Healing: Miracle for All Ages

“ As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war, both to go out and to come in.” (Caleb, at age 85 – as recorded in the book of Joshua, Chapter 14)

As many of you wait for healing to manifest in your bodies, let me dispel a myth that the enemy may be trying to circulate in your reasoning. God doesn’t grant healing based on age; healing was purchased in the Atonement, and manifests in our bodies as we exercise faith to receive it. Period. God is not like our modern healthcare system–not even a government-run healthcare system! “The system” would say that you don’t deserve a new liver because you were an alcoholic. They would say that based on your age, it’s not feasible to do heart surgery or give you a transplant. At your age, cancer treatment is beyond the acceptable practice; or dementia and clogged arteries and failing kidneys are to be accepted. You need to just accept that you are approaching end-of-life and that you aren’t as worth saving as, say, a 20-year old.

Don’t be upset with them…they’re mere humans. They are working with limited know-how, resources, and only so much money. They also have some among them who are also motivated by greed; maybe even a few who would like to play God…but not all. They operate in the carnal, natural realm. They’re good; they do a whole lot of good in their element, but their scope is limited.

But! When you approach God’s throne of grace to obtain help (and health) in your time of need, God is under no such restrictions. He will hear and answer prayer whether you have 50 more years to live or 50 more hours. When you have been satisfied with your number of days, you can transition out of a healed body into eternity instead of allowing the enemy to chisel you away to nothing. Wouldn’t it be something to pass from a healthy body whose organs were viable enough to donate to the next recipient? Think about that!

If no one’s ever reinforced that with you, then hear it now! It’s a real game-changer! God will continue to invest in you when you’re 95 just like He did when you were 15, because it’s impossible to waste what comes from an infinite supply. There’s not “only so much” healing to go around. And you–yes, YOU–have the same grace to walk in it as someone younger, more productive, more socially upright, and better-insured! Don’t bow your head in shame and say, “I don’t feel right asking for healing when others are so much worse off than I am.” Ask for yourself AND for them too!

When as an “old man” receiving the commission to lead the children of Israel out of bondage, Moses presented his terrible stuttering (and the self-conscious shyness resulting from it) to God as the reason why he wasn’t an ideal candidate. The Lord cooled his jets really quick by asking, “Did I not make men’s mouths?” The same God Who makes men’s mouths just so happens to also unclog arteries, restore sight and hearing, quicken damaged limbs, dry up cancers, and repair a diabetes-ravaged pancreas! He’s perfected making something out of nothing, and He doesn’t have to wait for someone to die to give you a transplant…wait, Jesus already did that!

Don’t listen to wicked spirits who would taunt you and say, as Job’s wife did, “Why don’t you just curse God, die, and accept it!” Rather, why not approach God’s presence today, having cleared your heart of doubt, unforgiveness, secret sins, and all hindrances…and present a claim ticket for that healing which is already been provided for you. God will not make you fill out any forms, put you on a waiting list, or ask you any health-related questions. He will not grant your request based on a limited pool of resources. Your answer is only restricted by how much you are willing to ask and believe for–so do exactly what the Word says you can do. Approach His throne boldly! Walk in your full potential, in Jesus’ name!

The Grace Feeder

But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name— John 1:12 (AMP)

I’m fairly sure that this past year hasn’t brought more species of birds to my area than what were already here, but it seems as if it has. The difference between then and now is my personal interest in them.

Back in the winter, I bought a window-mount bird feeder and suet basket. I’d already been feeding hummingbirds for a couple years in the summer; but the cold weather and relentless snow caused me to feel pity for the non-migrating birds and early arrivals whose meager food was far beneath the white ground. The tree limbs and bushes were looking alarmingly bare, too. It took a few days for them to discover this little feeding station; but once they did, they became daily regulars.

And so began my keen awareness of each kind. Before long, there were more than the familiar robins, blue jays, cardinals, and sparrows. Now there were cowbirds, blue-crested titmice, chickadees, finches, meadowlarks, swallows, and many others. It wasn’t enough for me to know they were coming; I wanted to know what they were, what they liked to eat. I took responsibility for keeping that feeder full of what is good for them. I Google-searched their descriptions so that when one came to the feeder, I would know it by name! Even the family of gray doves who’ve lived here in the woods behind our house for the past several years began to drop by. They of course didn’t light on the bird feeder, but politely waited for the others to knock seeds out and down to them.

And as I mused these things this morning, I thought of how blessed we are when, after accepting Jesus as our Savior, we become adopted into God’s family as real sons and daughters, joint-heirs with Christ. We are all God’s creation; but until we accept relationship with Him, we are not yet all His children. The same gift of eternal life is out there, made equally available to all who will receive it; but we must make the choice to do so.

While God cares for all of His creation, and longs for relationship with all of us, there are so many more blessings in store for those of us who respond to His calling. Even those who do not accept Him are blessed daily. He gives all of us sunshine, rain, food, life. He gives those things anyway, out of His sheer goodness, knowing that many of those whom He blesses will still reject Him.

To those who do receive Him, however, we receive the privileges afforded with sonship even beyond eternal life. He becomes fully vested in our lives. He knows what we like, what our secret longings are, how to bring out the very best of the potential He birthed in us. He begins to work all things toward our good. He burns the dross out of our lives and makes us pure. He prunes our branches so that we can be even more fruitful. He makes Himself readily available to walk with us, not just in the cool of the day, but in the heat, the storms, the long nights as well. He reminds us that, no matter what, He is with us and will never leave! Like those birds who have chosen to come to my feeder, we come to God through pure grace. Those birds have nothing in particular to offer me in return. They can’t help me with my housework or pay my bills. If anything, they cost me. I’ll be buying more feed and cleaning away messes they make; but it is my joy to bless those who will come and eat. There’s nothing we humans could ever do to merit God’s grace. We just have to accept it freely and know that it’s His goodness rather than what we have done. He delights in His ability to give us what we cannot earn!

I don’t know about you, friend, but I want to know Him…and Him to know me! I don’t want to just catch the incidental blessings He makes generally available to all of creation; I want to be treated with the distinction of being a cherished daughter. He has agreed to be responsible for me; to always be with me both now and throughout eternity. I want that, and through Jesus, I have that. You can, too!

Pray with me: “Jesus, I don’t enjoy being alone in this life. I know that I have been blessed even though I don’t yet call myself a Christian…but my life is still empty and not the best it can be. I’m told that relationship with You will be the element that completes what is missing. I need that void to be filled, not with the destructive or vain things I’ve pursued which have left me disappointed; but evidently, I need for You to fill that empty part of me. Please forgive me of the wrong things I’ve done. I have sinned, and even my best attempts at being good haven’t made me worthy of God’s gift of eternal life. The Bible says that You are the way, the truth, and the life, and that I must come to God through You. I receive You now as my Lord and Savior. Thank You for enduring the suffering of the cross, for being the sacrifice for my sins, and for raising from the dead to be my advocate before God. I don’t yet fully understand what it means to have you as that go-between, that mediator, but I am so glad that You plead my case before Your Father. Make me Your adopted sibling. Wash away my sins and clean up my heart and life. May Your Father also be my Father, too, now and forever more. I receive eternal life through You, and I receive the favor that Your grace has bought for me. I will not go by my feelings, but I will always take You at Your Word! Teach me, surround me with those who will help me, and please make me someone who makes a difference in the lives of others. I am Yours to transform, and I thank You for the promise to never leave me! I am no longer alone!”

A New Lease on Life…Eternal Life

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.” Romans 8:32

Imagine how grateful you would be toward the parent who, upon his or her child’s death, has agreed to donate that child’s organs to those in need of life-saving transplants. You are on a waiting list and suddenly the very thing you need in order to live is made available to you. It’s a sobering moment when you think that your suffering is eased because someone else’s has commenced; but because that person has willed this transfer of life freely to you, you receive it with gratitude. You have a second lease on life, and the grieving parent has the solace that part of his or her child lives on in each person whose life has been saved.

So it is with the gift of Jesus to us on earth. Eternal life—God’s saving grace—came at a terrible cost. In order for you to have eternal life, someone had to die. But now, because of the sacrifice of God’s only Son, royal blood flows through your veins and you have a new heart.

A songwriter named Ellis J. Crum (no relation…smile) once penned a song, “He paid a debt He did not owe; I owed a debt I could not pay.” All of us were destitute and on spiritual death row for the sins set in order by the first man Adam. The disease of damnation was set in order by disobedience; and yet, the “second Adam” came to deliver us from that sentence through His own obedience. A wound was made on the Vine so that a branch could be grafted in. A branch that would otherwise die unattached to a life source was suddenly given a chance to become part of the Tree of Life, but only a cutting into that precious Life Source made this transplant possible.

Just as you would feel lifelong indebtedness to a benefactor who saved you from untimely demise in the natural realm, so should you also realize the weighty gift that’s been made available to you by your Heavenly Benefactor. If you haven’t yet received this gift of life, please…don’t neglect so great a salvation! Time is of essence for you to be saved…now is that moment when your life can be extended into eternity. A way is made. His wounds pay for your transgressions. His chastisement pays for your peace. His back was beaten mercilessly so that His blood might bring your healing. Receive what He suffered to make possible for YOU. Choose LIFE.

“He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit that leads to eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.” John 4:36 (MEV)

Wash and Wear

I don’t buy many dry clean only garments these days, since I’m no longer working in a corporate workplace where suits are the dress code. To be honest, on top of the fact that it gets expensive to maintain something you wear really often, I sweat a lot! No offense to those who prefer or who must wear formal clothing on a regular basis…but I just flat-out like the concept of stuff that can handle going into the soapy water and taking a good scrubbing as often as it needs it. And while I don’t doubt that all those chemicals do the trick too, I’m just a wash-and-wear kind of gal. My needs are pretty simple, so goes my choice of apparel (smile).

I’m so glad that God’s grace provides for us a good washing when we need cleansed from being out in that dirty world. We can’t wrap ourselves in plastic and walk around to keep our clothes clean, and we can’t be out there without being exposed to some things that need scrubbed off of us when we come back into His presence. We can live a holy life among a lost world, and we can persevere not to allow the influence of darkness stain our garments; but in truth, each day we stand before the Lord in need of new mercies. We hear and see things that can bend our thinking and tarnish our purity. Even in times when we’ve not sinned, our spirit can still pick up the stale odor of the world from just having passed through it—kind of like walking through a shroud of cigarette smoke outside the grocery store (a personal pet peeve of mine!).

God has made provisions for our continual cleaning and re-cleaning. He knows that we’ll encounter constant challenges to our faith, constant pressures to compromise, subtle foxes spoiling our vines from beneath where we don’t always see them. Jesus prayed that to the Father about this very thing ON OUR BEHALF! He said, “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.” (John 17:15 NLT) He knew that we need to remain here to be His influence in the earth, and that special provisions would need to be made in order to keep us holy in spite of our surroundings.

Our Lord is the master of cleaning our dirty laundry. He can lift any stain, press out any wrinkle, and remove any lingering odor of unrighteousness. He paid an awful price to make possible this holiness we can so freely wear, and He did it not just for our benefit…He intends to present Himself with a perfect, flawless Bride, and she’s not going to have one speck of soil on her wedding garment! When we allow Him to use the soap of grace, applied against the washboard of loving discipline, and rinsed in the water of the Word, we come out as pure, forgiven, and sanctified as if we’d never been dirty in the first place. New mercies every single morning!

Don’t dodge the washtub today, and don’t wear those stinky clothes another moment. You’re not doing anyone a favor by trying to get one more day’s wear out of them! Step into His presence, receive His forgiveness, and experience the clean of the one true High-Efficiency Washer—Jesus!

“…Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. He did this to make her holy by washing her in a bath of water with the word. He did this to present himself with a splendid church, one without any sort of stain or wrinkle on her clothes, but rather one that is holy and blameless. (Ephesians 5:25-27 CEB)