Rest For the Weary

February 21, 2001

I woke up this morning with a sense of duty to this little flock that the Lord has entrusted me with but with nothing to say. "Oh Lord, give me the words, I pray for these loved ones." I did not want to debate today or all week, I did not want to have to answer to pettiness and division with nothing to say. I approached the keyboard with weariness and downloaded the e-mail for this morning, I groaned as 42 messages came down since last night. I knew where the majority would be from, new e-mail forums that I had signed up for with much more than I could ever digest. I threw my hands up with an "oh no!." As I wondered where the words would come from today, the very first message from one of them made it all worth while.

I will delight myself in Thy commandments, which I have loved. PSALMS 119: 47

This everlasting and compunctious study of duty, - duty to everybody, everywhere, every day, - it keeps you questioning all the while, rasping in a torment of debates and compunctions, till you almost groan aloud for weariness. It is as if your life itself were slavery. And then you say, with a sigh, "Oh, if I had nothing to do but just to be with Christ personally, and have my duty solely as with Him, how sweet and blessed and secret and free would it be." Well, you may have it so; exactly this you may do and nothing more! Sad mistake that you should ever have thought otherwise! What a loss of privilege has it been! Come back then to Christ, retire into the secret place of His love, and have your whole duty personally as with Him. Only then you will make this very welcome discovery, that, as you are personally given up to Christ's person, you are going where He goes, helping what He does, keeping ever dear, bright company with Him, in all His motions of good and sympathy, refusing even to let Him suffer without suffering with Him. And so you will do a great many more duties than you even think of now; only they will all be sweet and easy and free, even as your love is.
HORACE BUSHNELL

"Joy and Strength", compiled by Mary Wilder Tileston
Copyright, 1901, 1929, by Mary Wilder Tileston
Reprinted from the light string list - light-string@yahoogroups.com

I am tired but at any rate, I need to let you know first hand that God is above the natural world and never gets tired because He is a supernatural God. Supernatural is so above the natural that we cannot even explain it but God is not limited to our natural faculties, time continuum and human frailties. We are born into a body that dies, we get tired, we get sick, our bodies wear out through time no matter what. When God heals, He is breaking into time and space and intervening in the natural course of events and performs the miraculous. Everything that God does is natural to Him but from our perspective it would be presumptuous to think that what He does is natural for us. He is above, beyond and outside of our natural ways. I think of the natural world as much more comprehensible than the supernatural, no matter how many mysteries He reveals to me about Himself and eternity but if we want to be like Jesus, then we allow our own nature to be taken into the heavenlies and not be conformed to this world. A Christian Scientist may disagree, for to them everything is spiritual and cannot understand mind or matter, but I worship a supernatural God that transcends my own human nature. Are we to think that sickness and viruses and old age is just in the mind? There are those that would have you believe it but our condition in Adam's fallen nature is real, not imagined. It may have not been the way that God intended but this reality must be accepted as revealed truth or the truth is not in you. The mind does have a lot to do with healing and sickness and how we think can determine our health but our minds also must be constantly renewed whereas our bodies will continue to deteriorate until it dies. Bodily death is unfortunately a fact of life.

We die, we all sin, and if we are not born of the spirit, the soul that sins shall also die. His ways are so far above mine in the natural that I cannot possibly completely fathom what He really has in store for me down here or in the life to come even if I have been created in His image. God give me strength, I am tired of nitpicking and trying to defend innocent remarks. I am tired of having to come up with something that pleases everybody, I am tired of endless discussion and splitting hairs on Jesus' head about things that don't really matter. Only as I come into that rest that Jesus has provided for me will my soul be at rest. If we are to come into unity, it will be because we love truth, have the humility to accept our shortcomings and love each other despite our differences and petty disagreements. We have enough problems with the divisions of the past without thinking up new ones.

What I do know is that Jesus loves me and not just because the Bible tells me so but because He has placed this love in my heart for Himself and others. I do not look for Jesus in the natural world or even the supernatural world, where I do look for Jesus is in the eyes and hearts of those that reach out in love to their fellow man. God is love and that goes against our natural inclination for self-love. Did you know that the Bible never speaks of God hating anyone? He hates the wicked works that we do and our false doctrine and prideful ways but He loves us, all of us. There is a time coming, maybe now, that we must come together in a solemn assembly to repent for the divisions and hatred that Christians have had for each other for so long. Do we wait for God to do it? Or is God waiting on us? There are those that think that controversial discussion is division in itself but He wants the body of Christ to repent before we can become His Holy Bride. Division must be dealt with, He does not want us to go on with business as usual; everything that can be shaken will be shaken and we need to be ready.

And then there are those that think that we cannot come to God unless He draws us but I would rather be like David who says "But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works." And the writer of Hebrews, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." Don't wait for God to move you to action, draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. How can we repent and get holy if we are waiting for God to do it? Most Christians think it is enough for Christ to be in them, never really understanding what it is to be in Christ and to dwell in the secret place. Peter would never have been able to walk on the water if he hadn't taken that first step out of the boat. Jesus says come, He also says go.

The responses below reflect the supernatural power of God to intervene in the natural course of human deterioration to effect healing. It may or may not be our responsibility to judge whether a person has the gift of healing or not or if it is even natural for us to do so. To be sure, frauds have been uncovered and will continue to be, especially now that the church is coming under judgment but it is our responsibility to continue to pray for others whether we have the giftedness to do it or not. God wants and deserves the glory.

Did we come to any consensus on healing? I believe so, we all agree that God does heal our natural bodies as well as our spirits and that He is the one that does the healing, not us. We may not all agree on how it should be done or even of those that are trying to get it done but we believe that it can get done somehow. We agree that some get healed, some do not, no one really knows why for sure but that does not stop us from asking God to heal.

I have kept the responses to the tithing question until hopefully next time so if there are more that want to speak up on tithing, let me know.

Jay

Dear Jay,

All i can say about this is a experience that happened to my wife and i. I will always remember this miracle. As we were getting ready to go to bend oregon to a revival meeting, my wife came to me and said she had just lost a filling in her teeth. We were upset because at the time we had no money to have it repaired. I can't remember the speaker that night, but while he was preaching on JESUS this man came out of the blue and said by the way if some of you out there have a funny taste in your mouth, it's because the lord does dental work when im preaching. My wife knew she had a funny taste in her mouth. As we got home and we were amazed as all of my wife's teeth had been repaired. The next night 24 people got up and showed their knew teeth. Some got gold fillings some silver, teeth were straightened, it was truly a mighty move of GOD. I might add that she still has all those fillings today. There was no alter call, no laying on of hands. This preacher just let the spirit do the work. I'm not saying we should not lay hands on the sick, for the word says we should, but I've always been bothered by the people that couldn't receive their healing. I think the key here is letting the spirit do the work. I also think that in a short time we will be receiving a new anointing that will help us all to deal with this matter. The important thing is to give the glory to JESUS, and let him do the work. I would like to add that i have been blessed by your website and thank you. I would by honored to pay tithing if you can send me address. You have many powerful people speaking the word of GOD behind you. I pray for you nightly. Keep up the work of the lord. In CHRIST love thank you.

pat

Healing to some will always be in the past or not what God truly means? I believe what the scriptures say, Jesus says that he is the physician and that he came to heal. Some say that he is talking about a spiritual healing. As for myself I can only say that I believe and I have not only seen device healing but I have also experienced it. When I started in the ministry that the lord had given me, I was a translator from English to Spanish. I lived in Los Angeles California and whenever there was a group of people from a local church they would come and pick me up and I would interpret the Speakers or the Evangelist that was going to speak at the time. I did this for many years and I became very Good at being an interpreter not only for the speaker but also for the Lord. I saw many people who were for real and some that were phony, Some were young and meant well and some were old and didn't have meaning at all. Whenever people would teach or preach something that wasn't scriptural I would interpret what the gospel said, The people would say amen and the speaker would say amen only the Lord and myself knew what was being translated. You might think that this is wrong but that is for another day.

What I want to tell you by this is that I saw many people being used of God. I remember one time an elderly women came to an evangelist and ask for prayer for her legs. She was born with a problem in her hip that made her leg about six inches shorter then the other. As the preacher began to pray I closed my eyes as I usually do when I am in prayer. The preacher, by the way was a women in her forties told me not to close my eyes that the lord wanted to show me something. As she lay hands on the women, her leg began to stretch so much so that I thought that her skin was going to break and as I watch The lord said to me "can't the one who heals the leg stretch the skin? Ever since, I have never doubted the healing power of Christ.

You see these people had no one but their faith was great. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing the word of God Jesus said he is the same yesterday today and forever. If you believe that he is who he said he is. I mean it take more faith to believe that he is the son of God how can we doubt healing or do we doubt who he is. If you believe that Jesus is the son of God then you must believe all that he says. When I was in the hospital and I needed a liver, people said he's going to die. My prayer was "let thy will be done. I was not worried about whether the liver was going to come from or if God would heal the one I had or if I would die. He that saves his own life will lose it. But he that loses his life for the gospel will gain his life. If you believe in your heart whatsoever you ask of him he will do it. It is God's pleasure to give to his children. He also say's that sometimes we do not know what to ask for. If you have the mind of Christ, you will ask what God wants you to ask. For the souls of the lost.

Easy

Dear Jay,
A lot of confusion about the healing ministry could be circumvented if we would just listen more carefully to the Lord. We need to be in the right place at the right time and do exactly what the Lord tells us to do. The promise is that, if we ask anything according to His will, He will do it. Jesus dealt with each situation on an individual basis. He knew what He was to do and say in each situation. When we operate on that basis, we see His kind of results.

The prerequisite is to be filled with the Spirit so that our minds and words are controlled by Him. This, by the way, is one of the advantages of speaking in tongues. Since we have to use language to think, if the Lord has control of our speaking, He has control also of our thinking. We have the mind of Christ. Then we can act with assurance that what we say and do will be in accordance with His will, and that He will do what He has promised.
Ed Stube

Thank you so much for the powerful teaching. When I read your articles. eg. Baptism in the Holy Spirit, Healing, Angels.....my spirit observes that your teachings are right in line with the Word of God. In the past I attended many Healing Services, services on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and lots of other so called "Gift Services" here in Cape Town S.A. and oh boy, what confusion aroused in the midst of congregations. I am very fortunate to have received the gift of discernment from God, so luckily it never confused me, because I knew in my heart that what they preached were not totally Gods truth. So every time I read your articles it is just a confirmation to me that I was never, ever wrong in what my heart told me while these circuses took place in front of me. It confused some people in such away that they turned their backs on all churches for good. What a tragedy!!

Blessings.

Louwdene Swart

Jay,

Somehow I got on the PK list and have read a few of your articles. I am a PK, have been a student of theology and spirituality for years, and now am a management consultant in Quality Improvement. I live in Mexico City, and have a wonderful family here.

Healing has always interested me. Theologically I consider myself quite open minded, yet try to keep within what I consider the essence of historic Christianity. My background is Methodist, Baptist and Episcopalian. You might be interested in books by or about Francis MacNutt; I believe for years he was a well-known healer in the Roman Catholic tradition; another reliable source is Mrs. Agnes Sanford, daughter of missionaries to China, and married to an Episcopal priest. She discovered she had a gift of healing and practiced and wrote about it for years. See The Healing Light. An Englishman, who worked somewhat outside the traditional churches was Harry Edwards; he had a recognized healing ministry and wrote The Power of Healing.
Write back if you get a chance. Peace. George Pigueron

The Holy Spirit: The Power God Recognizes

"Woe to the rebellious children," says the Lord, "who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin."
--Isaiah 30:1

The continued neglect of the Holy Spirit by evangelical Christians is too evident to deny and impossible to justify....

It is not, however, the frequency of the Spirit's mention in the Bible or in other writings that matters most, but the importance attached to Him when He is mentioned. And there can be no doubt that there is a huge disparity between the place given to the Spirit in the Holy Scriptures and the place He occupies in popular evangelical Christianity. In the Scriptures the Holy Spirit is necessary. There He works powerfully, creatively; here He is little more than a poetic yearning or at most a benign influence. There He moves in majesty, with all the attributes of the Godhead; here He is a mood, a tender feeling of good will....

The only power God recognizes in His church is the power of His Spirit whereas the only power actually recognized today by the majority of evangelicals is the power of man. God does His work by the operation of the Spirit, while Christian leaders attempt to do theirs by the power of trained and devoted intellect. Bright personality has taken the place of the divine afflatus. God Tells the Man Who Cares, 108,110-111.

"O Lord, work powerfully, creatively; move in majesty. Send the divine afflatus to overshadow our intellect and personalities. Come in power, for Jesus' sake. Amen."

_______________________________________________________________
Read "Insight for Leaders" online at:
http://www.litmin.com/tozer.php3

Dear Jay 'God heals through His supernatural power and God heals through the natural power of our body's ability to heal.' I picked that phrase up because I think it is a mistake to think of a supernatural healing and a natural healing. God is not a supernatural God. He is natural because he is himself just as we are natural because we are created in his image. The natural world, by which scientists sometimes refer to as an automatic self regulating, world called nature, is atheistic and incomprehensible. Only a nature that is God's creation is comprehensible. Nature is natural because it is created by a God who is natural, who is what he is. Healing is always natural if by that term I may mean God given, whether the healing comes from within my own body, mind and spirit of from God's Spirit. Either way healing is not supernatural. This dualism is due, I think, to the way we separate matter from mind and God by thinking that it follows "matter is natural and God is not." I am not saying, God forbid that nature is God. I am saying that there is no need to think in this nature supernature way. God heals me through the immune system in my God given biological make-up. He also heals me through his Spirit bringing the health of mind to effect changes in my biological system. I think this means that when we pray for healing we must also be aware that the causes of disease or sickness may well be in our mind or spirit and that we have to work at that too as well as pray for the miracle of healing. Healing is always a miracle whatever kind it is. Healing is always a divine act whether through the doctors knife or the herbs we find in the fields.

Many of the healing Jesus performed were, in fact, acts of mental healing. I worked for many years in a pscyhiatric hospital where I saw miracles take place. One man was referred to us by the neurosurgeon who could find no actual injury to the nervous system. He was paralysed down one side of his body. Under semi hypnosis one of the Indian doctors talked to the man who had recently lost his mother. He had lived with her all his life and when she died he felt completely lost. The doctor told him that he would get up and walk. He did,yet before this interview he had no feeling whatsoever in his arm and leg. The relationship between what we think feel and do and the nervous system is too intimate to separate up into body and mind. They work together. CHeers! Selwyn

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