Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Mark 1:2-3 (KJV)
Healing is an intimately personal encounter between the sick and the healer. Ultimately, the healer is the Lord himself. Anyone claiming to be a faith-healer or a otherwise-healer is usurping the rightful place of God in the encounter. What with our modern medicine and technology, we have largely forgotten who our true healer is. Physicians do not heal, nurses do not heal, magicians does not heal, witch-doctors do not heal, shrinks do not heal, shamans do not heal, medicines do not heal, operations do not heal, faith does not heal, herbs do not heal, clean living does not heal, meditation does not heal, chanting does not heal, love does not heal, optimism does not heal, positive thinking does not heal, nothing heals -- you get my drift. God heals, the Lord heals, the Healer alone heals. And I know of only one true healer -- Jesus the crucified and resurrected Son of God.
The sick is weak in mind and body, but most often stubborn in spirit. They will yield to anyone who promises healing for a price, large or small. But they seldom give heed to the true healer who offers healing without a price, a divine gift, a free hand. Faith in the true healer demands poverty of the spirit, purity of the heart, ordering of the mind, cleansing of the body. Faith demands a straight path, a wide road, a super highway through the wilderness of our soul to be made for the healer.
Jesus charged and sent his disciples into the world, not just to heal, but to preach and heal -- preach the good news and heal the sick. The messenger first prepare the way of the Lord by preaching the good news of redemption, then delivers the gift of God that heals/liberates/satisfies/uplifts/energizes/transforms the one with the sickness unto death into the one with life everlasting.
The healing that brings only temporary remission of the sickness is incomplete. The healing that requires chronic medication is burdensome. The healing that enslaves the sick to his sickness is addictive. The healing that relieves the symptom but feeds the disease is short-sighted.
We have much to learn about true healing from the true healer himself. We who believe in faith healing are the messenger who prepare his way in the wilderness of sickness. We are the voice that cries "Make straight a path in your soul for the true Healer of your sickness unto death." We believe in miracles, beyond science, beyond medicine, beyond religion, beyond psychology, beyond magic/voodoo/witchcraft/shamanism/herbs/acupuncture/massage/mind-games, beyond you and me. There is one coming after the messenger who has the true power to heal, who turns sickness to health, sorrow to joy, and even death to resurrection.
If you are moved by my message, answer my call to follow my healer, and let my message into your life that you may have life eternal.
Let us pray:
I am sick of body, wounded of heart, stricken of mind, and weary of spirit. Heal me O Lord Jesus, by the laying on of hand of your faithful messenger who has delievered to me this good news of redemption and healing from you. Amen
Friday, June 6, 2008
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Not lose even one
Jesus said, "I am the bread of life.... For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do what I want. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them to eternal life at the last day. For it is my Father's will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life -- that I should raise them at the last day." (John 6:35-40 NLT)
I believe in Jesus as my Savior because his power of life, his power of forgiveness, his power of mercy, his power of grace, his power of redemption, albeit his power of healing transcends all barriers & boundaries & judgments & sicknesses & the whole of human condition. When it comes to the human condition, there is nothing that falls outside the power of his crucifixion and the dominion of his resurrection. It is not for the living to judge the dead. It is not for us mortals to meddle in the fate of the immortals. What God has resurrected by the promise of his vicarious sacrifice, remains alive and resurrected and bound to eternal life. The promise to us is great, no matter what befalls us in this mortal journey, Jesus awaits us at the end with his hand out-stretched to lead us to our prepared place in his mansion in the kingdom of God. It really does not matter what anybody else thinks about it, righteous and sinners alike who are so wise in our self-righteous generation. According to Jesus, it only matters what God thinks. And everyone that God has given to him will not be lost, no not even one. In this world, we are beset with so many diseases great and small, physical and mental, real and imagined, social and psychological, material and spiritual, poverty and wealth, even boredom & age & purposelessness & abundance, some lead to death and others to oblivion. Make no mistake about it: what we believe or do on this earth has serious consequences. We may be a blessing or a curse, a giver or a taker, a joy or a sorrow, a beacon of hope or a shadow of despair. But in the end, whatever the cause of our earthly demise, it is the unerring promise of God that counts -- that begins anew a fresh journey in the way of eternal life. So do not judge, my brothers and sisters; for God has not judged you and me, but has rather blessed us with the overbearing, overriding, overpowering guarantee that he will not let us be lost, no not one -- once he has given us into the hand of his beloved Son. So have faith, be assured that all our healing, now and eternal, begins and ends and begins again with the touch of the hand of Jesus. Yes indeed, he touched me and made me whole.
Let us pray:
Lord God our Father, for all those whom you have graciously given into our keeping during our earthly pilgrimage, we thank you for saving and resurrecting each of them to eternal life as you have promised. In Jesus name, Amen
I believe in Jesus as my Savior because his power of life, his power of forgiveness, his power of mercy, his power of grace, his power of redemption, albeit his power of healing transcends all barriers & boundaries & judgments & sicknesses & the whole of human condition. When it comes to the human condition, there is nothing that falls outside the power of his crucifixion and the dominion of his resurrection. It is not for the living to judge the dead. It is not for us mortals to meddle in the fate of the immortals. What God has resurrected by the promise of his vicarious sacrifice, remains alive and resurrected and bound to eternal life. The promise to us is great, no matter what befalls us in this mortal journey, Jesus awaits us at the end with his hand out-stretched to lead us to our prepared place in his mansion in the kingdom of God. It really does not matter what anybody else thinks about it, righteous and sinners alike who are so wise in our self-righteous generation. According to Jesus, it only matters what God thinks. And everyone that God has given to him will not be lost, no not even one. In this world, we are beset with so many diseases great and small, physical and mental, real and imagined, social and psychological, material and spiritual, poverty and wealth, even boredom & age & purposelessness & abundance, some lead to death and others to oblivion. Make no mistake about it: what we believe or do on this earth has serious consequences. We may be a blessing or a curse, a giver or a taker, a joy or a sorrow, a beacon of hope or a shadow of despair. But in the end, whatever the cause of our earthly demise, it is the unerring promise of God that counts -- that begins anew a fresh journey in the way of eternal life. So do not judge, my brothers and sisters; for God has not judged you and me, but has rather blessed us with the overbearing, overriding, overpowering guarantee that he will not let us be lost, no not one -- once he has given us into the hand of his beloved Son. So have faith, be assured that all our healing, now and eternal, begins and ends and begins again with the touch of the hand of Jesus. Yes indeed, he touched me and made me whole.
Let us pray:
Lord God our Father, for all those whom you have graciously given into our keeping during our earthly pilgrimage, we thank you for saving and resurrecting each of them to eternal life as you have promised. In Jesus name, Amen
Monday, January 14, 2008
Go and sin no more
The teachers of religious law and Pharisees brought a woman they had caught in the act of adultery. "Teacher," they said to Jesus, "this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?" Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.... said, "All right, stone her. But let those who have never sinned throw the first stones!" John 8:1-11 (NLT)
This is a very peculiar and powerful story to consider in the context of faith healing. Although on the face of it this story has nothing to do with sickness and healing, but a short reflection brings the stark reality of a sickness unto death in this act of adultery committed by this woman. Call it emotional, psychological, social, relational, or contractual, this very act of marital infidelity was a sickness with the worst possible outcome -- being stoned to death. One might even term this a paradigm of a legal disease resulting in mortal death. It is amazing how Jesus the master healer dealt with this legal disease in his inimitable fashion, by stooping to write in the dust with his finger, "let those who have never sinned throw the first stones," a prescription for pardon by impeaching the witnesses.
I have been forever fascinated by the way Jesus intertwined the healing of sickness and the forgiveness of sin, a constant interplay of law and medicine, emphasizing the cleansing of the soul as concomitant with the healing of the mind-body complex. In modern medicine, there is no question that mind and body interact in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, until death do they part, albeit in mysterious and scientifically undiscovered ways. In our faith, however, there is yet a more mighty soul at work dominating the mind-body complex, not ever to be understood or discovered by the scientific enterprise. For by definition, the realm of faith and soul and sin and redemption will always be outside the meek enterprise of true science. Law of nature, especially the law of God, recognizes no such boundaries and reaches boldly into the spiritual realm and declares jurisdiction over the life-death dichotomy of the human person. So, for Jesus the master healer, healing of the mind-body complex is not quite enough healing to deliver to a sin-ravaged and disease-ridden soul; only a sin-forgiven, disease-free soul in the end is adequate healing in the eye of God.
Who can deliver such healing to us? He who is without sin, he who is willing to give his life a ransom for many. The source of faith-healing is the same source for faith-forgiveness. We are not understanding faith unless we understand that Jesus who is without sin died for our sins, took our iniquities, bore our sorrows, and carried our diseases upon himself -- to the cross, to be crucified, to be rejected, to be cast down to hell, to be delivered to the enemy. Only then is his victory our victory, his resurrection our resurrection, his eternal life our eternal life. That is why we can be healed of our diseases, forgiven of our sins.
It is required that the witnesses for the prosecution be without sin, so that they can cast the first stones of condemnation. But it is not required that the witnesses for the defense by without sin, for all we sinners can bear equal witness to the power of forgiveness that washed away our sins, and the power of healing which drove away our diseases. So we physicians, sinful and imperfect as we all are, can with full confidence of faith, reach out our healing hand and heal the sick in the name and by the power of the crucified Jesus of Nazareth. However, it is required that we who seek to heal be willing to pay the price of such power, as the disciples of the cross, to be nailed to the cross with our master. For this supreme sacrifice, there is no reward save the promise of difficult servant-hood. For this strict obedience, there is no compensation except the satisfaction of more servitude. For this extreme poverty, there is no reprieve except the hope of continued deprivation. But miracles do happen. Jesus does heal. And there is power in obedience to the Lord.
This is a very peculiar and powerful story to consider in the context of faith healing. Although on the face of it this story has nothing to do with sickness and healing, but a short reflection brings the stark reality of a sickness unto death in this act of adultery committed by this woman. Call it emotional, psychological, social, relational, or contractual, this very act of marital infidelity was a sickness with the worst possible outcome -- being stoned to death. One might even term this a paradigm of a legal disease resulting in mortal death. It is amazing how Jesus the master healer dealt with this legal disease in his inimitable fashion, by stooping to write in the dust with his finger, "let those who have never sinned throw the first stones," a prescription for pardon by impeaching the witnesses.
I have been forever fascinated by the way Jesus intertwined the healing of sickness and the forgiveness of sin, a constant interplay of law and medicine, emphasizing the cleansing of the soul as concomitant with the healing of the mind-body complex. In modern medicine, there is no question that mind and body interact in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, until death do they part, albeit in mysterious and scientifically undiscovered ways. In our faith, however, there is yet a more mighty soul at work dominating the mind-body complex, not ever to be understood or discovered by the scientific enterprise. For by definition, the realm of faith and soul and sin and redemption will always be outside the meek enterprise of true science. Law of nature, especially the law of God, recognizes no such boundaries and reaches boldly into the spiritual realm and declares jurisdiction over the life-death dichotomy of the human person. So, for Jesus the master healer, healing of the mind-body complex is not quite enough healing to deliver to a sin-ravaged and disease-ridden soul; only a sin-forgiven, disease-free soul in the end is adequate healing in the eye of God.
Who can deliver such healing to us? He who is without sin, he who is willing to give his life a ransom for many. The source of faith-healing is the same source for faith-forgiveness. We are not understanding faith unless we understand that Jesus who is without sin died for our sins, took our iniquities, bore our sorrows, and carried our diseases upon himself -- to the cross, to be crucified, to be rejected, to be cast down to hell, to be delivered to the enemy. Only then is his victory our victory, his resurrection our resurrection, his eternal life our eternal life. That is why we can be healed of our diseases, forgiven of our sins.
It is required that the witnesses for the prosecution be without sin, so that they can cast the first stones of condemnation. But it is not required that the witnesses for the defense by without sin, for all we sinners can bear equal witness to the power of forgiveness that washed away our sins, and the power of healing which drove away our diseases. So we physicians, sinful and imperfect as we all are, can with full confidence of faith, reach out our healing hand and heal the sick in the name and by the power of the crucified Jesus of Nazareth. However, it is required that we who seek to heal be willing to pay the price of such power, as the disciples of the cross, to be nailed to the cross with our master. For this supreme sacrifice, there is no reward save the promise of difficult servant-hood. For this strict obedience, there is no compensation except the satisfaction of more servitude. For this extreme poverty, there is no reprieve except the hope of continued deprivation. But miracles do happen. Jesus does heal. And there is power in obedience to the Lord.
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