I apologize for not getting any blogs out last week. My goal is to write two each week, but last week was consumed with the death of my wife’s mother. Her mother Rose was a great woman of God who touched her children and her grandchildren more deeply than any other woman I have known. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s several years ago and finally succumbed to its unrelenting attack on the mind and body. She died New Year’s Day in a nursing home in the Texas panhandle. The family was gathered in her room when she took her last breath.

I have been present at the moment of death on several occasions. Those moments are sobering moments that put life’s real issues into perspective. Maintaining perspective is the key to living life well. First of all, those moments confirm that the only truly essential thing in life is a real relationship with Jesus. We will all die this side of His second coming. Medicine and science keep teasing the world with notions of living forever with replacement parts, gene therapies, and cryogenics. It won’t happen. Death is part of the universal curse brought on by sin. It is as much spiritual as physical. Science can postpone but not beat the results of sin, only Jesus can.

When a person lies helplessly as death approaches, only two things bring comfort. The first is faith in Jesus and knowledge that when the heart stops life does not cease with it for those in Christ. Death can only end our existence in this form but eternal life in the presence of God goes on. We began our eternal life the moment we said yes to Jesus but it becomes most obvious after slipping out of this body that is not suited for heavenly environments. Paul said that to be absent from this body is to be with the Lord. We get glimpses of heaven in scripture but ultimately it will be more that we can ask or imagine on this side. As Rose slipped away, her family felt the loss but also rejoiced that she had been set free from the prison of a broken body and was experiencing life and joy to the full in his presence. They also knew they would see her again because they too are in Christ. There is great comfort in that knowledge. I have officiated funerals where that knowledge did not exist in some family members. For them, there was nothing to say but goodbye. Their only comfort could be found in their mistaken belief that nothing exists beyond the grave. To think anything else would be terrifying. But those who love Jesus are not terrified. They are expectant and long to be in the joyful presence of the King.

The second thing that truly matters at the moment of death is the legacy one leaves behind. The greatest legacy is love. Real love teaches others how to love. We can only give what we have first received. Jesus loved us and gave his life for us, not just to save us but to teach us how to love others as he did. In John 13, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you. Love one another as I have loved you.” According to Paul in 1 Corinthians 13, no matter what we do in this life, if it is not motivated and supported by love it has no lasting value. At the end of that chapter, Paul simply tells us that the greatest thing in the kingdom of God is love. “Faith, hope and love remain. But the greatest of these is love.”

Love heals. Love unites. Love forgives. Love reconciles. Love puts others and the needs of others first. Love always acts in the best interest of others. Love affirms. It builds up. Love believes for the best in others to immerge. Satan hates love. It is the opposite of everything he stands for. Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy. Love gives life; gives rather than steals; and builds up rather than tearing down. When you stand in a room with a dying person, you tend to know whether he or she has sown love in their lives because of the response of those standing there. Those who love are loved by others because we reap what we sow and it is evident as a person prepares to exit this world.

No one says in their last moments that they wish they had worked more, accumulated more, been mentioned in one more article, manipulated one ore person for their personal gain, or set one more record. Those things seem important in life but not in death. In death, only faith and love expressed through compassion and service to others bring comfort because those are the things that connect us to Jesus.

The point is this. We should live with an eye toward death – not in a morbid sense but simply knowing that we will all be in that moment someday unless Jesus returns first. Knowing what is important at the moment of death tells us what should be important as we live out each day. As we minister to people for healing and deliverance we often talk about what increases our authority in heaven so that we can be more effective in our ministry. Jesus said that if we want to be great in the kingdom of heaven then we must be the servant of all. Service is an expression of love. Faith is certainly huge in the kingdom but Paul said that even if we have the faith to move mountains but don’t have love, that faith means nothing. I have come to believe that loving others with the heart of Jesus and serving others out of love is what gives a person real standing in the kingdom. That standing carries authority as well because the person who loves can be trusted with the things of the kingdom. Francis MacNutt, in his book Deliverance from Evil Spirits, talks about how much Satan hates love and that in deliverance sessions, a touch of true love, compassion, and concern for the person can sometimes dislodge a spirit when commands have not been effective.

As we move into 2017, I want more faith but I also want more love. Both are fruits of the Spirit that he must bear in us. I want a greater certainty in my life about every promise in the kingdom but I also want to grow in love. I don’t want to do good things or even right things simply out of duty but because I love those to whom I minister. That will be my consistent prayer this year. Standing at the foot of the bed as Rose took her last breath and exited for glory reminded me of those priorities and challenges me to make some adjustments. You may want to examine your priorities as well. Blessings in Him today!

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots surrounded the city. ‘O my lord, what shall we do?’ the servant asked. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, ’O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” 2 Kings 6:15-17

Few of us are ever aware of the provision and power that God offers us when we face impossible moments in our lives. I admit that I am one who often misses it as well.  I love the story of Elisha when he was surrounded by the army of Aram in the small town of Dothan. The king of Aram was at war with Israel. Each time he set an ambush for Israeli troops, Elisha would receive a word of knowledge from the Lord, warn the leaders of Israel, and the King of Aram’s plans would fail miserably. His initial thought was that a spy was leaking his battle plans to Israel but one of his officers convinced him that the Elisha was the one informing on the King when he said, “None of us my lord the king, but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom” (2 Kings 6:12).

The King immediately ordered a nationwide manhunt for the prophet who was to be found and captured. Word got back to the king that Elisha had been seen in Dothan in northern Samaria and so he commanded his army to surround the settlement. The verses above record Elisha’s servant’s response when he peered out from Dothan early in the morning. What he saw was an impossible situation for himself and his master. An army surrounded the small town. He probably assumed that the army of Aram was there to kill Elisha and most likely his servant as well. He saw no solutions and felt totally overwhelmed by his circumstances and the power of the enemy.

What we discover through the story is that the Lord had already responded to the need of Elisha and his servant with the power of heaven which was already poised to do battle on behalf of the man of God. The servant was terrified because he had no faith or experience to see what God had already made available in this impossible moment. Apparently, God left the fate of those soldiers in the hands of his prophet who could have called on the angelic army to destroy his enemies. Instead, he asked the Lord to strike the army blind for a season while he led them to Samaria where they were eventually released. After a demonstration of God’s power on behalf of his people, the text says, “So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory” (2 Kings 6:23).

Here is the lesson. If God is for us, who can stand against us? God is never taken by surprise. When the King of Aram ordered the capture of Elisha, God had already provided for Elisha’s victory. The servant was overcome by fear. Given the chance he would have stolen away in night and hidden in the hills. Elisha, having faith in both the power and the character of God, stood without fear and saw the provision of God that others could not.

We will all face our impossible moments when no strength or resource of our own will provide the victory we need. Failing marriages, children bent on self-destruction, financial crisis, stage-four cancer, or the overwhelming loss of a loved one. We all come to moments when we feel as if we are surrounded by an overpowering force that we cannot stand against. In the moment, pray Elijah’s prayer for yourself, “O Lord, open my eyes that I might see! Lord, show me by faith and by your Spirit, the power and provision that you have already made available to me for this impossible moment. For with you nothing is impossible.”

In this upcoming year, many of us will face circumstances that, from the natural perspective, seem impossible. Our first inclination will be to feel the same panic that Elisha’s servant felt. Even if we remember this story, our first inclination may also be to think that God would send angels to rescue a great prophet but we are not great prophets.   In that moment, remember that you are a son or daughter of the King. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. You live under a better covenant than Elisha and you have the Spirit of God living within you. Remember that “all angels are ministering spirits sent forth to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Heb.1:14) and you are an heir of salvation. More than that, God has said he will never leave you nor forsake you.

No matter the circumstance take heart because in the kingdom of God, those who are with us are always more than those who are with them. Graham Cooke often says that every crisis carries an opportunity to discover more of the goodness of God that is always there for us. No problem comes our way that does not already have a solution in heaven. Because our Heavenly Father is good, he is always willing to provide the answer. When the circumstance arises, don’t be afraid but ask the Lord to give you eyes of faith to see the provision that is already at hand. Blessings and faith in the year to come.

This, of course, is the time of year when thoughts turn to Christmas. Our emotional response to Christmas can be complex and varied. For some it raises warm memories of traditional church plays filled with children, family, delicious food, and a warm house filled with love. For others it registers disappointment and memories of not-so-good Christmases stained by alcohol or emotionally toxic family members. For others it raises the grieving memory of making funeral plans for a loved one on Christmas Day and for others sheer loneliness as they sit in an empty house with no one present to share the day that should be about giving and receiving, loving and comforting, laughing and belonging.

As I have been thinking about Christmas this year, the Lord simply reminded me of how much our redemption cost. We tend to compartmentalize Christ’s sacrifice and suffering to Easter – his arrest, his abuse, his crucifixion. Passover and Easter certainly highlight the incredible cost of our salvation but it not only ended that way but also actually began that way.

Christmas cards sanitize the Christmas story so that it is almost unrecognizable. Susan and I have already received a few with Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus serenely surrounded by adoring animals in a pristine manger along with appropriately awed shepherds and joyous angels. There is some truth in all of that but it misses the point. The Christmas story begins with Gabriel appearing to Mary in the backwater town of Nazareth. Luke tells us that at his appearance, Mary was greatly troubled. The original Greek would amplify this word to mean confused and deeply troubled or distressed. The angel greeted her first but then added quickly, “Do not be afraid.” You don’t need to say that unless someone is visibly shaken and beginning to panic.

Gabriel then goes on to tell her that the Holy Spirit is about to fall on her, impregnate her, and she will have a son whom she is to name Jesus. He will be called the Son of the Most High and he will reign on David’s throne forever. That’s a lot to take in for a 13-year-old Jewish girl brought up simply, humbly, and traditionally. The true implications of what the angel had just said were probably not comprehensible…except the part where she would be pregnant without having gone through a wedding ceremony and without her marriage being consummated with her fiancé Joseph. Surely her first thoughts were about the impossibility of telling Joseph and her family and the almost certain unlikelihood that anyone would believe her.

The liability of being seen as an adulteress must also have loomed somewhere in the back of her mind. Adultery in those days was taken very seriously and was still punishable by death. In Jewish culture, her engagement was considered marriage although the sexual union could not occur until after the ceremony. To break the engagement required a divorce process. Apparently, her worst fears were realized when Joseph discovered she was pregnant and decided to divorce her quietly. Undoubtedly his heart was shattered by her perceived unfaithfulness and he carried as much shame in the tiny village of Nazareth as she did. Her story was unbelievable even to him until an angel confirmed what she had been telling everyone.

We are not told of the family’s reaction to Mary’s pregnancy and her unbelievable story, but Mary and Joseph’s trip to Bethlehem gives us some insight. According to Luke, Caesar issued a decree for taxation that required the head of each household to register in certain cities. Joseph was a descendent of David whose lineage came from Bethlehem, so off they went on a ninety-mile trek with Mary being very late in her pregnancy. She was not required to go to Bethlehem but went anyway on a trip that probably not only put her at risk but the child as well. To me the only explanation is that she was not particularly welcome in Nazareth even by her family and at the birth of her son there would no joyous occasion as she had always envisioned. She had also lost all of her dreams for a three-day wedding feast with her proud family and friends and the wedding night in which she and Joseph would consummate their holy union. So she went with her husband to a place in which they were apparently unknown to discover, on top of everything else, that no lodging was available.

A manger, a small barn or cave, was available where she would have to make do with some fresh hay while being surrounded by the smell of animal urine, feces, and barn rats. No family members travelled with them to help with the birth. Apparently, no midwife was available in Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary must have felt somewhat abandoned by God and family and must have felt very alone and even scared. They were probably wondering where the blessings were for their obedience because, day by day, things had not gotten better but worse.

Outside of Bethlehem, another disturbing scene was unfolding. In the middle of the night, shepherds, who were minding their own business, were suddenly confronted by angelic visitors. Luke simply says they were terrified. Of course, the angel said, “Do not be afraid” and eventually calmed their nerves with news that Messiah was being born to them and could be found in a stable in Bethlehem. Eventually that night, they found the stable and shared with Mary, who must have been exhausted, what had happened.

Another insight to the atmosphere of shame, gossip, and suspicion back in Nazareth was that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus did not return to Nazareth after the birth. As far as we know, two sets of Jewish grandparents had yet to see their grandson. Matthew tells us of the Magi, wise men or astrologers from the east, who had followed the Star of Bethlehem to find this newborn King of the Jews. This was apparently 18-24 months after the birth of Jesus. It looks as though Mary and Joseph had simply settled in there. These unexpected visitors from the east showed up unannounced and brought gifts of gold, myrrh, and frankincense to Jesus. Mary and Joseph must have been relieved to receive such a nest egg for the family and began to believe that peace and blessings were finally coming their way. Maybe he could expand his business or they could build a little home. But they immediately discovered that these were traveling expenses.

Herod, hearing from the Magi that a king was being born just seven miles from Bethlehem, determined to kill this threat to his own throne. Joseph and Mary were warned in a dream to flee the region and so suddenly became political refugees to Egypt. Herod, in order to secure his throne, simply had every male child in the vicinity killed that night – a night that became known in Jewish history as the Slaughter of the Innocents. So far the Christmas story is not just a story of angelic visitations and good news, but also a story of fear, shame, rejection, loneliness, the loss of dreams, and of a little refugee family fleeing their homeland for several years to live once again among strangers where Hebrews had once been slaves.

One of the most mesmerizing passages in the Bible is found in Isaiah 6. There the prophet declares, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.”

Apparently, Isaiah was given an open vision into heaven where he saw the glory of the Lord in the heavenly temple. Isaiah’s initial response was one of terror as he measured his weakness, frailty, and even sinfulness against the holiness of God. In the moment of the vision he cried out, “Woe to me. I am ruined. For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” The expectation in the Old Testament was that a man would die if he ever looked on the face of God as God had warned Moses on Mt. Sinai. However, Moses was in the very presence of God while Isaiah was seeing him through a vision. And yet, the effect of feeling defiled and filthy in the presence of “the Lord of All” was still devastating.

The good news was that an angel took a burning coal from the altar (probably the altar of incense that stood just outside the Holy of Holies in the temple) with a pair of tongs and touched the prophet’s mouth with it, declaring him forgiven and his sin atoned for. At that point, Isaiah was ready to stand before God and receive his commission to go preach to the rebellious nation of Israel. It’s interesting that Isaiah measured his sin and the sin of the nation, by the words that he and the nation had spoken. The burning coal was placed on his lips as if to purify his speech. One again we are reminded that words matter.

I wish that Isaiah had been more artistically minded and had given us a more detailed description of what he saw…colors, light, radiance, lines, proportions, music in the background, etc. But what he does reveal is a God so big that even the hem or the train of his robe filled the temple. Seraphim, a special class of angel, surrounded the throne declaring the holiness of God. “Holy, Holy, Holy” was the chorus. Perhaps, the triple holy was for emphasis like exclamation points. Or, perhaps, it was in recognition of the Father, Son, and Spirit. When the seraphim spoke the doorposts of the eternal temple shook and the palace was filled with smoke. If the servants are that powerful, how much greater is the master? If the servants are that impressive, how much more impressive is the one they serve? Whatever details Isaiah left out, he was overwhelmed by the vision. The greatness, the power, the glory, the holiness, and the majesty of God made Isaiah want to melt.

But why the vision? There seem to be two possible reasons for the vision and the timing of the vision and both are probably true. First of all, the reign of King Uzziah was either about to end or has just come to an end after 52 years on the throne in Jerusalem. The transition of power in those days could often be bloody and violent. In the history of Israel, civil wars had broken out over who would replace a king who has just died. Assassinations were not unheard of to remove new kings before they could consolidate their power. In those days, many more kings turned out to be evil than good and the judgment of God was always standing in the shadows just off stage. In fact, although Uzziah had been a faithful king until his latter years, the people as a whole were both idolatrous and rebellious. The future had to be uncertain – even to the prophet.

So, here was God still on his throne regardless of who was on the throne in Jerusalem. There was no weakness in heaven, no panic, no uncertainty and no king who would leave a vacant throne some day. Isaiah was reminded in his vision that his God was still ruling in heaven, full of power and majesty. He was still in control and he would still care for his own. In a year of great uncertainty, even the prophet needed the reminder of where the true king and true power resided. In our own year of great uncertainty, we need the same vision. We need to be reminded that our salvation is not in the Republican Party or the Democrat Party but in heaven where there is no corruption, no voter fraud, and no untested candidates.

A second reason for the vision was that Isaiah was about to be given an assignment to go out and preach to a hostile crowd that was not always adverse to killing or jailing prophets who were calling them to repentance. As he received his orders, he also needed to know that an unimaginable power in heaven would be his covering, his protection, and his provision. He needed to know that had qualified him for his mission by taking away his sin. Whatever God will be calling us to in the decade to come, we may also need to know that. To some degree, our faith is only as big as our God, our security is only as big as our God, our boldness is only as big as our God.

Isaiah reminds us that we have an immense God who is not detached from us at all but rather had laid plans for our redemption before the foundation of the world and announced it once again through his prophet Isaiah. In the last few verses of Isaiah 6, God tells the prophet that judgment is coming and that Israel would be cut down like a tree but, in the stump, a holy seed would remain that would someday be the salvation and restoration of Israel. That Holy Seed would be Jesus, the Messiah.

Interestingly, John quotes Isaiah 6:10 in the 12^th chapter of his gospel (Jn.12:48) and tells us that Isaiah was actually seeing Jesus and his glory in this vision. This same Jesus has now regained that glory and intercedes for each of us every day with the Father. This vision simply reminds us as it did Isaiah, that Jesus is big enough, powerful enough, and glorious enough to meet our every need. Even though the world might shake around us he can make us stand. In the face of uncertain politics, crumbling economics, terrorists, the devastating loss of a loved one, a cancer diagnosis, or the rebellion of a child, our God is big enough.

Jesus, the lover of our souls, is big enough and from his throne in heaven reminds us, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you” (Jer.29:11-12).   Isaiah reminds us that when the day is bleak and tomorrow is troubling, do not focus on the problem but the one who overcame death and is big enough to overcome anything that comes our way.

I remember when I was a child waiting for Christmas to come. Once school was out for the holidays, we had long days at home waiting for the presents to appear under the tree. At our house, we gave each other presents on Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning revealed the “Santa” gifts. One year in my haste for Christmas, I stumbled upon my parents stash where they had hidden away our Christmas presents. Each present already had our names written on them. I decided that I couldn’t wait the three more days until Christmas to discover the treasures that I would be receiving, so I carefully opened each one to discover what was inside and then carefully wrapped them back. That was, perhaps, my worst Christmas. Not only was I disappointed in what had been chosen for me but all the excitement and anticipation of Christmas was gone. On top of that, when Christmas actually arrived, I had to fake excitement and surprise as I opened each gift. I was never again tempted to unwrap a present before its time.

God’s answers to prayers are that way sometimes. It is hard to wait. We want it now and we want it just the way we described it. Two things can happen when we are impatient with God. The first is that we simply decide that God has said “No” to our prayers because we didn’t see evidence quickly and so we stop praying.   When we stop, God often stops the process that was moving toward our answer.

The second thing is that we can run ahead of God and try to engineer our own solution. That typically has disastrous consequences. Before a battle with the Philistines, King Saul was told by the prophet Samuel to go to Gilgal and wait for Samuel to come and present a burnt offering to the Lord so that God might go ahead of them into battle. As the appointed day waned, Saul decided he could no longer wait for Samuel so he himself offered a sacrifice to the Lord, although Saul was not of the priestly tribe.   Just as he finished the sacrifice, Samuel arrived and declared, “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, ‘When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.’ ‘You acted foolishly,’ Samuel said. ‘You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command’” (I Sam. 13:11-14).

Waiting is often required if we want to see our prayers answered. Abraham waited decades after God’s clear promise of a son to see his wife Sara bear their first son Isaac. By the time the prayer was answered, Abraham and Sara both were well beyond the age of reproducing children. However, Abraham continued to believe God regardless of the natural circumstances surrounding the promise.

How do you maintain faith year after year for an answer to a prayer that has not yet come to pass? The answer is that you focus on the unchanging, faithful character of God and the promise he has made rather than focusing on the circumstances or the symptoms. We must choose to trust God rather than our eyes and believe his word rather than the words of Satan who will whisper that God does not keep his Word – at least, not for you. When Satan whispered to Eve that she would not surely die if she ate from the Tree, he essentially said that God does not keep his Word. Saul thought that Samuel had not kept his word so he ran ahead and offered the sacrifice himself. If Saul had waited 30 minutes longer he might have kept his kingdom.

Faith focuses on the promises not the circumstances and we are often forced to wait because God is preparing the way for our answer. Faith believes before a thing happens regardless of the time that is passing or the circumstances we see before us. When Israel crossed the Jordan River and came to Jericho, they were forced to stand on the promise of God that he would give them the land and the city. They faced a walled city full of veteran fighters with men who had little to no combat experience. Then God commanded them to march around the city once a day for six days in silence before he acted. How foolish. How imposing the walls must have seemed. What taunts and jeers they must of heard from those walls.

And yet, God had told Israel that he would give them every place where they set their foot. For six days, they set their feet around Jericho. For six days they marked off their territory in the spiritual realm. For six days they were preparing the victory although they could not see any of that with their natural eyes. On the seventh day, they were told to march around the city seven times, and when the priests blew the ram’s horn the people were to shout and the wall would crumble. By faith they did just that.

Any rational approach to taking the city would have never considered anything like that. It would have seemed utterly foolish. But faith looked at the promise not the circumstances. F.F. Bosworth says, “Faith does not wait for the walls to fall down, faith shouts them down.” In other words, faith is not belief that arises after God has acted but is confidence that arises before he acts, simply standing on his promises.

When you have to wait for answers to your prayers, the focus must be on the promises of God and the character of God who never lies, rather than on the apparent circumstances. A focus on the circumstances gives Satan every opportunity to point out the enormity of the problem before you, rather than the enormity of the God who stands before your problem. Remember…those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. Blessings and may your prayers be answered quickly, but if they are not … continue to stand on the promises of God.

I’m currently reading a book by F.F. Bosworth written in 1924. It is entitled, Christ the Healer. The interesting thing about old books that open up the scriptures is that they still speak to us because God’s truth does not change. Bosworth had a phenomenal healing ministry and has some great insights into praying for healing and how to receive healing. I found one analogy really interesting and insightful.

I will quote a bit from the book. His grammar is dated but not his understanding. “We will now endeavor to make plain how to appropriate healing. Getting things from God is like playing checkers. After one person moves, he has nothing to do until the other player moves. Each man moves in his own turn. So when God has provided healing, or any other blessing, and sent us his Word, it is our move before he will move again. Our move is to expect what he promises when we pray. This will cause us to act our faith before we see the healing. The healing comes in the next move, which is God’s move…. By expectation I do not mean hope. One writer has well said, ‘We hope for what may be possible, but we expect what must be possible…with the expectancy that shuts out doubt or fear of failure, and shows unshakeable confidence. Faith never waits to see before it believes…all that a man of faith needs to know is that God has spoken’” (F.F. Bosworth, Christ the Healer, p.103, Baker Publishing Group).

Bosworth is very clear that God has promised healing for all believers through the sacrifice of his Son. In fact, Jehovah Rapha is one of seven covenant names of God in scripture and means, “ I am the God who heals you.” The present tense “am” reveals that the nature of God is unchanging. It is always present tense. Therefore, God was, is, and shall always be the God who heals you. Once God has provided healing through the cross and established in his word that it is always his will to heal, then our move is to take him at his word with a rock-solid conviction that God does not lie and his word is true. He will do what he says he will do. So, when we pray, we pray with the firm expectation that God is going to heal or meet any other need and then, having prayed, wait expectantly to see God move.

That sounds simple, but most of us know that faith resides in the heart not in the head and that we often have an intellectual conviction about some biblical truth or promise but, deep in our hearts, the expectation is still more of a hope than a certainty. The key, then, to receiving from God is to grow in our expectation that God will always do what he said he will do regardless of the circumstances or what we see with our eyes. But how do we grow in that expectation? Here are a few approaches to that growth that I am employing now in my effort to increase the expectation in my heart for healing and several other things.

First, all the men who had amazing healing ministries in the past insist that getting God’s truth in us about the thing we want to fully believe for is essential. The idea is that you cannot have faith for something until you have studied it and know that the Bible absolutely teaches that not only is God able but he is willing to do what you ask. You begin with an intellectual certainty based on the Word of God that what you are praying for is God’s will.

Secondly, if there are conditions attached to the blessing, you will need to be clear about the conditions. God’s love is unconditional, but his blessings often have conditions attached such as repentance, confession, forgiveness, generosity, etc. For instance, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.” Healing is an expression of God’s mercy and the condition is that we must extend mercy to receive mercy. “Confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed.” Confession is a condition for healing. “Judge not, or you will be judged.” Illness can be a judgment, so if we want the judgment lifted, we must repent of our judgmental attitudes.

Thirdly, we can ask the Holy Spirit to increase our faith and expectation for whatever promise we are seeking. Faith is a spiritual gift that comes from the Spirit. We have permission to ask for more. At the same time, the Word of God is living and active and does its work in us when we activate it. We activate it by speaking it or declaring it. As you find confirmation of the promise you desire in the scriptures, you should list the most compelling scriptures you find and speak them daily because doing so helps to write them on your heart. When the Word gets down in our hearts, it produces faith.

Fourthly, put yourself in places or around people where you see the promise of God you are looking for being fulfilled. For instance, if you want to believe God for healing, go on an evangelism mission in a third world country with a ministry that preaches the gospel, heals the sick, and casts out demons – New Testament stuff. God heals more people in third world nations because they run to God rather than running to doctors. Seeing miracles of healing will increase your expectation. You can also find God moving in healing in the U.S. You may need to go where God is moving to increase your expectation. Whatever you are praying for, find a place or some people where God is making good on that promise. Jesus didn’t expect the apostles to have faith for healing until they had seen him heal on numerous occasions.

Each of those actions constitutes a move that you can make, so that God can move next. Perhaps, you have been believing God for someone’s salvation. It may be that it is your move, and that move would be sharing the gospel with them. Perhaps, you have been praying for financial blessing and your move would be to begin to tithe, believing that God will give the increase. If you have been praying for a healing gift, your next move might be to begin to pray for strangers at Wal-Mart, choosing to believe that God will heal just as he has said.

Whatever you have been hoping for, it may be time to convert hope to expectation. Ask God if it is your move. If it is, then make it. Blessings in Him.

Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Exodus 33:18-19

In the book of Exodus, a poignant moment between Moses and the God of Israel is recorded. Moses, in a very bold moment, asks the Lord to see his glory. The implication is that Moses was asking to see the face of God. The Lord responded by agreeing to show Moses his goodness. In one sense, the text tells us that God’s response was for Moses’ protection. God tells him that no mortal can see the face of God and live. And yet, I believe seeing the goodness of God is even more revealing than seeing his face.

Seeing the goodness of God first is instructive for us. This passage in Exodus reveals that the goodness of God is his glory. For us to truly know God or understand God we must see his goodness first and then understand everything else in that context. God mentions two aspects of his goodness right away with Moses – mercy and compassion. Those both flow out of his basic nature of love. John tells us that God is love. His goodness is the constant expression of that love. When you love someone you always do good to that person.

If we were to see God’s holiness first, we might understand all of God’s actions in terms of holiness and his rejection of sin. Every act of God then would seem like the actions of a harsh judge or an angry God. Most people filter the activity of God in the Old Testament through his holiness only and see his judgments as expressions of that. Holiness is undoubtedly a major characteristic of God, but if all we see is his holiness then all we will see is judgment. He will be a God easy to fear but not easy to love.

If we see the goodness of God first, then we will understand his judgments in the context of discipline as a loving Father disciplines his children or in the context of his judgment being the last thing he wanted to do.   Man’s persistent and unrepentant sin sometimes gives him no choice but it is never his first thought or his heart for us. In our personal relationship with the Father, we need to focus on his love and goodness and give thanks for that before we look at anything else. His goodness and love assure us that he is for us, not against us. They assure us that he always wants what’s best for us and is always working on our behalf. They assure us that we are welcome into his presence and that he is eager to answer prayers that will bless us and bring about good because he is good.

Many believers have much to overcome in this arena…especially if they were raised in a “hell fire and brimstone” church that preached the judgments of God and the fury of hell every week as a motivation for righteous living. One of the most famous sermons in American history was preached by Jonathan Edwards during the Great Awakening (1700’s) and was entitled, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” That was not a podcast you wanted to listen to just before going to sleep. It pictured all of us suspended above the fires of hell by a thin thread and suggested that God was just waiting to severe the line with his celestial scissors.

If you grew up with that view of God, then a warm, loving relationship with the Father is a monumental task. Everything that goes wrong in our lives will probably be understood as an expression of God’s anger toward us and we will see him as our adversary rather than our loving Savior. Jesus will seem like the antithesis of the Father and the statement of Jesus that if we have seen him we have seen the Father will simply be confusing. Moses was shown the goodness of God first. That is why he was able to stand before God and plead for mercy on Israel’s behalf on several occasions. He was able to plead for mercy because he knew God was merciful and that in heaven, mercy triumphs over judgment. Moses even knew that Jehovah was searching for someone to ask for that expression of who he is.

This perspective is critical. When a loved one is diagnosed with stage-four cancer, our first thought as believers is to try to make sense of what has happened. If the goodness of God is not our primary filter for the circumstance, then we will assume that either God has visited the cancer on us because he is angry about some sin or our lack of faith or that he is indifferent about our suffering because holiness is the only issue. In that moment with that perspective, we will have little hope and will either wait out the cancer with resignation or try to buy God off with some “righteous works” we can do.

If the goodness of God is our filter, we can assume that the cancer is not God’s will and begin to press in for healing with hope. Even if sin has opened the door for cancer or the activity of the enemy, we can know that repentance and forgiveness will shut that door and open the door for the goodness of God to still be the primary color of our lives.

I have seen believers face death or the death of a loved one with differing sets of glasses. Those who saw God primarily through the lenses of judgment, had no faith for healing and left the cemetery with a since of condemnation and bitterness. Those who looked at circumstances through the lenses of God’s goodness were able to pray with faith for healing and even if healing didn’t come they were able to see the love and compassion of God at the gravesite. They left closer to the Father than when they arrived knowing that God’s goodness would see them through the grief.

What do you see first when you look at God? The perspective is critical because it defines everything else. A God of goodness offered himself through his Son as a loving sacrifice for lost people. A God whose primary trait is judgment simply poured out his wrath on a Son who seemed more abused than loved. The way we see God first, will determine our view of everything, will totally affect our prayer life, and will totally define our faith. Spend time thanking God for his goodness, meditating on his goodness, and declaring his goodness over every circumstance of your life. It makes all the difference. Blessings today… because if his goodness.

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb.11:6). This is a statement from Hebrews 11 where all the great men and women of faith are listed for our consideration. The phrase “by faith” comes up over and over again in that list and throughout the scriptures. Jesus also declared faith to be a central component in many of the miracles he performed. He often said something like, “Your faith has healed you” or “May it be done to you according to your faith.” He declared that if we had faith the size of a mustard seed we could command a mountain to be thrown into the sea and it would be done. At times he was amazed by the faith of a few and, at other times, amazed at the lack of faith of others. Paul assures us that we are saved by grace through faith.

For anyone who has studied the New Testament, faith is clearly seen as a central issue in the life of every person who follows Jesus. Faith is a central issue in our lives if we are going to see God move powerfully in response to our prayers or work through us as we minister to others. Most discussions about faith orbit around our perception of God and his ability to do great things that intervene in the natural order of the universe. However, in my experience, believing that God can heal the sick and raise the dead or that he can move mountains and give great victories in the face of overwhelming odds is often the easy part of faith.

What I have discovered through the years is that my challenge is not to believe that God will move in those ways for his children, but to believe that God will move in those ways for me. Perhaps, you struggle with the same doubts at times.

I find that for many of us, believing that God truly loves us personally and is eager to answer our prayers is the stumbling block for our faith. For many, it is much easier to believe God’s promises for others than for ourselves. We know ourselves too well. We live with a daily awareness of our secret sins, out fears, our defectiveness, and our weaknesses. We know our dark thoughts and shame-filled memories. We reject ourselves so we expect God to reject us as well.

It’s part of our fallen nature to expect punishment from God rather than grace and love. One of Satan’s great strategies is to persuade us that God is a perfectionistic father who requires the same perfection from his children if he is going to love and bless them. We expect him to be angry when we don’t deliver that perfection.

Like Adam and Eve, our first response to our failures is typically to duck into the brush, attempt to cover up our shame, and when God shows up to blame everyone in the surrounding territory for our shortcomings. Why did Adam and Eve hide and blame rather than running to their loving Father and confessing their sin immediately? Perhaps, it was because Satan had subtly convinced them that God wasn’t such a loving father after all. We know what he was whispering to them before they took fruit from the tree and ate, but we don’t know what he whispered the moment after they took that fateful bite.

I’m confident it was a litany of fear-filled claims that God was going to fly into an uncontrollable rage and become a terrifying abuser – that he was going to kill them that day because “ in the day you eat of that tree you will die!” I’m sure he whispered that God now hated and despised them and would never forgive them for what they had done. He probably laughed at them and shamed them in every conceivable way so that they would hate themselves and expect God to feel the same.

Satan whispers to us in our failures as well. He whispers that God only loves the “super-Christians;” he only responds to the prayers of those in the 95^th percentile; or the last sin was the last straw and God is through with us until we can work hard enough to earn his love and mercy again – but we are such losers that we’ll never be able to do that anyway.

Satan persuades us that God is a father whose intimate involvement in our lives, whose love, whose laughter, whose delight, whose abundant forgiveness, and whose approval will never be there for us. And so we pray and believe with reservation – not about his goodness or his ability – but about our “worthiness” for his love and attention.

Faith accepts that our worthiness was secured on the cross apart from our performance. It believes God’s promises for us in spite of our abundant weaknesses and failures. Jesus became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor.5:21). By God’s grace there is no condemnation for us because we are no longer under law (Rom.8:1). You have been adopted into the royal family by a father whose love is unconditional. He knew all your faults before he ever called you to be his son or daughter.

Most of us believe in our minds that God loves us. The problem is to believe in our hearts that he loves us and has written our name on every promise. So how do I finally come to believe that every promise is for me and not just for those around me?

First of all, we may ask the Holy Spirit to give us a revelation of that truth in our heart. He is the teacher who leads us into all truth. God speaks of writing his laws or his truth on our hearts. Revelation comes to our hearts, not to our minds, so a consistent prayer for that revelation would be an essential place to start.

Secondly, we need to begin to say what God says about his love and promises for us and refuse to add any disclaimers that disqualify us for those promises. Stop the “buts.” As soon as we say, “ I know what the Bible says, but…” we have introduced unbelief into our hearts and have diluted our faith. If the Bible says it, stand on that without qualifying the scripture or stating a disclaimer about your “worthiness” to receive the promise. Jesus has made you worthy…period. Find a set of declarations about your identity in Christ and read them out loud every day ending them with a thank you to God that he has made you all of those things.

Thirdly, we need to find a promise that becomes our promise – one that resonates with our spirit and one that we will not let go of. Ask God to show you a promise that will anchor all his other promises for you. Memorize it, confess it, and use it against the enemy. When the devil shows up with his truckload of accusations and condemnation, be quick to call him a liar and command him to leave and take his lies with him. Declare your promise over the accusations. That is how you resist Satan and send him fleeing.

Getting the truth that every promise of God is for you and not just everyone else in your church is critical to living a blessed and victorious life. It is a process more than an event and you have a part in it. So get started today and ask the Lord to show you his heart toward you. When we truly understand his heart for each of us, we will be transformed.

Poor theology breeds false expectations. False expectations lead to disappointment with God and that disappointment often leads to offense. I continue to run into believers who hold the assumption that God promised his people a “trouble-free life” if they are just doing the right things. So, if trouble comes while they are attending church, tithing, teaching Sunday school, and trying to live a moral life, they often feel betrayed by God. They often take up an offense towards the Father that sometimes lasts for years or a lifetime. They feel justified in rejecting God because, in their minds, he rejected them by breaking a promise – but it was a promise he never made.

It is critical that we are clear about life on planet earth. Think about every great man or woman of faith in the Bible. Without exception, in the Old Testament or New, they each faced hardships during some season of their life and most had numerous seasons of hardship. Consider Hezekiah. “Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook…In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them…This is what the king of Assyria says:…Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand?    Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” (2 Kings 18:5-7, 13, 32-35).

Scripture says that Hezekiah had a heart for God and served him faithfully in extraordinary ways. God was clearly please with him and yet in his fourteenth year as king, the armies of Assyria marched against him. Assyria was the dominant world power of the time and clearly out- numbered and out-classed Israel militarily. In the natural, Hezekiah could not stand against Assyria. Trouble had come to this man of God in an overwhelming way. Ultimately, God delivered Hezekiah and Jerusalem from the Assyrians when an angel of the Lord moved through the Assyrian camp at night and 185,000 Assyrian soldiers died mysteriously. In the morning, the remainder of the great army went home. But Hezekiah had to face his own fears, the political ramifications of a vast army camped around your city, the fears of his own people and the great probability of defeat and death within a few days.

There are numerous stories of God’s people being attacked by armies, falsely accused by political enemies, betrayed for money, facing famine, arrested by police, beaten and sometimes killed. Every apostle, except John died a martyr’s death and he died in exile. The letters to the seven churches of Asia in the beginning of the book of Revelation reveal persecution, imprisonment, and even death for other believers. Jesus himself told all his followers that in this world they would have trouble (Jn.16:33) and that persecution would always find the righteous in a world hostile to the things of God.

In addition, we live in a fallen world where the sin of man brought a curse on the natural world so that it does not operate as God designed it to operate before Adam sinned. As a result, floods, earthquakes, famines, blizzards, and tornadoes sometimes ravage the earth. On occasion, God uses those for judgment against nations he has warned time and again, but usually they just happen. Because of a fallen world and our fallen natures, disease crops up along with genetic abnormalities. Sometimes, those who serve God with all their hearts have to deal with what is common to man. God promises that in heaven we will face none of those things, but in this world we can get caught in a storm or have children with birth defects just like everyone else.

The difference for us is that then trouble comes we can call on the Lord. Sometimes he rescues us from the trouble just as it appears on the horizon. At other times, he simply helps us ride out the storm. Paul tells us, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Cor.1:3-4). This is a revealing verse because it tells us that we experience the comfort of God in the midst of our troubles. If we were not in trouble, we would not experience his comfort and could not point others to his comfort in the midst of their troubles.

The revelation here is that we would never experience much of the nature of God and who he is for us unless we face trouble and hardship. We would never know him as the God who provides unless we faced a season of lack. We would never know him as our shield and high tower unless we were under attack. We would never know him as our healer unless we needed healing and the restorer of life unless we had lost everything. We would never know him as our vindicator unless we had been falsely accused. I’m not saying that God sends trouble so that we can experience him, but he doesn’t always insulate us from the effects of a fallen world and a fallen race. Facing hardship makes us stronger and gives us a revelation of who God is for us that we would never know otherwise.

When trouble comes, too many believers simply blame God for not protecting them from the same things that the world faces rather than looking for God’s provision and deliverance in the midst of trouble. If God had kept the apostles from facing a life-threatening storm on the Sea of Galilee, they would never had known the power of Christ to silence the storm nor would they have ever had a hint that he had given them the same authority.

Let’s face it, who needs faith when everything always goes your way? Who would ever struggle with their theology of suffering if no suffering ever came to believers? Who would ever grow in intercessory prayer if troubles never lingered? The truth is that hardship is a much greater catalyst for growth than ease. As you study the lives of God’s people, even when they were faithful, seasons of hardship and trouble came their way. God sprinkled in seasons of peace and plenty but difficult times came to all. We should not be surprised, then, that they come to us as well – even when we have been serving God with all of our hearts. When they come we have not been betrayed or forgotten by God. He is there for us and we then have the adventure of seeing how God will see us through each struggle.

When we trust God in the storm, we will not only learn great things about him but about ourselves as well. I think of the Lord of the Rings and the life of Hobbits who lived in a comfortable, country setting and never wanted anything or anyone to disrupt their peace or their pleasant routines. But those few who were forced to face dragons and orcs, discovered things they would have never found in any other way. God allows struggles to do the same work in us. When trouble comes, we don’t have to ask where God is because he is because he is always with us. We only need to ask what he would have us do so that we can see what he will do. That is the great adventure of faith.

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. (Matt.8:8-10)

Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was astonished at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. (Mark 6:4-6)

As far as I know, Jesus was only amazed or astonished twice in all of the gospel accounts. Both moments revolved around faith. In Matthew’s account, a Roman centurion, who believed in Jehovah, had asked Jesus to heal his servant. When Jesus showed his willingness to heal the servant, the centurion saw no need for Jesus to go to his house but believed that if Jesus would only say the word, his servant would be healed. Even Mary and Martha, at the death of Lazarus, believed that if Jesus had been present he could have saved their brother. This centurion would have said that Jesus could have commanded healing no matter where he was and it would be done.

Part of the story, is that Jesus was called to minister only to Israel. He typically bypassed non-Jews. It’s not that he didn’t care, but simply was called to announce the good news to God’s covenant people first. However, this Roman soldier caught the attention of the Jewish Messiah and by his faith, even amazed Jesus.

The basis of the centurion’s faith seems to be found in his understanding of authority. Roman armies thrived on clear and unyielding lines of authority. Any breach of orders or failure to carry them out often resulted in harsh physical punishment or death. This centurion was used to his orders being carried out without question and was also quick to obey any he received. He, apparently, had seen Jesus heal by command and so understood that Jesus walked in some kind of supernatural authority. The authority of a command does not depend on the proximity of the one giving it to the one receiving it. Even if a command were conveyed 500 miles before it was pronounced, it carried the same authority. The centurion had no sense that Jesus needed to stand over his servant to command healing; he simply had to command it. I wonder if we, as Americans, struggle with healing so much because we have such a tattered view of authority.

The second astonishing event recorded in scripture was in the Messiah’s own hometown. Jesus had returned to Nazareth where he grew up. Even though stories of his miracles all around Israel were being reported in Nazareth, the lack of faith there amazed him. We are told that Jesus could do very little there because of their immense lack of faith. Apparently, because Jesus grew up there, they could only see him as Mary’s boy and could not open their hearts to the possibility that he was the Chosen One of God.

But why could Jesus do only a few miracles there? He performed notable healings over people who didn’t even know who he was and had no expectation of healing. Two things are suggested. One is that a lack of expectation, because we don’t know who Jesus is, hinders the move of God less than a negative expectation because we believe we know who Jesus is. It is harder to minister healing to a Christian who believes that Jesus no longer heals than to someone who knows nothing about Jesus. No expectation is easier to overcome than a negative expectation.

A second explanation is that Jesus couldn’t because God wouldn’t. On several occasions Jesus stated that he only did what he saw the Father doing. Even his healing was directed by the Father for the Father’s purposes. Luke tells us, “One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick” (Luke 5:17). Luke makes a point that Jesus was healing that day because the power of the Lord was present for him to do so. In the same way that God empowers us for ministry, Jesus was also dependent on God’s power. Perhaps, in Nazareth, God was not present in power because those who should have had faith in the Son, chose not to believe. God expected the Jews to have faith because they were children of the covenant, the audience of prophets, and the keepers of God’s promises. When they had hardened their hearts with unbelief, God would not act. That same mindset of unbelief among the Jews drove the apostle Paul to turn his ministry toward the Gentiles rather than God’s covenant people.

The irony in these two accounts is that the Roman centurion, raised as a pagan in a vastly pagan culture, believed to an astonishing degree while the majority of God’s people who awaited the Messiah would not believe. This irony points out the danger of man’s religion that, over time, often defines God and what he will do in very narrow terms. Anything outside the box is rejected as deception. Remember that the Pharisees, when confronted with the undeniable miracles of Jesus, simply declared that he was performing miracles by the power of Satan. In one sense, it was religion that crucified Jesus. The Centurion, on the other hand, probably had no defined theology about Jesus but new miracles and authority when he saw them and sensed that Jesus was certainly more than a man. His lack of religious definition opened him up to the possibility of Jesus.

I am not saying that we should not study the word and develop convictions about our faith. Scripture often talks about sound doctrine. The key is to always study with a mind that keeps asking God for a fresh revelation of Jesus by the Spirit who “leads us into all truth.” Many religious leaders, study scripture in an effort to find more passages and arguments that “confirm” what they already believe rather than studying to see if what they already believe continues to line up with God’s word.

The first approach makes God’s word fit their theology while the second approach bends a person’s theology to fit God’s word. The first approach, which Jewish scholars took in the days of Jesus, stifles faith because it rejects moves of God that do not fit in the well-studied box of theologians. The second approach continues to open us up to a greater revelation of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit and increases faith because we carry the view that we don’t yet have all the revelation of God that we need. As we see new things, we certainly need to test the spirits, but with a heart that is open to the possibility that God is up to something we have never seen before.

I don’t know about you, but I would love to think that I somehow astonished Jesus by my faith rather than by my unbelief. Lets continue to ask for greater faith and be open to new moves of God in these last days. Jesus said that those who believe in Him would do even greater things than he did. I wonder what those things will look like? Blessing in Him today.