The Healing Business

Satan is depicted in the Garden of Eden as a serpent. We think of snakes as carriers of venom and death. Yet, when the Israelites sinned in disobedience to God, God told Moses to make a brass serpent.

He place it on a pole (Numbers 21). That took some time, and meanwhile, many died. Once the brass icon was in place, however, everyone who looked at the serpent was saved from the pestilence ravaging the camp of sojourners.

God used this experience as a foreshadowing of Christ being raised on the cross (John 12:32). The evil symbol of Satan in the Garden of Eden was now used for the promise of eternal redemption for us all.

When we fix our eyes on Jesus, who supplied us with His grace for salvation (Hebrews 12:2), we too are saved. God wants to heal every facet of our life, if we will simply trust and believe.

God heals marriages, which He designed to give us a safe haven from a world that often frightens us and stresses us out. Two become one flesh and should never be separated.

If you try, you do not split in half; you rip apart in shreds. If you purpose to stay together, there is not one issue that cannot be worked out between you.

It takes healing, forgiveness, open communication and a selfless commitment to one another. It is easy to get a divorce. It takes unconditional love to stay together.

Sure our partner is not perfect and may get on our nerves or wear us down at times; but a little understanding and a great deal of appreciation is all you need to stay together.

God also heals parent-child relationships. When mentally or emotionally stunted adults have children, they are sure to miss the mark in certain areas of parenting. Reading every book on parenting ever written is no guarantee of success - I know, I tried.

All we can do is our best. No human being is capable of doing more. At times, our best is sub-par, but we can give our parents credit for what they did give to us; sometimes at their own financial, physical and emotional loss.

God also heals individual lives. He fills in the gaps of our childhood and teaches us to meet our own needs and to allow Him to reveal to us the lies, which Satan planted along our life's path. As we replace the lies with God's truth, we are healed from the inside out ( www.theophostic.com ). 

Prayer:

Father God, You show us through the serpent on a pole not to focus on exterior symbols and make doctrines out of them, but to follow Your Spirit, which often works contrary to our human reasoning (Proverbs 3:5-6). You are God and there is no one like You (Jeremiah 10:6). You are our alpha and omega (Revelation 22:13).

We cannot thank You enough for condescending to our human level and dwelling among us for 33 years; only to offer Your own life as a sacrifice and propitiation for the punishment, which we deserve for our sins. Your mercy and grace are new every morning and Your faithfulness is as fathomless as the sea (Lamentations 3:22-23; Psalm 36:6).

Thought for the Day:

God is in the healing business as we totally surrender our life and will to His ultimate plan for us. - Ephesians 2:10

A Seed for a Miracle

 


The trials of life are inevitable. Tribulation even comes to those who walk uprightly before the Lord (Matthew 5:45). Paul learned two secrets through the things, which he suffered.

First, he learned to be content whether he had plenty or when he had nothing, when he lived in comfort or when he suffered deprivation, and when he saw the fruit of his ministry or when he simply planted or watered (Philippians 4:11-12; 1 Corinthians 3:6-7).

Secondly, he learned to count every trial and tribulation as a joyous event (James 1:2-18). I never understood this insane view of suffering; until the day that I suffered the dissolution of my family.

This was by far the worst thing that could ever happen to me. I can bear physical pain and death, but I was inconsolable from the magnitude of my emotional loss when I was literally cut out of my family circle.

God previously tried through numerous trials to teach me to surrender all to Him, to enter His place of rest and to have faith in His faithfulness (Proverbs 3:5-6; Hebrews 4:10-11).

Yet, through every trail I struggled, often in vain, to use my own human resources to remedy the situation. However, this time there was no repairing the rupture of my family unit through divorce.

This is when I learned the Serenity Prayer. I had no recourse but to hand this devastating trial completely to God to do with as He saw fit. What I learned from this situation changed my life.

Now when I experience a trial, I view it as a sidewalk. If I focus on the details of the journey, I experience fear and insecurity. If I remember that there is a seed for a miracle in every trial, I feel only hope and anticipation.

I look toward the end the trial with the eyes of faith (Hebrews 11:1), expecting to see a miracle just up ahead. I keep my mind focused on God's Kingdom and His will for me in this trial.

I serve at the pleasure of our King Jesus. If He allows a loss or trial or tribulation in my life, it is for His glory and my good (John 9:3; Romans 8:28). I can count on Him, because He is always faithful (1 Corinthians 1:9).

God uses us in times of trial to share the Gospel with someone; to live through this storm as an example of Christ's peace within us; and for God to form His character, the fruit of His Spirit, and Christ's divine nature in us through the things, which we suffer (Galatians 5:22-23; 2 Peter 1:4; Ephesians 2:10).

I count trials as joyful experiences now, as I focus on the eternal consequences and not the temporal aspects of each one. I look forward to the ultimate miracle, which this trial shall birth in my life.

Prayer:

Father God, trials also taught me that as I continually live in Your presence and walk by Your Spirit, I will experience far fewer trials, than if You have to resort to trials to gain my attention.

Satan also uses circumstances to batter us with temptations and trials all throughout our life; but we thank You that Christ in us is greater than the god of this world (Job 2:3; 1 John 4:4). Remind us that Jesus already won the victory for us over every negative aspect of life (1 Corinthians 15:57).

Thought for the Day:

Trust your life to God's capable hands.