Faith of Friends
Today's readings - as a family - Isaiah 1, John 15:1-11, Hebrews 3:7-4:16
These verses were part of the quickening of my heart tonight.
Isa 1:16 "Wash yourselves clean! Get your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing evil, 17 learn to do good! Seek justice, relieve the oppressed, defend orphans, plead for the widow. 18 "Come now," says ADONAI, "let's talk this over together. Even if your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow; even if they are red as crimson, they will be like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you will be eaten by the sword"; for the mouth of ADONAI has spoken.
John 15:7 "If you remain united with me, and my words with you, then ask whatever you want, and it will happen for you. 8 This is how my Father is glorified -- in your bearing much fruit; this is how you will prove to be my talmidim.
Hebrews 3:7 Therefore, as the Ruach HaKodesh says, "Today, if you hear God's voice, 8 don't harden your hearts, as you did in the Bitter Quarrel on that day in the Wilderness when you put God to the test. 9 Yes, your fathers put me to the test; they challenged me, and they saw my work for forty years! 10 Therefore, I was disgusted with that generation I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, they have not understood how I do things'; 11 in my anger, I swore that they would not enter my rest."
Two weeks ago Thursday, I felt God calling me to pray for Laura L. and to e-mail this woman I'd never met and let her know I was praying for her. I did pray, but I never e-mailed her. I didn't listen to God, I didn't Obey him. I really felt this as I attended Laura's Funeral last Wednesday, I knew God had called me to act, and I didn't.
So, tonight I was reading with my family, these passages. As I read, things jumped out at me. First, that God wants to talk things over with us, that he wants us to be cleaned of our sin, he wants us to be obedient to the words he speaks. If you are obedient, you will be blessed, if you are not, you will be cursed. Simple plan.
Second thing that struck me was that when we are God's Talmidim - his obedient students of his word, that he wants us to tell him our wants and needs and desires, ask whatever we want and it will happen for you - because this GLORIFIES GOD - it doesn't glorify us, it Glorifies HIM to give us what we ask for.
And third, this sad understanding... was that the children of Isreal who were barred from the Promised Land - they did not enter his rest. These children, the Bride of Christ, they were barred from eternal rest with him. Oh how sad this is.
But even more importantly, when I put all this together with what Susan was saying today, about the story in Luke 5:17-21 Specifically 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. They wanted to bring him inside and lay him in front of Yeshua, 19 but they couldn't find a way to get him in because of the crowd. So they went up onto the roof and lowered him on his mattress through the tiles into the middle of the gathering, right in front of Yeshua. 20 When Yeshua saw their trust, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you." Susan pointed out that it was the faith of the friends that healed this man, not so much the faith of the crippled man himself. The Friends acted on his behalf, and would not give up, knew without a shaddow of a doubt that Yeshua loved their friend as much as they did.. more even, and his body and soul were important to him. So they did everything they could to bring this man to Yeshua, and in response, Yeshua forgives this man's sins. They wanted him healed, but Yeshua knew there was an underlying issue, his sin - and Yeshua could heal it all.
So, with our reading tonight, and my friends insight into healing - I looked closer at one important part From John 15:8 this is how you will prove to be my talmidim. If I am his talmudim, if I am following His ways, his words, his Torah, his commandments, then I am his talmudim and the Lord will be glorified by answering my prayers.
My heart was quickened. I showed what I had seen in the scriptures to my family, I showed them how God was telling me, you're at the point of being pruned here, do you want a pruning or do you want to be cut off like a dead branch. ACT - PRAY - DO SOMETHING, so I called my family to pray for complete healing over Susan's children. To heal their bones, and heal their hearts and souls. I prayed for Susan to be strong in her faith, to continue praying for her children, and never give up. I prayed that God would be glorified by healing them, and for those around them to witness the healing of the Lord - for the neighbours and friends and family, and Dr's to see that Adonai - Jehovah Rapha is the Great Physician.
Stuart and I then were talking about generational curses, and about how sin isn't always manifested physically in a medical way. The law of Niddah is to keep a woman healthy while her body is open to infection, but it may medically explain why women get endometriosis or infertility, but men's sexually immoral behaviour doesn't medically have a connection to their infertility issues - how can pornography or masturbation cause prostate cancer or low sperm count or impotence - medically there is no connection, but God's curses don't have to have a medical connection - they just are spoken and are truth. So we are praying that what ever sin - personal or generational sin is causing the curse of the low bone density in Susan's children,we're praying for that sin to be forgiven, for generational curses to be broken and their bodies healed, restored to perfection.
May God hear our prayers.
These verses were part of the quickening of my heart tonight.
Isa 1:16 "Wash yourselves clean! Get your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing evil, 17 learn to do good! Seek justice, relieve the oppressed, defend orphans, plead for the widow. 18 "Come now," says ADONAI, "let's talk this over together. Even if your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow; even if they are red as crimson, they will be like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you will be eaten by the sword"; for the mouth of ADONAI has spoken.
John 15:7 "If you remain united with me, and my words with you, then ask whatever you want, and it will happen for you. 8 This is how my Father is glorified -- in your bearing much fruit; this is how you will prove to be my talmidim.
Hebrews 3:7 Therefore, as the Ruach HaKodesh says, "Today, if you hear God's voice, 8 don't harden your hearts, as you did in the Bitter Quarrel on that day in the Wilderness when you put God to the test. 9 Yes, your fathers put me to the test; they challenged me, and they saw my work for forty years! 10 Therefore, I was disgusted with that generation I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, they have not understood how I do things'; 11 in my anger, I swore that they would not enter my rest."
Two weeks ago Thursday, I felt God calling me to pray for Laura L. and to e-mail this woman I'd never met and let her know I was praying for her. I did pray, but I never e-mailed her. I didn't listen to God, I didn't Obey him. I really felt this as I attended Laura's Funeral last Wednesday, I knew God had called me to act, and I didn't.
So, tonight I was reading with my family, these passages. As I read, things jumped out at me. First, that God wants to talk things over with us, that he wants us to be cleaned of our sin, he wants us to be obedient to the words he speaks. If you are obedient, you will be blessed, if you are not, you will be cursed. Simple plan.
Second thing that struck me was that when we are God's Talmidim - his obedient students of his word, that he wants us to tell him our wants and needs and desires, ask whatever we want and it will happen for you - because this GLORIFIES GOD - it doesn't glorify us, it Glorifies HIM to give us what we ask for.
And third, this sad understanding... was that the children of Isreal who were barred from the Promised Land - they did not enter his rest. These children, the Bride of Christ, they were barred from eternal rest with him. Oh how sad this is.
But even more importantly, when I put all this together with what Susan was saying today, about the story in Luke 5:17-21 Specifically 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. They wanted to bring him inside and lay him in front of Yeshua, 19 but they couldn't find a way to get him in because of the crowd. So they went up onto the roof and lowered him on his mattress through the tiles into the middle of the gathering, right in front of Yeshua. 20 When Yeshua saw their trust, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you." Susan pointed out that it was the faith of the friends that healed this man, not so much the faith of the crippled man himself. The Friends acted on his behalf, and would not give up, knew without a shaddow of a doubt that Yeshua loved their friend as much as they did.. more even, and his body and soul were important to him. So they did everything they could to bring this man to Yeshua, and in response, Yeshua forgives this man's sins. They wanted him healed, but Yeshua knew there was an underlying issue, his sin - and Yeshua could heal it all.
So, with our reading tonight, and my friends insight into healing - I looked closer at one important part From John 15:8 this is how you will prove to be my talmidim. If I am his talmudim, if I am following His ways, his words, his Torah, his commandments, then I am his talmudim and the Lord will be glorified by answering my prayers.
My heart was quickened. I showed what I had seen in the scriptures to my family, I showed them how God was telling me, you're at the point of being pruned here, do you want a pruning or do you want to be cut off like a dead branch. ACT - PRAY - DO SOMETHING, so I called my family to pray for complete healing over Susan's children. To heal their bones, and heal their hearts and souls. I prayed for Susan to be strong in her faith, to continue praying for her children, and never give up. I prayed that God would be glorified by healing them, and for those around them to witness the healing of the Lord - for the neighbours and friends and family, and Dr's to see that Adonai - Jehovah Rapha is the Great Physician.
Stuart and I then were talking about generational curses, and about how sin isn't always manifested physically in a medical way. The law of Niddah is to keep a woman healthy while her body is open to infection, but it may medically explain why women get endometriosis or infertility, but men's sexually immoral behaviour doesn't medically have a connection to their infertility issues - how can pornography or masturbation cause prostate cancer or low sperm count or impotence - medically there is no connection, but God's curses don't have to have a medical connection - they just are spoken and are truth. So we are praying that what ever sin - personal or generational sin is causing the curse of the low bone density in Susan's children,we're praying for that sin to be forgiven, for generational curses to be broken and their bodies healed, restored to perfection.
May God hear our prayers.
posted by Sombra | 11:00 PM
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