Tag Archives: scripture

by

The Pursued Becomes The Pursuer

photo-5[1]

God pursued me. He chased me down, romanced me, and never let up until the day I said, “I do.” The amazing part about it is that no one else wanted me; He really had no other competition at the time. I wasn’t some special “catch” and I certainly wasn’t perfect bride material. Yet, there He was, consistently, constantly, telling me how much He loved me. He wooed me. That is an old word that we don’t use too much anymore, but here is the definition: to seek the affection or love of a woman in order to marry her. Since I was only six years old at the time, I didn’t understand anything other than the fact that God was my Father, He loved me, and He wanted me. Through a great teacher, I realized I wasn’t good enough on my own so God’s Son, Jesus, took away all my “bad stuff” and gave me a new heart. I was so desperate for love how could I say no to that?

Over the years I backslid and fell into the lifestyle of sin, again, God revealed His love for me and the wooing began anew. By this time I had experienced, all negatively, the so called “love” of the world and all it did was leave me broken and bitter. God healed me of all of the hurts by His great LOVE.
Now, I am so grateful for the changes in my life, the blessings, and so many un-imagined ways that He is real in my life that my heart’s desire is to get closer to Him.

The pursued has become the pursuer.

It shouldn’t be hard really. After all, I had a good teacher. He wasn’t nonchalant about it. In no way was His pursuit of me a low priority. He aggressively pursued me. If you are unsure of what I am talking about, read the Song of Solomon. It is all about His love, His pursuit of His Bride, and if no one has ever told you, you are His bride too, male or female, young or old, you are His Bride if you have said yes to His proposal. Here are just a few scriptures that talk about His love for you.

Songs 1:15 (NIV), “Behold, you are fair, my love; behold, you are fair; you have doves’ eyes.”
Song of Solomon 4:10 (NIV), “How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume more than any spice!”

Song of Solomon 5:1 (NIV), “I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk. Friends Eat, friends, and drink; drink your fill of love.”

Deuteronomy 7:8 (God’s Word Translation), “You were chosen because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors. So he used his mighty hand to bring you out. He freed you from slavery under Pharaoh (the king of Egypt).”

I Thessalonians 1:4 (NLT), “We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people.”

There are hundreds of these. I could go on for ages, but you need to do a word study yourself. Just know, God loves you!

Now, how does one go about wooing, pursuing the Creator of the Universe. It’s not like I can buy Him candy and flowers. What would please Him, how can I bless Him? I can start by getting to know Him better. I can read the scriptures with the purposeful intention of finding out more about His heart, who He is. I need to remember where I was, and where I am now. This one is very important; I need to do what He says.

John 14:15 (KJB), “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

Jesus clarifies this later by saying that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and the second was to love one another. So, not only should we do what He says, but we need to share His love with those around us. Yes, even the ones that you think are hard to love. It wasn’t hard for God to love you, so it isn’t hard for Him to love anyone. How then can we withhold our love. Now let me clarify, loving someone doesn’t mean we have to agree with all of their actions, or love what they do, we just love them, who God sees them to be. He may not want flowers and candy, but He does want His family to grow. What greater gift can we give Him than souls saved?

Next, we need to pursue righteousness. He gave it to us when we surrendered our hearts to Him, but we need to be in constant pursuit. The running isn’t just to God, and His ways, but we need to run away from some things as well.

II Timothy 2:22 (NLT), “Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.”

When we do this, really do it, our lives are transformed. When we pursue Him who first pursued us, our hearts are overwhelmed by Love.

Here is what David said, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. (Psalm 63:1-8 ESV)

I realize that some people serve God out of fear. They are afraid of death, or hell, or life in general, they are afraid of what others might think or say, and there are some who are afraid of God, and not in a healthy reverential way. They don’t love Him, they are just trying to appease Him. They see Him as hard, or distant, or uncaring, so they go through the motions of vain traditions and religious duty and their lives are never transformed. In fact, most of the time they only get worse.

Fear is the wrong motivation! The only true motivation is LOVE. Fear has bondage. Perfect love casts out all fear. Let’s take a quick look at Adam and Eve in the garden. They are a good example of the motivation of fear.

God tells Adam that he can eat of any tree in the garden, except one. God reserved that one for Himself (think of it as the tithe). He then warns Adam that if he did eat from that tree, he would die. Take notice that Eve has not been created yet. It is just Adam and God. However, when the serpent (Satan) comes to tempt Eve to eat, what are her words to the lying devil? “We can’t eat of it or even touch it.” Who gave Eve her instructions concerning the tree? That’s right, her husband. Why had he added to the simple command of God? He wanted Eve to fear, possibly he even feared himself. I once thought that he just loved her so much, but had his motivation been love, he never would have allowed Satan into the garden, and he certainly wouldn’t have stood by and watched her take the fruit.

I believe it played out something like this: the serpent casts doubt in Eve’s mind about God’s intentions (doesn’t he always!) then Eve touched the fruit. Remember Adam had said they couldn’t touch it or they would die. She touches it, she is safe, it looks good, smells good, and there is Adam watching to see what will happen. Finally she takes a bite. It tastes good, and then we see Adam too, partaking of this forbidden fruit.

Could this all have been prevented if Adam hadn’t lied, hadn’t added to God’s command…maybe.

Love motivates us for good, it takes away, drives out any fear in us. God loves us perfectly, better than any other ever would or could.

Sometimes when I really contemplate His love, I just get so full that I either cry, or can’t stop smiling. I want this love to be two sided. I have had enough of one-sided love to last me a lifetime. I would never, ever leave my husband, (we’ve been through too much!), but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t want me to show him how much I love him, to still pursue him. In the same way, Jesus said he would never leave us nor forsake us, but are we going to just take that for granted and act like it isn’t a big deal? I am not. I want Him to know how much I love Him. Don’t be like the husband who won’t tell his wife he loves her because “she already knows I love her.” Don’t just give lip service to God and tell Him you love Him without any actions to back it up.

Don’t ever stop chasing Him, He will never stop chasing you.

by

Want Honor?

738b392f87082f32711733440301584f[1]

It is nice to be honored, isn’t it? In America we like to watch awards shows where they honor actors, singers, athletes and more. We have honorary college degrees, employee of the month, customer of the day, and much more. When we get a good review at work and a raise, it feels nice. As a whole we tend to think of recognition as honor, but they are two different things. Recognition means just that, you have been recognized, identified, or remembered. Picture yourself walking down the street and you hear someone call your name, you were recognized by someone. Honor includes respect, esteem, and recognition. Bonnie and Clyde received recognition, Mother Theresa received honor. So why does it seem that some receive honor and others do not. Two people can do the same job at work, with the same production, yet not receive the same reward? The Biblical answer to that is that only the humble can receive honor.

Proverbs 29:23 (NASB), “A man’s pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor.”

Matthew 23:12 (NIV), “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Proverbs 18:12 (Holman Christian Standard Bible), “Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.”

Any one of us can go around “tooting our own horn” and bragging about all of our accomplishments. We could corner our bosses and demand recognition and a raise for our hard work. We could take out a front page ad to display our talents and gifts to gain fame. However, true honor, honor that hasn’t been forced or manipulated, only comes to those who are humble.

If your work, your effort, and the application of your God given gifts and talents are all used just so that you can gain recognition, then that is your reward. So, you better be happy with the recognition of men. If you want honor, which is so different than simple recognition, you better be operating out of a completely different motivation. The man who works hard on his job because he knows that his boss expects it, because he acknowledges that he is on the time clock and being paid for his time, and because he wants to represent the Kingdom well, will receive true honor. The person who uses their artistic talent to glorify God and to support their family will receive honor. The artist, who uses their talent to glorify themselves, or a certain lifestyle, may win awards, and gain recognition, but they will never have honor. It’s so easy to see the motivation in other people, sometimes harder to see it in ourselves.

We tend to want to point the finger at others and say their effort isn’t good enough, or their motivation is not right, but we want them to honor us for every little thing that we do.
Jonathan Edwards said it this way, “Some persons are always ready to level those above them down to themselves, while they are never willing to level those below them up to their own position. But he that is under the influence of true humility will avoid both these extremes. On the one hand, he will be willing that all should rise just so far as their diligence and worth of character entitle them to; and on the other hand, he will be willing that his superiors should be known and acknowledged in their place, and have rendered to them all the honors that are their due.”

Honor should never be sought after. It is earned by being humbly obedient to those in authority over us, and doing whatever our hands find to do as unto the Lord. We do our best because it is the right thing to do, because this honors God, and God will make sure that we are honored. If you feel cheated of honor, examine your heart! That is pride speaking. God will never bypass the chance to honor those who deserve it. He said in Romans 13:7, to give honor where honor is due. He doesn’t ask us to do something that He won’t do. He honors those who have a contrite spirit, a repentant heart. Pride is sin and clearly indicates a heart that has not humbled itself.

Isaiah 66:2 (NKJB), “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the LORD.“But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.”

James 4:6,10 (NIV), “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble…Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

So, this all may go against our flesh, but most good things do! We have to humble ourselves. It doesn’t matter if you ever get recognized for your hard work at your job, at Church, or at home, just work hard. Do your job cheerfully and with a good attitude. Use your talents and gifts to help others, and not just yourself, to glorify God. Don’t worry if anyone is watching or takes notice. God sees. His rewards will be so much better than the recognition of man.

Matthew 6:1 (Message Bible), “Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding.”

by

Book Review for “They’re Rugby Boys Don’t You Know”-Christian non-fiction

23151687[1]

I was given a copy by the author in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book. What a great story of sharing the love of God with those in need. Rugby boys is a testimony of a missionary who ended up on an extended stay in the Philippines. There she met several “Rugby Boys” who are named after the glue (rugby) that they inhale. An honest telling, she includes her mistakes, her bad days, and the failures. I can recommend for pre-teens on up. A great book for anyone who has a heart for missions. I give it 5 stars.

by

KIng By Choice Or King By Force

tripleh_wallpaper_kingofkings_800x480[1]

Philippians 2:9-11 (NIV), “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Romans 14:11 (International Standard Version), “For it is written, “As certainly as I live, declares the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will praise God.””

Isaiah 45:23 (NIV), “By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.”

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, God will be praised, by every tongue, saved or unsaved, angels and demons, humans and animals, all will praise Him.

Jesus is King of Kings. Nothing we can do or think, say or do can change that. However just like everything else in our lives we have a choice, not if we will name Him as Lord and King, but when. We can submit to Him as King now, or we can be forced to bend the knee later. It’s totally up to us.

I love reading books on Arthurian legend. One of the reasons is because of the depiction of Arthur as “High King”. I am in fact reading the best version yet, by Stephen R. Lawhead. This one is my favorite due to the fact that Arthur and even Merlin are portrayed as followers of Jehu (Jesus). The story still has battles and those evil characters that try to manipulate, or strike terror in the people. Each of those wicked Lords or lesser kings all faced a choice, to submit to Arthur as High King and support the defense of their land, or be conquered in battle and be forced, literally to bow the knee and swear fealty to their king.

Such a good lesson for us, Jesus will be our King, by choice or by force.

You choose.

The good part is that Jesus is not a man like Arthur (if he was even real), with flaws and faults. Jesus is deity. He is God and He is good. You could never submit to anyone who would care for and love you more, or better. He always has your best interest at heart. Just like the kings of old, He went first into battle. He not only goes before you, He encompasses you.

Here is a passage taken from Lawhead’s “Arthur” spoken over Arthur at his crowning:
“Jesu with him, before him, behind him;
Jesu in him, beneath him, above him;
Jesu on his right, Jesu on his left’
Jesu when he sleeps, Jesu when he wakes;
Jesu in the heart of everyone who thinks of him;
Jesu in the mouth of everyone who speak of him;
Jesu in the eye of everyone who sees him.”

Let’s truly make Him our King. Not just in word, but in deed, so that all who see us, think of us, or speaks of us will be glorifying God.

If you have confessed Him as Lord, let this be a reminder of what that really means. If you haven’t think about what it would be like to have a loving King to go out for you in battle. One who has already won the victory and has all the spoils of war to give into your hands.

JESUS IS KING.

Revelation 5:13 (Douay-Rheims Bible), “And every creature, which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them: I heard all saying: To him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, benediction, and honour, and glory, and power, for ever and ever.”

by

Lost?

29762101-crossroads-road-sign-pointer-to-the-right-this-way-but-that-way-left-choice-concept[1]

I am not talking about the “before you were saved” lost. I am talking about those times when you feel like you just don’t have a clue. The world is spinning around you so fast and you go through your day/days as if you were caught in a whirlwind. Then when the spinning finally stops, you walk around stumbling and feeling like the ground is moving without you, maybe even thinking “what is the point!” That kind of lost.

Don’t despair. We’ve all been there. Thankfully it’s been a long time since I have. I have made it a point to keep looking at my map (my bible) and listening to my GPS (The Holy Spirit). It’s harder to get lost when you have both of those active in your life.

God has a plan. He knew what it was before your parents ever met, before He formed you in your mother’s womb. It is a wonderful, extravagant, crazy, over the top, life changing plan. How do I know? He tells us, over and over. Here is one place:
I Corinthians 2:9-12 (NIV), “but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,”

The truth is that God has your life all planned out for you, and the crazy part is that He planned it all out knowing ahead of time all your mistakes and wrong turns. Your mess ups, don’t mess up His plans. Ever.

To accept the truth, you have to give up a lie. The “American Dream” is a lie. We can’t get caught up in the dreams and the drama of this world. Our life isn’t about fame and fortune. Yes, we will be blessed, but not because we live in a certain earthly country, but because we are citizens of Heaven. (Don’t get me wrong, I love my country, but I am only a foreigner here.) We have been sent here to be a blessing. Wherever you live, that’s your job. Look at Daniel, he was taken captive and brought to the enemies city by force. Yet, he served faithfully under at least 4 kings, and was just as faithful to God. He blessed those in authority over him, and those under his authority. Don’t be afraid to let God use you. It doesn’t matter if we are scared-keep dreaming. Don’t despise small beginnings.

We have to dream. We have to let our imaginations work for good, and allow the Holy Spirit to show us things that eye has not seen or ear heard, or even things that never entered out hearts or imaginations, all those wonderful, if scary, things God has in store for us. We can’t rely on our intellect, or what the world says is possible. Science is not God. Our puny thinking cannot compare to the mind of God. We need a Godly imagination. Once you have heard it, or read it, or by the Holy Spirit, been shown the vision, imagine what it will be like, how you will get there, what needs to be done to accomplish it. Imagine how it will bless others, and please your Lord.

“Logic will take you from point A to B but imagination will take you everywhere.” Albert Einstein

The surest way to keep from getting lost is to stay on the path that is clearly marked and lit up like a Christmas tree.

David said, “Your word is a light unto my path and a lamp unto my feet.”

That is the path I am sticking to, come hell or high water. That is the “high road.”

I once was lost, but now I know the way.

by

Dry Bones

imagesKLBOX4JU

In your walk with the Lord, have you ever felt like you were in a dry place? You know the great Sahara desert of the spirit when you feel like you just chewed up a whole box of saltines and now someone asked you to whistle Dixie? A fish out of water and not a rain drop in sight?

I have. Many times in fact. Sometimes I am not surprised because I am the one who drained the pool and hauled in all the sand. Other times it comes on me unawares and I wake up one day, or go to bed and realize that I haven’t felt the presence of the Lord, or that my heart is just sort of numb. I have learned that my human nature during these times is to back away (in fact that may have been what started the dry season to begin with), to stop reading my bible, to just go through the motions and do my bare bones religious duty. The problem with that is God doesn’t want religion, He wants a relationship.

So, whatever the cause of the wilderness walk, we have to keep on walking and we have to press in. That’s the most important time to read The Word, and to pay attention in Church, to sing some worship songs, and praise the Lord. Sometimes it’s a “sacrifice”. We are doing something we don’t feel like doing, because we love Him, and He deserves it no matter what we feel like.

Hebrews 13:15 (KJB), “By him (Jesus) therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” Parenthesis added.

Whenever I am in that dry place, I often think of the passage in Ezekiel, when the Spirit takes the prophet to the valley of dry bones. Many battles had taken place there and there were many whitewashed bones that had been food for wild beasts and left drying in the weather. God asks Ezekiel if those bones could live. He, being the smart man that he was realizes this is a trick question. In the natural, of course they couldn’t live again. There wasn’t a live cell left in these bones. However, he also knew that all things were possible with God. So he turns it back to the Lord. Let’s take a look at this passage.

Ezekiel 37:1-10 (NIV), “The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.’ “Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. ‘I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.’ So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.”’” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.”

How did those bones come to life?

God told the prophet to prophesy to the bones. We are all called to prophecy. Paul was very clear about that. (I Corinthians 14:5). When we are feeling like bare bones, speak life back into those dry bones. Call on the breath of God. Spend time in your heavenly prayer language (tongues) and allow the Spirit to build you up, and recharge your battery. We all get dry, it isn’t a sin, and it doesn’t surprise God.

Just don’t back away. Don’t allow yourself to think that your desert experience is forever. Don’t allow rebellion, grumbling and complaining, or complacency to come into your life, take a look at those that died in the dessert in Exodus if you want to see how that pans out. We all have to go through some wilderness experiences, we just don’t have to set up camp, don’t build your house there. Pass through in the strength of the Lord. Ask God to send you rain, to give you an oasis in the middle of the desert. To make the dry places a spring of life. Seek Him.

God can raise an army out of dry bones. What can He do with a live one?!

by

Discerning His Body

Passionchrist_whipped

I Corinthians 11:27-32 (NIV), “So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.”

We already discussed discerning the blood of Christ and how important that is in our walk with God. Equally important, but not as widely accepted is understanding the broken body of Christ.

At the last supper, Jesus is talking to His disciples and He hands them the cup of wine. Their Lord tells them that it is His blood and to drink every drop. Then He hands them some flatbread and rips off a chunk, passing it around and says that it is His body. What is Jesus telling these men? Has He changed the wine and bread into flesh and blood as He changed the water into wine at the wedding feast? No. He is using an object lesson, one of many. The wine is representing the blood that He will soon be pouring out on Calvary. The bread represents His body, soon to be ripped to shreds by a cat o’ nine tails, and pierced by thorns, spear, and spikes. When they see the blood flowing from that cross, and see His once whole skin, marred and broken, He wants them to remember His words that He shared with them that night. He wants them to remember that He did it for them.

It is easy for most of us Christians to accept that Jesus died in our place, if we hadn’t we wouldn’t call ourselves followers of Jesus. We have accepted that God loved us so much that He sent His only son and that Jesus loved us so much that He willingly laid down His life so that we can live free from sin and shame. However, for a lot of Christians it is hard to accept that there is more to Salvation than just a get out of Hell free card. Salvation isn’t “fire insurance”.

More was done on that cross than most of us realize. Salvation is a package that has many gifts inside. We have been washed clean and forgiven for all of our sins. We have received a new heart and a new spirit. Our family is now a heavenly one, and our Father is God. There are too many promises and scriptures, for one small devotion, to name them all. In a nutshell salvation means we are saved, delivered, and healed. Look the word up. It includes an abundant life.

I Peter 2:25 (Weymouth Translation), “The burden of our sins He Himself carried in His own body to the Cross and bore it there, so that we, having died so far as our sins are concerned, may live righteous lives. By His wounds yours have been healed.”

Specifically we see in I Peter that His wounds, those stripes left by the Roman whip, the nails, the thorns, that spear thrust all were for a purpose that transcends a torturous death. He submitted to those wounds so that we could be healed. I know, it doesn’t make sense with our natural mind, but not much in the Kingdom of Heaven does, but it is Truth. God said it and He never lies. Reading I Corinthians 11 in the light of I Peter 2 reveals much about discerning the blood of Christ.

Read this again, “That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.” Why are we sick and why do so many of us die before our time? Because we don’t understand that our healing has already been purchased. We aren’t waiting to be healed, begging to be healed, just suffering through until God decides to do something. No, He already did! We believe it, tell the Devil, command our bodies to line up with it, and stand in faith; we walk out the promise of God. It is easier said than done. I know. Over fourteen years I suffered with anxiety and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Praise God, I don’t anymore. In fact I hardly ever even think about it or remember those hard times anymore. We have to get this into our hearts. How can we take ground when we are spending all our time trying to defend our own little area? God’s people need to walk in their authority. Us. Me. You.

It takes practice. It takes courage, but don’t fret, the Joy of the Lord is your strength. When we start to get this and we see results, talk about faith rising up in you. And suddenly you have another testimony, another opportunity to share how good God is. At the risk of sounding redundant, read your Bible. Do a search healing, health, and the Body of Christ. We are His body. How can the body of Jesus be sick? How can His body be weak?

God does not send sickness; He doesn’t cause birth defects, mental defects, or mental illness. All disease (the state of being not at ease) is from the enemy who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. God gives us life and life more abundantly. Stand on that. Rebuke the Devil soundly and remind Him that you have been blood bought.

He took those stripes, He poured out His blood, and He did it all willingly. Don’t ever let it be for nothing. Take hold of that love and hang on with all you’ve got. Live from Heaven!