Last week I stood in front of 50 inmates inside a prison in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and shared a message about the prodigal son from Luke's Gospel. The men ranged in age from early 20s to late 70s. When I talked about how much the generous father loved his prodigal son—in spite of his disappointing behavior—the guys began wiping away tears. When I called one of the prisoners to walk toward me from the back of the room so I could demonstrate how the father ran to his son and hugged him, all the men wanted a hug. I didn't take a poll, but I could tell that many of the guys didn't grow up with healthy dads. They were starved for a father's love and affirmation.
How can we have a life without limits? By living to please the Lord. "Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ" (Gal 1:10, NIV). We can respect, love, and help others, but we can never allow them to take the place of the Savior in our lives. This is the root of the fear of people—thinking that other people have power over us. The only power they have is what we give them.
You ask, "What about the person who has been prayed for numerous times, knows God wants to heal them, but just doesn't seem to ever receive the full manifestation?" This is a challenging question, but it does have an answer. I would recommend to this person to listen very carefully to what they are actually speaking when they are with people of likeminded faith, what are they speaking when they are with people that have no teaching or understanding of divine healing, and what are they speaking when they are alone. Our Words have power to create or to destroy.
A common enemy to success in an individual's life is fear. Thoughts of fear can cause you to become anxious, overwrought, and stressed out. Fear is perverted faith, or we could say the reverse gear of faith. Faith is a builder – fear is a destroyer. Most people tend to fear the unknown. We find on several occasions when Jesus appeared to the disciples after He arose from the dead, His greeting was: Fear not or be not afraid.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 It is the heart of God to bring restoration to all people. In the simplest way the gift of salvation in Jesus is an act of God's desire to restore us to Him. It is the turning of our hearts back to the Source of all things. In this we see God's original intent, even to have unbroken fellowship with the pinnacle of His creation as we are created in the image of God.
What are we willing to pay for the price of unity in the church? Are we willing to truly deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow the Lord in dying out? What makes us think that it does not matter if we love one another or not? There are so many even in our own churches who walk past one another and act like we haven't even passed by a human being. If we are not careful, we can learn this same trait portrayed by those who are even in leadership. This should not be. How can the world know us by our love if we can't even be sensitive enough within our own congregations to greet one another? It does not have to be a hug or a holy kiss, but just an acknowledgment that there is someone that belongs to the same family right by us.
Imagine the night before Jesus' crucifixion. He has communion with His disciples and washes their feet. He reveals that Judas is the one who will betray Him. He tells the disciples that He is leaving, and they can't come. Then, He speaks these words: A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:34-35) By virtue of the fact that this would be, in part, His final words to the disciples, they had to be very important. And notice that what He said to them was in the form of a command, not a suggestion.
Have you ever been offended by someone and then overreacted emotionally? Has someone ever gotten on your very last nerve, and then you have let this incompetent person know about their thoughtless behavior with sharp words or with a cold attitude? How do you handle daily offenses? Now…I am not talking about abuse. I am not referring to ongoing selfish behavior or obvious cruelty. Those types of behavior are in a completely different category. I am just talking about people's honest oversights…or their minor inconsistencies…or the fact that you disagree with the way something was handled.
"For we live by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7 In 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, we are told how to wake up our faith. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." To live by faith, don't focus your hope on things that are seen but on things that are not seen. You have to decide not to be dominated by circumstances. Instead, listen to the promises of God, which supersede anything you see with your natural eyes.
In prayer and reflection this morning, the Lord spoke to me out of Zephaniah 3:20 which says, "On that day I will gather you together and bring you home again. I will give you a good name, a name of distinction, among all the nations of the earth, as I restore your fortunes before their very eyes. I, the LORD, have spoken!" We are imperfect people in an imperfect world. As the days run their courses and the weeks turn to months and years, we compile our list of dings, dents, bruises, brokenness, and failure. If any of these phrases speak about you, then this is for you:
Follow Up
