some of those men later were dismissed from ministry because of some sin they had committed during the time they had been conducting those meetings.  Did it mean then that the healings they had been used to bring, were false healings? Many of those once healed by them remained healed in spite of their sin. The answer is No, because there is an important principle in operation in Christian ministry.  That is, that God uses the available rather than the perfect, to bring His love into the lives of those who need it. If God was going to use only the perfect, then nothing would ever take place. But He uses imperfect people who trust in His healing power, to impart healing through their ministry. It is because God so loves the people in need that He uses imperfect instruments in His purposes. 

6. THE NEED TO FELLOWSHIP WITH OTHERS WHO BELIEVE IN HEALING.

Because the world, by and large, is hostile to God, it is helpful to have contact with those who have a positive faith lest the negativity of those around us dampen our enthusiasm for God. Sometimes initially small ministries are used by God to bring many blessings to His people.

i].  Thus the Healing Service, and the Postal Congregation. Small in origin but with a wide extending influence.

The Healing Ministry at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney began with a small group of women who met for a Bible Study after work at 6pm on Wednesdays each week. They asked Canon Jim Glennon who led the studies to do a series on prayers for healing. This eventually led to a Healing Service attracting hundreds of people each week. There wasn’t much happening in healing in Sydney at the time and so people heard about the service and came regularly from all different denominations or from none. 

One woman who began to assist at the service, Deaconess Gwyneth Hall,  began to make notes of the sermons and these were then typed and duplicated and sent throughout the world as Sermon Notes to those in what was called the Postal Congregation.  Then they arranged Postal Congregation seminars in Sydney to which were invited those who received the sermon notes [and others came as well.] I took over as Leader in 1988 and in the 18 years I was in charge, we continued what had been happening and added regular teaching seminars on healing. Part of that teaching led me to do 5 Stages of Core Teaching with 5 or 6 subjects in each stage. This article is in fact based on topic 5 of Core Teaching Stage 1. The Healing Ministry still continues in Sydney and has just celebrated its 62nd anniversary since it began in 1960. Thousands of needy people have received much blessing and healing through its ministry over all those years.

It may be possible for you in your own locality to find or suggest such a group where like-minded believers can support each other.

ii].  Prayer-partner/s to “keep us on track”? We need to be in balance. 

Many of my friends have found prayer partners with whom they regularly meet to pray for one another. It is one way of maintaining our balance in the Christian life for if our prayer partner thinks we are going overboard in a certain direction then they can help bring us back to the truth of the scriptures.

iii]. Keep in touch with those who believe in healing. 

As noted above, that was the purpose of the Healing Ministry in Sydney and through its ministry, thousands of folk have been encouraged to pray for healing over the last 62 years. Since my retirement from full-time ministry in 2006, I have tried to make some contribution to ministry and am so grateful to a neighbour who suggested in 2011 that I write blogs. This means that 434 articles later I have encouraged over 126,500 people in over 200 countries of the world as they reached out to know more about God’s healing power in today’s world.  

Blog No.434 posted on Monday 03 October 2022

Posted in BIBLE PASSAGE OUTLINES, Bible verses. Comments, Creation, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Forgiveness, Glorification, Healing, HEALING MINISTRY Core Teaching, Holy Spirit, Judgement, Justification, Mental Health, New Covenant, Prayer, Real Life Stories, Salvation, Sanctification, spiritual warfare, Temptations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

433.  HOW TO BECOME MORE OPEN TO RECEIVE GOD’S HEALING. Core 1 Topic 4a. [This follows on from the previous article No.432]. 

Posted on September 30, 2022 by Jim Holbeck

In over 50 plus years of ministry, I have seen many people healed of all sorts of ailments and of physical, emotional, spiritual and relationship difficulties.  It seemed that some folk received healing far more easily than others. So below I discuss some of the factors that may influence our openness to God’s healing power.

What we need to keep in mind always, is that God is the Healer and that He heals through whom He wishes to heal, how He heals, when He heals and to what extent He heals. He alone gets the glory when people are wonderfully healed, though He may use the prayers and ministry of human vessels to bring His healing.

Below are some of the factors that may be involved in becoming more open to receive the gifts of God’s grace.

1]. THE NEED FOR A SINCERE PRAYER OF OPENNESS. PSALM 139:23,24.

Even though we may have been believers for many years, we may still have some factors in our lives that inhibit healing. It is worthwhile coming in prayer before God and asking Him to search us and to show us the results of His search. That’s what King David did after setting out the character of God in the same Psalm 139. This was his prayer, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!  24 And see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting!“ Psalm 139:23-24.

This allows God [through our openness to Him] to show us things we might need to repent of or to ask Him to heal. God wants His people to be fully equipped to love and serve Him, so He will answer such prayer.  When He reveals things to us we need to act on them.

2]. THE NEED FOR A SINCERE PRAYER OF CONFESSION OF SIN 

In Psalm 32 King David describes his own experience when he kept silent for some time about his sin instead of confessing it to God. He tells us the detrimental effect it had on him, “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4  For day and night your and was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.” Psalm 32:3-4. He went through physical and emotional distress while he kept silent about his sin. Many believers since him could share the same feelings. Harbouring sin in our hearts is counter-productive to the healing process!

However, great release came to David as he got around to confessing his sin to God,   “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Verse 25.

It was because David had received such release that he could write the opening words  to the Psalm, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” Psalm 32:1-2. It had been his personal experience.  Failing to open our sin to God does not fool God [for nothing can be hidden from Him] but it damages us severely.

The apostle John wrote that it was necessary to confess one’s sins to God to be forgiven and cleansed of sin, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1:9-10.

We must be honest before God for He does know everything about us. He cannot be fooled or deceived in any way.

3]. LETTING THE WORD BUILD UP FAITH IN US. 

God’s word has always been recognised by believers as being very powerful. The writer of Psalm 119 put it like this, “How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.” Psalm 119:9. In the same Psalm he wrote of the power of God’s word to give light to one’s steps, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105. And Psalm 119:130 “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.”  God’s word gives light, direction and understanding to those who read it. 

Jesus spoke of the importance of God’s word in Matthew 4:4, ‘“But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Human lives are meant to be lived in accordance with the word of God. That is what St Paul inferred in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” God’s word is always profitable whether bringing us encouragement or showing us what we need to change in our thinking and behaviour. It instructs us in living in the way pleasing to God.

Being exposed to the word of God builds up faith, Romans 10:17. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” That is why St Paul praised the believers in Thessalonica, because they accepted his  preaching as being the word of God to them, “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13. Faithful preaching of the word of God produces increasing faith in those who hear it and act upon it.

The writer to the Hebrews saw the great value of the word of God. He expressed it in these words, Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The word of God can reveal the thoughts and motivations of the human heart. That is why we should pray a prayer like this before read the word of God, “Open my eyes to see wonderful things in your Word.” Psalm 119:18.

Peter also saw the value of the word of God for spiritual birth and growth, “Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.” 1 Peter 1:23. They had been born again but needed to keep longing to read God’s word to grow spiritually, “Desire God’s pure word as newborn babies desire milk. Then you will grow in your salvation. 3 Certainly you have tasted that the Lord is good!” 1 Peter 2:2-3. 

As St Paul neared the end of his life, he encouraged the Thessalonian believers to let God’s word dwell in them richly, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16. He encouraged his friend Timothy to carefully handle the word of God for his ministry, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15.

James wrote that people have to take the word of God seriously. It was not enough to have a brief exposure to be helped. They needed to look carefully into the word of God and to act on what it says, “For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.” James 1:23-25. God’s blessing rests on those who know and act on the word of God.

4]. ASK IN FAITH FOR GOD’S BLESSING AND HEALING 

James wrote that sometimes people do not receive an answer to prayer. One reason is that they never ask God in prayer in the first place. That’s why they never receive. Or it may be that they do ask and receive no answer. The reason? Because they asked from wrong motives,  “…  You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” James 4:2-3. Prayers should be based on what we know of the will of God as outlined in His word. They should be based on our need, not on our greed. God promises  to supply our genuine needs or the needs of those for whom we should pray. He is not motivated to give us those things which would be harmful for us.

We can claim God’s promises in His word such as the following, 

Mark 11:24, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” If we are living in a right relationship with God, we can pray prayers that God wants to answer. If we know what we are asking for is in the will of God, then we can believe the answer will come in His way, in His time and through whom He wishes. Some believers when they have prayed for something they believe is in the will of God will then go on to thank Him for answering their prayer, in words such as these,  “Lord thank You for hearing my prayer and for the answer You are bringing in Your way and in Your time.” It is as though they see that the answer is certain but it has to come in God’s perfect timing.

Matthew 7:7-8. Jesus said,   “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” These promises are of course conditional on whether the motives behind the prayers are genuine and sincere. 

John 15:7. Jesus promised,  “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” This suggests that we have to be guided by God’s word as we pray and that we know His will because we are abiding in fellowship with Him. When we personally know Him and keep on abiding in His word, our prayers can be answered because they are most likely to be in the will of God.

1 John 5:14-15. “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15  And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”

This promise for an answer to prayer is that the prayer is prayed in accordance with God’s will which is found in His word. There is a double confidence in these words. One is that God hears our prayers. The second is that we have the things we asked of Him. [To be delivered in God’s way and timing!]

The Prayer Of Faith, James 5:15. 

James gives instruction for those who are suffering or sick as to how they can receive help. For the suffering, the answer is  “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.” James 5:13. Praying to God with thanksgiving and praise is the answer to bring relief.

For those who are sick, the answer is “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”15  And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” James 5:14-15. 

This passage is the basis for many Healing Ministries. People come before the elders of the church who then pray over them and often anoint them with oil in the name of Christ. So both the sick person and those praying and laying on of hands, are looking to God to bring healing. James then says that  “the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick.” We need to see that this prayer of faith is not some magical incantation that automatically brings healing. Rather it is God working through  prayer offered in faith, who brings the healing, as the following words indicate, “and the Lord will raise him up.” It is God who raises the sick person from sickness, not those praying. He does though work through their prayers to impart His blessings.

5]. PRAYER FOR THE INFILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND THE RELEASE OF GOD’S LOVE IN US.

Every believer is commanded by God to keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit. This we read in Ephesians 5:18,  “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19  addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20  giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The term ”be filled” is a present continuous tense verb in the Greek Bible and is the privilege and responsibility of every believer. It means “keep on being filled.” We have been sealed with the Spirit [Ephesians 1:13] but we need to keep on being filled by Him. That is God’s will for every believer, not just for an elite few! It is when we are filled with the Spirit of God that we are most open to God’s blessing on our lives!

We are commanded to love God and one another, even to love our enemies! 

It is possible to love in this way. It is part of the fruit of the Spirit [Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” The Holy Spirit exhibits His love through us when we are totally committed to Him. Paul expressed it in another way in Romans 5:5 where he wrote 

“…  God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Human hearts filled with the love of God by the Holy Spirit. We can love with a love so much deeper than our own. God’s love!

Paul expressed what God’s love is like in 1 Corinthians 13 which begins, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. “Later it says, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” 1Corinthians 13:7-8.   

When we are filled with God’s love and allowing that love to flow through us to all those around us, we are in a fit state to receive God’s blessings and to become a blessing in the lives of those around us. 

6]. TRYING, BY GOD’S GRACE, TO BE LIKE JESUS TO OTHER PEOPLE.  

Humans were made in the image of God but that image was marred through the fall of humankind in Genesis 3. But the great thing is that believers are being transformed more and more into that image as they live for the Lord. Paul put it like this, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:17-18. “Beholding” here can also be translated as “reflecting” so that we begin to reflect the person [Jesus] upon whom we are gazing in love and adoration.

What a wonderful thought, that we can become more like Christ our Saviour and Lord. It is the work of the Holy Spirit within us. He produces the life of Christ within us, “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.“ 2 Corinthians 4:10-11. It means dying to self so that the life of Jesus might be seen in us. Living in the will of God as Jesus did, allows God to give us His blessings.

7].  ASKING FOR HEALING FOR HIS SAKE THAT WE MIGHT SERVE HIM

I learnt a new lesson when I taught in Florida many years ago. I had been thinking of how we might be able to pray more unselfish prayers. So one of the things I shared was this. Perhaps the Lord might be more willing to hear a prayer such as “Lord, heal me for YOUR sake that I might do YOUR will to YOUR glory for the rest of my life” rather than a more selfish prayer such as “Lord heal me for my sake so that I can live more free of pain and have more mobility as I enjoy myself in the world.”

One of the women who heard me share this was an older but wonderful prayer warrior who had seemed to age a great deal since my previous visit. However, she was struck with the concept when she heard me say it, and decided to make it a daily prayer in her prayer time. 

Imagine my surprise when I returned to Florida a year later to discover she was bright and alert as she had been several years earlier.  She told me that praying that prayer every day had brought about a great change in her physical, emotional and spiritual health. Praying to be healed to live for God’s glory certainly seems a less selfish prayer to pray than many of the requests we make to God!

CONCLUSION

It is true that we pray a lot of prayers that don’t seem to get the answers we had hoped for. Instead of blaming God for not answering those prayers, we should look at all the barriers to healing I mentioned in the previous blog No.432 and see if we have some undetected barriers in our hearts that God shows us as we ask Him to search us. Then we need to look above at all the ways of becoming more open to God. God wants to bless us in every way and we can cooperate with Him by letting Him reveal and remove any barriers He sees in our hearts, and by becoming more open to His blessing, guidance and healing! 

Blog No.433 posted on Friday 30 September 2022.

Posted in BIBLE PASSAGE OUTLINES, Bible verses. Comments, Creation, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Forgiveness, Glorification, Healing, HEALING MINISTRY Core Teaching, Holy Spirit, Justification, Mental Health, New Covenant, Prayer, Real Life Stories, Salvation, Sanctification, Second coming of Jesus, spiritual warfare, Temptations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

432. LEARNING TO RECOGNISE AND REMOVE BARRIERS TO HEALING. Core 1 Topic 4

Posted on September 29, 2022 by Jim Holbeck

432. LEARNING TO RECOGNISE AND REMOVE BARRIERS TO HEALING. Core 1 Topic 4

Human observation throughout history would show that 2 truths have to be held in tension.

1.   God has the power to heal any sickness or disease. He is Almighty and Omnipotent [All powerful].  

2.   Not all who receive prayer for healing, are completely healed.

Thus there is “The mystery of healing.”  

Most people who have been involved in praying for the sick have come to realise that there is a mystery in healing by the Lord. Sometimes very fine humans whose lives touch others for good become ill and die from that illness in spite of being prayed for by those who had great successes in praying for the sick. 

On the other hand, those who have had little time for God in their lives  and who ask for prayer to be  healed, are marvellously healed. If healing were imparted on the basis of goodness, then the former would be the more likely to be healed. However healing like all God’s gifts to us come from His amazing grace to humans.

Everything to do with God will have some element of mystery. We see that in the following verses,

Job 42:1-3, Job had  been questioning God’s ways throughout the book and eventually realises that His ways are beyond his understanding “Then Job answered the LORD and said: 2  “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3  ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.”

In humility he repents of his attitude and submits to God’s rule over his life.  “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; 6  therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:5-6.

King David also realised that God’s ways were beyond his understanding, “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18  If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.” Psalm 139:17-18.

God spoke to Isaiah reminding him that His ways are beyond human understanding, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. 9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9.

However:-

  • There are some factors which militate against the reception of healing by individuals. (As seen in God’s word and in biographies and in autobiographies.)
  • Preparation for healing, means letting God show and correct any negative factors in our lives that inhibit healing. 

Some of these negative factors which create barriers to healing, may be grouped under the following categories. Each of them is like a “brick barrier” to God’s grace and power. The horizontal headings below are like the “brick” barriers. 

A]. ATTITUDES IN OUR MINDS, REGARDING HEALING.  

1. Ignorance about the possibility2. Scepticism.  3. Unbelief in the healing power of God today.

1]. IGNORANCE can sometimes be justified to some extent where people have had no contact with Biblical teaching. However, every human ever born has a conscience, but many have ignored the warnings that come from their conscience and done or said things that their conscience was indicating was not appropriate. They remain guilty before God even if they deny or ignore any guilt they feel. 

2]. SCEPTICISM. There has  to come an end to scepticism as people search out all the possibilities to arrive at the truth. The truth is to be  found in Christ and it is up to individuals to discover the truth about Him in the word of God. It seems  that God keeps wooing people to open their lives to Him as seen in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” It takes a step of faith to open the door to the living Christ.

3]. UNBELIEF IN THE HEALING POWER OF GOD TODAY. It is unfortunate that many of those teaching theology today have never seen an example of God’s healing power. Or else they have prayed [with reservations] for friends to be  healed and no healing came. So their conviction is that God is no longer in the healing business. Which makes it strange that they can recite the Apostles Creed which begins with, “I believe in God the Father Almighty!” God has lost none of His love nor of His  Almighty healing power.

B]. WRONG BELIEF ABOUT THE GODHEAD. Ý

1. The Fatherhood of God. Some find it hard to see Him as Father. Eph.3:15. Mat.6:25-34. Mat 7:112. The Pre-eminence of Jesus. Col 1:15-20. Acts 1.  3. The Present Ministry of the Holy Spirit.  We must not ignore God’s supernatural dimension.

1]. THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD. God is declared to be a Heavenly Father in His word. Examples are Ephesians 3:14-15, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15  from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” God is the perfect pattern of fatherhood. All fatherhood derives from Him.

Matthew 6:25-26. God is our Heavenly Father. “Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

AND 6:31-32, “ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

Matthew 7:11, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” God is a loving and generous Heavenly Father.

It is a fact that some people’s backgrounds have been unhelpful in appreciating true fatherhood as evidenced in God Himself. Their experience of fatherhood has been non-existent because their father walked out of the marriage soon after the child was born and they had no living experience of the love and care that a father should provide. 

For others their experience of fatherhood provided  a distorted picture of fatherhood. Their father was not loving but cruel. He was not protective and caring. Rather it was dangerous to be in his presence alone.  Or else he was dependent on drugs and emotionally unbalanced so that the child never knew how their father would react in any situation. For such people even the word “father” might be distressing for them to hear,  for it brings up painful memories. It may be their experience was of an absent father who was never there for them. Or else a father whose presence was discomforting or even physically and emotionally painful for them.

2]. THE PREEMINENCE OF JESUS

Luke in writing the book of the Acts Of The Apostles used significant wording as he introduced the book.  He wrote, “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2  until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through thethrough the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.” Acts 1:2. It’s as though he was saying, “and now I am going to write about all that Jesus continued to do through the apostles and others.”  Jesus is alive today! He can do things!

St Paul wrote about the preeminence of Jesus in Colossians, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18  And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19  For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” Colossians 1:15-20. Jesus is the creator of the universe, equal with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  He is the Sustainer of the universe, verse 17. He can do things in today’s world. His healing power is available to those who need His help.

3. THE PRESENT MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

We must not ignore God’s supernatural dimension. That came home to me when a father approached the Healing Ministry in Sydney to get prayer for his 15 year old daughter who had been in a coma for some time. Medical opinion was that it was time to take her off her life support system for they expected that she would never recover. In fact they asked him if he would be willing to allow them to harness the organs of her body for the sake of others who needed those organs. As a scientist he felt there must be another dimension so that was why he decided to see if there was some spiritual help he could tap into. Some of our praying members went to the hospital and prayed over the girl and she recovered totally. She went back to school, later graduated as a school teacher, married and became a mother. An amazing answer to prayer that stunned even the medical staff!

Some Bible scholars have said that perhaps the real name for the book of Acts should be “The Acts Of The Risen Christ By The Holy Spirit Through The Apostles And Others.”

C].        WRONG ATTITUDES TOWARDS OTHERS. Þ

1. Bitterness and resentment. Against God and /or against others. 2. Unforgiveness. An unwillingness to forgive others.3.. No love and compassion such as Jesus had. Inability and / or unwillingness to show love. But Rom 5:5

1]. BITTERNESS AND RESENTMENT.  It is easy for bitterness to arise       when one has been hurt in some way.  It is interesting that the Greek word for bitterness is [pikria; πικρία] from which the name of picric acid is derived. Picric acid is bitter to the taste and an unstable compound, explosive in nature. In fact it was used in explosives before and during the First World War. 

The Psalmist wrote, “When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, 22  I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.” Psalm 73:21-22. It is true that bitterness changes our personalities. If we harbour it, it is as though we are becoming more animalistic in our attitudes than human at times. We react, rather than responding in a healthy way to situations. 

God has a good way of our dealing with bitterness, as He tells us in His word, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.”  Ephesians 4:31. It is too damaging to harbour in the depths of our hearts. Bitterness and resentment are closely allied. The way out of bitterness is through forgiving those who hurt us., “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25).

2]. UNFORGIVENESS. 

I have discussed the nature of forgiveness in previous articles on this site.  Forgiving another person is releasing oneself from a negative bonding to that person. It is extending grace to them as God has done for us in Christ. 

3]. NO LOVE AND COMPASSION SUCH AS JESUS HAD

Jesus commanded us to love one another and even to love our enemies, Matthew 5:44  “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” St Paul wrote that our hearts can be filled with God’s love, so that we are able to love others with God’s love, Romans 5:5, “and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

D].        WRONG ATTITUDES TOWARDS ONESELF. 

1. A sense of unworthiness. We need to distinguish between True or false guilt?2. A Negative self-image.

1]. A SENSE OF UNWORTHINESS

We may feel unworthy for many reasons. It may be that we are carrying a lot of guilt for the sins we have committed. That is true guilt. The way to be  free of that is to confess them to God and to ask for His forgiveness. 

But we can also suffer at times from false guilt, blaming ourselves for things we didn’t do or say. As we have seen in previous blogs, Satan, the devil, is the accuser and he delights to put accusing thoughts in our mind to bring us under his bondage through false guilt. We can ask God to search us as I wrote in blog No.431 to allow Him to show us whether our guilt is true or false guilt.  

2]. A NEGATIVE FALSE SELF IMAGE

With the advent of social media lots of people have become focussed on their appearance. They compare themselves with others they see on their screens and imagine themselves to be  ugly compared with those people. It had led to a condition in many people called “Imagined Ugliness Syndrome.” The term has changed to “Dysmorphophobia” or Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) but it is the same condition. It is defined as “a preoccupation with an imagined defect in one’s physical appearance.”  It makes some people feel that they are so ugly that there is nothing good or valuable in their lives and that thinking can lead to deep depression. Such negative emotions are a great barrier to God’s healing grace. 

Perhaps one way out of this condition is to make individuals realise that they are unique people created by God and are loved by Him. They could follow the example of King David in Psalm 139 and begin to speak of themselves as David did, in the words of the Message Bible, “I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvellously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! 15  You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something.” Psalm 139:14-15. Every individual is a unique valued creation by God Himself.

E].         WRONG ACTIONS OR ATTITUDES IN OUR LIVES. Û

1. Unconfessed past sin in our lives. 2. Present continuing sin. 3. Pride. “Those who are well have no need of a physician.” 
4. Fear.  It paralyses us into passivity. It brings on what we fear.5. Ingratitude. 1 Thess.5:16-18. Gratitude is God’s will for us. 6. Covetousness. (= idolatry.) Who or what is our sufficiency? 7. Walking by the flesh and not by the Spirit. Gal.5, Rom.6 & 8.

1. UNCONFESSED PAST SIN IN OUR LIVES.

It is obvious that we must be seeking to be as pure as we can be, to receive the Lord’s richest blessings. There is a great blessing when we confess our sins to God as David expressed in Psalm 32:1-2, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” There is great blessing in knowing that God is holding no sin against us and that we are accepted into His family as we trust in Jesus. 

But King David also tells what life is like when we try to hide our sins  from God instead of confessing them to Him, , “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.” Psalm 32:3-4. We go through physical and emotional turmoil while we fail to acknowledge our sins-to God and ask for His forgiveness. 

2. PRESENT CONTINUING SIN.

God, in His word wants us to understand that through our faith union with Him we have died to sin and come alive to Him. He has given us not only His absolution in forgiving our sin but has also given us His Spirit to indwell us. It is His Holy Spirit who makes more holy [or separated from sin] as we are filled with His Spirit. Romans 6:1  What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? AND Rom 6:10  For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

It means that we are to present ourselves fully to God for every moment of our lives, Rom 6:12 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14  For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” Believers now live in the dominion of grace and not under the rule of law. 

3]. PRIDE.

The problem with pride is that it comes naturally to every person. It is setting ourselves up as the master of our lives and wanting only the things that please us.  However, God has warned against pride. We see it in such verses as Proverbs 16:18  “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” AND Proverbs 29:23  One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honour.”

In Isaiah we also see God’s attitude to pride, Isaiah 13:11  “I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.”

The apostle John wrote in 1 John 2:15-16,   Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16  For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.” It is in fact our love of the Father, God Himself, that releases us from our pride. The great Scottish preacher once wrote, “We know of no other way by which to keep the love of the world out of our hearts than to keep in our hearts the love of God.”

Loving Him above all others,  including ourselves, is  a key to becoming more open to His blessings including healing. 

4. FEAR

There is a place for fear. Peter wrote, in 1Peter2:17  “Honour everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the emperor.” So humans are commanded to fear God. But fear has various shades of meaning,  The Greek word is  [phobeō;φοβέω] from which we get our English word “phobia.”  But the Greek word also means awe and reverence. Believers should never lose their reverence of God and should always stand in awe of Him. He is the Almighty pure One who is to be taken most seriously in human lives. In fact the wrong sort of fear can be replaced with love for God, 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”

True believers can love God because the prospect of judgment which once faced them has been done away with by the death of Christ. As Paul wrote in Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Thus they can love God for His gracious love in offering Jesus to be the sacrifice for their sins and for the blessings He keeps bestowing on them in Him. The wrong sort of fear is misplaced in any believer.

5]. INGRATITUDE.

Paul told Timothy that in the last days before Christ came, people would be “lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful [acharistos; ἀχάριστος], unholy.” 2 Timothy  3:2. The “a” in [acharistos] means “not “and charistos is from [charizomai; χαρίζομαι] meaning to be  gracious and thankful. 

It is almost unbelievable to realise that many people throughout the world and throughout history have been ungrateful towards God. As John wrote in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” What great love God has shown in the death of His Son for sinners. To reject such love is the essence of ungratefulness.”

6]. COVETOUSNESS. The word for covetousness is [pleonexia; πλεονεξία] meaning avarice, or greediness. Pleonexía may be said to be the longing of those who have forsaken God and who believe that material attitude in life can bring fulfilment. Paul describes this attitude as a result of the Fall where humans turned against God, “They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips.” Romans 1:29.

False prophets were motivated by covetousness as they sought to impose their views on others, “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed [covetousness].” Ephesians 4:19. AND 2Peter 2:3 “And in their greed [covetousness] they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” AND 2 Peter 2:14  “They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!”

Because covetousness has a wrong focus on the material rather than on the spiritual, it makes it difficult for those with that attitude to look for a spiritual answer in God. God deals with those who have open hearts towards Him and therefore towards others. Greed places a great barrier against the reception of the free gifts of God’s grace, such as in healing.

7].  WALKING BY THE FLESH AND NOT BY THE SPIRIT. 

Christian believers are in the Spirit and are meant to be walking by the dictates of the Holy Spirit. Those who not yet born again of the Spirit [are still in the flesh] have minds that are hostile to God and are therefore not open to receive the gifts of His grace, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:7-8.

Paul wrote to the Galatians to remind them that they had already begun in the Spirit and must continue to walk in the Spirit, “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” Galatians 3:2-3. 

It would seem from the Bible that God respects the freewill He has given to all humans and will not impose on them what they are not willing to receive!

An unwillingness to ask God for healing seems to hinder Him from bestowing it on those who are not open to receive His love and blessings.

F].         SUBCONSCIOUS THOUGHTS OR ATTITUDES. 

1.    An unwillingness to receive healing. ( Lest lose attention from family and/or friends.)2.    Attitude. ” I deserve to be punished for my sins.”(It ignores the cross). 3.   This world is the “vale of suffering” to mature us.The danger of accepting illness as the will of God for us. 

Often humans are unaware of their subconscious thoughts or attitudes and these may be barriers to God’s healing grace. These are some of them, 

1.        AN UNWILLINGNESS TO RECEIVE HEALING.

There are many people who believe that miracles and healings happened to establish the church but when the canon of Scripture was formulated [the Holy Bible] then there was no need for those supernatural happenings to continue.  Others think that those things died out with the death of the last apostle. However, there have been countless occurrences of amazing healings taking place throughout the whole of church history. 

There is nothing in God’s word to say that God would discontinue His healings as history progressed. Indeed the Lord has told us implicitly that He is the healer, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.” Exodus 15:26. He is still the healer for He never changes, “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” Malachi 3:6.

Apart from this theological reason there may be other reasons why people do not expect to be healed. One may be that they are told by medical experts that their condition is fatal.  That then becomes their opinion of themselves, “I am dying!” They think it is too late for any change to take place in their condition.  Others think that there are others in far worse conditions than themselves and decide it would be selfish to ask for healing when other people deserve it far more. [The Lord is never short of His resources.]

There are others who listen to the advice of their friends who don’t believe that God heals today and so never ask for healing.

2.        A WRONG ATTITUDE TOWARDS OUR SIN.

There are some sensitive people who are conscious of their flawed background in which they committed many sins, who think, “ I need to be punished for my sins. I hurt so many people during my lifetime. ” It is true that sin does bring punishment. However, it was Jesus who bore the punishment of the sins of the whole world and we avert punishment by trusting in what He did for us on the cross. 

3]. A WRONG ATTITUDE TOWARDS SUFFERING

Many people have become familiar with the concept that “This world is the ‘vale of suffering’ to mature us. “The poet John Keats reasoned why there is suffering in the world and how we can embrace melancholy as a state of soul creation. He calls this state, “The Vale of Soul-making.” But much of the suffering in the Bible has to do with persecution rather than illness. 

There is a real danger of accepting illness as being the will of God for us and not seeking healing. God has told us in James 5 what to do if we are sick, or suffering, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14  Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15  And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”

Many of those who have acted on this commandment, have found much healing and peace in doing so.

CONCLUSION

IN SPITE OF ALL THESE HUMAN BARRIERS GOD STILL HEALS INDIVIDUALS TODAY!!

  • Failure to receive God’s blessings doesn’t mean He hasn’t made them available to us in Christ!
  • As we can see in the list of barriers above, there are often blind spots we have in our makeup that are unrecognised barriers to His grace. When they are recognised and brought to God to remove, His healing grace flows more quickly to us. 
  • We can be helped by meditating on all the Bible verses that deal with God answering prayer and acting on them. We need to ponder God’s promises such as in Romans 8:31-32,  “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? “
  • He is on our side because we are on Jesus’  side. He is “for us!” If God has given His most precious gift in the gift of his Son to die for us on the cross, then surely He is motivated to give us the lesser gifts like healing, guidance and blessing! That’s what verse 32 seems to indicate, 32  “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
  • “All things!” That is a pretty wide scope. It seems to mean that God can provide everything we need to live for Him, in our bodies, minds and spirits. We need to ask Him in faith to receive what He wants to bestow on us and thank Him for whatever answer He gives us.  

G.        HOW TO BECOME MORE OPEN TO RECEIVE HEALING

I realise that this is a topic in itself. Accordingly, I will make this topic into the next blog article No.433. 

Blog No.432 posted on Thursday 29 September 2022.

Posted in Forgiveness | Leave a comment

431. ASKING THE GOD WHO SEARCHES ALL THINGS TO SEARCH US. Psalm 139. Core 1 Topic 3.

Posted on September 25, 2022 by Jim Holbeck

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! Psalm 139:23-24.

What is it that God knows about in our lives? Everything in the past, the present and the future! This is what we read in Psalm 139. At the end of the Psalm in verses 23-24 King David turned the truths he had expounded about God in the Psalm, into a prayer for God to search him. It’s a prayer we can pray for ourselves today to allow God to show us the things we might need to repent of or act on. Then we can turn to Him for forgiveness and for strength and guidance to walk as He leads us, in His eternal way! 

Praying the prayer and acting on what God shows us as we pray, can be very healing and releasing, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

As you come before God in quietness, you can allow your mind to focus on the following areas of your life and ask God to reveal to you, the things He wants you to know for your healing. You can do all the following in one session, or you may find it more convenient to do it in stages over a period of time. To cover the whole lot eventually will bring greater freedom and healing.

THE PAST. (From conception to the present.)

All that I have thought, said or done during my lifetime

1.        Has all my sin in thought, word, attitude and deed, been brought to the light, specifically confessed and forgiveness received? 

2.        Have I asked God to heal the wounds of those whom I hurt? “Lord, show me.” “Please heal them.”

3.        What action do I now need to take? Anyone I may need to contact? How?

All that has been thought, said and done to me and attitudes adopted to me during my lifetime.

1.        Whom do I need to forgive, and ask God to bless? 

2.        Do I need forgiveness for holding any resentment, bitterness or unforgiveness towards anyone?

      “Lord, show me.”  [Then forgive those people specifically of everything!]

3.   Have I asked God to heal me of the wounds other people have given me? “Lord please heal me of all damage that has been done to me by others.”

4.   What action do I now need to take? Anyone I may need to contact?

THE PRESENT.  My present thoughts, words, attitudes and deeds.

1.        “Lord, to what extent are they identical to what you want to do in me and through me?  

St Paul could reflect on his life and write, Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Is that how I see my life? Do I want God to change me so that it is? If it is, ask Him to transform you by His grace and power.  

What is our mind-set? Is it set on the Lord or elsewhere? “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” Romans 5:8. 

Ask the Lord to help you set your mind on Him and on the things of the Spirit.

2.        What are my motives, desires and values? “Lord are they Yours?” 

“He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.“ 2 Corinthians 5:15.

Jesus died for us so that in gratitude we might live for Him. Are we living our lives centred on Christ or are we living lives centred on ourselves? 

Ask Christ to help you die to self and come alive to Him and to His plans for your life. 

“Lord, be the Master of my present life!”

THE FUTURE.  My goals, ambitions and plans.

1.   Is my goal the same as St.Paul’s?  His was to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, “ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ  9  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10  that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” Philippians 3:8-10. 

“Lord. I want to know you more deeply and to experience your resurrection power in my life.”

2.   Is my ambition to build up adequate security? Am I looking for my security in things rather than in Him? Jesus said that we need to seek His kingdom instead of striving for the material things of this world, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Mat 6:33  

“Lord, please work within me so that my desires might become the desires You want me to have!”

3.   Are the plans I’m making for the future, really the ones Lord, You want for me?  St Paul wrote that if the Spirit has given us life, then we need to allow the Spirit to guide and empower us in our daily living, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25.

“Lord lead me by your Holy Spirit! Show me what you want me to do for you, and empower me by Your Spirit to do Your will for me.”

Blog No.431. A SUGGESTED EXERCISE TO DO IN A TIME OF QUIETNESS WITH GOD

ASKING THE GOD WHO SEARCHES ALL THINGS TO SEARCH US. Psalm 139. 

Posted on Sunday 25 September 2022.

Posted in BIBLE PASSAGE OUTLINES, Bible verses. Comments, Creation, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Forgiveness, Glorification, Healing, Holy Spirit, Judgement, Justification, New Covenant, Prayer, Salvation, Sanctification, spiritual warfare, Studies in Psalm 139, Temptations | Leave a comment

430. BECOMING OPEN TO GOD. (PSALM 139. A prayer based on the character of God.) Core Teaching Stage 1. Topic 3.

Posted on September 24, 2022 by Jim Holbeck

What is God like? The Bible says that humans are made in His image. The problem is that all too often, humans make God in their image and do Him great injustice by thinking of Him as having the same faults that they see fellow humans possessing. They see Him as being a God who is angry with the human race and who has to be appeased by sacrifices they need to make. They see Him as being inconsistent like themselves and ultimately untrustworthy. Some even express their anger at Him by declaring that He doesn’t even exist.

Where then can we get a reliable description of Him? It has to come from His revelation of Himself in His word, the Bible. One of the best descriptions of His attributes is to be found in Psalm 139, a Psalm of David.

A].      THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE GOD WHO KNOWS AND CARES. Psalm 139

1].       VERSES 1-6. HIS OMNISCIENCE. HE KNOWS ALL THINGS.

1 “O LORD, you have searched me and known me! “

God knows everything about every human. There is nothing hidden from Him. 

The word for “searched” in the Greek version of the Old Testament [the Septuagint known as the LXX ] is [dokimazō; δοκιμάζω] meaning to put to the proof, examine, to approve after proving. 

“Known” is from [ginōskō: γινώσκω] meaning to understand, to perceive. David is saying that God had done a thorough search on him and had come to know everything about him. He is the God who continually knows everything about everyone. David is expressing this in a confident manner knowing that God never misunderstands anything about anyone. 

2 “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.” 

God knows the actions of everyone. He also knows what they are thinking. Nothing is hidden from Him. He can never be fooled nor deceived.

3  “You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.” “Search” here is a different word. It is from [exichniázō; ἐξιχνιάζω] meaning to explore, to trace, to track out.  God traces out our paths and understands what lies ahead. How comforting for us to know that God knows even our future. 

4  “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.”

How strange to know that God knows everything we are going to say, before we say it. That may explain why it is that some believers receive a check in their spirit as they are in the process of saying something and then don’t feel free say it. Later on they-realise that what they were going to say could have caused hurt or harm in the lives of those who heard it.

5  “You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.”

This literally is “Back and front, you enclosed me.” David is saying that he was hemmed in by God and that God’s hand was on him. It speaks of God’s nearness to him and of His protection of him. 

6  “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” 

David sums up these few verses by saying that God’s omniscience was beyond his comprehension. There was no way he could grasp it fully. 

It is liberating to know that God knows everything about every person on earth. That means that He understand our hidden motives and can see our innocence even when others see us as guilty. It also means that He is not deceived by us when we claim to be innocent when in fact we are guilty. He can convict us by His Holy Spirit to show that we need to repent and confess that sin to Him. As we do so He cleanses us from that sin and we become more humble, inviting Him to be the Lord and Master of our lives. 

2].       VERSES 7-12. HIS OMNIPRESENCE. HE CAN BE EXPERIENCED EVERYWHERE

7 “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?”

King David had come to realise that God was not confined to just being present at different times in the tabernacle. He could be experienced anywhere at any time. So these words in verse 7 expressed that belief in David. He could think of no place where God would not be present. So there was chance of fleeing from Him. 

8 “If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!”

David thought of all the possibilities of trying to find a place where God was not. He knew that even if he ascended to heaven, God would be there. If he descended into Sheol, the place of the dead, He would be there also. If God existed in the heights and the depths, then could an extreme remote place on earth be a place where God would be absent? He answers that in the next verse. 

9 “If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea”

David was saying that if he could go to the extremities of the earth and dwell in the deepest sea, “even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.” Verse 10. It is interesting that David not only saw God as being present in those places, but He would be there for David. God’s hand would lead Him and His right hand would hold Him. These words seem to express God’s care for him if he were able to arrive at those places. [Note 1].

11’ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night, 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.”‘ The final place David imagines himself to be  is in darkness where there is no light.  But David’s confidence is in God’s ability to see in the darkness as though it was still daylight. It might be darkness to a human like David, but nothing, not even darkness, could hide David from God.

It is as though David is saying in these few verses that God is omnipresent, present everywhere, and that this was nothing to be feared but to be rejoiced in. God is present in any situation in which any human can be placed at any time. 

3].       VERSES 13-18. HIS OMNIPOTENCE. HE CAN DO ALL THINGS.

David now moves from thinking about God in the world “out there” to reflecting on God in relation to him as an individual, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” Verse 13. 

He sees that God had created him as an individual in his mother’s womb. He fashioned him in the womb to be the person God created him to be. It means that every individual is an individual creation by God Himself. 

These truths lead David to express his praise to God for being created by God, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” Verse 14. 

The Greek Old Testament version [LXX] has the word [exomologeō; ἐξομολογέω] at the beginning of the sentence. It means to acknowledge or to give praise to. So David is praising God for being created by Him. He recognises that he has been fearfully and wonderfully made, even as all God’s works are wonderful. He added that his soul knows that very well. [Note 2].

God saw David in the womb as he was being made

“My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.” Verse 15. What was happening in his mother’s womb after he was conceived was a secret to humans but was not hidden from God. David described his growth in the womb as being “intricately woven. “ God creates every individual with great care even giving them unique finger prints. 

God saw all David’s life before he was born

“Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Verse 16.

How great it is to know that God knows all the days of our lives. It means that He has a plan and purpose for each one of us in life and we need to come to know Him and submit our lives to Him in order to find that plan. Imagine the joy and the sense of fulfilment when people come to know God’s will for them and are doing it to His glory.

God’s knowledge is far beyond human knowledge. Verses 17-18

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.”

David had already shown that God is omniscient.  He considered it impossible to count the number of God’s thoughts. More than the sand. Innumerable. He could go to sleep still pondering them and when he awoke God would still be with him. 

4].       VERSES 19-22. HIS OMNIJUDGMENT. HE IS JUDGE OF ALL.

David now thinks of all those who reject this magnificent God. Surely they deserve to be punished for their sin in rejecting Him.He affirms his own allegiance to God as he asks God to deal with those evil-doers. 

19 “Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me!”

David sees these people as being wicked, as shedding perhaps innocent blood. He wants nothing to do with them. God should slay them.

20 “They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain.” David tells God about those who reject Him. He sees them as speaking malice against God and taking His name in vain.

David is angry as he writes these words, 21 “Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.” His anger is expressed in strong language. He hates them. He loathes them. He hates them with complete hatred. Because they have made themselves enemies of God, then they are David’s enemies as well. It is David’s way of saying to God, “You can count on me Lord. I am on your side!”

In the above we have seen David’s description of God as being omniscient [knowing all things], omnipresent [being everywhere] and omnipotent [all-powerful, able to do everything He wishes to do.] He wants to walk in God’s ways without having any hidden sin. So he turns this Psalm into a prayer as he asks the searching God to search him 

VERSES 23-24. THE PRAYER OF THE PERSON WHO WANTS TO BE IN GOD’S WILL. 

v. 23. “Search me O God and know my heart.”          

“Search” here [dokimazō; δοκιμάζω] is the same as in verse 1 where David wrote “O LORD, you have searched me and known me!” He asks again for God to search him and to know his heart. He turns the truth about God he expressed in the first verse of the Psalm into a prayer to Him. He wants God to reveal the result of His search to him so that he can deal with anything that may be amiss in his life. 

“Test me and know my anxious thoughts.“ “Test” here is [etason; ετασόν from ἐτάζω] meaning to examine. David wanted God to examine his [tribos; τρίβος] which in the  LXX means a beaten or worn path. It may be a reference to the battered path of his mind or to his anxieties. 

v.24. “See if there is any offensive way in me” (Any path in me that brings You grief)

In the LXX the meaning is “See if there is any unlawful or sinful way in me.”

“And lead me in the way everlasting.” The word for lead here is the same [hodēgeō;  ὁδηγέω] as in verse 10, where David wrote, “even there your hand shall lead me.” Here David is saying that he wants to be led in the everlasting way, in God’s way. 

Through our openness to God, as we pray the words of verses 23 and 24, we can cooperate with Him as He searches us and reveals to us the things we need to know for our healing and for our empowering. As we repent of anything amiss in our lives, we can become more and more the people He wants us to be, to do His will, to His glory. 

Through our openness to God, we can cooperate with Him as He searches us and reveals to us the things we need to know for our healing and for our empowering. 

Thus we can become more and more the people He wants us to be, to do His will, to His glory. That is what God demands of every human.

———————————————————————————————————–

[Note 1].       “Lead” is from [hodēgeō;  ὁδηγέω] means to act as a guide or to lead.

“Hold”is from [katechō; κατέχω] meaning to hold securely

[Note 2].       “Well.” From [sphodra;  σφόδρα] meaning exceedingly, or very well.

Blog No.430 posted on Saturday 24 September 2022

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429. THE FREEDOM THAT COMES FROM FORGIVENESS. Core Teaching Stage 1. Topic 2

Posted on September 22, 2022 by Jim Holbeck

It is well-known that stress arising out of relationships in the past or the present can lead to guilt and “dis-ease” which can lead to disease and to illness. It is necessary to deal with the source of problems and not just with the presenting symptoms, to experience real healing.

We need to experience the release of forgiveness for our own guilt. When we know that we are forgiven then we are in a much better place to be able to forgive others. 

Healing is accelerated as guilt is dealt with, and we become more open to God’s healing love and power.  And much more motivated to forgive. 

1.     FORGIVEN PEOPLE MUST FORGIVE. There is a problem if they don’t.

In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18:21-35 we note that there were three elements of forgiveness shown in the master’s attitude towards someone who owed him a vast sum of money and who pleaded with him to give him time to repay. “And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.“ 18:27. The man who owed the money had been the recipient of the master’s amazing grace and was now free, completely forgiven of all his debt. Those elements of forgiveness seen in the master were 1. A willingness to show mercy and forgive. 2. Setting the guilty sinner free 3. Cancelling the whole debt that was owed. 

But the story continued as the ”forgiven” man went out and met an inferior who owed him a small amount of money. The latter also pleaded to be given time to repay. But the man who had been forgiven of much, refused to show any mercy to the man, ordered that he be put in prison and wanted the whole debt paid. It was the very opposite of the grace that he had been shown. 1.He showed him no mercy 2. He had him put in prison 3. he refused to cancel any of the man’s debt.

When the master heard about this he summoned the man he had previously forgiven, 

“Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, [handed him over to be tortured. NASB] until he should pay all his debt.”[Note 1]

Jesus added, as He applied these truths to His hearers, “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” Those who refuse to forgive are in a negative bonding to those with whom they are angry. They are in captivity to their negative emotions. They bring upon themselves self-imposed torture. The only way of this bondage is to do what Jesus said and forgive those people. That brings the freedom of forgiveness in being both forgiven and forgiving.

If we don’t forgive everyone of everything, we can’t experience the real freedom of our own forgiveness. 

2.     FORGIVEN PEOPLE CAN FORGIVE. We Need To Know How Forgiven We Are 

As we experience forgiveness of all our sins, we are enabled to forgive others of all their sins against us. There is a special reason why we need to forgive. It has to do with our enemy Satan or the devil. He is named as ‘Diabolos” meaning the accuser. That is seen in Job 1:8, where God confronts Satan and asks what he is doing.  ‘And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”’ Satan responds by accusing God of guarding Job so that he has no reason to be critical of God. But if God were to remove that protection then Job would show his true colours and curse God. [This was an accusation against Job]. “Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 

How great it is to read at the end of the book of Job, these words of Job, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; 6 therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:5-6. True repentance is honoured by God. The end result? “And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” Job 42:10. Coming to the Lord in true repentance makes it more possible for us to receive His blessing. 

Another reference is in Revelation 12:9-10, where Satan is named as the accuser of the brothers, “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.

What Satan does in the mind of humans is to plant accusations in their minds especially when they are thinking in negative ways. He accuses them of the specific sins of the past, and the present, seeking to bring them under his control through guilt. That is why we must be specific when confessing our sins to God knowing that every individual sin has been forgiven by Him. We have to know they are forgiven specifically so that when Satan accuses us specifically, we can tell him to scram because the blood of Jesus has covered that sin. Only then can we walk in freedom.

It is necessary for us in combatting the voice of Satan to recognise what is the difference between conviction of our sin by the Holy Spirit and what are the accusations being fed into us by Satan. Is it conviction by the Holy Spirit or condemnation by the accuser? 

In brief when God convicts us by the Holy Spirit it is to get us to confess that sin to Him in order to receive His forgiveness and to walk in freedom. When Satan accuses us, it is to make us feel guilty so that we focus on our guilt and become morose, instead of turning to the Lord and being released from guilt. In this way we remain in Satan’s control .

3.     THE COMPLETENESS OF OUR FORGIVENESS FROM GOD. God’s Word pictures. 

God has given us many word pictures in His word to enable us to understand the completeness of His forgiveness of all our sins. Below is a list of many of them.

I].        In the OLD TESTAMENT

  • Psalm 32:1-2. “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. “  

King David is writing of his own experience of the blessing he experienced when he confessed his sin to God.  He also expressed how he felt before he did that, when hiding his sins from God, “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.” He went through physical and emotional torture. But when he turned to God confessing his sins, there came a tremendous release. “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.“ Verse 5.

  • Psalm 103:12.  “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” 

Whether David knew that that expression denotes infinity we do not know. But what he did know is that when God forgives our sins he takes them right away. He no longer sees them on us. How good it is to know that God no longer sees us covered with that sin! 

  • Isaiah 1:18. “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” 

Many people have shared with me that when they did or said something of which they were ashamed they felt stained and thought perhaps that other people could see that sin like a stain on them. However, when they eventually confessed that sin to God and asked for His forgiveness, it was as though the stain had been removed and they now felt clean. 

  • Isaiah 43:25. “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. “

There are two word pictures here showing the immensity of God’s forgiveness. The first is that God “blots out” our transgressions. The word can mean to cover over or to wipe out. God removes them from the record of wrongs. They no longer exist. The second picture is that God does not remember them any more. It is true that God is omniscient, knowing all things and cannot forget anything. But what God says is that He will not remember nor recall them from His memory. As He sees it, they are gone, not to be revisited by Him upon those who confess them. 

How different we see it in an unbelieving world where people will not let go of the sins committed against them and play them over and over in their minds. There is no healing or release in doing that and it leads to a growing bitterness in those people. We can choose with God’s help to not replay the memory of sins committed against us. 

  • Isaiah 44: 22. “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.” 

This verse meant a lot to me when I was the Dean of the Cathedral in Armidale in NSW. I would often drive my daughter to school in the mornings and as I drove up the hill towards her school I could look back and see the cloud-that covered the whole city. Only the spires of the Roman Catholic Cathedral and of my Cathedral poked out above the clouds. It looked like being a very overcast day. But often as I drove home I would see that the whole cloud had lifted or been swept away and the sun was shining brightly upon the city. 

What a wonderful picture that is of our sins disappearing as God forgave our sins. They don’t hang over us like those heavy clouds. God removes them from sight. He redeems us by setting us free from the burden of the guilt of our sins. 

  • Isaiah 55:7. “Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” 

Free pardon! What an incredible privilege to be given a free pardon from God when we turn to Him in repentance and faith. But it does involve our part is being willing to turn away from wickedness in order to live for the Lord. It also involves a willingness to let him cleanse our minds from wrong patterns of thinking.

  • Jeremiah 31:34. “…For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

This picture is similar to that in Isaiah 43:25 above. Forgiven, with the assurance that God will not bring back our sins against us ever again.

  • Jeremiah 33: 8. “I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me.”

Here the picture is of the sinner being cleansed of their sin and rebellion against God. There is a need for sinners to be cleansed because sin stains those who commit it.  People often describe their guilt as feeling dirty within. And when they confess their sins and are forgiven, they describe it as being a cleansing.

  • Ezekiel 18:21-22 . “But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. “ 

In this passage the need for repentance is seen, for it is only those who repent and endeavour to live in God’s way who will live. In fact all one’s transgressions will not be remembered by the Lord if they have truly repented and turned to God.

  • Is 38:16-17.   “You restored me to health and let me live. Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back. Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.”

Isaiah used another metaphor on describing God’s forgiveness. These are the words of King Hezekiah who had been facing imminent death. However, he turned to the Lord who added another 15 years to his life. Hezekiah felt that he had been lifted up from the pit of death by God’s love. He also felt forgiven of his sins. He saw it as though God had cast sins behind His back. Thus, they were longer before Him. They ceased to exist in the sight of God. 

  • Micah 7:18-19.  “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever,  because he delights in steadfast love. 19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

This verse has a number of expressions describing God’s forgiveness. He pardons iniquity. He passes over transgressions. He treads iniquities underfoot. He cast sins-into the depths of the sea. Each one signifies the completeness of God’s forgiveness for sinners. Together they are a powerful expression of God’s forgiving nature and show how God delights to forgive all those who come to Him in repentance, confessing their sins and asking for His mercy.

II].       In the NEW TESTAMENT. 

There are some terms we will find in this section which might be worthwhile to look at before we examine the verses on forgiveness.

Repentance in the Greek New Testament is from [metanoia; μετάνοια] meaning a change of mind accompanied by a change in attitude. It refers to changing one’s mind about sin, seeing it as God sees it and deciding to confess it and to ask God for His forgiveness. 

Repentance is different from both remorse and rationalisation. Remorse is feeling sorry for one’s sin but it does not lead a person to go to God to receive forgiveness. Judas Iscariot was filled with remorse but never went to God to ask for forgiveness. Rationalisation is giving a reason as to why we committed that sin. It is not necessarily admitting guilt and is not looking to God for forgiveness. 

Confession of sin. The word to confess one’s sins is [homologeō; ὁμολογέω] which means to say the same as. It is saying the same thing about sin that God has already said about is in His word. As we confess our sin we are agreeing with God’s verdict on our words or deeds.

Forgive has 2 main Greek words to describe it. One is [aphiēmi; ἀφίημι] meaning to let go, remit, forsake. It describes how God deals with sin in letting sinners go free from the penalty for their sins. He lets them go and does not hold them against us.

The other word is [charizomai; χαρίζομαι] from charis = grace. It is showing grace to the guilty party. It is refusing to punish people for their sins against us and instead offering them grace for something [forgiveness] they can neither earn nor deserve. 

  • Mat  26:28. “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

This was a very significant moment in the ministry of Jesus. It was the Last Supper and Jesus was preparing his disciples for life without His physical presence.  As He took the cup He said that this was the new covenant in His blood. His blood was about to be shed. But His blood to be poured out in His death was to bring about the forgiveness of sins. This had been the whole purpose of the sacrificial system in the Old Testament, to prepare people for the concept  of the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross to take away the sins of the world. 

  • Rom 5:9-10. “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” 

The term that is used here is “justified.“ People are justified by Jesus’ blood. The term means to be declared righteous in the sight of God. Jesus’ death on the cross, shedding His blood, made it possible for sins to be forgiven. That has led to their averting the wrath of God by this act of salvation. Not only that but God through that death, reconciled those who were once enemies of God, to Himself. Now as reconciled friends, God will save them by His life. Forgiveness by God opened the door to penitent sinners, to a living relationship with God  

  • Heb 9:22. “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” 

The shedding of blood was the central part of the Old Testament sacrifices. Sacrifices had to be made for the sins of the people and in worship everything had to be purified with the shed blood. Here the writer observes the truth that unless blood is shed, there can be no forgiveness of sins. The writer of course was referring to the blood Jesus shed on the cross. His blood had to be shed for any forgiveness to become available for sinners. 

  • Heb 9:25-26. “Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” 

The priests and high priests had only been protypes of the great High Priest [Jesus] who would offer a single sacrifice for sins. Unlike their offerings Jesus’s sacrifice was perfect. It was the shedding of His own blood in His one offering of Himself for sin. There was no need after that for any offering take away sin.

  • Heb 10:14. “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” 

The Old Testament had many priests and high priests offering many sacrifices during their lifetimes. None of which could take away even one sin. But Jesus as the Great high Priest offered just one sacrifice which could take away all of the sins of the world, for ever. It was the perfect sacrifice of His own blood. Those who trusted in Him and in His sacrificial death, were “being sanctified.“ In other words, God has set them apart to belong to Himself [they have been perfectly accepted by Him] and while they were still alive, He would keep working in their lives  to make them more holy. Justification is a one-time declaration that a sinner has now been forgiven and accepted by Jesus. Sanctification is the process in which God continues to make His people even more like Himself. 

  • 1 John 1:7.  “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” 

John in his gospel had recorded the words of Jesus commanding His disciples to abide in Him. That is what is meant by walking in the light.  Jesus is the light of the world and sinners are enlightened by Him when they come to Jesus for salvation. As they maintain this close relationship they will have access to the light of divine truth and will remain open to the cleansing power of the shed blood of Christ. This cleansing refers to the cleansing of the actual sine but also to the cleansing of the consciences of repentant sinners. 

  • Ephesians 1:7-8. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.” [See also Colossians 1:14]. 

This verse tells us where forgiveness is to be found. It is in the Person of Jesus. He accomplished this forgiveness of sins for us on the cross and it can only be found in Him. He has redeemed us through His blood. That was the redemption price. It was His death for sinners as He shed His blood. It means then that in our preaching we should not be offering our hearers forgiveness of sin as though it was some disembodied prize to be gained.  Rather we preach the Person of Jesus as someone to be received into one’s life and in receiving Him, we receive IN HIM, forgiveness and eternal life. 

In my early days as a new Christian I wrote a sentence I found in an article by Dr.Jim Packer but I have not found the article since then. I thought it summed up what preaching should be all about.  It went something like this, “We preach Jesus Christ who embodies in Himself all the saving efficacy of His work on the cross.“  [ I remember being asked to give the Bible studies over 50 years ago, at a Clergy Summer School in the diocese of Brisbane with about a hundred clergy present. I quoted these verses and then held up my Bible to say that it represented the Person of Jesus who is meant to be the subject of our preaching.  Then I opened the Bible and drew out 2 slips of paper. On one I had written “forgiveness of sins” and on the other “eternal life.” The point I was making was that we preach the Person of Jesus IN WHOM forgiveness and eternal life are to be found. We don’t preach just the doctrines but the Person. We want people to receive Him, not just forgiveness or eternal life as concepts to be gained!]

4.    THE DIVINE COMMAND FROM THE MAKER.

What Should Be Our Christian Attitude To Those Who Make Themselves Our Enemies?

Jesus wants His people to seek forgiveness for themselves but also to forgive others. St Paul gives God’s command in Ephesians 4:32 [and in Colossians 3:13], “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” The word for “forgiving” here is from [charizomai; χαρίζομαι} meaning to show mercy, to pardon, to deal graciously.  

The pattern we are to follow is God’s forgiveness of us, “as God in Christ forgave you.”

What are the elements of His forgiveness towards us? When God forgives us He does so absolutely and completely, holding nothing against us (of the sins we confess to Him). We could never earn or deserve our forgiveness. It was an act of sheer grace, His unmerited favour. We accept it as a free gift in Him. We are then to forgive others in the same way.

We are meant to forgive AND to bless others

1Peter 3:8-9. “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” Pay back should have no place in the life of believers. It is a natural response when we are hurt by another’s sin against us, but it is not a Christian response. Here Peter tells us the way to respond. In forgiving others, we “grace” them with something they could never deserve or earn. (As God “graced” us.) If it seems to be an impossible command to obey we can ask the Lord to give us the grace to forgive. He is able to do so! 

Blessing those who hurt us is a further step in the process of forgiveness. It is also a test of whether we have really forgiven someone. [I remember at a conference counselling a female pastor of a non-conformist church who saw the need to forgive someone who had tried to sexually assault her many years before. Fortunately her screams had prevented that from happening but it certainly bruised her emotionally. When I asked if she would be willing to pray a blessing upon that man she said that she couldn’t. When I asked why, she replied, “Because he hasn’t suffered enough yet.”  After a quick arrow prayer to the Lord for guidance I found myself saying to her, “But when you came to the Lord, did He say, ‘No, I can’t accept you because you haven’t suffered enough yet? ‘“After a few moments she said, “No, He accepted me as I was. Yes, I will pray a blessing on him!” WhIch she immediately did. She left the conference a much different person than when she-had arrived. In fact within 2 years after getting rid of her antagonism against males, she had happily married a former close friend.] 

We should be gracious towards them.

As we have been the recipients of grace we can extend it to others. Perhaps we think that nothing they could ever do would make up for the hurt they caused us. That’s where grace comes in! We are giving them what they could never earn or deserve. That is what God has done for us!

We should be loving towards them.

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” That may sound impossible, to love some individuals. But Christian love means seeking the best interests of that person, not having loving feelings towards them. To love is a decision we make, not an emotion we feel. 

Christian love [agapē; ἀγάπη] is a love centred on another, not upon oneself. It is a self-giving love. And the good news is that it a part of the fruit of the Spirit which can be produced in our lives as we abide in Christ. It is also shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Romans 5:5 “and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” We can love others with the love of God which is in our hearts as we make the decision to do so.

We can exhibit peace and forgiveness in troubling situations 

All of us face difficulties in life often caused by difficult people. There will always be people we need to forgive for the hurts they caused us. It does make it more difficult when such people never repent of their words or deeds. However St Paul gives us a process we can put into place which enables us to live in peace, “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honourable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” Romans 12:17-18. [Note 2]. 

If someone has committed evil against us then we have a choice we need to make. We can seek revenge, or we can decide not to do that. Instead, we can be loving and forgiving. That is the more honourable thing to do. It is seeking on our part to maintain peace in all relationships to the extent we are able to do so.

5.    THE FREEDOM THAT COMES FROM FORGIVING!

The freedom that comes from forgiveness only comes from true repentance. It can never come from rationalising our sin by giving a reason for why we did or said something that caused hurt to another person. This is where we project our guilt onto that other person saying to ourselves, “It was their fault not mine, that I acted that way.” That may have been the trigger for our sin but blaming the other person and refusing to take accountability for our words and actions brings us no freedom from our guilt. 

We have seen above that to forgive [aphiemi] means to “let go” to cancel the debt owed, to set someone free. This sets us free from bondage to our negative emotions, such as anger, bitterness, resentment, etc. To choose not to forgive holds us in bondage to those who hurt us. They still have some control over us even though we may be far from their minds.

I remember reading in one of CS Lewis’ books that he wrote, “Forgiveness is a difficult thing”. But it was encouraging that he later could write, “At last!” He had now forgiven someone who had hurt him in the past. There has to come an “At last!” moment in the lives of all of us, and that can only come when we deliberately forgive those who hurt us 

One of the things that people find hard in forgiving someone who hurt them, is when that person keeps on doing it and never asking for forgiveness. That means that we need to keep affirming our forgiveness, both our forgiveness from God and our forgiveness of them even when the situations or people don’t change.  It gives us a forgiving spirit. Then we can maintain the victory of being freed from the bondage of our unforgiveness. 

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NOTES

[Note 1]. “Tortured.” This is from [basanistēs; βασανιστής ] meaning a tormentor or a torturer. The noun [basanismos; βασανισμός] means torture or torment. It is also translated as a “prison guard.”

[Note 2]. “Honourable” is from [kalos; καλός]  which has the meaning of being beautiful, worthy of admiration, valuable, virtuous. 

Blog No.429 posted on Thursday 22 September 2022

Posted in BIBLE PASSAGE OUTLINES, Bible verses. Comments, Creation, Evangelism, Faithfulness, Forgiveness, Healing, HEALING MINISTRY Core Teaching, Holy Spirit, Judgement, Justification, Mental Health, New Covenant, Prayer, Real Life Stories, Sanctification, spiritual warfare, Temptations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment