Healing By Faith – Gradually and All at Once - Purity 865

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of a kaleidoscope of autumn colors found in a sampling of trees comes to us from an anonymous friend who captured this scene on social media last Thursday. My friend is not anonymous, of course, but time was limited this morning and I didn't think I had enough uh, enough to, uh, scour Facebook to discover the identity of the photographer. I know they're— I know they're not a professional, I don't think, but the photo what they captured shows they certainly have an eye of an artist, and I'm thankful to them for sharing what they— what they saw. And if they want credit, just let me know it was your photo. Um, well, it's the 18th of October, and as I stated last week, the peak of the season of the fall foliage is the first couple of weeks in October in Upstate New York, so we may be on the other side of seeing the best of the season. And as I see more and more leaves on the ground with each passing day, the change in leaves can be gradual, but it can also seem like it happens all at once. Uh, for those people who are waiting, um, for the changes to come, it probably seemed like it took forever. And now with each passing day, the glory of those autumn colors are beginning to fade as October draws closer to the arrival of November. Just 2 weeks. In the past 2 weeks, I was waiting for healing to come to my wife as she was suffering from an infection in her gums because of a dental problem. We started praying for healing immediately, and she started taking antibiotics to fight the infection, but instead of things getting better, they seemed to get worse. I was positively upset that my wife was suffering, and I had some real out-loud conversations with the Lord about it. And I wish I could say I wasn't angry, but I was. My wife's journey has been a strange one this year, with several job changes and contentions in court. And just when it seemed like we were ready to finally come to a place of peace and victory, she gets hit with this. So I went to the Lord and I told him I wasn't happy, and I kept praying for healing every day. I even answered a call that I felt the Lord was giving to me giving me to make an offering to a local cause that was calling for donations. And even though I stepped out in faith and made the sacrifice, even that didn't seem to be changing the spiritual atmosphere to bring healing to my wife's situation. But I kept praying and hoping, and my wife, wife kept suffering. Uh, and then Saturday I had a fall at work that could have been a real disaster, but I was providentially given the grace of the Lord so that I walked away from it with comparatively minor injuries. But I was still feeling pretty, uh, pretty sore Sunday morning when it— when I went to church. Our pastor was concluding his 4-part series on prayer, and the message broke down, uh, the different scenarios concerning God answering prayer. Pastor Roscoe shared the following 4 points. They said, request not right equals no, slow not right equals grow, Timing not right equals slow, and everything's right equals go. He explained that if our prayer request wasn't in God's plan for us, the answer would be no. The second point meant that if we weren't right with God and needed to repent or mature in our faith, God would use our walk and our unanswered prayers to make us grow. The third point meant that our prayer would be answered but not yet. And the fourth point meant that everything would be right and your prayer would be answered. Well, I had to believe that my prayers for Tammy Lynn was a, was a good request, and I hoped that it was, was in God's plan that she would, she'd be healed. Although I have to admit, the enemy whispered in my ear, this is how your wife dies, but I didn't listen to that. Um, As for me being right, well, I never claimed to be perfect, but I didn't think I, uh, I didn't think I had anything in my life that would prevent God from healing Tammy Lynn. So I looked— it looked like option 3: the timing wasn't right yet, or something else was going on that I didn't know about. As, uh, as the service drew to an end, Pastor Roscoe uh, the prayer team and other members of leadership invited people, uh, to come up and to be prayed for. Well, I had been blessed the previous day without being seriously injured. I was still hurting, and I remembered James 5:14-15 that says, is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Well, when I remembered that, there was no way I wasn't going up there for prayer. So I went up, and Pastor Larry, our executive pastor, who just happened to be the person available for me to go to, um, and so I explained to him how I had, had a fall the previous day, and the Lord had blessed me without being seriously hurt, but I was in pain, and I wanted to be obedient to the word of God. And and came, uh, and come to the elders and get anointed with oil and be prayed for. But I also said that I wanted him to pray for my wife Tammy Lynn to be healed as well, and that I knew that if we want to be right with God, we have to obey his word. So Pastor Larry prayed, and the service ended. Uh, Sunday night, I made my way back to my, uh, made my way back to River House. Um, my home down by the river. And I was very sore and very tired, and I had entertained the idea that I'm— I'd stay out of work for a couple of days to fully recover, not knowing for sure whether or not I would go to work come Monday morning. But yesterday I woke up and I wasn't too sore, and I was able to do my regular morning workout. And although my neck was a little stiff, I made it through a full day of work Monday without any real problems. I think that sometimes we have a choice of what story we're going to tell with our lives. I think we can stay home sick or we can get on with our lives. Now, don't get me wrong, if you are sick, stay home. If you're not well enough to work, don't force yourself to do something that you can't. But sometimes it's not very clear whether or not we're well— you're well or sick, and you have to decide what you're going to do. You have to either agree with the Lord, agree that the Lord is going to heal you and has healed you, or you can choose to stay and wait on the Lord to see if you're healed. Yesterday I decided that, uh, decided by faith that I was well enough to go to work, and I was. Uh, now this is a gray area because I could have easily just stayed home And believe me, at different times I was like, what am I doing at work? But I didn't want to be a liar either. I didn't want to, want to stay home nursing a little bit of sores and muscle soreness and, and be deceitful and, and saying I couldn't, um, and be deceitful by saying I couldn't work. Um, when you're when you're walking with the Lord, you have to really be concerned with whether or not you're speaking the truth. By calling in sick saying I couldn't work, I thought it would be dishonest. So because I was convicted about being honest, I assessed my situation and said I can work. And if I could work, that means I, I had received healing, or at least I wasn't hurt too bad. And this reminds me of the verse where Jesus asks the guy at the Pool of Siloam in John 5:6 Do you want to be well? Well, do you want to be made well? Um, and it reminds me of the time, uh, Christ spoke to the woman who had the issue of blood, who fought through the crowd to touch the hem of his garment, and how she was healed. Christ said to her, Daughter, be of good cheer. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace. So I went in peace to work on Monday. Oh brother. But today I am feeling even better than yesterday, and I believe I made the right choice, and my faith in that choice is blessed— has been blessed by the Lord. Oh, by the way, after I had Pastor Larry pray for me and my wife, Tammy Lynn has dramatically improved as well. She isn't completely healed yet, but her condition has vastly improved, and I am encouraging her to take it on faith and to follow her dentist instructions that her complete healing is on the way. And it is all but a done deal in God's eyes because he already knows the end from the beginning. So if you're hurting today or know someone who is sick or just have something you are praying for, I encourage you to get right with God by turning from any overt sins and by, and by being under the spiritual authority of a local church, uh, and to also examine just what you're praying for and consider how it may or may not be a part of God's plans for you. And to be patient and to trust the Lord's timing, and that he will get it right in the end, whether you receive what you want or not. Uh, the way to peace and joy in our lives comes from following the Lord and from accepting what he has in store for you. So keep walking and talking with God, and you will be blessed. It's just a matter of how and when. What God has— what God has for you may be gradual or may come all at once. Just like the leaves on the trees will shine bright for a season one moment and fall to the ground the next, we may just have to wait to see God's plan in the seasons of our lives. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Mark 11:25, and it says, but when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins too. Today's Bible verse reminds us of another aspect to our prayer life: forgiveness. Yeah, being right with God also includes forgiving others and asking others for their forgiveness. Scripture repeatedly commands us to forgive much as we have been forgiven much. Uh, so when we go to worship God, or when we have prayers that we want to be considered, we should be obedient to God and true to who we are in Christ by living a lifestyle of forgiveness. If we sin, we are to confess it to God and ask for his forgiveness. If we offend or hurt someone, we are to ask them to forgive us. And if we are offended or hurt by others, we are to, we are to forgive them as Christ forgave us. So Pray, pray, pray to the Lord at all times, but be sure to be obedient to his command to forgive. Yeah, that's pretty basic. Anyway, uh, as always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's, um, The Cost of Discipleship. Or discipleship, uh, depending on which version you're reading. Um, the, um, we're still in chapter— well, actually it's chapter 7, which is the visible church community, or at least in one version. Um, I'm not sure if it's— well, anyway, we're sharing from the visible church community section of Bonhoeffer's work. And, uh, so if you want to see what he has to say about that and how we are the salt of the earth. Um, you go to mt4christ.org and you'll see that at the end of today's blog post. And as always, we encourage a life of, uh, lifestyle of faithfulness and practicing, uh, your faith every day and consider the things of God every day and just to make it part of your, your life, you know. Our faith. You know, the great abundance of transformation, victory, and freedom that I enjoy has come as a direct result of me trying to walk and talk with God every day, um, and to consider the things of the Lord as I go about my day. To say God-conscious, or walk in the Spirit, or however you want to put it, but it all comes down to following the word of God and, you know, Christ's example. Um, like I said, it will never be perfect, but, you know, we should consider, you know, what we're doing in our lives, what we're thinking about in our lives, and how it lines up with, uh, what God would want us to do. Um, you know, when we, when we, when we follow his ways, we're not going to regret it because we'll know we're doing what's right. Um, and, uh, you know, sometimes we have to realize that the things we're asking for might not be in his plan. So we're not going to get everything you want in life. I mean, I, I don't know if that's a, a Christian teaching or just, you know, reality, guys, but, uh, you know, a Christian should accept that, um, fact. And unfortunately, uh, you know, from the anecdotes I've heard over the years from pastors and, you know, just through my own walk, unfortunately, a lot of Christians you know, look at their faith like it's a genie in a bottle. And, uh, you know, if they don't get what they want, they're not happy. But we have our salvation, we have eternal life. You know, honestly, what else could you ask for? A lot, apparently. But, you know, you have to consider everything. Unfortunately, I know there's some people in the church who are living in a lifestyle of sin and they're praying for things. And, uh, I was hoping that, you know, I don't know, but, you know, this past weekend's message, I was like, wow, are they hearing this? Because, you know, you're not quite right with God. The things you're asking for might not be right, you know. So, uh, and like I said, I don't know if healing is right or not, but I fully accept it. In fact, I even accepted the fact that, you know, Well, if Tammy Lynn dies, she dies, or, or whatever. Uh, I would not like it, Lord, but you know, whatever happens, uh, I trust in you. Um, you know, I don't want to suffer, I don't want to lose what I have, but whatever happens, I'll accept it because, uh, God has given me everything, um, and he can take it just as much as he gives it. And I trust that that, uh, he'll lead all things together for good, even if I have to suffer. And, uh, that someday I'll see him and I'll be in his glorious kingdom. So we'll stand on that. Well, it is, uh, Tuesday. We all have to work, or most of us, unless you're sick and want to stay home, or unless you're feeling well enough to go to work. You know, my prayers are with you. Um, as we've already gone to prayer and made specific requests for people, we'll just pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you for anyone who's listening to this message, that they be blessed by you, by your divine grace and favor, and they would receive healing or, you know, a solution or patience, um, you know, whatever they— whatever you have in store for them, Lord, you know. Um, so perhaps bless them with, with faith, you know, to, to trust and obey and believe and wait for their thing to come. Um, whatever it is, Lord, you know, you know what's best, and you know what'll happen and what won't. And, uh, so Lord, we're going to trust in you. We just pray anyone listening, um, you know, hears that and, uh, you know, keeps walking and talking with you, Lord, no matter what circumstances come to their lives, that, uh, they know that you are good and that you will lead them to a better place one way or the other. Uh, Lord, we just pray for you to go before us as always, to, you know, set up our days, to open our eyes, to show us the things we need to see, and to, uh, lead us into the things you would have us do. Lord, as we just want to do your will and be obedient and and, uh, to do the good works that you prepared for us in advance. So Lord, help us to walk into those things. And Lord, we just thank you so much for everything you've done for us, and we want you to know that we love you, we trust you, and, uh, we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.