It’s Not about Me {YOU} … It’s a God Thing

Forgiveness …. I have written MANY posts about forgiveness over the years {You can peruse that library of posts right here, if you’re bored!}. Much like you, and most people, I’ve forgiven MANY for MUCH. That’s the way life is.

But what about those people … those acts, that we cannot seem to forgive?

Is it in our nature to forgive? I don’t think so, not in our natural, carnal selves.

To err is human, to forgive divine. ~ Alexander Pope

Forgiveness is a Spiritual thing of healing.

Forgiveness is a God thing.

“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake and remembers your sins no more.
 Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together; state the case for your innocence. Isaiah 43:25-26

So if God blots out my transgressions (sins) and remembers them no more and offers to argue (discuss, workout) the matter with me; who am I not to forgive those who transgress against me?

Forgiveness is not about ME. It’s about God … It’s me being about the things of God.

Like I said: I forgave many for much; and when I say much I mean a tremendous amount of wrongs! And in this world, even in our families, today, tremendous wrongs are an everyday thing. We’ve fallen so far into the depravity of the world’s view that the “I’m not hurting anyone” mantra is rote.

Well un-forgiveness is painful! To ourselves and to the other parties involved.

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:14-15

Forgiveness is a God thing. Good thing He made us all in his image, to be like Him and do His work in this earth.

Un-forgiveness is like a cancer, one we choose to cultivate! It doesn’t harm the un-forgiven party as much as it harms us, ourselves. It causes bitterness and resentment and eventually total distrust of all, if left unhindered.

So if forgiveness is such a hard thing; and yes a thing, in my studied layman’s opinion, that we are incapable of on our own, without God; how then do we do this thing?

For me it was a hailmary task. I had nothing left in me when I came searching for home … for God. I’d been physically, emotionally, verbally and sexually abused. I’d been abandoned by act and deed and choice and neglected due to illness and lack and simply lack of responsibility.

And finally … I had found refuge in the Hubs before he was the Hubs. I didn’t trust at first. I actually fought, inadvertently my own worst hit man. I undermined my own security and happiness for many years. That often being the result of those who endure much abuse and neglect over time; they grow to believe that this is their lot in life and that they somehow deserve the cards that were dealt, when in fact, they, themselves deal from the bottom of the deck they are holding. Essentially choosing their abusers, as a form of control , and controlling when and how the abuse occurs (this is a DEEP subject that needs a post of it’s own, someday). Anyway, this is how I dealt with life prior to the Hubs and my road to my Salvation!

My road! Ha! It was God’s road and His plan! Seriously (again, for another post).

So back to the path of forgiveness ….

It was only with God, on His terms and with my submission to the Word, that I was able to come to a place of forgiveness for the Many and Much. For the most part I’ve been successful … it’s been 13 years, this month!

I didn’t forsake the fellowship. I attended (attend) church and keep my mind renewed by staying in the Word and prayer and relationship with God.

To forgive is to set the prisoner free and discover that the prisoner is you. ~ Lewis B. Smedes

Let me say it this way …

My hailmary, as I walked down the aisle, to the altar one Wednesday night, to accept the grace of Jesus as my Lord and Savior, was to beseech God, for what I wasn’t sure, but somehow I knew this was where I had to be, to fix it all. The very next thing God began to work on (FOR YEARS) was my un-forgiveness! It really was the first (well after ridding me of my previous “religion”) thing that was tackled in my spiritual walk. And it remains an everyday discipline.

The Many and Much are not gone. They walk and talk and tap at my heart strings, trying to play their melody of anger and resentment from time to time.

But I am FREE. I set aside the echos of my past and turn to the Word and fellowship of my fellow believers and continue to move forward, “It’‍s the only direction God gave us.”Gabe in Wish I Was Here; and I forgive, again.

Abandonment is an issue these days. Being the wife of someone battling cancer you find that your family and friends are kind of afraid of you. Oh they ask after the Hubs and offer prayer and blessings. But rarely do they ask the wife how she is, afraid that they won’t know what to say. Their priority if they are believers is to concentrate their prayers on his healing (and oh, how thankful I am for that!) and if they aren’t, I hazard to think of the pity prayers they offer up!

And there is the cancer itself, that threatens everyday to leave me alone, my heart destitute of the only honest and true love for me that has existed in this world (aside from Father God’s, that is.).

So I wake each morning thanking God for the faith and hope that He has given me, it’s His really. I thank Him for the army of intercessors that have gathered around the Hubs and I soak in those healing prayers knowing that they are for me too, even if they are not offered to me, per se. …

And I forgive Me, for being human and angry and resentful, for shaking my fists at the circumstances of my wisp of a life, right here and right now.

Because when we realize that God has forgiven us our worst, hidden in that dark corner of our deepest crevasse of soul, sin and remembers it now more, though we keep it in the corner of that crevasse, we can then begin to forgive ourselves for those sins, not the least of which is a lifetime of resentful un-forgiveness. Only then are we able to realize we aren’t capable of forgiveness on our own, so I …

Repent and thank  God that He has created me in His image to be about the work of His kingdom and ask that He help me to forgive the new Many and Much and move forward on the path He would have me walk … today.

Today … I walk in faith, not looking to the right or to left, simply looking to God, and I walk in forgiveness. Tomorrow I will start again, because Jesus did …

 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26:28

Thanks for reading my faithful friends. Blessings to you all.

Trying to Be Still in Overwhelming Circumstances |Few Words Thursday

Just this week I participated in a word prompt exercise on Fear, you can read it {here}, if you haven’t already. That was Tuesday. It’s Thursday and what I began knowing was going to be an over full week has become more full! Isn’t it just the way of the enemy to attack just as you think you’ve come to a place of rest. Well as versed as I am in fear, and how I handle, it a whole new version of an old foe has reared it’s ugly head.

Anxiety.

Anxiety about the holiday. Anxiety about the clinical trial. And anxiety about this illness getting in the way of our family’s happiness and joy, especially at this time of year. It’s The Hubs’ favorite season, Christmas!

The research doctor at RCI called about needing The Hubs to have another CAT scan; the original biopsy was not big enough to get what they needed, so they need to start with a CT scan. Well that said, he had a CT scan a week after we saw her, so they used that. This morning the research nurse called about scheduling the biopsy. Next week is out due to his work schedule, so that leaves the week before Christmas.

THE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS! I HAVE ABSOLUTELY “0” DONE!

Now anyone who knows me knows that the hoopla around the Christmas Holiday doesn’t usually appeal to me. I’ve never liked the music or the decorations. I do, however, LOVE the meaning, the family and the togetherness with people we love. But all the hoopla … I always preferred to avoid, as in “I” didn’t touch the tree and things like that, the decorating, lighting and background music of the holiday. Let’s just say that the holidays were always  a source of chaos and anxiety, or worse, when I was a child.

The last couple of years (and I mean like 2) I’ve been feeling more “into” the celebration and decorations part of the holiday.

This year I’ve actually been feeling quite festive. Albeit a very new feeling for me.

I know it’s because I am so grateful for my time with The Hubs and our little family here in Hutchland. =)

And who deserves the honor and glory for that “new” feeling? Jesus. Yes, he does.

Then the calls … We were in a holding pattern of perpetual waiting with this clinical trial possibility, and it’s still only a possibility! The holding pattern was frustrating, I was going to call them Monday about where we were; then they called.

Now I’m feeling like that chaos and anxiety are invading again. All of a sudden I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to get this Christmas up, festive and complete with all this going on in the only two weeks we have to do it all in!

Anxiety makes being Still very hard. I have to force myself to pray and trust God. For some odd reason my heart and head are spinning again and I’m having issues getting it under control.

So what to do?

I’m praying in tongues, in my head and out loud. I am thanking God for His hand on and plan for our lives and resisting the urge to beg Him to fix all this.

He will. He is. I know this, but right this very moment I just need something concrete to know that my world isn’t rushing off on some chaotic run away roller coaster!

So I’ll read the bible. I’ll study for the Bible Lesson I’m giving tonight at bible study. I’ll continue to pray and hopefully I’ll be able to get something constructive done today.

I wish, I pray for answers, to know why I’m feeling like this. Why the anxiety after all this time (15 months).

I have a sound mind … I have power and love; everything to conquer this unfounded fear. Now I just need to remember how to use them.

So first, here, I’ll work on my memory verse and meditate on what it means when God is my fortress and stronghold!

Psalm 27:1-3 (with the Productivity501 tool in front of me.) While praying in tongues. The red is where I had to check the psalm for the right word and the cross outs are self explanatory. (Got that word, or run, incorrect.) The purple is my “commentary”. 😉

1. The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?

2. When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. (Thank you Lord! feeling better now.)

3. Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this (God, God’s Word) I will be confident.

{Psalm 27 is such an amazing Scripture to be memorizing at this time in my life. I thank God that I stumbled upon it in my blog hopping!}

In this circumstance of our lives cancer and addiction are certainly our enemies and foes; but I need not be afraid, If God is with me of whom or what shall I be afraid?

Romans 8:28-32

²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰ Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

God’s Everlasting Love

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

After writing this diary-esque post, I feel better. I think I am just overwhelmed with all of the hubbub around the holiday and this clinical trial. I am purposefully going to keep my mind on the REASON FOR THE SEASON and try to not be overwhelmed by getting it all perfect. Because frankly, this girl has NEVER been perfect, especially around the holidays, nor have I ever striven for such a thing.

I’m going to remind myself that God perfects what concerns me … and I am going to be confident in Him and what His Word says about all of this hoopla!

Psalm 138:7-9

⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand
Against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
⁸ The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

 

Christmas is about celebrating our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All the rest of it is just frills that we created to make us happy. I’m going to sit in the hay with my pups and rejoice that Jesus came to save me and that He is working with Father God, right now, to bring about the perfect results for our lives here in Hutchland.

I know my words weren’t exactly few (but I did add full scripture)!

Thanks for reading my diary of woe. It’s wonderful to know you’re here listening (reading, ha.)

A Relationship with God * His Grace.

Grace:

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ. In accordance with his pleasure and will – Ephesians 1:4-5

Grace is a huge subject and one I am very careful with. Why, you ask?

Because right now Grace is the “BIG, NEW” thing in Christian “revelation”; and I am concerned about how the message of Grace is being taught in some circles.

Quite frankly there is NOTHING new about God’s grace and God’s grace is BIG! Grace holds the same tremendous message as it did when Jesus came here as man, and so much more!

Jesus was God’s grace. Jesus is Grace. Jesus extends Grace.

We were extended God’s grace in the man of Jesus. We are to extend God’s grace to others. We are to show God’s grace in the fruit of our lives.

See … there is so much more than we can fathom in one small and beautiful word.

Grace is about Relationship.

{for this post I was lead to the relationship with God that we receive through grace}

Like I said Grace is so many things. Such a broad canvas, but it began with God and His desire for relationship … with us.

Grace was sent and Grace chose us before the creation of the world! Do you realize what that means? God created this world for us. So we would have a place to live and be with Him! By His Grace, and for His pleasure and will He created us to be Sons of God! And to secure that in it’s most pure and holy form God sent His only Son for us.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

That’s it. That’s the Grace we are all talking about. We didn’t deserve it. We don’t deserve it. It’s simply that God loves us.

ALL.OF.US.EVERYONE.

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:9-10

THAT.NONE.SHOULD.PERISH.

You see, I’m a Christian. A follower of Christ on a mission to do what Jesus did and more. I’m here to show you grace. To give you grace. And to point you to the person Grace, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am no longer lost. I have attained grace and the eternal life Jesus extended to me. It is now my job to let you know this …

By God’s grace He loves you. Right where you are. And too much to leave you there!

It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, where you’ve been. He chooses YOU. Right Now. Right Here.

Have you accepted the gift of Grace? Have you accepted the Grace that is Jesus Christ? Do you believe that He died on the cross for your sins and sickness? Do you believe that He rose again to reconcile God’s relationship with you and for you?

If your answer, today, is YES, then you’ve entered into the Grace.

The Grace that is the Love of God. Jesus.

Welcome to the journey, there is much to do and learn, and you are not alone. There are many of us here with you … come let us walk with Jesus.

If you have any questions, please, I would be happy to share this truth with you personally. You can contact me through the comments or personally at: romans826-28@comcast.net

Thanks for reading my friends. And blessings to you all.

Tuesday @ Ten

Sunday Healing | Who we are “IN” Christ.

Today’s sermon at church was dynamic and deeply important to our understanding of Who we are IN Christ.

And … I must reiterate, it’s all about our wrapping our heads around the truth.

Christ was crucified on the cross and essentially we were crucified with Him. That is, those of us who call ourselves Christians.

Romans 7:14-19

¹⁴ We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. ¹⁵ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶ And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸ For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.^[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

Essentially this means that while we call ourselves Christian we still sin. We don’t want to [we hope] yet it is our nature because of the fall. It’s called our Adamic nature. The concept is this:

“I am not a sinner because I sin; I sin, because I am a sinner, and I am a sinner because of Adam. The sin nature is the Adamic nature.

So if, in all of these confusing concepts, I sin am I a Christian or not?

Our human-ness has not changed since the time of Paul – we suffer and battle sin in the very same way Paul did. So how do we deal with this thing called sin so that we can exist within the Image of Him?

We must wrap our heads around what the blood and the cross did for us and then work out our salvation! We must work, we must change our minds, we must renew our minds … washing it in the Word of God, which explains who we are in Christ.

Jesus’ blood cleanses me of my sin … and the cross crucifies me … doing what the blood did not do. The cross reminds me, convicts me to do all that I can to avoid sin in my life … to deny illness and fleshly desires.

My old man [self, behavior] is so crucified by the cross that it [the old man – my self before salvation] is no longer able to function.

For this to happen I must be fully persuaded that when Christ took my sins to the cross, and was afflicted with all my sin and disease, that they ended there. But then we go back to Romans 7 [above] … I continue to do those things that identify me as a sinner.

Romans 6:9 tells me that Christ cannot die again: “for we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again.”

So how do we, as humans, do this thing? Wrap our heads around the fact that, despite what we do in our day to day that is defined as sin, we are no longer sinners?

How does this work?
It works IN Christ Jesus!

You see … God removes the sinner [from the sin] not the sin.

Romans 5:18-21 to 6:1-5

¹⁸ Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. ¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

²⁰ The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, ²¹ so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ.

6 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

For just as through the disobedience of the one man(Adam) the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man (Jesus) the many will be made righteous!

We were removed from our sin by the obedience of Jesus and made righteous!

If you call yourself a Christian, YOU are IN Christ. You are saved, You are healed, You are made righteous.

Now that our heads are wrapped around that we must begin to live it and continually remove sin from our day to day.

Like my good friend and Pastor said for an example.

“It’s like continuing to drive your dangerous old jalopy, when you’ve been given a brand new car. The new car is sitting there simply waiting for your to drive it; but some continue to drive the old car. It’s a choice. One that we must make on our own … it’s about free will. Refusal to drive the new car is our choice; it’s right there in front of us.”

So what will you drive today? Your Adamic nature or your Christ nature? It’s entirely up to you!

Next week we are going into deeper waters with this subject. If your intrigued or want more understanding check back for another Healing Sunday. =)

Thanks for reading.

Thank You for Reading.
Andrea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Healing Scripture Day 23 of 31 Days … A Journey

Exodus 15:²⁶ He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”

Instruction … Often we long for, and voice that longing in our day to day, instructions in life. We’ve heard people say, and probably said ourselves: “I wish there was a book of instructions for life.”

There is a How To For Life book! The Bible.

basic.instruction.before.leaving.earth

A popular acronym used by Christians:

Bible:“Basic. Instructions. Before. Leaving. Earth.”

Well, if you’re one that has built your faith into a relationship with God then you know this to be true, as cheesy as the little cliche has become. If you are new and learning … I assure you once I chose to live my life according to God’s will and timing my learning of the Word and applying the same to my life accelerated and became almost easy.

Note I said Almost Easy. This is after all life and we were not promised easy … we were promised it would be worth it. And so far, for me, it’s been worth it.

The scripture I began with is instruction for life … It was to the Israelites who were trying to get to the promised land; but true to human behavior they were complaining and fussing that it wasn’t coming as quickly and as easily as they had envisioned. They had to be continually reminded, encouraged and instructed to follow God and His timing.

They couldn’t wrap their heads around the process. They couldn’t get past putting human attributes to God. Like us they were human with human faculties … and they would get a few step forward and fall several back, into their own understanding.

Yes! The Old Testament is relevant to us today … it reveals our human-ness if we pay attention. The Israelites were just like we are today!

So as to healing … it’s God’s promise to us from the very beginning. Like I’ve said many times on my blog; Our healing was delivered in the Atonement and received at the exact moment of our Salvation!

Our salvation and our healing are one in the same!

We were created In His Image, In His Likeness. We were created to be just like God, and God is NEVER ill. He’s NEVER had a cold, or the flu, or cancer … NEVER; and neither did His Son!

So the instruction for healing here, is much the same as any other instruction for Life … And were given EVERYTHING we need for life … and Godliness {In His likeness!}. And the scripture above is clear … for us it’s to get in The Word, get to know God and His will, His plan and His timing and live your life accordingly. The exact instruction is spelled out right there in His words.

His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 2 Peter 1:3

He has a separate the name Healer:

Jehovah Rapha: The Lord Who heals!

 

I encourage you to get into the book of God’s Instructions for our life and find EVERY.WORD. He said about your healing. You see, I know that I am healed, regardless of what I am feeling in this body or am hearing from the “professionals” and then I refer to His Word and I trust in THAT WORD while doing what He has instructed through the doctors. After all it was our Healer who created the Doctor. 😉

Do you need healing today? Won’t you let me pray for/with you, according to His Word and Will for you life? I would love to be in agreement with you for your complete healing … it’s yours, right here and right now!

Thanks so much for reading. It is my sincere hope that I have sparked a glimmer of hope in you to seek your healing for Jesus, The True Physician. Blessings.

Thank You for Reading.
Andrea

31 Days Journey to Healing

Prayer Changes Everything! | day 22 of 31

Prayer Changes Everything

Yes, yes it does. Prayer changes minds, lives and situations. It changes one’s health, we actually get healthier when communing, communicating with God the Father.

Because … Prayer changes our minds! We literally begin to think differently about everything.

Why? Because when we pray to the Father of the Universe we come into His presence and are caught up in the enormity of Who He is and His LOVE for us and we begin to believe the truth of our situation.

Like some of us felt about our parents when we were younger.

Don’t get me wrong, I know not everyone had a secure parent/child relationship … I didn’t, however … God fixed that in me as early as 5 years old.

My childhood was a, let’s say, rough one. My dad was gone, well worse … he was voluntarily absent and my mom was ill. When I say my childhood it is more of a reference to a time or age in my life. I didn’t really have a childhood.

No, I’m not looking for sympathy; it’s just a fact of my life. One that others may need to know to be able to continue with what I am saying in this post.

When I was 5 some of the more traumatic events of my childhood occurred. My dad left when I was four … but I don’t really know how close to 5 I was at the time, and mom was sick and angry and sad and not taking care of herself, or us kids, very well.

I don’t remember what was going on specifically at the time, but that’s because what I experienced during the situation was so much more dynamic than the trouble that precipitated my amazing experience with Jesus.

We were sent outside to “play”, this was normal for most families at that time … it was 1970. But I didn’t play …. I grabbed my favorite pillow and a book before I was ushered out and the door was closed behind me. I went to our huge maple in the middle of the front yard and was reading (???) it had to be a children’s picture book, I was only 5! and at some point I fell asleep ….

Sometime later minutes, hours (?) I don’t know I was awakened to a very bright light and when I opened my eyes I saw feet in gold sandals and the hem of a white dress (that was my take on it) with blue trim and I heard a booming voice. I remember feeling funny, like a floaty feeling, but no fear or anxiety. I looked up into the light and heard him say …

“You won’t hurt any further. They cannot hurt you anymore.” Just that and a feeling of peace and comfort.

I tell you all this to tell you that this was the beginning of healing for me. I would not be where I am today; I would not be mentally, emotionally and spiritually healthy if God had not revealed Himself to that child I was. Over many, many years of running and hurting I never forgot that visitation. Even when my faith or my religion, which was not being fed in any way, I still prayed to this God, this Jesus (I did know it was Jesus) in my times of desperation.

He wasn’t done … He visited me again when I was 19 in a very tragic, life altering situation. And that visitation cemented me in my belief that there was a God and He knew who I was, though cement or not I continued to run amok for another 18 years, praying to Him when I was at my wits end!

All that praying … it changed me. Little by little it made me stronger, it drew me closer to Him and this path He has me on.

You see I had to do and experience all of that life and lack therein to come to this place where I can tell you that praying can heal you, if you let it!

I encourage you. Don’t let the circumstances of your life stop your relationship with God. As hard as some of  life is, as the tragedy and trauma feel as though they are molding us; trust me when I tell you it is God molding us, in spite of those circumstances, those worldly realities; into the amazing sons and daughters He loves so very much. Keep talking to father, keep sharing your heart and your hurts. Keep communing, communicating with Him; it will change your world. I promise.

I pray today that this post, that once again feels disjointed, is understandable to those who need it. That we all will continue to pray and communicate with God the Father and receive the enormous love and purpose He has for us! In Jesus name, I pray that we will shed the religion and press into the relationship of child to father and bask in the vision He has for us. That we can shed the world and embrace heaven the way that He originally planned for us. Amen.

Thank You for Reading.
Andrea

 

31 Days Journey to Healing

Humbly Speaking About Humility | Tuesday@10 on Day 21 of 31Days

It’s Tuesday again, the day I attempt to utilize the Word Prompt from Tuesday@10 into The 31Day Writing Challenge! Some are easier than others … this one took some pondering, though I know what I wanted to get across.

This weeks prompt from KarenBeth is Humility and it certainly took a bit of time to wrap Healing up into Humility.

So may I humbly submit to you, my offering of prayer and healing to you, today.

Breaking Through to the Other Side of It …

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” James 4:10

True humility is a virtue I desire, most Christians desire; but like many of God’s characteristics, humility is not one I come by naturally.

Humility is not a value; it doesn’t express weakness or timidity. It is, rather, a gift from God, by grace, that should be revealed through our character. Humility, by definition is the opposite of pride.  And Jesus taught on humility, while on earth.

“Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:11

People who are truly humble do not seek attention, they do not seek to push a personal agenda. Genuinely humble Christians seek only to advance God by being the example of what God does through them, as individuals. It’s not about me teaching you how to pray, or instructing you how to receive your healing. It’s my showing, through my life and experiences, how God The Father has worked His plan through me!

God works mightily through the honest humility of people!

I can humbly tell you that I don’t know why I am alive today, after the diagnosis of congestive heart failure 5 years ago. I haven’t lost the necessary weight yet that would ensure heart health; though I’ve made strides and then failed. But I’ve gotten up from that failure to stride again, by the grace of God! It’s not me … my health is completely about God and His plan for me.

It is in all humility that I stand in awe of God’s Works, when it comes to The Hubs life and battle with the diagnosis of cancer! It is definitely by His Grace alone that we have come to this place in this battle full of life and love and testimony of healing and health. It is by God’s grace that The Hubs continues to stun the doctors with vibrant lung health even as they refuse to tell us that the cancer is gone and he is healed. And it will be to God’s Glory and Honor alone when they come to the conclusion that The Hubs is, most definitely Healed and Healthy! I anticipate, with great joy and excitement, that testimony!

I don’t have the answers, except that I believe God at His Word that I am {we are}  healed and that He has a purpose for me! I do not know the time of these miracles and their testimonies … I just know that they are there for us in God’s time. When this healing will make the most impact upon those around us!

When I stumble, and oh how I stumble, I do my level best to get back up and resubmit myself, humbly and with repentance to my Father God, always thankful that He is there with His Word to help me back up so that I can follow His instruction. I confidently put my trust in God and do not arrogantly demand that God allow me to do things on my own. I am useless on my own!

And speaking with honest humility, I have to say that I don’t do the above, ANYMORE! And when stress or life or emotions have me leaning back into my own human-ness; I humbly ask God for forgiveness, as soon as I come to my senses.

“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress; he sent out his Word {Jesus} and healed them, and delivered them from destruction. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his Wonderful works to humankind.”

Psalm 107:19-21

… let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.

Being thankful is a part of humility. It’s admitting that I don’t know everything, in fact I know very little of what I need to do in life, without Him to guide me. And oh, let me tell you how thankful I am! Actually there are no words to describe this gratitude!

And humbly, we declare and decree the Word of God.

“Greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world.”
I thank God that “By His stripes Iam healed.”
And “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.”
All the honor to God the Father that “I shall not die but live and declare the works of the Lord.”
“I will not forget the benefits of God. He heals all my diseases.”
I stand in awe that “The Lord restores health to me and heals me of my wounds.”
I thank Him, humbly that “Affliction will not rise up a second time.” within me.
Thank you Father that “The power of the Lord is present to heal you.”and me. In Jesus’ name I pray Your Words back to Your memory Lord, that You would see me, Your humble daughter, and bestow upon me Your healing touch. Amen.

 

Thank You for Reading.
Andrea

31 Days Journey to Healing

Tuesday @ Ten

The Point of Contact … the hem of His Garment | 31 Days

31 Days: Day 20

She suffered for many years with an issue of blood. She was not supposed to be out in public, she was considered unclean. Yet she said to herself …

 

“If I only touch His garment, I will get well.”… Matthew 9:21

A point of contact and radical faith. She reached out, breaking all the rules and touched the hem of Jesus’ garment and was healed. At her wits end, with nothing left to lose, she did the unthinkable in her society at that time in history!

She created a point of contact with Jesus for healing. Believing, using all the faith she had been given what she had heard, that He would heal her.

The story goes on to say that Jesus felt something leave Him and asked who had touched Him … Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

We sometimes suffer without the confidence that He will heal us. Sometimes we cannot wrap our heads around the faith we have been given and just receive; so we continue to suffer.

Lord, I thank You that in the midst of my Praise and Worship of You I have found a point of contact. That etheral touch that I feel as I enter in and You respond to me. Oh how wonderful that Fatherly response feels to this emotionally fatherless daughter. That point at which I allow myself to feel, sense, the manifestation of wholeness within the core of my very being. Oh, but I ask, Oh Lord, that You teach me to retain that feeling, that permenant knowing that I am completely healed and whole. My Salvation gift of grace from a father thrilled with our reconciliation! All the glory and honor to You, my Lord, as my healing manifests within and without me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Do you need a point of contact today? Do you know when you are in the presence of God the Father? If you do that is your point of contact. I encourage you to soak in that; whether it’s prayer, or a quiet time or praise and worship – where ever it is that God meets you, meet Him there and bask in that healing, until that healing is a permanent reality! God Bless.

Thank You for Reading.
Andrea

31 Days Journey to Healing

Healing Sunday {3} A Reaquainting with the Jesus of the Bible ** 31days of Healing Scriptures

On this 19th day of this challenge we had a much loved guest preacher in and OH how God confirmed and worked; from praise and worship to the prayer time at the end it was ALL about …

The Jesus of the Bible and His finishing of what He had come to do! Quickly let me share with you the confirmation {for and about my lil’ Sis), instruction, a video and what I came back home with.

The Confirmation: 2 Timothy 1:7 ~ A well known and used scripture!

⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

My sister has something going on health wise, and RN or not these things frighten her; whether it’s herself, her children or just anyone she cares about. She’s frightened of dying, I think, and of other “health” issues that are prone in our family. So she shared on everyone’s favorite social media outlet and asked for prayer and I answered. She knows God is with her and she knows that He’s always taken care of her; but like many of us in these situations she wondered if she might be asking too much this time, again, I believe. This time she has a specific fear: the side effects of Chantix, the quit smoking drug. She’s trying to get healthier and the drug touts some interesting side effects.

My response was: You’re going to be fine. YOU know God is with you! And I shared with her 2 Timothy 1:7.

Well the confirmation that I had ministered to her correctly was today’s sermon and the Scriptures used; including 2Tim 1:7. Gotta Love it when God let’s you know you’ve done well like that!

The Instruction: Getting to REACQUAINTED with The Jesus of the Bible! The preacher said that years ago he had started to do something specific. When he was feeling aches and pains or downright sick he would go to the New Testament and read the stories about all those that Jesus had healed, and in no time he would be well again.

Instruction: Say, Pray and Read what God says about your illness, malady or just that little bout of sniffles.

The preacher’s message was, It is Finished.

John 19:30 When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished,” and bowed his head and dismissed his spirit.

Jesus’ last words from the cross. You see Jesus came to finish something … He came to destroy the works of the devil, and He did! Healing is a result of that finished work!

With it He gave to us “not a spirit of fear; but of POWER, LOVE and a SOUND MIND. Study that out sometime …

We have the authority and Power to overcome illness!

We have have the Love of God within us and are called to give that back out!

And …

We have been given Soundness of Mind to do ALL of this.

Do you want more and more of God’s kindness and peace? Then learn to know him better and better. For as you know him better, he will give you, through his great power, everything you need for living a truly good life: he even shares his own glory and his own goodness with us! And by that same mighty power he has given us all the other rich and wonderful blessings he promised; for instance, the promise to save us from the lust and rottenness all around us, and to give us his own character. 2Peter 1:2-4

Do you want more? Then join me and get to know Him better … Follow Jesus to healing by reading about all the healing He performed in the New Testament. Read, follow and pray how He healed and receive that healing yourself! The more we know Him and His character the more we receive His great power and everything we need for life and godliness … then receive more of His own character!

The better we know Him, the closer we get, the more His character becomes apart of us!

Press in andGod will respond to you, Manifest Healing comes within that response.

And now a video of the fabulous song we sang in worship of Him today! Wish you could hear our worship band playing this … it was amazing! One of young ladies has an incredible and anointed voice and she sings this with such moving emotion, I can’t even explain it in words, it must be felt. =) May this bless you!

We are not shaken, we are not moved …. We wait upon you Lord! Let this song wash over your spirit and I promise you will feel the healing begin as He responds to your praise! ❤

Thank You for Reading.
Andrea

31 Days Journey to Healing

 

Belief and Healing | 31days:13

Uprooted

My motivation for this 31 Day Journey Through Scripture for Healing was and is to get God’s promises for healing – Divine healing into my head and ultimately into my heart. My true spiritual heart where I can continually tap into what I honestly see as truth in regard to healing.

My desire is MANIFEST healing, manifest health. I want to walk, not just in, as this gives me the ability to walk “out” of; I want to prove out Manifest Health. I want to be able to tap into the KNOWLEDGE that I am healed in Christ – inside and out.

Yet this desire causes me stress.

Because I’m not attaining it right now.

Because I have moments; many right now, when I realize I’m not hungry, and in fact I feel quite the opposite, yet I go and get that comfort food that my mind is telling me I want.

Because I need to move, yet I have no, absolutely no, motivation to get up and start what I know I must do to be healthy. Walk, move, do something, do anything!

Because, though I believe God at His word I must beg Him to forgive my unbelief … not in Him, not in His promise … but, my unbelief that I could be the recipient of Him and His promise of healing. I really believe that though I understand in my head it has not dropped those 18 inches to my heart.

My heart that that literally NEEDS to receive healing.

To my heart where The Spirit actually resides within me!

And God said we could …

Ask, Seek, Knock: Matthew 7

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹ “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

There it is … helping the God information get from my head to my heart!

But am I asking? Or … am I sitting here, unmotivated, hoping God will look down on me and just give me what I should be asking Him for. This says that I must ask.

I.MUST.ASK. Maybe I do not have because I do not truly ask God to handle this. Maybe I’m doing this alone, on my own power … and I can’t, I really seem not to be able.

James 4

2b You do not have because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

The stress of knowing that this obesity I struggle with is due to some past harm within me; that this is the symptom of a physical or emotional wound is the same stress that blocks my ability to get well.

I believe this. So here it is … another layer of the onion that must be peeled away so that God’s Divine Healing can manifest within me.

I don’t have to rehash the harms and wrongs and wounds that I have truly dealt with. I now have to find that tiny shred of  “YOU ARE WORTHLESS” that I allowed to be deeply instilled within me.

No. That’s wrong … I didn’t allow the original instillation of self doubt and lack of self worth … what I allowed was the wallowing in and the coveting of that wound so that I could remain resentful by rights of those abuses. So in the time it took me to cultivate that crop of resentment (years) it was able to blossom in some deep and dark places within me that now must be rooted out and exposed to the light.

And this is where I agree that Christianity has a touch of brain washing to it.

I am human. On some of the harder days I forget I am chosen and loved by the Father Creator. It’s not that I cease to know this truth, it’s more that it fails to rise up in me to remind me. And this is because I am distracted by the hardness of the moment.

Let’s face it … during times of stress we humans forget things. Even us Christians forget and try to do things, figure things, that are not within our understanding.

What I need to remember: God’s Sovereignty.  I was made in His image. I have His DNA, we all do, and that is perfect.

But … I am not God.

I’m almost 50 years old here. I have never conquered this obesity. It’s roots were deep, I know, and God and I have worked hard to remove them … but like a tree that is cut down, the roots, underground must be destroyed, ground out, so that the tree does not begin to grow, again in that area again. The root must be destroyed, too, so that it will not move, underground, unseen, to rise in a new location where it blooms and grows anew.

Roots

 

Destroying the Roots

 

 

 

 

He is God, alone. And I believe and I ask Him to take this remnant root and destroy it, once and for all, so that I may walk out that promise He gave me on that gurney 5 years ago!

Thanks for reading my faithful friends.

Andrea

 

**The pictures are of a 100+ year old tree in our yard that God uprooted by way of a freak tornado in September of 2012 … mere months before Super Storm Sandy.

***Copyright © AHutchinsonPhotography™ 2007 – 2014- All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material and/or photographs without express and written permission from the writer/photographer is strictly prohibited.

 

 

 

31 Days Journey to Healing

31 Days!

31 days of Five Minute Free Writes