Healing: Obtain It, Maintain It, Sustain It!

Working in a senior community, I often wondered if the residents enjoy being sick more then living healthy. I watched as they had family coming in and out of their apartments. The ill residents were hardly ever seen...well, until they stopped getting visitors. Hmm, mystery solved.

There was one resident in particular that fascinated me. He didn't have much family but plenty of neighbors and friends that cared about him. He wanted for nothing (Proverbs 19:4 AMP). When he became ill, he was surrounded by scores of friends. He complained that he couldn't breath and needed further medical assistance. The ambulance was there in a few minutes. When they asked what the matter was, he kept gasping but never answered them. They left for the hospital. He was admitted and stayed for over a week. When he returned, the neighbors and friends took shifts to make sure he had round the clock care. After some time, they insisted for him to get up and walk around. He claimed that he couldn't. They urged for him to do some menial tasks for himself. He retorted that he wasn't well enough yet. So they suggested that he might have to return to the hospital. He paused before rejecting that suggestion as well. It was about then that they felt imposed upon and stopped taking shifts. They no longer answered his calls. When he did got visitors again after some time, they weren't surprised to see how well he did for himself. In fact, he was even ready to go outside for a walk which used to be his regular routine (Proverbs 17:9 AMP).

As Christians, don't we have a different belief system? Do you remember how we spoke the mantra, "name it then claim it"? What happened to that? It was going to be the title of this entry, but then I wondered if I would get any readers. That very mantra was a discussion in a Christian group on one of the social networks. It became heated and I had to leave wondering what happened to our values. Believers have become so angry with God because they have lost family members, friends, and members of their own bodies because of sickness and disease. Alright, we can get angry, but let it be justified. Let there be a legitimate reason for it and not waste time when you could be doing something more constructive. God tells us to state our case (Isaiah 43:26 AMP). Make it plain and make sure you are reminding Him of His Word so you can get your facts straight. By the way, don't forget to add faith in there (Hebrews 11:6 AMP). Don't tell Him what you saw and how you felt...you'll only make Him angry and then it will be awhile before you get any answers (Hebrews 11:1 AMP). Don't believe me? Click on the references and read for yourself.

From my perspective, I know what I have overcome and what I still have to do. As a child, I hated household chores. It took away from the fun I could have outside with my friends. Even when I was allowed to play first, I knew when it was all over, the chores would be waiting for me. If I didn't do them, I would be punished. As a grown woman, not cleaning your own house spills over into other things. Being disorganized at your job, brain fog, and an overall sense of depression. Having this understanding, puts some things into perspective and therefore cleaning for your own physical, emotional, and mental health made sense to do and maintain (1 Corinthians 13:11 AMP).

Because of the training I received as a child having both parents retired from the military, it was unheard of to have an unkempt home. When they divorced, dusting and vacuuming wasn't a priority. Keeping it emotionally together was. Not knowing that, made everything difficult to do. Blame was placed and the focus on serious matters were displaced. Sickness was waiting to get a stronghold...but God. In spite of the long journey ahead, Mom kept us in church. Eventually, we got it some of those things together, first by understanding why faith and then we could use it. It was the habitual practice of what God says to do that kept us strong to be who we are today. We understood why the need to have a healthy diet, exercise, and a well kept home didn't mean anything without rest in God. Some things are better understood then others and the journey continues, but we aren't where we used to be.

Gnats like an unkempt house. Actually, all sorts of bugs do as well. As dust settles on and around the occupant, he/she begins to cough. A cough that seems to last longer then the average cold. More dust settles and becomes thicker - like a blanket. The cobwebs don't look like spiders made them anymore. The dust starts to hang like grey weeping willows in a forest of ick. After awhile, even the house knows that it is no longer being cared for and one thing after another starts to break down. If not the roof, then the plumbing, if not that the flooring is loose, or the railing, or one of the shingles fell off. If these matters aren't tended to, then it isn't long before vermin accepts the invitation for residency; and not just the 4 legged kind. There are vermin that we can't see that manifests itself in other ways. Those that have been treated for ringworm and other skin diseases got them from someone who has issues with cleaning their house. Watching the show, Hoarders, if nothing else, can teach lessons on having the desire to keep a home clean - always!

Now look at your house - that is, your physical body. It is the temple of the Lord. The Lord being the Prince of Peace, the way maker, the life giver, the healer, the miracle worker. He is the greater one on the inside of you. Why would you have any sickness or disease on or around you? It doesn't make sense, does it? You are needed for a time such as this but can't do what God has called you to do because you aren't feeling well? What? Why? Have you asked (James 4:2-4 AMP)?

The common thing to do for Christians is pray first then go seek medical attention. Yeah, yeah, there's nothing wrong with that. The suggestion here is why not add one more step to what you already know to do. Ask God, in your prayers, why. What happened? What did you say, do, or think that would cause for this to come upon you? You must have this understanding to keep sickness off of you. We understand that the generational curse is broken (John 3:17-19 AMP). We understand that God desires for us to be healed (Matthew 19:12-13 AMP). We understand that if it has a name it must bow to the name of Jesus (Philippians 2:10 KJV). Now, understand it so that it is a habit and not something that you take out every once in awhile. Healing belongs to you. You have not because you ask not. Now that you know, lets put the hospitals out of business!!!

Process of Elimination 2

 I use to be afraid of reading certain scriptures in the bible and not because of that good kind of fear either. I was literally afraid to read any other verses where God was angry, where it stated that He regretted anything, and where punishing those who refuse to adhere what is good and right (Ephesians 5:1-12 AMP). I don't call it the good fear because it kept me from reading the Word which adds life to my life. So I had to get over it a realize it was a ploy from the enemy who would prefer that I not live. If I listen to the sort of thinking not to read what the bible clearly tells me what to do, then I would be repeating what Eve did at the tree of good and evil, wouldn't I?

So I swallowed and rebuked those feelings and got through the verses. I could finally understand God's anger with a people He created and had as much trust in Him as they did for a rock to fly. That would tick me off as well. In fact, most parents do go through that sort of thing when their children become teenagers and think they know it all and should be given more responsibility when they just learned how to wipe their hip without leaving skid marks. I use the analogy with my children all of the time: if I tell you not to touch the stove and I show you all of the marks from when I tried to touch it myself... don't touch the stove! I am not trying to keep you from fun. I am trying to keep you from getting hurt or killing yourself! Would that our heavenly Father, the epitome of good, even more so would have the best for you? So not adhere to the instruction? We can't all be teenagers (1 Corinthians 13:11 KJV)!

Then there is the eliminating part. How can we keep from being left behind or cut off from the vine, or from being considered as tare rather then wheat? The Word tells us that it is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6 KJV); therefore, this has to be the key to staying within the body of Christ, right? But there is more... faith in what? Is it more then believing that there is one higher then us? Is it more then believing that Jesus is the Son of God? Is it more then believing to do good to others? Is it more then treating people the way you like to be treated? It has to be because people aren't being raised in the admonition of the Lord like they once were. Some people don't know what is right unless it is taught to them. It is what Paul wrote in biblical times, how much more so is it now (Romans 7:11-23 AMP)?

I was in a Human Ecology class where a nun was teaching that a thief is a thief because he has changed his moral code in believing what is wrong is right. She even used the scripture for the class to believe everywhere in the bible that reads thief it means the change of the norm in the minds of people. I wasn't going to say anything but there was something that just didn't seem right with her way of thinking. Fine, if you don't believe that there is a Spirit world but to think that a thief is the way he is because he doesn't know what right is, is just odd. Why would he steal at night? Why does he look over his back? Why can't he trust anyone or anything including himself? If the thief believed that what he was doing is right, he would have no fear of the police. He would be confused as to why the woman on the street doesn't just give him her purse as opposed to him snatching it from her. He would knock on the door of the house he was burglarizing instead of sneaking in the window. The nun said nothing at my rebuttal of her lesson and just moved onto something else. I wondered if the nun truly believed what she was teaching why wouldn't she try to convince me otherwise?

It is what I believe the farmer meant when he told his helper that even though there were tares planted with the wheat, they might look the same for a little while but when it comes time to reap the harvest, you will be able to clearly see what is the wheat and what is the tare. The tare will be bundled together and be disposed of. It has no purpose. The tare is but a source of aggravation and if not dealt with can choke the wheat from bringing forth a full harvest. The harvest comes after the crop reaches maturity. How can we become more mature in Christ if our source of entertainment is partially nude music videos or soft pornographic movies? How can we maintain a renewed mind when the people we associate ourselves with are the same friends we had before we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior? How can we receive all that He has for us when we would rather believe a bad report from the doctor, dentist, FDA, news cast, lawyer, or a textbook then what Jesus said? If this is true, it is as if the tares grew up and choked the Word from you. How can the farmer recognize you as wheat when you look just like a tare?

In my travels, there are many highways that aren't maintained as well as they could be. Some use to be farmlands and there are remnants of the wild seed still trying to grow through and develop a harvest. Along the edges of the highway, there were these plants that blew in the breeze looking just like wheat. But when I looked closer to the actual farm that was being tended, the wheat was bent low and these other plants were covering over them. The wheat was golden and the other longer plants were gray-ish mauve. They hovered keeping the sun from them so they would never be strengthened to be any larger then they are. It was just about time for harvest. If I can tell which was which without any training, the farmer can even more so. It was just interesting to see how close some of the harvest came to its demise.

Just like the prodigal son, God gives us every opportunity to get it right. We have a book, churches all over to teach, we can even pray and be led to what it is we need to do all of which means nothing without the confession of Jesus as being Lord. How hard would it be just to believe to keep from the inevitable? If I don't know from what I write, life goes on. If you refuse to believe, its all over!