It's all about Jesus

Posts tagged ‘Divine healing’

Chasing The Sun

Looking out of the window from 36,000 feet I could see the pale blue sky above and a solid layer of white clouds like shag carpet lying below. As I stared, I began listening to hear what Holy Spirit was saying. I wasn’t listening because He was moving me to, I was listening because I knew He always enjoys engaging me in conversation. As I listened my eyes drifted from directly outside my window towards the nose of the plane where I could see a warm glow from the setting sun. As soon as my attention was captured by the glow I heard Holy Spirit say, “Chasing the sun”.Chasing the sun

There I was sitting in seat 20F, heading to the Island of Hawaii. We had taken off from Los Angeles, right as the sun began to set, and so the chase was on! Funny thing about flying west just before sunset, the sun seems to hang on the horizon “about to set” for hours, giving the impression that the chase could go on forever, but gradually you slowly fall behind, the sun moves beyond the horizon and the last rays of light dim into darkness. And so it happened, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean the chase came to an abrupt halt and the realization hit; you can never catch the sun!

I realize what I’m about to say might be really upsetting for some, but will be liberating for others. You see, my experience mirrored the spiritual condition of many around the world who considers themselves God chasers. For a God chaser, God always seems to be right there in front of you, allowing you to see the soft glow of His presence, even experiencing His tangible warmth at times through visitations and encounters, but never seeming to catch Him in His fullness. Day by day is spent pursuing Someone that seems to be uncatchable, eventually the encounters can’t satisfy the appetite, enthusiasm gives way to desperation, desperation gives way to frustration, then frustration finally gives in to apathy. Apathy doesn’t mean you no longer care, just you’ve grown weary of the chase, deciding that the dream of entering in His fullness is unobtainable and so you settle for a lesser dream, you settle for a life of moving from one glimpse of His glory to another, hoping the times between won’t be too long.

Years ago I hung around a bunch of people who considered themselves God chasers. These were incredible men and women of God; individuals who had a tremendous love for God. They were extremely passionate for Him and I admired them for it. The problem was never their love and passion, the problem was they were chasing someone they could never catch. No matter how much they repented, fasted, worshipped, or soaked in His presence, they could never obtain their goal of catching God. It would never happen as long as they continued chasing after Him. How could you say that you might ask? It’s simple, you can’t catch what you already have!

Something remarkable, even miraculous occurred when you were born again. Scripture says that you became a new creation; that you became like Jesus. It goes on to tell how during this miraculous event you became one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17) and that of His fullness you have received. (John 1:16) You see, the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in bodily form in the man Jesus, and you have been made complete in Him! It’s clear, you have already obtained the very thing you keep chasing after; quit chasing and start enjoying His fullness!

So why aren’t you experiencing it? Again it’s simple! As long as you keep chasing after what you already have you are declaring that there is a separation between you and God. You aren’t acknowledging your unity, and until you begin to understand and acknowledge that you have been given the fullness of the Godhead in Christ Jesus it won’t become a reality in your life. (Philemon 1:6) It’s a spiritual principle that Holy Spirit showed me years ago. You become what you gaze upon. As you focus on the reality of God in you then you will begin to see manifestations of that reality. You will find that the things and resources of the Kingdom of God are attracted to you and that they will begin manifesting in your life the more you start acknowledging what has been given to you through the finished work of the cross. Another way to look at it is likeness attracts likeness.

Here is a practical way to implement this in your life. First you need to acknowledge to yourself that the Fullness of Christ Jesus is in you and that you are in Him. Repeat this:

“I have been given the fullness of Christ Jesus by the grace of God! He was given to me as a gift that I receive. I didn’t do anything to earn Him and so I can’t do anything to lose Him! Because the fullness of Jesus is in me then things of the kingdom are attracted to me. Since the Kingdom of God is attracted to me then my circumstances and the environment around me is changed and transformed to be as it is in Heaven. My needs get met, sickness and disease gets destroyed, and life comes to those areas and people around me that appear dead. “

 Now that you’ve declared it start looking for it in your daily life. You may not see large changes or extravagant manifestations immediately, maybe you will, but most people start to see small, seemingly insignificant changes or manifestations. Maybe you find a dime on the ground, stop and think God that He provides! Maybe you see a hurting person in the store and you feel compassion for them or have the desire to pray for them. Stop and thank God that the very reason you feel compassion or have the desire to pray for them is proof that He is in you and changing you! Even if you chickened out and didn’t pray for them, thank God that you had the desire! The desire is proof of Christ in you! Then, as you begin to acknowledge the little things in your life you will start see bigger and more miraculous manifestations. You will begin to experience and enjoy the fullness of the One you love, the one you chased but never seemed to catch.

Category:

Christian Life

Tagged with:

Hound of Heaven

Late one evening a few years ago, probably around midnight, I was sitting in my office talking with a good friend of mine. This friend had been staying with me for a while and we had developed a routine of spending our late evenings discussing God’s nature and explaining to each other the revelations Holy Spirit had spoken to us that day and what He was teaching us. This particular evening we were discussing God’s unconditional love when suddenly Holy Spirit took me into a vision. All of a sudden I was looking at a dog, a bloodhound, and he was running straight towards me. His lips and ears were flapping up and down as he ran, flapping as if they were trying to get him airborne, and there was a look of determination in his eyes that a bloodhound gets when he is hot on the scent of the very thing he is tracking. As I watched this hound come closer and closer towards me, ignoring every obstacle and distraction placed in its way, I asked the Lord, “What is this?” Immediately I knew that the bloodhound represented Him and I represented all men. Now truthfully, I had a problem with God being represented as a bloodhound, not sure exactly why but I did until God reaffirmed to me that my interpretation was right. He then explained to me that ever since the fall of man in the Garden in Eden, He has been single in vision with His eyes set on one point in time and for one purpose. That purpose was to bring back as many of His children as possible into the intimate union with Him they were created in. It was never man’s fall or mans frailty that held God’s attention. It was man’s beauty; that image of God’s fullness that caused Him to declare man as “very good” that captured His heart, and drove Him like a bloodhound hot on the trail of it’s prey. Man was his prey and bringing man back into union with Him was God’s goal, a goal in which nothing would distract Him and nothing would keep Him from accomplishing everything His heart set out to do.

 Hound of Heaven1

There is a misconception out there among many Christians circles of belief that God’s sole purpose for sending Jesus was because man sinned and so He sent Jesus to pay the price for our sins and thereby making a way for man to one day, when he dies, go be with God in Heaven. Giving the impression that God is somewhere far away from earth, sitting on His throne and waiting while Holy Spirit is on earth frantically recruiting people to go live with God in His paradise sometime after they die. That’s all fine and dandy but unfortunately, if that belief is true, then you have to wait in eager anticipation of your death as you muddle and plod your way through life; left here by God to suffer and endure until your appointed time of death. This may sound like an exaggeration but unfortunately its not. It is exactly what many either directly or indirectly teaches from behind their pulpits every week. When you teach that God is in total control of everything and that the manifestations of the gifts of Holy Spirit have been done away with, that is exactly what you are saying. You are declaring that God chose to leave you here under the oppressive plans of the enemy until your Heavenly Father chooses to give you some rest or you die. All along indirectly declaring that God’s love for His children is on a lesser scale than that of a good earthly father. What good father would choose to leave his children in harms way without giving them the ability to overcome. A good father would so stack the deck in the favor of their children as to guarantee victory. But by declaring that God’s provision is less than a good earthly father you cause mistrust and enmity to come between God and His children. Not only is that teaching contrary to everything Holy Spirit was showing me through that vision it is also completely contrary to the very nature of God.

God has been the initiator with man from the very beginning and that didn’t stop just because of sin. God has always been the pursuer in the relationship between He and man and sin didn’t stop that, it actually intensified it because where sin abounds grace super abounds. It begins in Genesis where we see God showing up daily to walk and talk with Adam during the cool of the day. God established an appointed time for the two of them to spend together every day. Now Adam was in communion with God and could be in contact with God at all times, but even with that God set a time for them to spend one on one intimate time together on a daily basis. This was initiated by God and not Adam. Even after Adam sinned and that common union was severed God still kept His appointment with Adam to talk with him and Father him. Look at Genesis 3:9.

Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?

 

Years ago I was reading this passage and I began wondering why God had called out to Adam, asking him where he was. I mean, God is omniscient, He knows everything, He would have already know where Adam was and why he was hiding. So being the inquisitive person that I am I asked Holy Spirit why He asked Adam where he was. Then came a response I wasn’t expecting. Actually, I had to do some research before I completely sure that it was Holy Spirit that had responded. He said something like, “I didn’t’ say that” or “that’s not what I said”. I thought to myself, “but that’s what it says right here in the Bible”! So I looked up the verse in the original Hebrew and the word used for “where” is the word ay. Now ay can mean “where” as in where are you but can also mean “what” as in what are you. You see the difference? God was not asking Adam where he was but asking him what he had become. God was fathering Adam and trying to get him to understand exactly what had happened. Even in the midst of Adam’s betrayal God was the pursuer, He was fathering Adam beginning to counteract any false impressions Adam was beginning to form about what had happened and even more importantly, any false impressions Adam was beginning to form about God’s nature and intentions.

Next we read in Exodus God pursuing His children by sending Moses back to Egypt to bring His kids back to Him so they could once again be in relationship with Him. He was once again revealing to them who they were created to be by breaking down any false impressions they had formed about themselves and about God. Why do you think God commanded the Israelites not to create idols? Why was this so important that God made this command number 2 on the all important thou shalt / thou shalt not list? Was God really that worried about competition with a hunk of metal, wood, or stone? Was He offended that they would bow down to an object instead of bowing down to Him? Was He intent on not letting anything get the praise and worship that He alone desired? Of course not! A man made carving does not intimidate God. He does not get His feelings hurt. He does however know that our relationship with Him is directly related to how we perceive Him. The Israelites assumed that He was like all the other gods they had know in Egypt. And like the others, they assumed that the God of their fathers wanted them to build an image of Him and worship it. But it is God’s heart’s desire that the thoughts and images we form in our mind are based on real personal encounters with Him, which will be consistent with scripture. Not assumptions based on experience alone. It is only during these personal encounters with Him that His true nature is revealed to us, not through the ideas and teachings of another man. God is fully aware that when you create an image and worship it, then that very image you create will define the limits of your relationship with Him. Any image that we create is a representation of our hearts belief of who we think God is. It will be a constant physical reminder reinforcing those beliefs. God, being the good father that He is, was trying to destroy all false impressions they had concerning Him and by doing so re-establish the intimate relationship He longed for.

Now lets surge forward to John 3:16.

 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

 

Here we see God pursuing man by giving or sending His Son.

In Luke 19:10 it states once again that God is the pursuer, the initiator, the one who is taking the responsibility for the success of this relationship on Himself, not leaving anything to chance. He is doing everything He can do to ensure we are united in union with Him.

for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

In Luke 15:4 we catch a glimpse of just how obsessed God is about you.

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?

 

God’s not satisfied to have most of His children. He’s not even happy to just have the majority. He is obsessed to have all and it’s His hearts desire that none should perish but all come to the saving knowledge

2 Peter 3:9

9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Matthew 18:12-14

“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? 13 And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

God’s purpose was never to leave His children abandoned here on this earth to suffer until He finally calls them home. His purpose and His goal has always been to be in union with His children, to impart the fullness of His power and nature in them; allowing them to be partakers of His divine nature. To equip them not only to overcome any obstacle that may try to raise itself against them, but more importantly to impart in them the ability to intimately fellowship with Him. His desire is for his children to be like Him in every way, imitating our Father, and experiencing this union of Him with us, not sometime in the future or every now and again, but enjoying His presence, enjoying our unity with Him every second of every day.

Category:

Christian Life

Tagged with:

Exerpt from my healing manual

It has been over two thousand years since Jesus commanded His followers to go and make disciples of all men. (Matthew 28:18-20) And two thousand years later instead of having completed our mission, we seem to be further away then when we started. Instead of gaining ground, we appear to be loosing ground with people walking away from Christianity at an alarming rate. Although many different reasons can be sited, I believe one of the greatest reasons is a lack of understanding of what Jesus did on the cross, paired with apathy and fear. We have allowed our experiences to define our beliefs instead of the Word of God, causing us to doubt God. By allowing our experiences to define our beliefs we form a wrong view of God’s nature and an incorrect understanding of scripture; both which will bring frustration, apathy, and fear. Apathy will keep you from seeking truth while fear will keep you from acting on any truth you may know. Eventually you have what Christianity has become today, a group of people that either don’t care to seek after the truth for themselves or if they do are too afraid to act on that truth. This has led Christianity to appear to be a religion of theory and beliefs but with very little practical life application.

I believe Paul learned this very early on in his ministry. Paul, like most religious leaders of that time, was very adept at debating his point concerning his beliefs; he continued this practice early on in his ministry. Acts 17:17 says that Paul reasoned in the synagogue and marketplace daily. He attempted by way of debate to convince both Jew and Gentile that Jesus was Lord. Then later on we read in 1 Corinthians:

 

1Corinthians 2:1-2

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

 

Paul had given up on trying to just debate people into the kingdom, instead relying on the power of the Holy Spirit. He gained the understanding that he could not rely on his understanding of scripture and his own knowledge alone, as great as that was, but needed to demonstrate the reality that Jesus was Lord. In Philippians he later stated that everything he had done and been in the past was garbage compared to knowing Jesus and having the reality of Jesus’ resurrected life manifested in his own life.

In the same way as Paul did at first, we have relied on our ability to effectively argue and articulate our beliefs, trusting in our own knowledge, all along neglecting the power that resided in us; the same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead. We must get back to the place where we not only declare that Jesus is Lord, but also prove it. This is what Jesus meant when He commanded us to obey all that He commanded His followers to do. Not just tell them He died to save them, but to demonstrate it in a very real and personal way. Healing is the proof that Jesus forgave us of our sins.

 

1 Tim 2:2-4

 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

 

John 3:16-17

 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.(NIV)

 

As we clearly showed in the previous chapters that Jesus paid the price for all sin. Not just the sin of the believers or those that He know would make Him Lord of their lives, but the sins of the whole world. God left nobody out when Jesus died on the cross, it is His will that all would be saved. Answer these questions about salvation.

 

  1. What is God’s will for salvation?
  2. Does He want every person saved?
  3. Can a person be saved anytime anywhere?
  4. Does a person have to do anything to earn salvation?
  5. Can/Does God save people irrespective of the magnitude and type of sin they are in?
  6. What is the only requirement for salvation?

 

Next, try to answer the same questions again but instead replace “salvation” with “healing.”

 

  1. What is God’s will for healing?
  2. Does He want every person healed?
  3. Can a person be healed anytime anywhere?
  4. Does a person have to do anything to earn salvation?
  5. Can / Does God heal people irrespective of the magnitude and type of sin they are in?
  6. What is the only requirement for healing?

 

Where all your answers about salvation the same as it was for healing?  If not, you need to pay very close attention to the next section. If it can be proven to you from scripture that healing is provided in the atonement, then you can’t in good conscience differentiate between God’s will for salvation and God’s will for healing ever again.  They are the same, always and forever. 

 

 Isa 53:4-6

 4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (NKJV)

 

  1. Griefs (kholee) = sickness (Deut 28:61, 1 Kings 17:17, 2 Kings 1:2, 2 Kings 8:8, and other places)
  2. Sorrows (Makob) = pains (Jeremiah 51:8, Job 33:19)
  3. Borne (Nasa) = To bear in the sense of suffering punishment for something. (Isa 53:12)
  4. Carried (Sabal) = To bear something as a penalty or chastisement. (Isa 53:11)

 

In Deuteronomy 7:15 we read where the Lord will take away from you all sickness (Kholee). In Job 33:19 we read where the word “Makob” is translated “pain”. So from these scriptures it is very evident that Isaiah 53:4 should read, “Surley He has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains.” In Leviticus 5:1 we read that if a soul sins then he shall bear (nasa) his iniquity.   In Isaiah 53:12 we read that Jesus was numbered with the transgressors and bare (nasa) the sins of many.  It is unquestionably clear that God is telling us that in the same way Jesus bore (nasa) the payment for our sins, He bore (nasa) our sickness and disease and took it away.

 The Holy Spirit also declares this to be true when He inspired Matthew to quote the passage in Isaiah 53 showing that He was talking about bodily sickness and disease.

 

Matt 8:16-17

 16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”

 

Here we are told that Jesus cast out spirits and healed ALL who were sick, fulfilling the prophesy of Isaiah 53 and clearly indicating that Isaiah was talking about physical sickness and disease. Some may say, “you see, it says that Jesus fulfilled that prophesy through His ministry of healing and not through what He did on the cross. Doesn’t that mean healing and deliverance are not for today? That’s a legitimate question so let’s look into what it means when it says that it was fulfilled.

The word fulfilled is the word “plerothe” which is the aorist passive, subjunctive, 3rd person singular of the word “pleroo”. In normal language that means that it was an action that was completed once, and by that one time action the results continue forever. By the mouth of two or three witness every word is established, so let’s look at a few more verses.

 

 

Matthew 12:17-21

But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. 16 Yet He warned them not to make Him known, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.3 A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.4 He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”

 

The word for fulfilled used in Matthew 8:17 is the same word “plerothe” used in Matthew 12:17.  And just like the way Matthew 8 is quoting Isaiah 53, Matthew 12 is quoting Isaiah 42.

 

Isaiah 42:1-4

“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.3 A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.4 He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”

 If you say that healing was fulfilled and not part of the atonement, then you have to say He is no longer bringing justice to the Gentiles. That is saying that the Gentiles cannot be saved. Obviously, Jesus is still preaching the gospel to the Gentiles through those who believe in Him and He is also still healing the sick through those that believe in Him!

   

 1 Peter 2:24

 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. (NIV)

 

Like Matthew, Peter is also quoting the passage in Isaiah 53. But unlike the prophet Isaiah, Peter stated it in past tense. “…By His wounds (stripes) you have been healed. Now Holy Spirit doesn’t make mistakes so why would he have Peter misquote the passage? It is because something very important happened between the two verses; Jesus paid the price! That’s right, in the same way Jesus has already forgiven you of all your sins, He has also already healed you of all your diseases, hurts, pains, and mental anguishes. And in the same way you receive His forgiveness of your sins, you receive His healing of your disease.

Category:

Christian Life, Healing

Tagged with:

Video

Heal the sick podcast – Glen interviewed by Millian Quinteros

Millian Quinteros interviews Glen Hartline about healing and how he got started praying for the sick.

This is AUDIO ONLY.

Written

on December 18, 2013

Healing – Please

 “Can you help me?” she said. I’ve done everything that they told me to do. I’ve prayed the prayers and I believe God heals. I don’t understand why it’s not happening! I mean, I keep speaking to the mountain just like my pastor say to do, but nothing is happening!

            I’ve heard this cry more times than I care to remember; People who are desperate for healing in their body or for a family member that is being ravaged by sickness or disease. These are people who are children of God and who Love their Father dearly. They are confused and desperate because everything they have been told to do, the things that bring about healing from God, are not working. They listen to the testimonies, one after another, of how God has healed this one or that one but fail to see the manifestation in their own lives. They read the healing scriptures, even post them on their walls, promises from God that He has healed them, but day after day it seems to elude them. This is all too common in the church today, but it doesn’t have to be this way!

            Healing, or anything concerning the kingdom of God for that matter, does not occur because you say or do the right thing. There is no magic incantation or formula that will bring about a healing.  Even the name of Jesus, although all powerful, is not the universal key that once spoken opens every door. It’s not about what you say or do, it’s about what you believe. Yes, speaking and confessing healing scriptures is good, it will remind you of God’s will for your condition, but without the belief in what He did, the words are powerless.  It’s more about why you speak them than what you speak.

            If you pray a prayer or confess a scripture because that is what you have been taught to do, or because you have seen others do it and get healed, then there is a very good chance you will miss your healing.  However, if you, through a personal revelation of who God is and what He has done, confess them as a confession of praise to Him then the power begins to flow. It all stems from a personal revelation of Him that cannot be obtained by the laying on of hands, listening to a sermon or teaching, or even seeing a miracle. It only comes as we view Him for who He is.

            “How can we view God?” you might be asking. Hebrews 1 says that Jesus is the express image of the person of God. That means He is an exact copy in nature, power, and authority; there is no difference between the Father and Son. Jesus Himself said that if you see me (Jesus) than you have seen the Father. (John 14) So all we need to do is look to Jesus to get a revelation of who the Father is. Jesus loved us so much that He gave Himself over to be beaten, whipped, and crucified so that we could be reconciled back to the father. When His flesh was being torn from His body on the whipping post, your sickness or disease was on His mind. His love for you is greater than any trouble you may be facing and He has already poured every ounce of His love out for you. It is His love that has set you free, and living in the realization of that love will cause all sickness and disease to fall away. Get to know your father, not because you need a healing, but because you want know Him better. Ask Him to give you a greater understanding of His love so that you will have a more intimate relationship with Him; I guarantee you He’ll answer you. I bet you He’ll show you Jesus!

Category:

Christian Life, Healing

Tagged with: