EMOTIONLESS FAITH

One of our church members, Angela, was in the hospital. Her roommate was dying of cancer. Angela was moved to explain to her roommate that our church believed in the power of prayer to heal disease. The roommate agreed to receive prayer.

I was sitting at my desk in the church office when I took the call. Would I come to the hospital to pray for this roommate of hers?  I honestly did not feel like praying for anyone. My calendar was free, It was a day for prayer and sermon preparation, but it felt to me that my prayers were bouncing off the ceiling. But I was the pastor on call.

Angela introduced me as her pastor. I prayed the prayer of faith for this dying woman. Not feeling a thing but going through the motions of a clergyman.

I was sitting at my desk in the church office when I took the call again, the next day. It was the roommate, gushing, thanking me for praying. She had been instantly, miraculously healed.

This was something to celebrate, of course, but also a powerful lesson for me as a young pastor, that I will never forget. Angela's witness to this lady was an act of faith. The lady agreeing to receive prayer was an act of faith. My doing what duty required was an act of faith. And unknown to me was how many others were praying for this lady.

How often has your emotionless, sheer obedient faith moved mountains? If this woman had not called to thank me, I would have never known the powerful result of my grudging trip to the hospital that day.

Let's not forget that, ultimately, faith is God's gift to us. It is His faith that set all of this Good in motion. And He wants us to participate in His plan to announce His coming Kingdom, and invite others to come enjoy His benefits.

Having Fun Yet?

Doing the will of God should be fun. I'm not talking about pampering the flesh. The flesh is always opposed to the will of God and will put up a stinking fight every time a person takes a step in the direction of their divine destiny. But a guy who has discovered the will of God for his life and has sold out to Jesus should have more fun following Him than a barrel of monkeys. Don't you know that the Twelve who walked with Him had a blast? Every day was an adventure. Sinners invited Him to their parties.

I guarantee you in heaven they're having fun. And we do pray "Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven."

Look at how He revealed Himself to mankind in the Garden of Eden. One Rule? Are you serious? There was a task at hand but there was no sweat involved. This was going to be an adventure! "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the Earth, have dominion over everything. Adam, look around you at this Garden. When we get finished the whole planet will look like this." I'm guessing that there may have been some high fives or fist-bumps.

The Lord spoke to Kenneth Copeland, "If it hadn't been for Sin I would have never had a serious thought." I believe it.

By nature I am a serious person. When I see the devastation of the landscape and when I view the activities of Satan through misguided people I want to weep. But there is a Goshen to which we may retreat for strength and refreshment. Our Father's house is a place of Celebration. Remember, there was music and dancing when the Prodigal returned.

May God deliver the Body of Christ from a sour and dour older-brother- mentality. We cannot combat death with death. Let us be the Fragrance of Life to those who are being saved. Let His Abounding Life in us be the victory that swallows up the death-stench of this perverted culture.

Perspective Diffusing Dread

"I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. I have several appointments in Marion, and am scheduled for some tests," Terry confided in me last evening.

"Oh. Is it possible that tomorrow could still be the best day of your life?"

She conceded that it was possible.

"What is something that could happen tomorrow that would make it the best day ever?"

We had fun for the next few minutes imagining possible scenarios. A check in the mail. That person we have been praying for calling to say they came into the Jesus camp.

She called me this afternoon from Marion. "I'm having a great day. Everything at the doctors went smooth. I got there early and they took me right in. Then Joanne and I met and she treated me to lunch! The results of the test came right away and everything is fine. God is really blessing my day."

No check in the mail or anything like that. But she was able to blow off dread with some new more positive perspectives and seize the day!

Perspective Diffusing Dread

"I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. I have several appointments in Marion, and am scheduled for some tests," Terry confided last evening.. 

"Oh. Is it possible that tomorrow could still be the best day of your life?"

She conceded that it was possible.

"What is something that could happen tomorrow that would make it the best day ever?"

We had fun for the next few minutes imagining possible scenarios. A check in the mail. That person we have been praying for calling to say they came into the Jesus camp.

She called me this afternoon from Marion. "I'm having a great day. Everything at the doctors went smooth. I got there early and they took me right in. Then Joanne and I met and she treated me to lunch! The results of the test came right away and everything is fine. God is really blessing my day."

No check in the mail or anything like that. But she was able to blow off dread with some new more positive perspectives and seize the day!

We ARE Because He IS

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.  (Exodus 3:14 KJV)

Recently came across a statistic that astounded me: the average person touches his face between one and two thousand times a day. This was a statement to raise awareness about the spread of disease germs.

I am seeing that our need to touch our own faces stems from a sense of tremendous insecurity and the need for validation. We need to somehow assure ourselves that many times a day that we still exist, that we really are.

We look for validation from others. The person who touches his own face a thousand times a day without realizing it surely acts out that many times in so many other ways in order to remind the world around us that he exists. I am still here. I am. I am. I am.

I clear my throat. Ahem (I am)! I laugh at a joke that is not funny. I am still here. I tell a joke that is not funny. I am here. Hear me. Laugh at me. Look at me.

Having lost the sensitivity of a child's heart, we so often engage in aberrant behavior to stir ourselves to feel, to know we exist. We sin to make a statement that we exist as sovereign. We curse each other and put each other down to exalt ourselves. We like to feel the power and imagine that we can even grant ourselves eternal life, because we dislike that we are still so empty and unvalidated after all our attempts to prove ourselves.

In the Bible God reveals Himself to Moses as "I AM THAT I AM." This can also be translated "I EXIST BECAUSE I EXIST."

While we are looking and looking to ourselves and others for validation, we can never come to a sense of peace and security. Only God is truly able to validate Himself in this way.

He is not looking for affirmation. He is just stating a fact in order that we would know something important about Him, so we can position ourselves in relation to Him.

Since He is I AM and He did create us in His image, all of us have the right to make the statement "I AM." No other creature can make such a statement. But we cannot say "I AM BECAUSE I AM" with authority. Only God can say that.

Rather, we must draw our sense of value and security as existent beings from having been begotten of God. We say, "I AM BECAUSE HE IS" and find great comfort and rest there.

As we learn to draw our affirmation from Him alone, then we are free to focus on the others around us rather than require the attention of others. We can love those who are desperate for affirmation because they have not yet understood how loved they are by the One Who is Author of all, preexistent, all-knowing and all-powerful, Who states, "I have loved YOU from all eternity past, (YOU are the fulfillment of My dream) and I long to lavish My love and grace upon YOU for ages to come." (see Jeremiah 31:3; Ephesians 1:3-6)

Normal Church

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 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 sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed…                            James 5:13-16

We, as members of the body of Christ are supposed to be healed. We, as members of the body of Christ are supposed to be out of debt.

That is not to condemn as a bad person anyone who struggles with a chronic illness or with paying the bills each month. To be sick and in debt are so commonplace among believers that many of us consider it normal. Many are thankful to be getting to heaven and are willing to be "suffering for Jesus" with a little affliction here in this life until He calls us home.

Realize how being sick and in debt hinders the gospel. Our task of reaching the world REQUIRES us to be well and well-financed, people of God! It is an awesome task that we haven't yet accomplished in over 2k years, and the world population isn't getting any smaller. It pains the Father’s heart.

Understand that our "Great Salvation" includes, not only forgiveness of sins and eternal life, but healing for the body and supply for every possible circumstance in which we may find ourselves on our journey to evangelize the world.

Yeshua, ministering under the Old Covenant, healed and supplied the immediate needs of any and all that came to Him for aid. On a few occasions, He extended grace to those outside the Abrahamic covenant. Why would we expect Him to do less under the New Covenant?

Apostle Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 11 that correct administration of the Lord’s Table results in physical healing for the whole congregation. The Corinthian church was not benefiting from that because they were not properly observing the Lord’s Supper.

This passage in James was written primarily to Hebrew believers, but with the understanding that if there were any sick in the congregation, they could be assured recovery by working some simple biblical principles to kind of "refresh" the faith of the congregation and demolish any strongholds of sin that may have been allowed to creep in.

The Father stands ready to answer, but the connection to health and temporal supply begins with an accurate understanding of His magnanimous heart.

May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole,  put you together - spirit, soul, and body - and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 MSG