(last night's message - the major points were highlighted in the Fire Bible, I've expounded on them)
I
came across the story of a little boy named Grayson this week. He’s 4. He’s
actually the son of the DYD in Oklahoma.
He has stage four neuroblastoma cancer and has for a while. His family has been
blogging about their journey with this disease. I read four entries and was
blinking back tears. Grayson’s cancer has become increasingly aggressive
despite chemotherapy and he is out of options. All they can do is try to keep
him comfortable and pray for healing. Grayson is dying. I can’t imagine the
pain and questioning that little Grayson’s family is experiencing right now.
Sickness
and death are directly related to our sin problem. Sickness and death entered
the world through the Fall. Sickness and death are consequences of humankind’s
initial disobedience and defiance towards God.
Disobedience separated Adam and Eve from God and His perfect plans. This
single act of disobedience opened the world to sin and brought trouble and
suffering
Since the fall though, God has been our healer. Throughout the Old Testament, God healed.
Psalm 103 tells us this.
Praise the LORD, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits —
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Isaiah 53:5 promises a savior who is coming, granting increased access to healing through His suffering.
But he was pierced for
our transgressions,
he was
crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that
brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
Jesus did exactly that. Jesus was in the healing business.
He performed so many signs and wonders that they couldn’t even all been recorded in the Bible!
The Word tells us this in the last verse of John; (21:25)
Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down,
I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
Here’s the thing. If Jesus did miracles then, He still does today.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 NIV84)
He still heals!
So
now we know we are promised physical healing in Christ Jesus. How do we put
feet to that?
1.)
Be sure you are in right relationship with God and others. Allowing sin to
fester in your life infects your relationships. Sin needs to be removed. If you
are struggling with repeat offender sin, find someone you respect and ask them
to hold you accountable. Having sin in your life your life while seeking
healing is like a lung cancer patient smoking during his chemo treatments. Your
own choices are holding your back from receiving God’s best for you.
2.)
Pursue a deeper relationship with God through consistent time of prayer,
worship and Bible study. I’m going to warn you though, this is dangerous. The
more time you spend with God, the more time you want to spend with God. Seeking
God is going to heal so much more than your body, it will heal your soul.
3.)
Saturate your life with God’s Word. Soak up His promises. (a sponge filled with
water) If you are ‘super saturated’ with the Word of God, what will happen when
you get bumped? God’s Word will pour out of you. Meditating on His promises all
day long reminds you of His truth when the world lies to you.
Scripture
memorization is extremely challenging for me, but not for my son. So Eli and I
have been memorizing scripture this week. He’s helping me grow in this area and
it’s working! But the thing is, it is WORK. But it’s work worth doing.
4.)
Trust God, even if you haven’t received your healing. You will grow in Him
during the trial. When I lost my babies eight years ago, that was the longest
darkest test of my life. It felt like God literally removed His Spirit from me.
I distinctly remember making the decision to worship Him, acknowledging that
His holiness was not dependant on my happiness.
5.)
Ask your church leaders to pray, anoint you with oil as a symbol of the
presence and power of God’s spirit in your life.
James
5:14
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of
the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
Come
forward for prayer after service on Sunday morning or Wednesday night. I keep a
bottle of anointing oil in my purse, we’ll use it! Also ask friends and family
to pray for you. We have a shift Prayer Requests pages. Get on there, use it.
Ask for prayer for yourself, but pray for others as well.
6.)
Expect a miracle. Trust Jesus’ power, He is able to do anything. (Matthew 19:26
– He’s a God of the impossible) If you are doing the first five things I
listed, you can trust that God is going do a miracle. Remember that phrase from
the Wedding at Canaan miracle – obedient
servants can expect a miracle. When we serve God faithfully, we can trust His
miraculous provision!
7.)
Rejoice in your relationship with God, whether healing comes right away or not.
Even when you’re hurting, God is still God. He’s still good, He’s still
sovereign, He’s still saved you, He still works all things together for the
good of those who serve Him. Which leads me into my next point.
8.)
Know that God is sovereign. Sovereign meaning He has supreme authority and
power. Meaning, He’s got this. Praying without an apparent answer does not mean
that God has denied your request. His method and timing are not often what we
expect, but that’s because His ways are higher than our ways. Here’s the thing
that I personally have discovered about God, and millions of Christians who
have walked before me have discovered the same thing. You can trust God. The
sooner you decide this matter in your heart, the easier it will be to surrender
to His will and His sovereignty.
It’s
like a tapestry. We don’t use tapestries a lot anymore, but they used to be an
expression of art about a particular time period, usually telling a story or
depicting and memorializing a particular event. An incredible amount of time,
planning and effort went into making a tapestry. Here’s the thing, to a thread
being used in the process, the tapestry looks like a mess. It’s just weaving in
and around other threads, tied up in knots, seemingly with no purpose or
forethought. And even the backside of the tapestry, what a tremendous mess it
is! But when the tapestry is finished and you can see the final product, what a
work of love and patience – a beautiful creation that only a master artist
could produce.
Maybe
tapestries are an outdated reference. Maybe an easier modern day example is
that it’s like an epic movie – like Titanic or Lord of the Rings. Well in a
movie, each prop is carefully chosen, each part cast, each lightbulb put in
place, the sound affects selected, the script written and rewritten. And then
of course, there’s the editing process. Pastor Rob and I only edit tiny short
films – five minutes or less, and it still can take hours. Even just editing
the puppet skit, adding all the music and sound affects and cutting the awkward
pauses – here’s a screen shot of iMovie – it’s an involved process.
Our
lives are a tiny element in this epic movie of life. We see only the teensiest
snippet and wonder why it doesn’t go our way. But the reality is that God is
working it all together for the good of His Kingdom, He’s the director and the
producer. Remember that this world isn’t our final destination. I strongly feel
that if we could have a conversation with Stephen or Paul or Peter now they
would tell us that every trial, every suffering, every hardship they endured
pales in comparison to the joy of being with the King. I think this because of
verses Paul penned like the following.
2
Corinthians 4:17
“For our
light and momentary troubles are achieving us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is
unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Fix
is an awesome word here. In my quiet time this morning it said to fix your eyes
is to hold a focal point - much like a
dancer spinning circles. They must keep a point of focus or we will be dizzy
and confused by the world. We fix our eyes on Jesus to keep our steps
sure-footed.
So
we know that Jesus is our healer. In fact, I would go so far to say He always
heals. Even if little Grayson, dies, he still receives his healing. We can be
healed temporarily in this body, but we will be healed permanently in the next.
2
Corinthians 5:1 promises us this; For we
know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from
God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
Grayson
will receive a healing, one way or the other. I know in this place there are
people in need of a healing, and it’s ok to pray for that and I want you to
feel free to linger after we close in prayer for your personal healing. But
sometimes it’s a good thing if we let go of our own need and pray for someone
else’s need. It’s called intercession, Tonight I feel led to stop focusing our
own needs and instead pray for this little boy, Grayson. Remember he has stage
4 neuroblastoma cancer. He needs a touch from Jesus in a very real way. His
family needs God’s peace and comfort. Will you join me in praying for him?
