Divine Healing: The Purpose In The Process.***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  We live in a word of "real time" action.  We are connected to remote places all around the world and made privy to what is happening there while it is still in process.   Mail is sent and received at the touch of the send key on my computer and the demand for instant gratification grows by the day.

Then there is JESUS! The Author of Life and the Healer of the infirmed, never in a hurry and yet always on time. 

I wonder about the miracles He executed especially as He left word for us, that those who believe on His Name would do even greater things after He departed this earth realm.  His word to me at first light helps me to grasp an important perspective as we navigate this life journey and discover His will in each situation we face.  His words are not what I expected and require further discussion:  "Instant miraculous healing is not always best".

The operative word is "best".  The Holy Spirit takes me to His Word in Luke 17:11.  This is the account of ten men who had leprosy.  They cried out to Jesus as He traveled along the road to Jerusalem. "Master, have pity on us ".  When He saw them, He said, "Go show yourselves to the priests".  AND AS THEY WENT THEY WERE CLEANSED!   One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back praising God in a loud voice.  He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him-- and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed?  Where are the other nine?  Was no one found to return and praise God except the foreigner?"  Then He said to him "Rise and go, your faith has made you well".

We do not know the details of the nine who were never seen again in scripture.  But because they did not come back to find or thank Jesus, I assume they did not care past the healing to get to know the Healer or give Praise to the One who provided the healing.  Once He healed their physical infirmity did they simply go on with life too busy making up for lost time?   Or did the healing even remain since Jesus said to the lone returnee, "Rise and go, your faith has made you well"?

This account has so much to ponder as one who believes in supernatural healing.  There is no question in my heart and mind that Jesus responds to our cries for help.  The man who returned acknowledged the Lord who healed him and did so with utter thanksgiving, having thrown himself at Jesus feet.  He had a personal encounter with His personal healer and it changed his life forever.

The question is surely well asked "Where were the other nine"

I have come to place ultimate value on my indwelling Counselor and the wisdom He speaks.  I also have a great appreciation for the lessons I have learned in the process of receiving His resolutions.  We do not arrive on planet earth perfectly prepared to handle all the challenges here in a Godly way. Nor are we in any stretch of our pride close to the image of Jesus in character qualities that make us fit citizens for the Kingdom of Heaven.

All our trials are things permitted to challenge us, hone us, transform us but most importantly to draw us into a deep and personal relationship with our Creator and Savior God.  The Holy Spirit's wisdom this morning is a reminder to me that the process is more important than the resolution at times, and the duration of any trial should not be the consideration of its value.

If a team engaged in any sport could know at the beginning of the event that they would be the winners at the end, they might well focus more on how they played the game. 

"AS THEY WENT, THEY WERE CLEANSED"!

If I take the Lord at His word and believe in my heart that my infirmity is healed, then my concern is not laced with fear but rather focused on how I can better walk through the process to the promised end.  The question then, is not "Is it God's will to heal me", but rather "How can I appropriate the healing that is already mine?" 

I am very encouraged for myself and those I know and love who are in desperate need of healing.  The words from the Holy Spirit spoken to my heart counter the lie of the enemy that says "delayed healing is denied deliverance."

Jesus came to show us the Father and His kingdom.  Healing  by His hand is a "Kingdom" principle.  In John 9 we are told about a man who was born blind.  Jesus was asked by the disciples the reason he was born blind.  They, like us, were just trying to understand the "whys" of life.  It was thought back in the day, that personal sin was the source of such infirmity and the disciples were trying to determine in their minds the "who" and "why" cause. 

Jesus's answer in the bigger perspective was one we all can find and take comfort in:  "This happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life".   John 9:3

I cannot begin to imagine the man's joy and how many lives were touched by his healing and restoration.  The testimony of his healing brings hope for me and those I love.  I see all healing as Divine, it is just the timing that makes it "supernatural".  Divine healings came with the daily life that Jesus modeled for us and that commission to carry His life forward has been delegated to the church. 

We are the church, and the kingdom still needs to be represented by the gracious mercy and Divine power of our Healer.  Our physical lives are important but not as important as the Principles they give witness to.  Thankfully we can take claim to both the principles and the testimonies they provide of the Lord's love for us.

As a Christian and one who has always wanted a "formula" for the problems in life, I am finding the Lord does not allow nor expect us to find a "formula" to be worked, in all the books written about religion.  The blind man had a personal encounter with a personal God and no other explanation could be found.  When cross-examined by the Pharisees who wanted "the" explanation, the man was left with the simple testimony of his meeting with Jesus:  "I was blind, but now I see".   John 9:25

Jesus does truly know what is best for each one of us and that is the important point in every trial  What if we are in a "time" work that is eternally best for us?  While we are all understandably desperate for an instant fix to the troubles we experience and yes even suffer, there is much to be gleaned in the process.  But will we trust Jesus, in the process, to get us to the desperate and desirable end?

The Spirit is calling.  Can you  hear Him?      
  

The Dark Days Of The Tomb***

The Holy One calls to me this morning .  Encouraging words are what I hear and with so much to be discouraged by in these difficult days, the words of my Lord coming out of the darkness set the stage for our early morning conference.

"Remember the days of the tomb.  I was at work in the darkness out of the sight of human eyes". 

I cannot begin to fathom the emotional agony of the disciples in the time between the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus.  We read about it from start to finish knowing the glorious and epic end from the beginning.  We read about the unbelief of the disciples and may even wonder how in just 3 days they lost their hope and faith?   

However,  if I take a minute and turn off what I know is the end of the story, I can relate to their deep agony.  I too can live in the pain of unbelief as I await the answers to my prayers when the silence of the Tomb is deafening.

In Luke 24, we read about two of the disciples expressing the unbelief that most of them were struggling with as the two walked along the road to Emmaus: 

 "Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus about 7 miles from Jerusalem.  They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.  As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus Himself came up and walked with them but they were kept from recognizing Him.  He asked them, "What are you discussing as you walk along?"

The two began to relate to Him the events according to the sadness of their human hearts and minds.  The fact that it as the 3rd day after the Crucifixion represented the day of utter hopelessness due to the Jewish belief that after the 3rd day the soul left the body making the death final. 

They even told this "stranger" the story they heard from the women that morning about having gone to the Tomb and finding it empty including the testimony of the vision of angels and the message that Jesus was alive.  Yet their unbelief persisted for up to that point, "Him, they did not see". 

As I think about their unbelief  I am convicted by my own.  Until Jesus revealed Himself to them their faith was sealed in a tomb along with the crucified body of the One they called "Lord".  Only when Jesus revealed Himself was their faith revived and the power of His resurrection became their reality.  A personal encounter with the risen Savior was essential to their faith and essential to ours as well.

There are disturbing similarities between their faith and mine as I come to repent again for the deep and grievous sin of faithless unbelief and discouragement.  The message this morning brings me hope and in my hope I plead for more manifestations of His Presence and intervention into the deep trials of life.

I petition for more miracles of His Divine intervention, without apology, because I am merely following the Lord's  directive when He said in John 14:11, "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me or  at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves". 

Miracles are a sign of His Divine Being, His Sovereign authority and the evidence that He is who He says He is.  He has Sovereign authority over all the circumstances and conditions of our earthbound lives and miracles are His privileged exercise of that authority.

The mystery of the Tomb cannot be explained by our finite minds, but lessons can be gleaned to comfort our discouraged souls. God's ultimate plan for humanity has never been derailed and God's ultimate plan for our personal lives will not be derailed either.  Jesus said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you", and that applies even on the days when we may not see Him at work.

The dark days of the Tomb ended when the crucified Savior emerged in His rightful role as the glorious King of Kings.  The freeze frame of that moment in history is absolutely stunning and lest we become apathetic or discouraged in the day-to-day trials of life, the promise of His present resurrected life and future glorious return has been written. 

In hope, we need to prepare the way of the Lord and not wring our hands in despair at what is happening around and to us.  As the dark days of the tomb held the suspenseful but glorious end to "death" for all who believe, it also holds our hope for some off-the-charts wondrous God resolutions to the trials we may be facing on earth as well. 

Remembering that God did His greatest work in the dark days of the tomb has provided us with a reason for our hope-filled hearts to await His appearance in all the challenges we may face here on earth. 

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?