April 2012
Welcome. It is such a privilege
to encourage you, whether to be saved, or
to grow as a believer in God's love.
We're all growing...
None of us have arrived
at complete spiritual maturity. I find that
many come to Christ, but have no idea how
to grow due to lack of discipleship. The
Apostle Peter writes:
"Like newborn babies,
you must crave pure spiritual
milk so that you will grow into a full
experience of
salvation. Cry out for this nourishment,
now that you
have had a taste of the Lord's kindness."1
We can live a Godly life
because we have tasted of God's kindness.
We have hurts, frustrations, and insecuritites
that we can only overcome by growing in
our experience of God's love.
Love Is All You Need...
Several years ago, I wrote
an article titled "Love
Is All You Need," sparked by the
name of a song written in the 60's by The
Beatles. They may have been singing of brotherly
love or erotic love, but it is God's love
that fulfills our every need. The Apostle
John states:
"This is real love
-- not that we loved God,
but that He loved us and sent His Son
as
a sacrifice to take away our sins."2
The Apostle Paul expands
on this:
"Since He [God]
did not spare even His
own Son but gave Him up for us all, won't
He also give us everything else?"3
Paul is asking, since
God sent Jesus as a sacrifice for our sin;
won't He give us "everything else"
that goes along with it? Wasn't "everything
else" included in the salvation package?
Salvation includes mental,
emotional, and physical healing. As newborn
babes in Christ, we continue to grow into
a full experience of salvation through believing
in our hearts and confessing with our mouths.
"For it is by believing
in your heart that you
are made right with God, and it is by
confessing
with your mouth that you are saved."4
Experiencing Full Salvation
You may be satisfied by
the fact that Jesus rescued you from the
everlasting punisment for sin, but I'm not.
I have experienced mental, emotional, and
physical healing, and so can you. Like the
Psalmist David, we must believe in the full
experience of salvation by confessing it,
even singing of it like him, saying:
"Bless the LORD,
O my soul;
And all that is within me,
Bless His holy name!"
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your
iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness
and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like
the eagles's."5
Through all the struggles
of life, the Psalmist had learned to praise
God for not only forgiveness, but for mental,
emotional, and physical healing. As a result,
he experienced all the benefits and his
youth was renewed like the eagle's.
Believing and Confessing
Faith is acting on what
you believe. What you believe comes out
of your mouth. If you are walking by faith,
not by sight,6 you will be talking about
your salvation and healing, instead of your
hurt, frustration, insecurity, and sickness.
For instance, say:
"Jesus took my infirmitites
and bore my sickness."7
The Apostle Peter wrote:
"Jesus took my sins
in His own body
on the cross, that I...might live for
righteousness--by whose stripes
I am healed."8
In this verse (1 Peter
2:24), Peter is quoting from Isaiah 53:5,
which ends by saying "and by His stripes
we were healed." I must note that the
word "striptes" in the Hebrew
of Isaiah 53:5 is singular not plural. Also,
in this verse (1 Peter 2:24), the Greek
word translated into English as "stripes"
is singular. We need to understand that
our salvation and the benefits associated
with it, including our healing do not come
from Jesus' sufferings, but from one ultimate
wound -- inflicted by God, the Father (Isaiah
53:10) -- resulting in His death. This is
love -- that God the Father sacrificed His
Son for us -- for our benefit.
The blood of Christ is
always associated with His death. It is
therefore extremely important that you meditate
upon Scriptures concerning the blood of
Jesus, and the Names of God so that you
can believe and confess them over your life.
These can be found in the study charts on
this website.
As Priests, we overcome
all the negative voices of this world by
the blood of the Lamb [Jesus], and by the
word of our testimony about the blood.9
Because of Christ's redeeming blood, we
have eight (8) redemptive names of God in
Christ. He is our Shepherd, Provider, Peace,
Healer, Righteousness, Present, Victor,
and Sanctifier, plus so much more.
A Prayer for you...
Heavenly Father, give
me spiritual wisdom and insight so that
I might grow in the knowledge of You. I
pray for the full experience of salvation;
that I will understand the incredible greatness
of Your power for us who believe You. In
Jesus Name, I proclaim healing -- spirit,
soul, and body. Amen.10
Scripture References:
Acknowledgement: A special thanks
to Sherry for transcribing this months view!
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