Journaling on Healing....a God-moment!
I love those God-moments when He shows up randomly yet very specifically in the middle of what you've spent days thinking and talking about. Happened yesterday at church.
Pastor Jim Johnson was visiting our church and preached a powerful message out of Matthew 11:1-6 One of the things he was talking about was healing. Our Father, the Master Timekeeper ordained that message for that day. A message including teaching on healing from a pastor in ongoing treatments for cancer while I've been engrossed in healing testimonies - amazing! While the text is about John the Baptist sending questions to Jesus in apparent confusion, Pastor Johnson took us to multiple texts to nail his thoughts down further. Please feel free to look them up. (John 1:19-34, 3:22-30; Matt. 3:1-2; Is. 61:1-2; Luke 4:16; Romans 9:33; Matt. 15:12; Matt. 13:53-58 and John 6:60-66).
Bottom line - We all may know God's word well enough to know what it says about healing and prophecy, but we could have some details of the timeline of those two things out of order. We need to keep seeking God to know more about Him. To know how He is involved in every aspect our lives. Trust the timeline to Him, but don't miss the possibility of a healing if it's in His plan. Keep praying!
The Healing Part. Pastor Johnson is in the middle of cancer treatments for lymphoma. I suspect he prays daily for healing and based on his message, he'll continue to do so. That gives strong credibility to everything he said. And with every prayer, he has the opportunity to know Jesus more deeply, whether the answer comes in this life or the next.
The God moment. Understanding that we may become offended when our timeline and God's timeline don't line up. When He doesn't appear to be answering our prayers for healing. Only God knows the big picture. Is offended too strong a word? Maybe or maybe not. Like the Pharisees in Matt. 15. Like the people in Jesus' hometown in Matt. 13. Even like some of his disciples in John 6. God has the plan for each of our lives including the time for our birth, our living and our passing into glory and maybe we get a little offended when it doesn't work out like we want it to. God included passages in the Bible to show us that Jesus offended people. Could we get offended when He doesn't answer our prayers?
Pray for healing? ABSOLUTELY!
What if it doesn't come in this life? Keep doing the last thing God told us to do and seek the best medical care we can, all the while praying for God's glory to be revealed in our lives.
My journal page on healing - I'll continue to add Scriptures to my journal for sure. But, it's time to move on. Sadly, I'm continuing to add the names of people I know who need healing, like Pastor Johnson.
Thank you to all who commented and shared their thoughts and personal testimony on Facebook!
Pastor Jim Johnson was visiting our church and preached a powerful message out of Matthew 11:1-6 One of the things he was talking about was healing. Our Father, the Master Timekeeper ordained that message for that day. A message including teaching on healing from a pastor in ongoing treatments for cancer while I've been engrossed in healing testimonies - amazing! While the text is about John the Baptist sending questions to Jesus in apparent confusion, Pastor Johnson took us to multiple texts to nail his thoughts down further. Please feel free to look them up. (John 1:19-34, 3:22-30; Matt. 3:1-2; Is. 61:1-2; Luke 4:16; Romans 9:33; Matt. 15:12; Matt. 13:53-58 and John 6:60-66).Bottom line - We all may know God's word well enough to know what it says about healing and prophecy, but we could have some details of the timeline of those two things out of order. We need to keep seeking God to know more about Him. To know how He is involved in every aspect our lives. Trust the timeline to Him, but don't miss the possibility of a healing if it's in His plan. Keep praying!
The Healing Part. Pastor Johnson is in the middle of cancer treatments for lymphoma. I suspect he prays daily for healing and based on his message, he'll continue to do so. That gives strong credibility to everything he said. And with every prayer, he has the opportunity to know Jesus more deeply, whether the answer comes in this life or the next.
The God moment. Understanding that we may become offended when our timeline and God's timeline don't line up. When He doesn't appear to be answering our prayers for healing. Only God knows the big picture. Is offended too strong a word? Maybe or maybe not. Like the Pharisees in Matt. 15. Like the people in Jesus' hometown in Matt. 13. Even like some of his disciples in John 6. God has the plan for each of our lives including the time for our birth, our living and our passing into glory and maybe we get a little offended when it doesn't work out like we want it to. God included passages in the Bible to show us that Jesus offended people. Could we get offended when He doesn't answer our prayers?
Pray for healing? ABSOLUTELY!
What if it doesn't come in this life? Keep doing the last thing God told us to do and seek the best medical care we can, all the while praying for God's glory to be revealed in our lives.
My journal page on healing - I'll continue to add Scriptures to my journal for sure. But, it's time to move on. Sadly, I'm continuing to add the names of people I know who need healing, like Pastor Johnson.
Thank you to all who commented and shared their thoughts and personal testimony on Facebook!
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