Healing Failures

By Pastor Stephen Piersall
God's Preservation Ministry http://sfprs.org/

Healing is one of the most controversial subjects in the Bible. Not that God is confused, but we and our many different denominations and religions have various interpretations as well as translations. Let us first read "The Great Commission":

Mark 16:14-20 NASB

14 Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 He who believes and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.

This is the commandment that Jesus left us with upon his ascending into Heaven. It is by far one of the most dynamic and prominent areas of any church deliverance ministry. While casting out demons, it is just as significant, to minister to the impassioned wounds. Rousing wounds are one of the most common reasons that deliverance can fail or demons seem to keep coming back and regaining inhabitation within the person.

Our goal is not to forget a hurtful event or trauma, but to receive healing for that event, where the Holy Spirit removes the arrow from it. When we look to the past upon a healed wound, we can see it in a different way, because it has been healed and is no longer painful to look at.

The Holy Spirit within you is the one that HEALS! The believer who has already accepted the gift of Salvation from Jesus must stand in faith 100%. The Holy Spirit responds to your level of faith and every divine healing that ever took place happened with the Holy Spirit when the believer acted on God’s word. What about when healing fails? What went wrong?

It is important to understand that God has not failed you, and He is not short on healing power. When demands are made on the power of God, the healing virtue of Jesus Christ will flow into a person’s body and make it whole. In John 5, the story is told about a man who had an infirmity for 38 years. This story, perhaps, gives us the best picture of the obstruction that even today’s believers face when it comes to wanting to be healed, and yet, not being able making it happen when we want it, and need it, the most. We read that day after day the invalid man lay by the pool of Bethesda hoping somehow to be the number one person in the water after the angel stirred it, because if he was the first to make it in, he could be healed. But then along came Jesus. He asked the man, “Do you want to become well?” The invalid answered saying, “Sir, I have nobody when the water is moving to put me into the pool…”

The significant detail in their conversation at this point is that the man was so focused on the problem of not being able to get into the water before someone else, that he never even considered placing a demand on Jesus to help him and to get him healed. Like this man, many believers today desire to be healed, yet they have not willed to be healed. What’s the difference?

The difference is that willpower is what makes a demand on the power of God. After all, God has sent His Word, and according to that Word, healing has already been purchased by the blood of Jesus. So, the rest is up to us. We must act on this new blood covenant to get the results we desire. Still, for those times when it seems God’s healing power has somehow been hindered, and it just is not flowing through our lives. The Bible points out some problem areas that may be the reason for this lack of healing or health. Some of those problem areas include:

• Failure to forgive others (Mark 11:25-26)

• Failure to keep the commandment of love (John 13:34)

• Lack of knowledge and lack of vision (Hosea 4:6); Proverbs 29:18)

• Lack of discernment of the Lord’s body when taking communion (I Corinthians 11:23-32)

• Lack of integrity in your heart (Psalms 25:21)

Sometimes we have to Let God be God, as he may have allowed the illness or death to occur for reasons we could not foresee. Still we are to pray until God let’s us know to stop.

Since we know there is no failure with God, it is obvious that when believers do not receive their healing, the problem must lie elsewhere. Keeping this in mind, we need to realize that healing largely depends on a firm stand on the fact that your prayer has been heard, and that it has been answered. The challenge, then, comes in not wavering from God’s Word.

Beware of False Prophets! In all things we do, we must pray and ask God for discernment. I know of some people who claim to be “Demonologist” and use hypnosis in their method of casting out demons and provide healing. I know of others who are talking the talk, but in real life do not walk the walk. Some that yearn to be a Pastor, but do not have their personal lives in order. We can NOT have permanent success with Healing and deliverance unless we ourselves are right before God. Bottom line, just be careful and do not just jump in without testing the waters. PRAY!

These two websites will shed some more light on the subject of why healing may or may not work:

http://www.greatbiblestudy.com/inner_healing_101.php

http://www.greatbiblestudy.com/healing_gods_will.php

The Beauty of God

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

"One  thing have I asked of the Lord, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple." 

(Psalm 27:4) 

Aesthetics is that branch of philosophy which deals with theories of beauty. At the beginning of 2014 I want to try and paint a picture of God's unspeakably infinite beauty.

I think it is safe to say that we all know beauty when we see or hear it, but it is a bit more of a challenge explaining what beauty IS. For example a beautiful sunset, a beautiful song, a beautiful woman, a beautiful novel, and so on. What is it that all representations of beauty seem to have in common?

When our children were young, we took great delight in the simple beauty of their stick figures. They somehow learned instinctively that symmetry was part of their goal to make the picture "pretty for mommy". I remember my children's stick figure drawings with much fondness, as I'm sure you do.

Consider other expressions of beauty. Normally, the more complex the beauty, the more intense it is. There is simple beauty and their is complex beauty...the more complex, the more beautiful it appears. For example, we marvel at the extraordinary wonderment of Michelangelo's "David".  Or we think of Rembrandt and how his balancing of light with dark was genius and the result was complex, intense beauty.

Think of music...in a symphony, the more instruments you have playing in sync with each other, the more extraordinary the beauty. Personally, I am more into classic rock. My favorite band is the Allman Brothers. Most bands have one lead guitarist and one drummer (in addition to a bassist and others), but they were blessed with two of the best guitarists--the late Duane Allman and Dickie Betts. Their guitar inter-play was almost transcendental at times--to me anyway! Have you ever had the experience of listening to music that affected you so profoundly, that you forgot you were listening, and were transported up into the music itself?

The key is taking all the disparate elements and bringing them ultimately together--resolution. A simple but beautiful floral design is made more intensely beautiful by adding more color and intricacy to the design. A really good  movie (the Hebrew word for good and beauty are from same root) or beautiful play or novel is where all these sub-plots are intricately woven together and resolved by the end....leaving no loose threads or irresolution.Symphony and not cacophony!  Twice in the Song of Solomon the same Hebrew word for beauty is used that is in Psalm 27:4 for God....and both lovers describe the traits that make the other so beautiful and desirable. Notice the focus on symmetry in their descriptions.

Asymmetry sticks out like a sore thumb.I am thinking of Satan now as "pure ugly"...his soul is misshapen and assymetrized.

What happens when you  have infinite complexity and symmetry? This where it gets exciting--there is INFINITE BEAUTY. That kind of beauty would certainly blur the distinction between sight and sensation!

Some of God's attributes seem so polar opposite,making Him appear at first glance, as asymmetrical. (e.g. wrath/hatred and mercy/love) "Note then the kindness and severity of God..." (Rom.11:22) However, when put together, there is infinite,complex beauty! Like a rainbow, here is a list of some God's attributes...which taken together are astonishingly beautiful!

God is transcendent and immanent
infinity and immensity (all of God is everywhere)
immutability and His emotions.
unity (one God) and His tri-personality as Trinity
omniscience, omnipotence, wisdom, truth
goodness, love, grace, mercy, hesed, holiness, righteousness, justice, and glory
sovereignty of God and our moral responsibility
heaven and hell....blessing and cursing.

All these traits are in perfect balance...symphonic symmetry in infinite complexity and intensity.God's beauty is primary and all human beauty is derivitive from Him.

ON THE CROSS, JUSTICE AND MERCY KISSED
In Rev. 4--5  Jesus is revealed as a Victorious Lamb, but who has the scars of having been slain. We blink, and this Lamb is now the mighty Lion of the tribe of Judah. Such is the incredible complexity of the Person and Work of Christ.

So that is why the beatific vision has always been considered the most wonderful experience of heaven...seeing Jesus face to face. It seems that human language is not adequate to convey the infinitely complex, infinitely intense beauty of our ascended Savior!

Every experience of beauty here on earth is momentary, and reflects a longing for heaven. As we gaze upon the infinitely complex  intense beauty of God, every pore of our being will dance with sheer pleasure and delight. It will be ravishing and unending delight.

The next time you experience the pleasure of beauty, let it turn your heart in contemplation of the beauty of God...and worship Him!