Holiness or Hardness Toward God?

Thursday, March 30, 2017
Heavenly Healing Ministries
To God be the Glory!
Mon, Thu 7pm EST
Live: 641-715-3660 code: 406878#
Recorded: 641-715-3659 code: 406878#

The Word

Thank you Jesus for all your blessings! Praise the Lord!

We give you all the glory! You are worthy to be praised!

Thank you for joining us today! If you are new to this blog, please take the time to post a comment on what you have read today and let us know what you think. We value your opinion. For those joining us who have followed us since the beginning, this blog is designed for Heavenly Healing Ministries to share the Word of the Day and teach on the Word of God.

"'He...wondered that there was no intercessor..." (Isaiah 59:16).
THE REASON many of us stop praying and become hard toward God is that we only have an emotional interest in prayer. It sounds good to say that we pray, and we read books on prayer which tell us that prayer is beneficial- that our minds are quieted and our souls are uplifted when we pray. But Isaiah implied in this verse that God is amazed at such thoughts about prayer.
     Worship and intercession must go together; one is impossible without the other. Intercession means raising ourselves up to the point of getting the mind of Christ regarding the person for whom we are praying (see Philippians 2:5). Instead of worshipping God, we recite speeches to God about how prayer is supposed to work. Are we worshipping God or disputing Him when we say, "But God, I just don't see how you are going to do this"? This is a sure sign that we are not worshipping. When we lose sight of God, we become hard and dogmatic. We throw our petitions at His throne and dictate to Him what we want Him to do. We don't worship God, nor do we seek to conform our minds to the mind of Christ. And if we are hard toward God, we will become hard toward other people.
     Are we worshipping God in a way that will raise us up to where we can take hold of Him, have such intimate contact with Him that we know His mind about the ones for whom we pray? Are we living in a holy relationship with God, or have we become hard and dogmatic?
     Do you find yourself thinking that there is no one interceding properly? Then be that person yourself. Be a person who worships God and lives in a holy relationship with Him. Get involved in the real work of intercession, remembering that it truly is work- work that demands all your energy, but work which has no hidden pitfalls. Preaching the gospel has its share of pitfalls, but intercessory prayer has none whatsoever.

Isn't There Some Misunderstanding?

Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Heavenly Healing Ministries
To God be the Glory!
Mon, Thu 7pm EST
Live: 641-715-3660 code: 406878#
Recorded: 641-715-3659 code: 406878#

The Word

Thank you Jesus for all your blessings! Praise the Lord!

We give you all the glory! You are worthy to be praised!

Thank you for joining us today! If you are new to this blog, please take the time to post a comment on what you have read today and let us know what you think. We value your opinion. For those joining us who have followed us since the beginning, this blog is designed for Heavenly Healing Ministries to share the Word of the Day and teach on the Word of God.

"'Let us go to Judea again.' The disciples said to Him, '...are You going there again?'" (John 11:7-8).
JUST BECAUSE I don't understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says. This is a dangerous view, and it is never right to think that my obedience to God's directive will bring dishonor to Jesus. The only thing that will  bring dishonor is not obeying Him. To put my view of His honor ahead of what He is plainly guiding me to do is never right, even though it may come from a real desire to prevent Him from being put to a open shame. I know when the instructions have come from God because of their quiet persistence. But when I begin to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate enter into my mind, I am bringing in an element that is not of God. This will only result in my concluding that His instructions to me were not right. Many of us are faithful to our ideas about Jesus Christ, but how many of us are faithful to Jesus Himself? Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step out even when and where I can't see anything (see Matthew 14:29). But faithfulness to my own ideas means that I first clear the way mentally. Faith, however, is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I  can't see the way ahead.
     Are you debating whether you should take a step of faith in Jesus, or whether you should wait until you can clearly see how to do what He has asked? Simply obey Him with uninterested joy. When He tells you something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a misunderstanding of what honors Him and what doesn't. Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas about Him? Are you faithful to what He says, or are you trying to compromise His words with thoughts that never came from Him? "Whatever He says to you, do it" (John 2:5).

Spiritual Vision Through Personal Character

Monday, March 27, 2017
Heavenly Healing Ministries
To God be the Glory!
Mon, Thu 7pm EST
Live: 641-715-3660 code: 406878#
Recorded: 641-715-3659 code: 406878#

The Word

Thank you Jesus for all your blessings! Praise the Lord!

We give you all the glory! You are worthy to be praised!

Thank you for joining us today! If you are new to this blog, please take the time to post a comment on what you have read today and let us know what you think. We value your opinion. For those joining us who have followed us since the beginning, this blog is designed for Heavenly Healing Ministries to share the Word of the Day and teach on the Word of God.

"Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place..." (Revelation 4:1).
A HIGHER STATE of mind and spiritual vision can only be achieved through the higher practice of personal character. If you live up to the highest and best that you know in the outer level of your life, God will continually say to you, "Friend, come up even higher." There is also a continuing rule in temptation which calls you to go higher; but when you do, you only encounter other temptations and character traits. Both God and Satan use the strategy of elevation, but Satan uses it in temptation, and the effect is quite different. When the devil elevates you to a certain place, he causes you to fasten your idea of what holiness is far beyond what flesh and blood could ever bear or achieve. Your life becomes a spiritual acrobatic performance high atop a steeple. You cling to it, trying to maintain your balance and daring not to move. But when God elevates you by His grace into heavenly places, you find a vast plateau where you can move about with ease.
     Compare this week in your spiritual life with the same week last year to see how God has called you to a higher level. We have all been brought to see from a higher viewpoint. Never allow God to show a truth which you do not instantly begin to live up to, applying it to your life. Always work through it, staying in its light.
     Your growth in grace is not measured by the fact that you haven't turned back, but that you have an insight and understanding into where you are spiritually. Have you heard God say, "Come up higher," not audibly on the outer level, but to the innermost part of your character?
     "shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing...?" (Genesis 18:17). God has to hide from us what He does, until, due to the growth of our personal character, we get to the level where He is then able to reveal it.

Spritual Vision Through Personal Purity

Sunday, March 26, 2017
Heavenly Healing Ministries
To God be the Glory!
Mon, Thu 7pm EST
Live: 641-715-3660 code: 406878#
Recorded: 641-715-3659 code: 406878#

The Word

Thank you Jesus for all your blessings! Praise the Lord!

We give you all the glory! You are worthy to be praised!

Thank you for joining us today! If you are new to this blog, please take the time to post a comment on what you have read today and let us know what you think. We value your opinion. For those joining us who have followed us since the beginning, this blog is designed for Heavenly Healing Ministries to share the Word of the Day and teach on the Word of God.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8).
PURITY is not innocence- it is much more than that. Purity is the result of continued spiritual harmony with God. We have to grow in purity. Our life with God may be right and our inner purity unblemished, yet occasionally our outer life may become spotted and stained. God intentionally does not protect us from this possibility, because this is the way we recognize the necessity of maintaining our spiritual vision through personal purity. If the outer level of our spiritual life with God is impaired to the slightest degree, we must put everything else aside until we make it right. Remember that spiritual vision depends on our character- it is "the pure in heart" who "see God."
     God makes us pure by an  act of His sovereign grace, but we still have something that we must carefully watch. It is through our bodily life coming in contact with other people and other points of view that we tend  to become tarnished. Not only must our "inner sanctuary" be kept right with God, but also the "outer courts" must be brought into perfect harmony with the purity God gives us through His grace. Our spiritual vision and understanding is immediately blurred when our "outer court" is stained. If we want to maintain personal intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ, it will mean refusing to do or even think certain things. And some things that are acceptable for others will become unacceptable for us.
     A practical help in keeping your personal purity unblemished in your relations with other people is to begin to see them as God does. Say to yourself, "That man or that woman is perfect in Christ Jesus! That friend or that relative is perfect in Christ Jesus!"

Maintaining the Proper Relationship

Saturday, March 25, 2017
Heavenly Healing Ministries
To God be the Glory!
Mon, Thu 7pm EST
Live: 641-715-3660 code: 406878#
Recorded: 641-715-3659 code: 406878#

The Word

Thank you Jesus for all your blessings! Praise the Lord!

We give you all the glory! You are worthy to be praised!

Thank you for joining us today! If you are new to this blog, please take the time to post a comment on what you have read today and let us know what you think. We value your opinion. For those joining us who have followed us since the beginning, this blog is designed for Heavenly Healing Ministries to share the Word of the Day and teach on the Word of God.

"...the friend of the bridegroom..." (John 3:29).
GOODNESS and purity should never be traits that draw attention to themselves, but should simply be magnets that draw people to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing others to Him, it is not the right kind of holiness; it is only an influence which awakens undue emotions and evil desires in people and diverts them from heading in the right direction. A person who is a beautiful saint can be a hindrance in leading people to the Lord by presenting only what Christ has done for him, instead of presenting Jesus Christ Himself. Others will be left with this thought- "What a fine person that man is!"  That is not being a "friend of the bridegroom"- I am increasing all the time; He is not.
     To maintain this friendship and faithfulness to the Bridegroom, we have to be more careful to have the moral and vital relationship to Him above everything else, including obedience. Sometimes there is nothing to obey and our only task is to maintain a vital connection with Jesus Christ, seeing that nothing interferes with it. Only occasionally is it a matter of obedience. At those times when a crisis arises, we have to find out what God's will is. Yet most of our life is not spent in trying to be consciously obedient, but in maintaining this relationship- being the "friend of the bridegroom." Christian work can actually be a means of diverting a person's focus away from Jesus Christ. Instead of being friends "of the bridegroom," we may become amateur providences of God to someone else, working against Him while we use His weapons.

Decreasing For His Purpose

Friday, March 24, 2017
Heavenly Healing Ministries
To God be the Glory!
Mon, Thu 7pm EST
Live: 641-715-3660 code: 406878#
Recorded: 641-715-3659 code: 406878#

The Word

Thank you Jesus for all your blessings! Praise the Lord!

We give you all the glory! You are worthy to be praised!

Thank you for joining us today! If you are new to this blog, please take the time to post a comment on what you have read today and let us know what you think. We value your opinion. For those joining us who have followed us since the beginning, this blog is designed for Heavenly Healing Ministries to share the Word of the Day and teach on the Word of God.

"He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).
IF YOU BECOME a necessity to someone else's life, you are out of God's will. As a servant, your primary responsibility is to be a "friend of the bridegroom" (3:29). When you see a person who is close to grasping the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been used in the right direction. And when you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don't try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ. Over and over again, we try to be amateur providences in someone's life. We are indeed amateurs, coming in and actually preventing God's will and saying, "This person should not have to experience this difficulty." Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, our sympathy gets in the way. One day that person will say to us, "You are a thief; you stole my desire to follow Jesus, and because of you, I lost sight of Him."
     Beware of rejoicing with someone over the wrong thing, but always look to rejoice over the right thing "...the friend of the bridegroom.. rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease" (3:29-30). This was spoken with joy, not with sadness- at last they were to see the Bridegroom! And John said this was his joy. It represents a stepping aside, an absolute removal of the servant, never to be thought of again.
     Listen intently with your entire  being until you hear the Bridegroom's voice in the life of another person. And never give any though to what devastation, difficulties, or sickness it will bring. Just rejoice with godly excitement that His voice has been heard. You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it (see Matthew 10:34). 

Is This True of Me?

Saturday, March 4, 2017
Heavenly Healing Ministries
To God be the Glory!
Mon, Thu 7pm EST
Live: 641-715-3660 code: 406878#
Recorded: 641-715-3659 code: 406878#

The Word

Thank you Jesus for all your blessings! Praise the Lord!

We give you all the glory! You are worthy to be praised!

Thank you for joining us today! If you are new to this blog, please take the time to post a comment on what you have read today and let us know what you think. We value your opinion. For those joining us who have followed us since the beginning, this blog is designed for Heavenly Healing Ministries to share the Word of the Day and teach on the Word of God.

"None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself..." (Acts 20:24).
IT IS EASIER to serve or work for God without a vision and without a call, because then you are not bothered by what He requires. Common sense, covered with a layer of Christian emotion, becomes your guide. You may be more prosperous and successful from the world's perspective, and will have more leisure time, if you never acknowledge the call of God. But once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God asks of you will always be there to prod you on to do His will. You will no longer be able to work for Him on the basis of common sense.
     What do I count in my life as "dear to myself"? If I have not been seized by Jesus Christ and have not surrendered myself to Him, I will consider the time I decide to give God and my own ideas of service as dear. I will also consider my own life as "dear to myself." But Paul said he considered his life dear so that he might fulfill the ministry he had received, and he refused to use his energy on anything else. This verse shows an almost noble annoyance by Paul at being asked to consider himself. He was absolutely indifferent to any consideration other than that of fulfilling the ministry he had received. Our ordinary and reasonable service to God may actually compete against our total surrender to Him. Our reasonable work is based on the following argument which we say to ourselves, "Remember how useful you are here, and think how much value you would be in that particular type of work." That attitude chooses our own judgement, instead of Jesus Christ, to be our guide as to where we should go and where we could be used the most. Never consider whether or not you are of use- but always consider that "you are not your own" (I Corinthians 6:19). You are His.

His Commission to Us

Friday, March 3, 2017
Heavenly Healing Ministries
To God be the Glory!
Mon, Thu 7pm EST
Live: 641-715-3660 code: 406878#
Recorded: 641-715-3659 code: 406878#

The Word

Thank you Jesus for all your blessings! Praise the Lord!

We give you all the glory! You are worthy to be praised!

Thank you for joining us today! If you are new to this blog, please take the time to post a comment on what you have read today and let us know what you think. We value your opinion. For those joining us who have followed us since the beginning, this blog is designed for Heavenly Healing Ministries to share the Word of the Day and teach on the Word of God.

"Feed My sheep" (John 21:17).
THIS IS LOVE in the making. The love of God is not created- it is His nature. When we receive the life of Christ through the Holy Spirit, He unites us with God so that His love is demonstrated in us. The goal of the indwelling Holy Spirit is not just to unite us with God, but to do it in such a way that we will be one with the Father in exactly the same way Jesus was. And what kind of oneness did Jesus have with the Father? He had such a oneness with the Father that He was obedient when His Father sent Him down here to be poured out for us. And He says to us, " As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" (John 20:21).
     Peter now realizes that he does love Him, due to the revelation that came with the Lord's piercing question. The Lord's next point is- "Pour yourself out. Don't testify about how much you love Me and don't talk about the wonderful revelation you had, just 'Feed My sheep.'" Jesus has some extraordinarily peculiar sheep: some that are unkempt and dirty, some that are awkward or pushy, and some that have gone astray! But it is impossible to exhaust my love if it flows from the Spirit of God within me. The love of God pays no attention to my prejudices caused by my natural individuality. If I love my Lord, I have no business being guided by natural emotions- I have to feed His sheep. We will not be delivered or released from His commission to us. Beware of counterfeiting the love of God by following your own natural human emotions, sympathies, or understandings. That will only serve to revile and abuse the true love of God.

Have You Felt the Pain Inflicted by the Lord?

Thursday, March 2, 2017
Heavenly Healing Ministries
To God be the Glory!
Mon, Thu 7pm EST
Live: 641-715-3660 code: 406878#
Recorded: 641-715-3659 code: 406878#

The Word

Thank you Jesus for all your blessings! Praise the Lord!

We give you all the glory! You are worthy to be praised!

Thank you for joining us today! If you are new to this blog, please take the time to post a comment on what you have read today and let us know what you think. We value your opinion. For those joining us who have followed us since the beginning, this blog is designed for Heavenly Healing Ministries to share the Word of the Day and teach on the Word of God.

"He said to him the third time, '...do you love Me?'" (John 21:17).
HAVE YOU ever felt the pain, inflicted by the Lord, at the very center of your being, deep down in the most sensitive area of your life? The devil never inflicts pain there, neither can sin nor human emotions. Nothing can cut through to that part of our being but the Word of God. "Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, 'Do you love Me?'" Yet he was awakened to the fact that at the center of his personal life he was devoted to Jesus. And then he began to see what Jesus' patient questioning meant. There was not the slightest but of doubt left in Peter's mind; he could never be deceived again. And there was no need for an impassioned response; no need for immediate action or an emotional display. It was a revelation to him to realize how much he did love the Lord, and with amazement he simply said, "Lord, You know all things..." Peter began to see how very much he did love Jesus, and there was no need to say, "Look at this or that as proof of my love." Peter was beginning to discover within himself just how much he really did love the Lord. He discovered that his eyes were so fixed on Jesus Christ that he saw no one else in heaven above or on the earth below. But he did not know it until the probing, hurting questions of the Lord were asked. The Lord's questions always reveal the true me to myself.
     Oh, the wonder of the patient directness and skill of Jesus Christ with Peter! Our Lord never asks questions until the perfect time. Rarely, but probably once in each of our lives, He will back us into a corner where He will hurt us with His piercing questions. Then we will realize that we do love Him far more deeply than our words can ever say.

What Do You Want the Lord to Do for You?

Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Heavenly Healing Ministries
To God be the Glory!
Mon, Thu 7pm EST
Live: 641-715-3660 code: 406878#
Recorded: 641-715-3659 code: 406878#

The Word

Thank you Jesus for all your blessings! Praise the Lord!

We give you all the glory! You are worthy to be praised!

Thank you for joining us today! If you are new to this blog, please take the time to post a comment on what you have read today and let us know what you think. We value your opinion. For those joining us who have followed us since the beginning, this blog is designed for Heavenly Healing Ministries to share the Word of the Day and teach on the Word of God.

"'What do you want Me to do for you?' He said, ' Lord, that I may receive my sight'" (Luke 18:41).
IS THERE something in your life that not only disturbs you, but makes you a disturbance to others? If so, it is always something you cannot handle yourself. "Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more..." (18:39). Be persistent with your disturbance until you get face to face with the Lord Himself. Don't deify common sense. To sit calmly by, instead of creating a disturbance, serves only to deify our commonsense. When Jesus asks what we want Him to do for us about the incredible problem that is confronting us, remember that He doesn't work in commonsense ways, but only in supernatural ways.
     Look at how we limit the Lord by only remembering what we have allowed Him to do for us in the past. We say, "I always failed there, and I always will." Consequently, we don't ask for what we want. Instead, we think, "It is ridiculous to ask God to do this." If it is an impossibility, it is the very thing for which we have to ask. If it is not an impossible thing, it is not a real disturbance. And God will do what is absolutely impossible.
      This man received his sight. But the most impossible thing for you is to be so closely identified with the Lord that there is literally nothing of your old life remaining. God will do it if you will ask Him. But you have to come to the point of believing Him to be almighty. We find faith by not only believing what Jesus says, but, even more, by trusting Jesus Himself. If we only look at what He says, we will never believe. Once we see Jesus, the impossible things He does in our lives become as natural as breathing. The agony we suffer is only the result of the deliberate shallowness of our own heart. We won't believe; we won't let go by serving the line that secures the boat to the shore- we prefer to worry.