Powerful Healing: A testimony
Psalm 16: 7-8
I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;
My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
I have set the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. NKJ
I praise the Lord, because he guides me,
and in the night my conscience warns me.
I am always aware of the Lord‘s presence;
he is near, and nothing can shake me. GNT
I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I have set the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken. NIV
Healing comes in waves and at times instantly. Yet, the work of healing takes time deep in our souls before manifested to our face and physical experience.
Some years ago, God worked a tremendous miracle in my body that He continues to work every moment from that time to now and into tomorrow. Through the night seasons and in the mornings, I would pray an wrestle with my inner desires and intercede on behalf of others. These two activities brought me to the place of total healing and keep me there.
In the beginning I suffered from immense depression and unstable emotional upheaval. The root of this was a surgery to remove my thyroid glands. They were swollen, wrapped around my vocal nerves, and had growths. The thyroids had to be removed.
The day before surgery, I ran 3.5 miles at 7.5 minutes a mile in 102 degree Oklahoma summer. The day after surgery, I could not walk across the room. Two weeks after surgery, I could not walk a block. A year after surgery, I could not run a mile. Five years after surgery I had lost all my physical stamina and gained 60lbs. My system simply would not stabilize. My emotions were strained and tested.
Growth
During these years of stretch and strain was one of the greatest growths in a congregation I have witnessed. Our congregation went from 1500 white members to 5500 multi-cultural where no culture represented 51%. It was strenuous. My role was to oversee outreach, growth, assimilation, and operations. In that time frame, we launched over 50 new ministries, built a new campus, and developed a downtown mission serving over 20,000 meals a month. All the time, I was suffering from major hormonal imbalance and along with my wife raising my four children through their elementary and teenage years.
In 1997, one year after the surgery, I committed myself to daily prayer for the first hour of my day. I would rise, shower, put on my best clothes and sit with God and a bible and some motivational book and a notepad. This has been my habit since. It is now 15 years of living this way.
Through that time, I developed a method of praying through the book of Ephesians for the saints. I would pray the entire book every day for two years. At different points a developed outline included stops to pray for missions and couples and leaders and fathers and children and salvations and miracles and some 20 other subjects for the saints.
These morning times became my solace and healing. Of course, my body was deteriorating, my emotions were wrent, and my strength was waning. The congregation was growing and exploding and my personal health and welfare was struggling horribly.
The Three Women
In this time, there were three praying women who would call me at exactly the most strenuous moments. In my office at the church, I would be exhausted and received a call. “Pastor Phil I have been praying for you for two days. How are you?” These women did not know each other. They did not know the others were calling. They did not know their exact timings delivered of God. I would weep and be strengthened by the prayers of three sensitive saints and maybe countless others that just prayed and never called. I would continue to grow weaker and more strained. It was not the other pastors or leaders who reached out to me, but daily saints.
The Second Three Women and One Man
At the same time, I had three assistants in the front office. These three gave daily with excellence and compassion and coordination. Their service was outstanding and kept me encouraged and alive and working in the kingdom. They were always ready to do what was needed. Then there was the maintenance miracle man. Yes, all four of these were also people of faith and prayer and action.
Another Call
After years of this situation, God reminded me of my call to serve ministers. Through understanding as He counseled, I went back into business endeavors. Weak, overweight, and committed, I entered a masterful time of change. For the next year as I worked in a large company, I would develop a team of 100 men to pray during each service. 9 teams of men prayed for 3 hours each Sunday and Wednesday from before service until the last person left the altar call. My life intensified in prayer for others.
Then It Happened
Something painful and wonderful transpired. After all these years of doctor visits and hours in the gym fighting for a body that worked and prayer for others, my condition reached the worst point ever. What a great result to such dedication and commitment. I finally reached total chaos and breakdown.
The doctor was stumped when he tested me. Every hormone in my body was out of balance. The thyroxin in my system was double the doses I was taking. He could not explain anything and took me off the synthetic hormones totally.
It is hard to explain to anyone how frightening that moment could have been. To miss my pill even for a half a day meant exhaustion to the point of someone having to drive me. To stop taking the pill just was beyond my comprehension. I made him give me his personal cell phone in case I collapsed.
Four Day Waves
Every fourth day for a month, I found myself exhausted. Then after a month, something happened. All the hormones and chemicals balanced. That was more than 10 years past. Every time I am tested today, all hormones and chemicals are perfect.
There is no thyroid. There is no synthetic hormone. Every test for ten years shows perfect balance. Last week, I ran over 30 miles. All I have to battle for weight now is middle age spread and a love for grease and pastries.
These Verses
This small section of Psalm 16 outlines what God used in my ignorance to heal. It is also what He uses to sustain. You see, I still do not have a thyroid. My balance is dependent on being healed miraculously every minute of my existence. If you can live without a heart, you can live without a thyroid. There is no physiological explanation for my health. My doctor still looks for thyroid related issues every time I go for anything from a wart to a regular checkup. My last doctor calls me, “the man with no thyroid” and shakes his head. My new doctor just goes with the flow and keeps checking me.
So What Is It?
I was not praying for healing.
I was not looking for a miracle.
I was doing the right thing to receive just in simple obedience to daily meditation of the word.
Along with some other regimens of Christian discipleship, here are a few from these scriptures that lead to health and keep us there.
I will praise the Lord,
There it is. I will look for the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I will expect Him to do good when all is going bad. I will call out and remind others of His goodness no matter the circumstance. I will not linger in pity and pain, but find a brightness in each day. I will praise the Lord in my home, my business, the congregation, my family, my friendships, and my personal meditations. I will not whine.
who counsels me;
I will listen for His voice and obey. I will dig into His written words and listen to wise and mature teachers of the word and put into action the counsel I receive. I will repent of my sins and find new paths of living to replace old patterns built by the expectation of the world and time weary ways.
even at night my heart instructs me.
I will respond to His call when I feel like it and when I don’t. If He asks me to go to help another when I am tired, I will go. When the journey is bleak, I will look to my conscience and commitment and not doubt in the dark what I knew in the light. Even the valley of the shadow of death, I will dig deep into what I have learned in meditation and study and apply the stirrings of my heart embedded over time by the voice of His Holy Spirit through scripture.
I have set the Lord always before me.
There is no other solution. I will take my medications and trust God for my solution. I will go to Him in the morning and through the day and before I sleep. His voice will be most familiar to me in all circumstances. When there is a hard decision to make, I will restudy the word and apply scriptural principles to resolve the decisions and actions needed. No matter my education and understanding in the ways of the world, the voice of my Father and principles of scripture will always have the final say.
Because he is at my right hand,
He is my strength. He is my joy. In the presence of the Lord is joy forevermore. Though the waters rise against me, He will be with me and I will not be overwhelmed. Though the flames kindle high and rob the oxygen from around me, I will walk through unscathed and unscorched. He is at my right hand. If God be for me, who can be against me.
I will not be shaken.
There is no giving up. There is no giving in. There is no giving ground. I may crawl, but I will not stop. I may cry deep tears of pain, but I will not stay down. I may lay unable to move, but I will look to Him and get up again.
Scripture, Meditation, Exercise, Intercession, Presence, Expression.
These keep me in motion.
Scripture: There is no higher wisdom. There is no greater counsel for living and decisions. Scripture gives life and counsel. God breathed words can put wind under the weakest wings. Live it. Breath it. Study it. Pray for understanding.
Meditation: Taking time to examine the scripture and listen and read the understanding of others and mull over it. Don’t be so prideful that you can grow on your own. Others are voices of reason and sometimes voices of God for your life. Consider what they say and write.
Exercise: Well did you think your body will just get up and run? Oh, your muscles and organs and tissues will just start working? Get real. You need to apply right wisdoms of eating, vitamins, exercise, rehab, whatever is prescribed for your condition. Do it. Obey wise counsel. Give God something to work with. He will multiply results, but you need to take actions in the right directions. Don’t just sit there… Move. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Treat it right. If you are overweight and your joints ache, quit waiting on God and push away from the table. Get a trainer to work with you. Use Godly wisdom for the human body He created and gave to you.
Intercession: Spend more time praying for others than praying for your own needs. Get other focused. If you want to be healed, forget your problems and focus on praying for the problems of others.
Presence: God is waiting on you. Put down your book, your 30 day bible reading plan, your motivational podcast, your television, your radio and your traditions. Get alone and quiet with God. Sit, listen, learn.
Expression: Live what God speaks to you. When you feel an urgent desire to go do something with Him, go do it. Give up all excuses and take fearsome steps of obedience. He will meet you in the path of obedience with provision. It is easier to steer a moving object than to get one that is sitting still started in motion.
Don’t look for super spiritual answers. Obey the word.
Powerful Healing: Unshakeable
Psalm 16:8 I am always aware of the Lord’s presence; He is near, and nothing can shake me GNT
Near To Me In Healing:
How powerful is healing? A friend described his last three weeks of healing journey. He had a violent condition that resulted in waking several times a night choking and gasping for air. The doctors had prescribed major medicines, inhalers, etc… As he said, “I have quarts of medicine.”
Then we prayed in his home one evening.
That night he slept. Every night since then he has slept. All the symptoms are gone. The doctor is puzzled. His friends are puzzled. They are so puzzled they are opening up and talking to him about issues in their life that need prayer.
That is God being close to us. He is so near, others want to touch Him through us.
Near to Me in Healing:
How powerful is healing? M came to CAREVI in Matamoros years ago. It was before Raul and I began working with Dr. Carillo and the team. M is on the leadership team. There are many stories to tell. He and his family are a blessing to watch. They are busy expanding the kingdom. M ministers the gospel from the point and testimony of his new life, healed and whole. Once he was addicted and trapped. Through scripture and prayer and counsel and love, that is past and he is healed. When visiting this summer, he showed me an outline he made of Los Siete Secretos de Los Padres (the Seven Secrets of Effective Fathers). He is teaching 17 men. 10 are in the congregation and 7 in the community. I gave him the book three years ago. He has devoured and put the truths to work for his family and others. That is healing.
When Are You Unshakeable?
Another friend and I talked over lunch. The press of painful events in my life is enormous these days. Six family deaths, job change, deep betrayals by trusted friends, near death accidents, and more than I want to mention all occurred in an eight week period. Wow. My wife and I should be rattled and locked up under drugs somewhere. Yet, we pursue peace and continue to live and reach others. How so? Why are we not shaken beyond the calm?
Easy. Prior to the onslaught and while it was happening, I was in a period of reading from Genesis to the Revelation. In the same eight weeks, in prayer, I felt strongly impressed to make that prayer and reading journey. That was before the onslaught. That was during the onslaught. The effect is still flowing. The words of God can create unshakeable health in us.
These friends to whom I point are living in strong circumstances. One lives in a war zone city in Mexico. The other works in law enforcement. They are bright lights of Jesus in dark circumstances. They have chosen to allow God’s healing in them to reach others. They chose to be near to God when others run away.
When Are You Unshakeable?
When you are near to God, you build the unshakeable force of health and healing.
In the scripture
In prayer
In healing
In comfort.
In peace
In living
In pain
In problems
When you allow Him room to show through you to others in all your experiences, you build the unshakeable force of health and healing.
For Tomorrow, Be Healed
Another friend called to cancel an appointment. It happens often. He plans to be sick tomorrow morning. Yes, he plans to be sick. He is sick now and plans for it to continue for a while. Hmmm
Yesterday, I worked helping some friends move. They are new friends and coworkers. We started at 8:30am and I finished at 7pm. Many finished along the way and the friends were still going when I left. It was a long day of carting and carrying boxes and chairs and desks. Sleep was sweet. This is being written in the early morning hours. I am up and ready for a new day. No time to plan for sickness. I went to bed early and planned for a good healthy day.
He is near for healing.
He is near for peace.
He is near for strength.
He is near, now and here.
Pray:
Father, I’d like my time to be with you now and here.
Fill me with Your presence.
Heal me.
Peace me.
Joy me.
Estoy aqui. I am here.
Powerful Healing: Estoy Aqui. I am here.
Psalm 16:8 I am always aware of the Lord’s presence; he is near, and nothing can shake me GNT
Near To Me:
Visiting with a friend over the scripture, they noted how they seek to always be aware of God’s involvement. Scripture asks us to rejoice always and always be in prayer. Yet, this mindfulness of God’s action is not as easy as we would like. It is good to visit with others pursuing the same nearness and share our concerns and successes.
When Are You Here?
Now, it is one thought to say God is always near. It is much more my experience that life does not resemble His presence as much as I would like. In His presence there is fullness of joy. Many times I am not full of joy. In His presence is healing forevermore. Some days the pricks and pains of muscle and sinew and malfunctioning body do not feel healed. In His presence is a peace beyond understanding. Some moments, frantic pressures rob peace of even a stair step on which to stand to get to me.
So, when is He here and affecting me and when is He here and not affecting my condition? Yes, He is always present. That is part of our understanding of God. He never leaves or forsakes His children. Once residence is established in us, it is continual in us. And we do not always functionally and experientially realize the power of that presence of the Father.
When Are You There?
At the fast food restaurant, the question comes with every order, “Here or to go?”. Para aqui is my standard answer. For here. I like to sit and eat and not run in the car. In fact, why would I go in the restaurant to the order counter if I wanted to go? Why not just ask me with a presumptive, “You would like that for here?” If I want it to go, I then have the option to say, “No, I’d like it to go.”
When we approach God are we doing the same? God, can I have this in my life and get with You this moment or should I expect a “to go” plate and enjoy the results at some later time. Why not go to Him with the presumptive option? God, of course I’d love to enjoy You and Your presence and all the results of peace and healing and stability and strength that go with that during our time together right now.
When Are You Ready?
Of course the question is about readiness. Are we ready for God to be here?
Whew, that is a question that makes you stop and wonder. Have I reduced distraction to allow Him to speak? Have I ordered my life in a manner in which He would be pleased? Is the word of life guiding my thoughts?
Think about this one question instead of all of those. Does He want to sit down with me or does He want to take my request to go and get back with me on the road or later? Somehow, I think He always likes the sit down and converse option. “For here, for now”, is the answer I believe He speaks. We are the ones in a rush to run on the go.
For Here and For Now
He is always near for healing and hope and sanity. He is always near for peace of mind and restoration of body. Take Him at His word. Hold on to His hand for a moment and tell yourself to stop and recognize His presence.
He is near for healing.
He is near for peace.
He is near for strength.
He is near, now and here.
Pray:
Father, I’d like my time to be with you now and here.
Fill me with Your presence.
Heal me.
Peace me.
Joy me.
Estoy aqui. I am here.
Powerful Healing: In The Dark
Psalm 16:7 I praise you, Lord, for being my guide.
Even in the darkest night, your teachings fill my mind. CEV
Psalm 16:7 I praise the Lord, because he guides me,
and in the night my conscience warns me. GNT
In the night:
Waking from a fretful rest, this excerpt from the Psalm of healing, breaks through with truth. Over and over my dreams spoke of being robbed of precious items in life. As I woke and pondered the meaning, it impressed me how often that has happened.
Over life and time all of us build. We build families. We build homes. We build playhouses in the woods. We build businesses. We build outreaches. We build. It is our nature and commission of God. When what we build is taken from us due to greed or natural destruction or lack of attention or any other corruption or theft, we grieve the loss. A good man or woman goes on and builds again. A wounded soul pulls into them and wonders why they never prosper.
Lesson of Conscience
This is a lesson from the conscience speaking in the night hours. The conscience is a good source of healing. God speaks into the depths of our heart and minds goodness for our souls. Many times, it is in rest that we take down our defenses and let Him speak the loudest.
For this moment, God is instructing me to insure that I enjoy along the path of what I build and not worry too much about the end. At the same time, He is instructing me to build paths of ownership that allow the prosperity to roll over on my family. There is healing in those instructions. There is relief from confusion over past living and loss. There is hope for the future and there is new strength for today. What was disturbing as I slept was washed in wisdom and a future hope and understanding.
Darkest Night
The Perseid meteor belt lights up our skies at the lake tonight. Watching brilliant meteors hit the atmosphere and burn with broad and long tails is soothing. Not many get to see such life in the night. Most were asleep. Many live around so much bright light of the city that they will never see the show of God’s handiwork in such loveliness. It is there. We just don’t see it. It took me 56 years to stop and watch and my memory will never be the same. There is beauty painted in my mental storage.
A legislator from Louisiana sent me this note. “I believe that God is always there. It is me that sometimes is not.” When He is most brilliant, our busyness and distraction keeps us from seeing Him. When we are in the darkest parts of life, we most often will stop and see His hand. Why do we wait?
Healing?
Want to be healed? Put yourself in quietness and solitude. Listen to your sleeping moments. God is speaking loudly with healthy instruction. You will gain wisdoms to share with your soul and with others.
It is these lessons taught into our conscience and soul that come out when needed in daily living. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak in confident faith and expectant expression of the goodness of God. Healing comes from the deep. It exudes by the touch and hand of the Holy Spirit from vast storehouses into which we plunge our thoughts and pains during the quiet and the dark.
Shortly our lessons will turn to engage power healing. Please understand the path to power is paved with patience and persistence and perception. Rushing into power is damaging in the long run and will cause a more fretful life than the one you already have.
Pray:
Father, talk to me. Talk to my soul. Talk to my conscience.
Allow Your words of life and loveliness to imbed deep into my sleeping and waking thoughts.
All Your insights application to my life.
Help me to see You speak in the dark.
Help me to see You always speak.
It is the dark that allows me to discern the subtleties of Your wisdom and counsel and might.
Holy Spirit, guide me. Speak to me in quietness and solitude as I respect Your gentleness and lovingkindness. Then empower me as a lion to go forth in victory expanding the kingdom of God within my soul and without the expanse of my called influence in this life.
Powerful Healing: Living Large in Boundaries
Psalm 16: 6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. KJV
You make my life pleasant, and my future is bright. CEV
The boundary lineshave fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. NIV 1984
Boundaries
Along with every gift comes a set of conditions and expectations. Giving a BB gun to a nine year old comes with conditions that it is only used with Dad. Giving a wedding ring to a spouse comes with promises to love, honor, and cherish. There are boundaries. There are definitions of the blessing and how to enjoy and conditions to limit and protect and fulfill purpose.
Every job comes with a set of conditions and expectations. Overlooking a contract arrangement it impressed me I might have to take extra time to really understand how to make this new relationship work. Conditions and clauses limit and liberate my abilities with the group.
Every call of God comes with promises and extensions. The call to do something helps define our path and helps us to understand obedience in the path will result in extended boundaries. Resistance to path will result in confusion and possibly greater limitation in order to get us back to the path.
Limiting Boundaries.
Some boundaries are limits. Gravity is a limiting boundary. Jump off a 20 story building and the limiting boundaries of strength of your physical body coupled with the limiting boundaries of gravity will pound your body into death. Expect it. Those limits allow us to define actions in a safe and full living manner.
Liberating Boundaries
Some boundaries are liberation. A grant for an education is meant to expand our knowledge and ability to do more in life. It is a boundary, but it has an intention to liberate. It may be restricted to a certain university and course of study, but there are liberties all along the path. The same would work with an employment contract. The employer may give us latitude to work and make commissions within a certain product and service. The boundary can be liberating.
Healthy Boundaries
God given boundaries always lead to life and health. Understanding, acknowledging, and living inside them bring us greatness in life, health in our bodies, blessing in our minds, and peace to our souls. Defining the boundaries of envy, jealousy, strife, and contempt keeps us peaceful with our fellow humans and enjoying our lives. Defining the boundaries of the power of God focused toward us, righteousness in Christ, full salvation, and the fruit of the Spirit brings incredible liberation and blessing to every step we take.
Recognize
The smart and healthy and balance Christian sees the right boundaries of call and position in life and uses them to good for themselves and others. Boundaries can be stretched when obedience is engaged. Boundaries can be tightened with disobedience is the norm. It is our choice to study, recognize, acknowledge and activate the boundaries.
Short Story
A friend challenged me on some of my activities. His best knowledge of me was my gift of organization and administration. Since I am more active today in birthing and building and developing new works and businesses, he is confused. How can I be going outside my boundaries and hope to succeed? The answer is simple. My boundaries have been stretched through obedience and fulfillment of call. What fell to my lot before is much bigger today through study, acknowledgement, acceptance, and obedience.
Had I simply stayed safely in the middle portion of my boundaries and never explored them fully to the outside edge, I probably would have no understanding of the build components God had in my future. My friend would be right to tell me to stay in my older boundaries. But the boundaries have been expanded and there is much more life and abundance to be enjoyed. The boundaries of my future need not be the boundaries of my present experience.
Where Are You?
Struggling with health issues? Struggling with emotional distress? Struggling with bad relationships? Sometimes our best strategy for healing is to acknowledge our present boundaries and begin growing them into future boundaries through prayer, action, and engagement. The boundary I have today provides a safe place in which to grow and expand and become healthier.
Prayer: Father, it really can be hard to understand life. You want us full of health and life and living. You want us complete in Christ. Yet, we must grow in grace and power. We must acknowledge the present and grow into the future. We must seek You first and Your kingdom to understand how we are protected and given room to grow. Grow us safely, in good season, and with ever increasing faith and results. What a Good God You are.
Powerful Healing: Pray Over Your Good Day.
Psalm 16:5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup. You make my lot secure and provide confidence for me in my position and current standing.
Every day there are turnings in directions we do not want.
Every day there are tests to put us off course.
Every day belongs to God.
Every day belongs to health.
Every day belongs to healing.
The concept of lot is simple. Each of us has a certain portion of life assigned to us this day. We have possessions, friendships, family, positions, talents, abilities, thoughts, and passions. They are our lot. They are a good lot.
Say that over your lot. “This is a good lot. God has given me a good portion in life.”
Of course there are portions of your life that might be unhealthy and disturbing. There are relationships that are destructive and play down health and vitality. But do they belong to you or are they intruders? What about your lot that belongs to you? It is good. You may not be doing well keeping it up and allowing God to instill grace in every aspect, but it is good. It is for your good.
Now take a little inventory.
What parts of your portion or lot in life are doing well? Your attitude? Your thoughts? Some of those relationships? Some of those possessions? My truck has a dinged bumper. The truck is good. It is a pleasant portion. Right now it has a ding. The ding does not take away from the goodness of the truck. Maybe it impedes some of the utility. Maybe it does not look as grand from that view. Yet, as a whole the truck is good and it is a blessing. It needs some repair and repair it will receive. Then it will be whole and fully useful. Today it is a good truck. It is a blessing of God.
What parts of your portion or lot in life are not doing well? My weight is not where I want it. It really is doing well. I am right where the doctors would be happy. But, I want better. I want stronger. I want the best healthy ratio of body tissues and fluids. My lot is good. A year ago, it was not good. The portions of fat were out of line with what would be good for health. So I changed it. My eating changed. My exercise changed. My body changed. My mental attitude changed.
What is an area of concern? I understand I have been given talents and abilities that are not my own. What we have is to be shared and held in common for others to received. This weekend, my son and his friends shared time at our lake cabin. It brought joy to my heart to see others encouraged and strengthened enjoying our portions. Tonight, I will teach a bible study with a group of unchurched folk. What I have is meant for them. If you are not giving away your portion to others, you are unhealthy. Selfishness is a bad situation and an horrid lot in life. Don’t live there.
Security does not mean hoarding. Security means I am confident and can share and understand as much as I give, God gives more back and increases the value of what I have. By cooperating with God, protecting what we have, building on it, restoring it, and sharing it, we find absolute health and vitality in all that we have. He secures it through us and in cooperation with us.
Father, wow! You are incredible. My lot is secure in You. I have confidence in You. I am strong in You. All I have is good and getting better in You. Let me be full of unending goodness in all I am and all I have. Let me see with eyes of understanding. Let me engage with a heart to enjoy the great inheritance and portion You have provided for me.
Powerful Healing: Good Blood
Psalm 16:4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied who choose another god; their drink offerings of blood will I not offer or take their names upon my lips.
Last notes were about avoidance of the bad. What about engagement with the good?
There is life in the words of our mouth and the ways of our feet. Where we go, what we say, how we act, who engages our moments, and why we do what we do directs our steps. Our steps direct our results.
Over all of that who, what, why, how, and where is God’s providence. He takes all of our living and accelerates it to the positive or allows it to the negative. There is no stationary. There is no fence to ride.
When we invoke His help through focusing on His love and energy and involvement, all of our results become stronger to the direction we need. It is good blood.
When we avoid His help through focusing on our relationships with the world and the inclusion of the greed, envy, strife, and focus on bad blood, we invite that influence into our overall results. Even a good action becomes a bad outcome and we wonder why.
So what does it mean to take a name on my lips? Out of the abundance of what we store in our hearts, our words and focus come. It is not so much about what we say and what we mull over in the depths of the quiet moments. When we fill our minds with distractive influences that have no good in them, they infect our sleeping and waking dreams and actions. We lack trust of others because we view life through jaded lenses. We resist commitment because we don’t believe others will follow through,
So the commandments of Good Blood:
- Get focused on God as Creator and the Source of all blessing. Just don’t entertain any other thoughts of Him. A few acquaintances recently talked about how fearful they were of a certain manager. The manager is one of the most gracious I know. And, he believes in high accountability. These were afraid of being held accountable for the results of their performance. We can be toward God like that. We become afraid because we do not understand His grace and mercy and goodness mixed with justice and accountability. Shift. Don’t live in fear. Live in faith toward God. Come to Him in humility and acknowledgment of who He is. And remember He will always be good to you, even in correction.
- Pray and appeal to Him with expectancy. Taking God’s name in vain is less about cursing than it is about useless prayer. Don’t waste His time. When you go to Him, expect results. When you talk about Him to friends, do it with joy and passion.
- Be faithful to build value for others. When you borrow and item, take it back in better shape than you received it. When you work for an employer, give 100% when you are on the job. Put away your cell phone. Be a builder of value for those around you. When you speak to a friend, give them encouragement not pity.
- Spend time with other believers and make sure you rest. Rest builds vibrancy. There are seven days. Take one of them to rest and recoup and worship God. Make sure you find time to meet with other believers and let the togethers heal all of your souls.
- Do something to build your family and friend relationships. Go play with a friend. Do something out of the ordinary with your spouse or child or grandchild.
- Talk up. It is easy to point out problems. Talk up. Point out solutions and strengths and goodness about others.
- Be content with your family, possessions, home, apartment, car, and what you have around you. Quit looking for more. Settle in and enjoy.
- Life, life, life. Quit contemplating death and destruction and abuse. Promote marriage and babies. Promote useful living for seniors. Encourage others to find joy in life.
- Help someone who can’t help themselves in that area.
Okay, you do these things and good blood will begin to overtake you. On your worst days, you will see sunshine and life.
Father, I want that sunshine and life and good blood flowing through me. It works. You work. You are full of life. When I connect with You and Your ways, Your life flows through me to others and I can’t help be be healthier myself. Bless me, Father. Let the kingdom of Your righteousness and love stir deep in me and through me to others.
Powerful Healing: Avoid Bad Blood
Psalm 16:4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied who choose another god; their drink offerings of blood will I not offer or take their names upon my lips.
Balanced health includes avoidance. Avoid wrong influences. Avoid wrong foods. Avoid wrong people. Avoid wrong patterns of thinking. Avoidance can bring health.
Of course, it is impossible to avoid the entire world. A world set on finding self fulfillment and worshipping itself is destined for failure and defeat. There are destructive behaviors that lead to early death and disturbed living. Our United States is beset with cancers and heart conditions and diabetes and extensive diseases transmitted only sexually. All of these are promoted by wrong living and a lack of avoidance. Our statistics show it.
In these United States we have fallen to less than 25% regular attendance at worship services. From prior readings you know that taking time with other saints brings healing. It doesn’t have to be Sunday morning church, but there need to be times we come together and encourage. At the same time, it is estimated we have over 25% homosexual relationships as adults. There are social and physical disorders that accompany that lifestyle choice. We have choices in our life patterns. Some lead to health. Some lead to disease.
Avoid “bad blood”. Now we don’t have many that imbibe of blood. We do have many that focus on hedonistic lifestyles.
Bad blood can be an over stimulation with alcohol as a focus in life. How often do our advertisements get focused on sex and alcohol and full pleasure as a mix worth pursuing? That is a diseased pattern. Dancing around the outside edges of that lifestyle will draw you into the lifestyle. There is emotional and physical damage waiting to engage you. Avoid the draw.
Bad blood can be an overdependence on drugs. The habits of constant pain killers, mood altering drugs when we have an issue we need to attend, and stimulants to restore sexual activity flood our society. They are bad blood. This choice of living takes us away from the normal balance of pain and repair. By masking pain as a habit, we become addicted to ill health with drugs as a cover. Ask God to search you out and deal with the source of the pain instead of masking.
Bad blood can be constant sensate driven living. Filling yourself with television and movies and reading that plays to extremes brings ill health. You can only watch a head cut off or a body disemboweled or a child sexually abused so many times before your mind is dulled to good living and becomes insensitive to real and wholesome life. Think on the good things Paul admonishes us in Philippians.
Bad blood can be drama queen living. The ineffective and harmful lifestyles of gossip and manipulation are promoted to the maximum in our culture through such entertainment as “Two and A Half Men” and reality shows bent on who can destroy and lie the most to win. What are we thinking? This is not living, this is killing.
Their sorrows are multiplied, who choose another God. Just these three habitual styles of bad blood are enough to illustrate. Our society becomes in love with pain avoidance and sensationalism and ends up in disease and destructive patterns. With so much finger pointing and back stabbing as our focus we take it into our daily living without realizing who we have become.
Want to be healed? Make healthy choices for your mind and eyes and ears and thoughts a priority. Avoid bad blood. It is amazing how quickly health can return when aborting these patterns. Don’t expect a two day turnaround after a twenty year bad focus. But do expect freedom in thinking and living and physical health to be restored in time. The earlier in life we choose life as our focus, the less pain we need to endure.
Prayer: Father, how can I love You more? How can I take time in my living to engage Your thoughts and not my ways? Teach me to avoid the bad blood situations and lifestyles that will only destroy as they are pursued. Teach me the ways of life. Help me to focus my mind and eyes and ears and actions on good habits that build me and build others. Let me think on those things that are good and loving and just and honest and praiseworthy and excellent and of a good report. It they don’t fit, help me cast them out and be restored to health.
Powerful Healing: The Saints – Path to Healing
Psalm 16:3 As for the saints who are on the earth,
“They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.”
live prayer time…http://youtu.be/yZuYPLgy8Cw
There is no faster and more effective path to healing than good relationships with healthy people. Surrounded by positive expression and strong affirming resolve, it is hard to stay sick. Surrounded by negative expression and strong depressive resolve, it is hard to stay well.
Those partners in our day with whom we make interchange of ideas and smiles and emotions have great affect on our health and balance. A good morning every day can do wonders from a positive person. A good morning every day from someone we know has underlying agendas can steal our strength. You get it. You’ve been there.
The saints on earth are a joy and a health. There are plenty of saints in heaven. The ones who love God and work to follow Him here on earth help me. They have a spirit of excellence in them that is contagious. They have an expectation of joy that is infectious.
Stay surrounded by excellence people with positive attitude. It is a source of healing and a great inoculation against insidious mental attacks of envy and strife and gossip and slander and backbiting. Those diseases can cause you to be tired and hate getting up. Those diseases can cause your body to take five times as long to recover from a simple cold as they drain energy and restorative life source.
Yesterday, I spent a good day encouraging others. In the workplace, at a downtown mission, at a restaurant, and over the phone across the nation, it was good to pray and speak good words with some of those saints of excellence on earth. Being with them and seeing God do good through them is good for me. Praying for them and expressing the goodness of God through me to them is good for me.
The smiles of good friends bring such life with them. I laugh as I think of a good friend who came three buildings travel to see me. She bounded down the hall and gave me a big hug. What a joy to be loved like that.
Find some excellent saints on earth today and exchange your spark. It is good healing.
Pray: Father, what a wonderful plan You have launched. You have given us others to hold us up when we are down. You have given us to others to hold them up when they need it. How excellent You are in the lives of Your saints here on earth. Thanks, Father for this great family we have. let our friends be a source of health and healing in our lives as they bring love and joy to our day.
live prayer time…http://youtu.be/yZuYPLgy8Cw
Energy For Your Life and Health 