In Responce to "Faith Healing"...

I came upon this quote last week:

"Our Substitute bore both our sins and our sicknesses that we might be delivered from them. Christ's bearing of our sins and sicknesses is surely a valid reason for trusting Him now for deliverance from both." F.F. Bosworth

I can't disagree with this assumption more. It is based on this verse:

"Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:4-6)

So, am I saying I don't agree with this verse? No. What I disagree with is the belief that somehow this verse guarantees instant healing. Most people, who believe this, also believe that if instant healing doesn't come then it is the fault of the supplicant, that they must not have enough faith.

Nowhere in this verse do I see a promise for instant healing. Nor do I find that promise anywhere else in the bible. In fact I see this in the scriptures:

"Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." (Romans 8:17, NIV)

" I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed." (Romans 8:18-19, NIV)

"Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10, NAS)

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." (2 Corinthians 4:16, NIV)

I'm not saying the promise isn't real. He did bear our sorrows and iniquity and by his stripes we are healed. But, I don't see anything in the promise that makes it a now thing. A promise delayed is still a promise. Isn't that what Hebrews 11 is all about?

"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth." (Hebrews 11:13, NIV)

The Promised Land was promised to the Israelites, it was theirs, yet it took 40 years for them to get there. God's promises are no less true because we have to wait for them.

I know my healing is promised. I just have to wait for God to give it to me. In His time, not mine, and how much faith I have or don't have won't stop God from doing His will in my life. That's where grace comes in. He is giving me what I don't deserve: love, forgiveness, strength, power...the fruit of the Spirit. His grace isn't based on anything I do or don't do. Grace is exactly what it is, undeserved love. I deserve death. What I get is grace.

.Instant healing is not for everyone this side of heaven. For some of us, including me, it is the pain and illness that allows me to be the best witnesses in this world. It also allows us to better weep with a hurting world. I am called to do this as much as any calling God gives.

"I am healed of the need to be healed." From an interview with football coach with ALS

The Parade...

The pastor who discipled me (John Langlois) taught me well and left me with many truths that I still hold onto today. He had an amazing gift of making biblical truths real and relevant. I was reminded of one of those truths a few days ago by something a friend said. It is a truth on perspective and how it effects the attitudes I have in my life.

My life is like a parade and I am stuck watching the parade from behind a fence, with only a knothole to see it through. That means my view on life is what I have already seen and what is going by at the moment. I can’t see what is coming or how long the parade will last. I also can’t see anything that came before I started watching.

God, because he is omniscient (all knowing), sees the parade from over the top of the fence, from beginning to end. Not only does he see the parade, he also planned the parade and is over-seeing its progress. Nothing happens in the parade that he hasn’t planned or allowed to happen.

This analogy helps me maintain perspective. It reminds that what I see and experience now is only a small part of the big picture or, as one theologian (C.S. Lewis I think) observed, if it were a book, my life would be the first letter of the first word on the first page of a three volume set (and from an eternal point of view that is minuscule). It helps me most when I am hurting or suffering because it helps me see that this life is momentary and that what I am suffering now will be greatly outweighed by the eternal glory God has promised me. The Bible puts it this way:

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18, NIV)

It’s also nice to know that someone bigger than me is in charge and that he knows what is going to happen. I can trust him because he loves me. I can put the parade of my life into his capable hands and sit back and watch what is going to happen next. I know that he is here with me and that he is giving me the strength I need to live. As the parade passes by, he is here giving it meaning.

"God is too good to be unkind. He is too wise to be mistaken. If I cannot trace His hand, I can always trust His heart." - C. H. Spurgeon

"Blessings"...

A friend shared this song by Laura Story with me. Thanks Ellen. Now I think I'll go buy it to download.

A Quote on Suffering...

"There are certainly things in this life that God can reveal to us only in the midst of adversity. There are hidden places deep in our souls He can reach only through our suffering." Mary Nelson

The Truths That Sustain: Truth #2...

Truth #1 was - His Amazing Love: He loves me more than I’ll ever know. In Truth #1, I talked about God’s love, that it is never-ending, all forgiving, always patient, unconditional and sacrificial.

His love is amazing, but when we add power to His love we realize that everything that happens in our lives is in His loving/powerful hands. It means that I can trust Him to do and allow only what is best for me, despite what it feels like to me.

How can anyone trust a god who is loving, but has no power to back it up? Some people would like us to believe that God is loving, but He is powerless. They believe that, because it is their way of dealing with the wrongs of the world. “Well, of course God loves us, but He doesn’t have the power to control the bad in this world. If He was powerful enough He wouldn’t let bad things happen, would He?” It’s a good question. One that I hope to answer with this and future truths.

First, let’s establish the fact that God is all-powerful or omnipotent, as the Bible tells us. More specifically, He is in control, or has power, over my life.

Truth #2 – He Is In Control: There is never a moment when He isn’t in control.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11, NIV

“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:16, NIV

"For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:16-17, NIV

If He is in control, of both the big and the small, then I can let go of the tight hold I have on my life. My loving, powerful, heavenly Daddy is already at work, using the bad and the good in my life for my best.

"You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways." Psalm 139:3, NAS

“You scrutinize my path,” is more accurately, “you winnow, ventilate, or sift my path.” This verse is literally saying that everything that happens to me is sifted through His loving/powerful hands. Everything, yes everything, happens because He has allowed it or caused it to happen.

I’ll be honest, this truth both encourages me and scares me. As C. S. Lewis said, “We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”

Thankfully, I am not expected to go through the bad times alone. I have a Helper and He gives me grace and peace to survive, but those are truths yet to come.

A Quote...

I want to share this quote with you:

"A violin-maker in the old days always chose the wood for his violins from the north side of the trees; it was the side upon which the wind and the storms had beaten. So he said when he heard the groaning of the trees in the forest at night he didn't feel sorry for them, for they were just learning to be violins." Unknown

I like thinking about how this applies to me. I see it as a picture of how God is forming me into what He wants me to be, something beautiful, something that sounds forth His glory. He is doing that through the wind and rain (hardship and pain) that He allows in my life.

I won't look at a violin the same way again. This story will stay with me and remind me of the instrument that God is forming me to be. An instrument of beauty and an instrument, that when the Master takes it up to play, will produce a lovely sound. I am waiting in His hands, waiting to be played.

The Truths That Sustain: Truth #1...

There are times when it is really hard for me to keep pushing forward, like when the pain is bad or when I’ve just lost another part of myself to the MS. At those times I have to put my mind on something else just to stay sane. Watching TV and reading help for awhile, but what I really need to do is to see my life from another prospective, from God’s prospective. There are 14 truths that I have found in the Bible that help me during trying times. Truths that keep me grounded. I want to share those truths with you, one at a time. I am hoping these truths will help you when you are discouraged or confused, hurting or mourning.

Truth #1 – His Amazing Love: He loves me more than I’ll ever know.

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-7 (NIV)

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 1:3 (NIV)

God loves me. It is a sacrificial love, I know because He sent His son to die for me. It is a patient love, a love that is not demanding. His love was with me as I was formed in my mother’s womb. His love was with me before I gave my heart to Him (“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8) His love forgives. His love never ends.

Because He loves me I know that everything happens to me for a reason, whether I understand it or not. His love is a guarantee that everything happens for my good. (“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Of course His love wouldn’t mean much if He didn’t have the power to back it up. Some say God is all loving, but not all powerful. Others say He is all powerful, but not all loving. The truth is, He is both. The Bible makes that clear. My next truth will talk more about His power and control.