Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
I have been incredibly busy this summer with traveling and helping family, so it has been a real challenge to get caught up on all the ministries and sermons that I normally am involved in and blog posts about. A few weeks ag, Pastor Herk of the Little Church in the Pines continued in his Sunday sermon series on the topic of “Prayer”. Pastor Herk points out how God will sometimes take our greatest pains and the worst things that have happened to us in life then use those to help others through us. Prayer is the essential element and our greatest tool in our healing, strengthening and growing.
With God all things are possible and prayer changes things. Prayer is so important in our Christian walk. God is interested in changing each and every one of us. God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Sanctification is the act of making holy. In an evangelical sense, the act of God's grace by which the affections of men are purified or alienated from sin and the world, and exalted to a supreme love to God. The act of consecrating or of setting apart from the sin nature of this fallen flesh for a sacred purpose; consecration. In this process, He can make the broken whole again in restoration and can heal anything in anybody.
Pastor Herk asks us three questions. (1) do you believe that God listens when you pray to Him. (2) Do you believe that God’s timing is perfect? And (3) Do you believe that God is able to heal today as in times past? In whatever circumstance that you are in or whatever situation that you find yourself in, pray and trust that God will hear your prayer. God’s timing is not the same as our timing, but is always perfect. God knows the end from the beginning and everything in between, knowing the best way to get you from here to where He wants us. Every day, our loving heavenly Father blesses and provides for us, whether we recognize it or not. He is there watching over us. Today, and every day, God brings wholeness and healing into our lives.
There is an area in each of our lives that we need to trust more. Think of a specific situation in your life that you would like God to change. We have to stop and ask ourselves, are we willing to allow God to minister to us. The Lord knocks on the door of our heart, but we need to choose and open that door for Him to come in. You have to be willing to experience His guiding hand and caring touch on your life. This day can be a day that impacts each of us for the abundant life.
When we read the Bible, the Holy Scripture, the Word of God, we are awestruck by the power of God and the mighty things that He has done in the lives of people. God is still performing miracles today. It is easy for us to ignore the truth that God is the same yesterday, today and forever, but throughout history there is evidence of God’s involvement with His people. God is always working. Healing is one of the many ways that God is active in the lives of His people and will continue to be until Jesus comes. Acts 3:19 “Repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”
We like the idea of God’s healing and pray about it happening, but may not have experienced this healing in our own life. Such a lack of experience of Almighty God’s healing can make us skeptical of miraculous or spiritual healing. In a physical world, people tend to rationalize supernatural things which they have not experienced with natural explanations. The finite understands the infinite by faith. Hebrews 11:3 tells us, “By faith we understand that the world has been created by the word of God so that what is seen has not been made out of things that are visible.” The “Great Physician” Jesus Christ heals through the guided hands of Scientists and Medical Physicians. Who gave them the brain and gift to develop and use that skill? It was their Creator God. Be willingly inspired, emotionally moved, and transformed by the Holy Spirit daily; allow it and expect it. Don’t quench the Holy Spirit. It is God’s desire that each of us experience healing and wholeness in our lives in some way, to be the person that the Lord has designed and called us to be.
Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Would a fresh touch of the Holy Spirit make a difference in your life today? Does your heart, mind, soul and spirit need to be transformingly changed more in the process of sanctification today? In your own strength, situations may look impossible to get through and out of. In Mark 10:27 Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” He is the All-powerful God of the impossible. Nothing is too big for our omnipotent God. No matter what it is, He can heal and restore it.
Let's continue Pastor Herk's message on healing and wholeness in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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