Healing is a Covenant Right

Christians have a covenant right to be healed! Jesus took out sicknesses and sins on the cross of Calvary! Make sure that you avail yourself to this benefit of healing power for your body.

Notice Isaiah 53: 4-5: Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains — he hath carried them, And we — we have esteemed him plagued, smitten of God, and afflicted. And he is pierced for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace is on him, and by his bruise there is healing to us (Young’s literal translations).

Healing is not automatic, just as forgiveness of sin is not automatic. To be forgiven of sin, you must exercise faith and believe that Jesus died for you, and then confess with your mouth that you are forgiven and that Jesus is your Lord. You have to be proactive!

It’s the same with healing of sickness. At the first symptom, don’t let anything come out of your mouth but what the Word of God says about you. When a symptom appears, speak to the mountain according to Mark 11:23; command the symptoms to go from you in the name of Jesus. Tell Satan that Jesus took your sicknesses and diseases when He took your sins and that he can’t put that on you. Then, ask God to heal you and thank Him for Jesus taking your sicknesses when He took your sins. Tell the Lord that you believe you receive healing for your body.

Continue to walk in thanksgiving and voice your praise for the Father healing you even while the symptoms persist or get worse. Satan has the ability to put a thought in your mind and a feeling on your body. Walk by faith and not feelings. Confess what you believe in the face of the thoughts and feelings. Side with the Word of God and not with your feelings and symptoms.

I’ve been healed hundreds of times from symptoms all over my body through the years by simply acting on the Word of God in this manner. He sent His Word and healed us!

Glorify God in your body today by availing yourself to the healing that Jesus provided for you. It gives God no glory for you to be sick. His will is for you to be healed and whole. Let your thoughts and Words agree with God’s Word about your healing today. Resist the thoughts that the enemy brings. Healing is yours. Walk in your covenants rights. The same faith that cleanses sin will heal sickness. Healing belongs to you!

Unforgiveness and Stress

Be gentle and forbearing with one another and, if one has a difference (a grievance or complaint) against another, readily pardoning each other; even as the Lord has freely forgiven you, so must you also forgive (Colossians 3:13 – Amplified).

Perhaps every day of our lives we will face opportunities to forgive those who harm us in some way. Life in a fallen world means facing imperfections at every turn. Wise living is knowing how to deal with the imperfections of others! I seek to live by Romans 12: 18: If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. That means I must be willing to practice what Jesus said to Peter when He told him to forgive 490 times (infinitely) the brother that offends him.

Failing to forgive produces some major problems and one of them is stress. Medical research indicates that the majority of illness is stress induced, so unforgiveness plays a significant role in sickness. Proverbs 14:30 (Amplified) reads: A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones.

Unforgiveness means holding on to a certain thought pattern about a person or event. That thought pattern creates emotional hurt and pain. And if the thought pattern is not dealt with by releasing forgiveness to the offending party, then it cogitates underneath the surface in subconscious thinking. And this type of underlying negative thought pattern saps needed physical strength.

I’ve had people over my years of ministry tell me that they are tired all the time. They feel drained of strength. After speaking with these people I have found that often they are carrying a list of grievances in these underlying thought patterns and their emotions are draining them of needed energy. They simply need to practice forgiveness. There’s a lot of wisdom in Ephesians 4:26: Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath. Each day we should clear our mind and emotions of the offences of others before we go to sleep.

In her book Who Switched Off My Brain, Dr. Caroline Leaf from South Africa mentions that thoughts release chemicals into every organ of our body through our central nervous system. She mentions that all thoughts basically come under two categories, faith based or fear based thoughts. She reveals that fear based thinking releases toxic chemicals that coats the cells of our bodies and can eventually make us ill. On the other hand, faith based thinking that trusts God and expects the best; likewise releases helpful chemicals that aid the body and help it resist illness.

Unforgiveness affects our spiritual life. According to Jesus, you can’t go to heaven with it in your life (See Matthew 18:35 and Mark 11:25-26). And unforgiveness affects our physical bodies, hindering the health and healing provided to us by the Father.

Make a choice today to quickly deal with each offence. Readily and freely forgive as the Father through Christ Jesus has forgiven you. You’ll find heaven’s smile, soundness of mind, clearness of emotion, and renewed physical strength when you choose the path of forgiveness!

Forgive

And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failings and shortcomings and let them drop. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your failings and shortcomings (Mark 11:25-26 – Amplified).

Forgiving those that commit offences against me releases me from the damage the offence can bring to my future. Unforgiveness affects me, not the person I’m holding the offence against.

My relationship with the Lord is directly affected by my willingness to quickly forgive those who do me wrong. My relationship with others is directly affected by how I deal with those who do me wrong. My relationship with my body is affected by my willingness or unwillingness to forgive. Many diseases have their origin in the stress produced by unforgiveness.

We are to forgive even as God in Christ forgave us. Nothing another person has done or will do to us can come close to the weight of our personal sin debt that we owe to God. He has forgiven us all of our past sins in Christ. We therefore have the obligation to forgive every single offense committed against us by another person. There are no exceptions.

Novels and history books are filled with the resultant harm brought upon individuals and families because of unforgiveness. No person is immune from the devastating effects of unforgiveness in their personal life. Unforgiveness will ruin life, period.

I’ll leave you today with God’s word to us concerning forgiveness:

Judge not [neither pronouncing judgment nor subjecting to censure], and you will not be judged; do not condemn and pronounce guilty, and you will not be condemned and pronounced guilty; acquit and forgive and release (give up resentment, let it drop), and you will be acquitted and forgiven and released (Luke 6:37 – Amplified) And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32- Amplified). Be gentle and forbearing with one another and, if one has a difference (a grievance or complaint) against another, readily pardoning each other; even as the Lord has freely forgiven you, so must you also [forgive] (Colossians 3:13 – Amplified). A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones (Proverbs 17:22 – Amplified). A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones (Proverbs 14:30 – Amplified). THEREFORE YOU have no excuse or defense or justification, O man, whoever you are who judges and condemns another. For in posing as judge and passing sentence on another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge are habitually practicing the very same things [that you censure and denounce (Romans 2:1 – Amplified). Exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God's grace (His unmerited favor and spiritual blessing), in order that no root of resentment (rancor, bitterness, or hatred) shoots forth and causes trouble and bitter torment, and the many become contaminated and defiled by it (Hebrews 12:15 – Amplified). Make sure no one gets left out of God's generosity. Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time (Hebrews 12:15 – Message).

Burnout Inventory

Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28)

I just recently concluded a two week vacation and I feel refreshed! Taking a vacation is not just sitting around doing nothing, but it does involve changing your normal routines and cutting new paths for your life. Someone said that rest is not ceasing activity but changing activity.

So I went to the beach with my family for a week, I’ve visited with my parents, and I’ve just spent time reading, jogging, playing tennis, spending time with Susan and the my girls; and just generally hanging out. I also took time for some work around my house. On purpose I’ve spent very little mental time (other than prayer) on “church stuff.”

A pastor’s life has the potential for constant high stress. And if I want to keep at this call lifelong, I must make sure that I get appropriate rest daily, a day of rest weekly, and then periodic times away from normal routine. Creativity is the results of tranquility. If you avoid adequate daily and weekly rest, and if you avoid vacation times away from normal affairs, you’re setting yourself up for burnout. Burnout is an irritable; caustic I don’t care attitude than slowly creeps in and steals initiative and motive.

In 1991, I was in a travelling ministry and had also started a business. Susan was working the midnight shift at a hospital and we had three small children. I was up many nights after midnight dealing with the details of my new business after caring for my three children (feeding them, bathing them, and reading to them and praying with them before they went to sleep). Then I was up early the next day to spend some time with the Lord before working at my business all day.

Eventually, burnout knocked at my door. It was hard to overcome, and I made a promise to myself to never go there again. I’ve come close a few times and it’s always due to lack of periodic activity change. During this burnout time in my life, I found the book, How to Beat Burnout by Frank Minirth. The principles in the book helped me to overcome burnout, and to stay rested.

I want to leave you with an excerpt from the book. It’s a burnout inventory. If you agree with most of the following 24 statements, you need to make a change and soon, or personal calamity will be a part of your future! Take your breaks, daily, weekly, and periodically take your vacations!

1. More and more, I find that I can hardly wait for quitting time to come so I can leave work.

2. I feel like I’m not doing any good at work these days.

3. I am more irritable than I used to be.

4. I’m thinking more about changing jobs.

5. Lately I’ve become more cynical and negative.

6. I have more headaches (or backaches, or other physical symptoms) than usual.

7. Often I feel hopeless, like “who cares?”

8. I drink more now or take tranquilizers just to cope with everyday stress.

9. My energy level is not what it used to be. I’m tired all the time.

10. I feel a lot of pressure and responsibility at work these days.

11. My memory is not as good as it used to be.

12. I don’t seem to concentrate or pay attention like I did in the past.

13. I don’t sleep as well.

14. My appetite is decrease these days (or, I can’t seem to stop eating).

15. I am unfulfilled and disillusioned.

16. I’m not as enthusiastic about work as I was a year or two ago.

17. I feel like a failure at work. All the work I’ve done isn’t worth it.

18. I can’t seem to make decisions as easily as I once did.

19. I find that I’m doing fewer things at work that I like or that I do well.

20. I often tell myself, Why bother? It really doesn’t matter anyhow.

21. I don’t feel adequately rewarded or noticed for all the work I’ve done.

22. I feel helpless, as if I can’t find a way out of my problems.

23. People have told me that I’m too idealistic about my job.

24. I think my career has just about come to a dead end.

If you agree with most of these statements, you’re in the burnout mode sand need to change!

From How to Beat Burnout, Minirth, Frank B (Chicago: Moody Bible Institute, 1986) p. 37-38

Heaven

Do not let your hearts be distressed. You believe in God; believe also in me. There are many dwelling places in my Father's house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make ready a place for you. And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be too.

And you know the way where I am going (John 14:1-4- New English Translation)

Heaven is our destiny as believers. Most Christians today don’t think much about heaven, but we should. Saints of yesteryear plodded through harsh, difficult years of toil and labor by keeping their eye on the goal of heaven. In western culture, our creature comforts, toys, and nice homes, have had a dampening effect on us when we think of going to heaven. We don’t want to leave here to get there!

Many people think of heaven as a place where there are hours of boring church services and where you just sort of float around and do much of nothing. This attitude is summed up in Mark Twain’s book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Chiding Huck of his fun loving spirit, a Christian lady named Miss Watson gave Huck a negative view of heaven. In Huck’s words: She went on and told me all about the good place. She said all a body had to do there was go around all day with a harp and sing forever and ever, so I don’t think much of it…(1)

But heaven will be a place of bustling activity and will be the fulfillment of all of our desires as a human. Charles Spurgeon said about heaven: To come to thee is to come home from exile, to come to land out of the raging storm, to come to rest after long labor, to come to the goal of my desires and the summit of my wishes.(2)

Our future home in heaven will be a place far better than what we have now. Paul said, But I am hard pressed between the two. My yearning desire is to depart (to be free of this world, to set forth) and be with Christ, for that is far, far better (Philippians 1:23 – Amplified).

John saw the New Heaven and New Earth in vision form while on the isle of Patmos: Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:1-4).

David mentioned what the full manifestation of the presence of God brings with it: You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11). That’s what heaven will be like.

In heaven, you will be the you that know now, minus the flaws. You’ll look like yourself, you will eat, you will walk, you will laugh, you will be busy with life, you will know your family members there, you will take your thoughts, your memories, your likes and dislikes, and your personality with you. Heaven is planet, but not like earth. It is a perfect environment for life. You will experience perfect life there. You will experience the senses that the glorified human body has. You will be totally satisfied. Earth is but a pattern of what heaven is like. You will feel at home there!

The current state of affairs on earth seems to point towards our going to heaven sooner rather than later! Let’s stay ready to go! I’m personally looking forward to it!

---

(1)From the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn (Carol Stream, Ill: Tyndale House, 2004) p.7

(2) Heaven, p. 7

Praise Produces Spiritual Strength

Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger (Psalm 8:2).

But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes. Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?" (Matthew 21:15-16).

Jesus quoted Psalm 8:2 when challenged by the religious leaders because of the children’s voiced praise to Him. But notice that instead of saying You have ordained strength, He rephrased it to say You have perfected praise.

Praise creates spiritual strength! How does this happen? Well, Psalm 16:11 reads: You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. And we find in Nehemiah 8:10: Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

And we know that praise brings a manifestation of the presence of God according to Psalm 22:3 (KJV): But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

When you put all of these scriptures together you find that when you praise God His presence manifests, and in His presence is fullness of joy. And the Joy of the Lord is your strength! So God has ordained that we be strengthened when we praise Him. Praise brings a manifestation of His presence which brings in it joy producing spiritual strength!

That’s the reason you should practice praise when going through tests and trials. You’ll find strength from the Father during the hardship when you praise instead of gripe and complain and whine! Paul and Silas were set free from a remote dungeon where they were shackled in Acts 16 after they spent time in praise!

If you find yourself in a habit of complaining when things go wrong, start practicing praise! You’ll be strengthened by His joy if you’ll just do it! I’ll leave you with a kind word about praise from our beloved friend James: Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4 – Amplified).

You and God are a Majority

Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied (1 Samuel 17:45).

I 1 Samuel 17, you find the Israelite and the Philistine armies facing one another in a valley ready to fight. Mountains surrounded the armies, with the Israelites camped in the mountains on one side of the river valley, and the Philistines camped on the opposite side.

In between the two armies stood a man named Goliath, a Philistine. Goliath was a descendant of the race of giants in the land of Canaan. He was the offspring of fallen angels and men (See Genesis 6). Goliath stood a bit over 13 feet tall. He weighed between 400 and 600 pounds. His body armor weighed around 300 pounds. He ominously taunted the Israelites each morning and night for forty days. No man in the Israelite army dared fight him, for fighting him meant certain death.

David was a shepherd boy who had been sent by his father to deliver some food to his three older brothers who were in the Israeli army. As David gave them the food, Goliath came out to challenge the Israelites as he had for many days.

David became enraged that this giant of a man was holding the entire Israeli army captive. After obtaining permission from King Saul, and after being disdained by his brothers, David went into the valley to challenge the huge hulk of a man. He carried only his shepherd’s rod and his sling with a pouch for stones.

David was only a boy with red hair and freckles. The giant was infuriated that Israel would send a small boy to challenge him. But David was not naïve. As a shepherd, he had killed a lion and bear when they attacked his flock. He had become skilled in the use of the sling.

Some armies of his day would go to battle armed with only slings. A sling was a powerful weapon in trained hands. Some men were so skilled with the use of a sling that they could hit any small target from a great distance. The sling could be used with such force that a stone could pierce heavy armor and easily kill in battle.

David had no doubt honed his skill in using a sling, and had also developed his faith in God. When he approached Goliath, he did so knowing that God’s power and ability was on him as a covenant man with Almighty God. He also knew that with God on his side, this towering giant was defenseless. He remembered how he with his sling had killed a raging lion, and a fierce bear. He believed that if God had protected him from the mouth of the lion and the paw of the bear, then certainly God would be with him in this conflict.

The stone landed in an opening in Goliath’s helmet at his forehead and the giant bit dust. David’s covenant God had come to his aid once again.

As you face your life giants, realize that you have a better covenant with God than David had that is established on better promises! If God can deliver David from what looked like impossible odds of being killed, certainly he can deliver you from what looks like a life disaster.

Feed on God’s Word and develop your faith in His absolute integrity. He will not forsake you in your tough times. Develop your faith by exercising it every day. The Father’s desire is to fight and win the battle for you as you stand in uncompromising faith. What the Father did for David He is willing to do for you. Expect miracles!

Watch What You Pray For!

And when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, 'No, but a king shall reign over us,' when the Lord your God was your king. Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen and whom you have desired. And take note, the Lord has set a king over you (1 Samuel 12:12-13).

Be very careful about what you ask for in prayer. You just may get it! In the verses above, Israel had asked God for a king to reign over them. They had seen other nations that were led by a king, and that’s what they collectively desired.

But it was never the will of God to have a king reign over His people. God wanted to be their king. He wanted to be close to them all (See Exodus 19:5). But the Israelites persisted in their request for a king, and that’s what they got!

The point here is that God will actually give you something that is not His best if you ask and then persist in your faith. God will honor His Word in your life if you believe it. And that’s the reason that I’m very careful as to what I ask for in faith.

It takes me longer to figure what to pray for than to actually do the literal praying for it! God will honor your faith if you really want something badly enough even though it may not be His best for you. I know this goes cross-grain to most religious thinking, but it’s true.

Jesus said, If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you (John 15:7). So when I am praying about something, I first of all ask the Lord what He wants me to have. Instead of bullishly coming before the throne of God, I step back and humble myself. I ask Him to show Me His highest and best will in the matter I’m praying about. That takes time. I usually pray and wait before God sometimes, days, weeks, and even months for big things I’m praying about. I don’t want to step out into presumption and do what Israel did by asking for what is not His best for me!

Understand that I’m not talking here about praying about being healed from sickness and disease, or about the Lord supplying a real time need, or about someone being born again. The Word is clear about God’s will on these subjects. I’m talking about things like where to purchase land for building a church, or which job to take, or which city to live in. I call these things gray areas, where the Word doesn’t specifically tell you the will of God.

Jesus said again, If you abide in Me, ask...If you’re really abiding in Him you’ll not ask for something that is not His will; you’ll patiently wait in the gray areas of life until you’re sure of the will of God. Then when you pray, you’ll have confidence that you’ll receive God’s best because He is giving you His desires as you pray.

Psalms 37:4 applies so well here: Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. When you spend time with the Lord and put Him first in your life by putting His Word first place, then He will place in you what He wants you to do.

I’ll leave you with Proverbs 16:3 in the Amplified Bible today. Walk cautiously with the Lord and seek His best in the gray areas of life. He will answer prayer if you stand in faith and believe. Just make sure you’re praying for the right thing!

Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed (Proverbs 16:3).

God is a Shield

Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him (Proverbs 30:5).

When the harshness of life settles in like long monsoon rain, it gives hope to know that God your Father is taking good care of you. Some tests are of long duration. These are the times you must be rooted in the fact that God your Father always has His eye on you, and He has made promises to shield you and deliver you from the day of test. Tests and storms may come to your life, but the Father has promised that you’ll come through them every one. We must never forget that underneath us are the everlasting arms.

Years ago, during a particularly grueling trial, it seemed as though I would never see the end of the difficulty I was in. The Lord urged me time and again to go to His Word, and there He met me. What He shared has become very close to me now, and I often reflect on the verses He gave me. I’ll share them with you today the way the Lord gave them to me. If you’re in a tough place, and the test is hard, take my word for it, you will come though this thing on the other side as a better version of you than you are now. As you read the following, know that God keeps His promises!

For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock (Psalm 27:5 NIV). The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles (Psalm 34:17 NIV). A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all (Psalm 34:19 NIV).The Lord redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him (Psalm 34:22 NIV). The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him (Psalm 37:39-40 NIV) And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me (Psalm50:15 NIV). God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah (Psalm 46:1-3 NIV). Because he loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation (Psalm 91:14-16 NIV).

Fear Brings a Snare

The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe (Proverbs 29:25).

Fear and faith are both great motivators. One produces freedom and growth, the other produces bondage and lack. Fear can paralyze a human personality.

Fear attracts Satan and his kingdom the way faith attracts God and His power. Paul told Timothy that fear is a spirit. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7). I resist fear the same way that I resist the devil.

I’ve learned to resist fears that come. Fear is like Satan coming with a package for you and asking you to sign for it. Fear comes with all kinds of things attached to it; fear of failure, fear of success, fear of sickness and disease, fear poverty and lack, fear of calamity. Phobias plague humankind.

Identify your fears and stand against them. I’ve found it helpful to speak God’s word out loud as an antidote for fear. I then express in clear terms what I believe. Often I pray and stand in faith by speaking out loud.

When I was young, I had my palm read at a Methodist church Halloween carnival (how absurd!). I was 12 or 13 years old at the time, and the person told me that my “lifeline” on my hand was short and that I would die young. Immediately fear seized me! Fear of dying young lingered in the back of my mind until I was Spirit Filled years later. When I learned that God promised long life, I took the Word of God and chased that fear away!

Another antidote for fear is action! If a fear tells you not to do a certain thing, do it anyway! I just simply refuse to allow fear to rule me.

Back in the 1990’s I took a group from our church on a missions trip to Guatemala. The ministry we worked with had a beautifully refurbished DC-3 aircraft for transportation to hard to reach areas. The short of the story is that during a storm the plane crash on top of a mountain! I was one of those who went to the crash site to help survivors. When I reached the site, aircraft parts littered the cornfield where it had crashed. The fuselage had broken into several pieces; the aircraft parts were everywhere. I could hardly believe what I saw.

Then I had an unusual experience. A fear grasped me. Suddenly I heard the words, “You better cancel your next missions trip.” I had another trip scheduled to India a couple of months away. I recognized the enemy’s ploy. I spoke out loud, I would rather die than to be ruled by this fear, I resist that thought in the name of Jesus! I’m going on my next trip. I refuse this fear. God my Father will take care of me. Immediately the fear vanished like ice on hot pavement!

Don’t allow fear to remain in your life. Treat it for what it is, the enemy seeking to rule you. A good acronym for FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. Years ago a friend told me, fear is always based on a lie; deal with the lie and the fear will die.

Feed your faith on the Word and starve your fears. Refuse to give them place. Act in opposition to them. Speak out loud what you believe and keep it up throughout the day until the fear leaves. Action, faith, and words will defeat fear every time!

Relationships are Risky

Relationship carries with it the element of risk. There is usually risk associated with everything that is worthwhile in life. During a television interview in 1981, Kenneth Hagin was asked what one trait he would desire most for his graduates. Without hesitation he replied, The willingness to take risks. I was in the audience that day during the taping of this interview, and I was waiting for the typical spiritual response when Kenneth Hagin was asked this question. I was surprised and challenged by his answer.

By personality I am a risk taker. Some are not. I’ve been willing for most of my life to go where I believe the Lord is leading me, knowing full well there are no guarantees. That has brought me to where I am today.

Relationships carry with them the risk that you could be rejected; that the person could mistreat you or take advantage of you. When you choose to be loved by the Father, He will so fill you with His personal love and acceptance that you’re just simply satisfied within yourself by Him. You don’t relate to others out of need, but out of a full, satisfied heart.

In that context, you can bear any kind of treatment. Yes, it’s emotionally wrenching at times when people respond to you out of their personal hurt or judgments based on past relationships, but there is such rich gain in being with others that to me it just makes it worth it. The truth of God’s Word lived in the context of relating to others over a period of time has the potential to produce radical personal transformation.

I’ve been rejected in relationship often. I think it just goes with the territory of being a pastor. None of us are fully mature, and when you’re ministering and living out of His life, sometimes darkness is exposed. Sometimes it is exposed in me and I have to be willing to lay the wrong thinking, the wrong emotions, or wrong actions at the foot of the cross. The cross is where what I want to do and how I feel about a situation meets the Word and God’s will for me. And I choose God’s way over my thoughts and feelings.

Darkness is exposed at times in another person while I am relating to them. I must choose to remain loving, caring, and real. I must choose not to judge them, but rather lovingly woo them. This can be the difficult part of relationships. My cross is where I chose to defy my feelings and love and reach out. I must be willing to stay with truth in love and not force my will on the other person.

We carry with us baggage from past relationships. We carry judgments about people and about life in general. And those judgments produce expectations that people may mistreat us again the way others have in the past. We must be willing to lay these judgments down by forgiving those who have mistreated us. We must be willing to risk closeness again though these expectations tell us that we’ll be harmed again.

That’s where the love of God come shining through. God’s love poured out in our hearts is the antidote for trouble in relating to others. I must recondition myself to act, respond, and abide in love. That’s where my spiritual growth occurs. For without love, I am walking in the flesh and in darkness.

Though this may be long, listen again to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 in these several translations tied together. Make a choice today to risk close relationships. There are worth it!

Let me describe love. It is slow to lose patience; love stays in difficult relationships with kindness, and it always looks for ways to be constructive. There is no envy in love. It is not possessive and never boils over with jealousy. Love makes no parade of itself; it never boasts, nor does it puff up with pride. Love is never arrogant and never puts itself on display, because it is neither anxious to impress, nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance. Love never gets irritated and is never resentful. Love holds no grudges, and it keeps no record of evil done to it. Love refuses to be provoked and never harbors evil thoughts. Love is not rude or grasping or overly sensitive, nor does love search for imperfections and faults in others. Love does not compile statistics of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails. Love celebrates what is real and not what is perverse or incomplete. Love never does the graceless thing. Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage. Love never insists on its own rights, never irritably loses its temper, and never nurses its wrath to keep it warm. Love is not touchy. Love can stand any kind of treatment because there are no limits to its endurance, no end to its trust. Love bears up under anything; it perseveres in all circumstances. Love’s first instinct is to believe in people. If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best in him, and always stand your ground in defending him. Love never regards anyone or anything as hopeless. Love keeps up hope in everything. Love’s hope never fades. Love keeps on keeping on! It trusts in God in every situation and expects God to act in all circumstances. Love goes on forever. Nothing can destroy love. Nothing can happen that can break love’s spirit. In fact, it is the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen.

Relationships Directly Affect Spiritual Life

Our life challenges are spiritual in origin. Paul told the believers in Ephesus that we don’t fight against flesh and blood, but against demonic forces that can’t be seen (Ephesians 6). Paul told the believers in Corinth that we have mighty spiritual weapons with which to fight these battles (2 Corinthians 10).

Our spiritual weapons are the Word of God, the name of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, and praise and worship. The foundation that these spiritual weapons operate on is love. When we step out of love into any realm of self-centered living, we immediately lose our spiritual power and authority over Satan and his emissaries.

The believers in Ephesus had great spiritual truth. They were a well taught body of believers. They had some of God’s choicest servants ministering to them. Yet they were spiritually paralyzed because they had left the love realm and had become involved in strife.

Listen to Paul’s heart impassioned call here in Ephesians 4:25-32 (Amplified) for this body of believers to step out of the flesh into the spirit: Therefore, rejecting all falsity and being done now with it, let everyone express the truth with his neighbor, for we are all parts of one body and members one of another. When angry, do not sin; do not ever let your wrath (your exasperation, your fury or indignation) last until the sun goes down. Leave no such room or foothold for the devil [give no opportunity to him] Let the thief steal no more, but rather let him be industrious, making an honest living with his own hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need. Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God's favor) to those who hear it. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God's own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin). Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind). And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.

The believers in the church in Ephesus had allowed the enemy to seep into their relationships and bring strife, envy, unforgiveness, malice, lying, gossip, and foul, offensive, anger filled words. Satan was unopposed. They had lost tremendous spiritual ground to demonic forces.

This clearly applies to our day. Satan is unopposed in most church because the believers’ authority over him has been neutralized by these flesh manifestations. Where there is unforgiveness, envy, backbiting, strife, and gossip, the Holy Spirit is quenched and spiritual gains are lost.

Don’t allow the enemy to use you to hinder spiritual effectiveness. Refuse to yield to strife and envy. Refuse to say anything behind the back of anyone that you wouldn’t say to them face to face. Refuse to sow discord or to speak negatively about anyone to others. Refuse the tendency to bear a grudge.

Don’t allow your ears to participate in gossip. Believe the best of every person, period. If you’re not satisfied with some area of church life or ministry, go to your knees in heartfelt prayer, asking the Father to intervene and bring change. Go from that place of prayer with expectations that God is working. Speak words of encouragement and consolation, not of strife and discord. Honor your prayers with your words and actions.

See the end from the beginning. Act to others as though you believe that God is working in them and in situation that you encounter. This is the love way. This is the path of spiritual freedom and power.

Remember that demonic forces sow discord, envy and strife. Recognize Satan’s work and resist him, binding him with the name of Jesus and by your loving words and actions.

We cannot separate our relationships and daily life from our walk with God. They are intertwined. How we deal with the relationships God places in our lives shows what kingdom rules us. The kingdom of darkness breeds discord, strife, and broken relationships ruled by walls of separation. The kingdom of God breeds love, peace, joy, right living, transparent relationships, and intimacy. Which kingdom rules you?

We Treat Others the Way We Think About Ourselves

Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:4-6).

We usually project into our relationships what we feel about ourselves. If I don’t feel accepted by God and others, then I will withdraw and I will have the tendency to criticize others in my thoughts. A person may have a genuine motive of concern and a heartfelt desire to relate to me, but if I think negatively about myself, I will judge their actions toward me in a negative light.

Until we know that we are loved by the Father and fully accepted by Him, relationships will be difficult. The best thing that I can do to help myself in relating to others is to come to a clear understanding of how the Father views me.

The greatest change came in my own life when I saw that in Christ Jesus I am totally forgiven of all my past failures; that my past deeds are remembered no more by the Father; that I am accepted in the beloved; that God is now for me and not against me; that I am His workmanship, His own handiwork; that the Father has given me the same standing in heaven that His Son has before the Him.

These truths free me from condemnation and fear. They breed within me faith and trust. Self-doubt is such an enemy of relationships and closeness. The fear of being rejected taunts us all. Knowing that you are adopted into the family of God and with that adoption comes all the privileges of a natural born son or daughter to God.

Years ago the Father challenged me with 1 Corinthians 4:3-4 in the J.B. Phillips translation: But, as a matter of fact, it matters very little to me, what you, or any man, thinks of me – I don’t even value my opinion of myself. Paul was challenged with his past in city after city as he travelled. He once persecuted believers, committing them to prison or having them stoned. No doubt that children and family members of the deceased reminded Paul of what he did to ruin their family life. Paul had to forgive himself and rely on the mercy of God. He had to choose to no longer judge himself. He had to choose to believe the best of himself and others.

Love believes the best of every person. Love expects the best and never thinks the worst. Start with yourself. Believe that the Father loves you unconditionally and accepts you right now just the way you are. Believe that He has cleansed all your misdeeds and now treat you as though you had never done wrong. Instead of expecting to be rejected by others, choose to believe the best of them. Expect to be excepted when you walk into a room full of people. Expect others to be pleasant and kind when you engage them in conversation.

We usually receive what we give. Expect to be used by the Lord to encourage others today. Expect Him to give you the tongue of the learned, that you would know how to speak an appropriate word of encouragement to each person you meet today (see Isaiah 50:4). Think about yourself the way the Father thinks about you. Believe the best of others and look for the best in others today. Relationships are easier when you’re confident in who you are in Christ Jesus!

Stop Hiding

So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself (Genesis 3:10).

One of the results of the fall is a fear of relationships. In their sinless state, Adam and Eve were love dominated and fear free. The first result of the fall was hiding. They hid from one another, and they hid from God. Innocence turned to shame. Faith turned to fear. Trust turned to suspicion.

This fear of relationships and the resultant hiding still rules sinful man. And those who come to Christ must renew their minds to the love of God or this tendency to hide will still dominate their relationships.

My late friend Jack Frost would put it this way: When Adam sinned, he put a roof up and walls around himself to keep God and others out. Most people live with the roof up to keep God out, and the walls up to keep others out. Jesus came to demolish the roof and give us unlimited access to the Father in unbroken, intimate fellowship. We’ve been given the invitation to come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace for every need.

Jesus also came to take down the walls that separate us from one another. Jesus prayed for the church in John 17 that we would become one with each other just as He and the Father are one.

Most people hide. Fear rules them and keeps them isolated from others. The only way to overcome this ingrained fear of close relationships is to open up and fully accept the love the Father has for you. God created us to be nurtured from childhood in an atmosphere of unconditional love create by two loving parents who walk closely with the Father. The parents receive the love that the Father has for them, the parents love each other, and the then the parents model this unconditional, self-sacrificial love to their children. That’s the way God intended for us to grow. Sin ruined God’s plan and stunted our growth. And our homes are broken and fear filled.

In Christ we learn that the Father loves us with an unconditional, self-sacrificial love. This love is not based on our human performance, but on Him and His character. Fear has taught us to hide from others until we work to earn their approval. As we mature in Christ, we learn that the Father loves us, period. We can’t earn His love. His love for us is free. And He loves us when we perform well and also when we miserably fail. He doesn’t reject us when we sin, but has made a way of escape from its penalty of condemnation and fear. Our lawyer Jesus serves as our defense attorney when we sin and as we confess our sins, He pleads our case before the Father, cleanses us from sin, and restores our intimate fellowship with the Father. Our misdeeds are erased, never to be seen by the Father or others. This gives boldness to no longer hide but freely expose ourselves to God and to others.

If you know that you’re freely loved and freely forgiven by the Father, there is no reason to hide. There is no fear in love. If you still hide from others, the reality of the love that the Father has for you has not yet penetrated your spirit and my mind. When being loved unconditionally by the Father becomes a settled fact within you, fear loses its grip and you are free to come out of hiding.

Knowing you’re loved by the Father creates an atmosphere in your life of openness, honesty, and realness. Hiding ceases. Exposure to others is no longer scary. You’ve found the safe place called love. That safe place enables closeness with God and closeness with others.

Perhaps you’re still caught in the clutches of the fear of relationship and the walls are up and the roof is on in your life. Ask the Father to reveal His unconditional, self-sacrificial love to you. Get alone with your Father and pour your heart out to Him in sincerity. He will love you, forgive you, restore you, and brush your fears away. You will find Him to be sincere and tender, honest and real. And in this place of intimacy with Himself, the Father will help you take down the walls that isolate you from others. Start the journey to personal freedom today!