Word of the Day: 2017

Thursday, March 30, 2017

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!

"'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!

"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!

"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!

"...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!

"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!

"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!

"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!

"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!

"'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.

Do You Now Believe?

Tuesday, February 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!

"By this we believe...Jesus answered them, 'Do you now believe?'" (John 16:30-31).
"NOW WE BELIEVE..." But Jesus asks, "Do you...? Indeed the hour is coming...that you...will leave Me alone" (16:31-32). Many Christian workers have left Jesus Christ alone and yet tried to serve Him out of a sense of duty, or because they sense a need as a result of their own discernment. The reason for this is actually the absence of the resurrection life of Jesus. Our soul has gotten out of intimate contact with God by leaning on our own religious understanding (see Proverbs 3:5-6). This is not deliberate sin and there is no punishment attached to it. But once a person realizes how he has hindered his understanding of Jesus Christ, and caused uncertainties, sorrows, and difficulties for himself, it is with shame and remorse that he has to return.
We need to rely on the resurrection life of Jesus on a much deeper level than we do now. We should get in the habit of continually seeking His counsel on everything, instead of making our own commonsense decisions and then asking Him to bless them. He cannot bless them; it is not in is realm to do so, and those decisions are severed from reality. If we do something simply out of a sense of duty, we are trying to live up to a standard that competes with Jesus Christ. We become a prideful, arrogant person, thinking we know what to do in every situation. We have put our sense of duty on the throne of life, instead of enthroning the resurrection life of Jesus. We are not told to "walk in the light" of our conscience or in the light of a sense of duty, but to "walk in the light as He is the light..." (I John 1:7). When we do something out of a sense of duty, it is easy to explain the reasons for our actions to others. But when we do something out of obedience to the Lord, there can be no other explanation- just obedience. That is why a saint can be so easily ridiculed and misunderstood.

The Impovershed Ministry of Jesus

Monday, February 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!

"Where then do You get that living water?" (John 4:11).
"THE WELL is deep"- and even a great deal deeper than the Samaritan woman knew! (4:11). Think of the depths of human nature and human life, think of the depth of the "wells" in you. Have you been limiting, or impoverishing, the ministry of Jesus to the point that He is unable to work in your life? Suppose that you have a deep "well" of hurt and trouble inside your heart, and Jesus comes and says to you, "Let not your heart be troubled..." (John 14:1). Would your response be to shrug your shoulders and say, "But, Lord, the well is too deep and even You can't draw up quietness and comfort out of it." Actually, that is correct. Jesus doesn't bring anything up from the wells of human nature- He brings them down from above. We limit the Holy One of Israel by remembering only what we have allowed Him to do for us in the past, and also by saying, 'Of course, I cannot expect God to do this particular thing." The thing that approaches the very limits of His power is the very thing we as disciples of Jesus ought to believe He will do. We impoverish and weaken His ministry in us the moment we forget He is almighty. The impoverishment is in us, not in Him. We will come to Jesus for Him to be our comforter or our sympathizer, but we refrain from approaching Him as our Almighty God.
The reason some of us are such poor examples of Christianity is that we have failed to recognize that Christ is almighty. We have Christian attributes and experiences, but there is no abandonment or surrender to Jesus Christ. When we get into difficult circumstances, we impoverish His ministry by saying, "Of course, He can't do anything about this." We struggle to reach the bottom of our own well, trying to get water ourselves. Beware of sitting back, and saying, "It can't be done." You will know it can be done if you will look to Jesus. The well of your incompleteness runs deep, but make the effort to look away from yourself and to look toward Him.

Our Misgivings About Jesus

Sunday, February 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!

"The woman said to Him, 'Sir, You have nothing to draw [water] with, ad the well is deep'" (John 4:11).
HAVE YOU ever said to yourself, "I am impressed with the wonderful truths of God's Word, but He can't really expect me to live up to that and work all those details into my life!" When it comes to confronting Jesus Christ on the basis of His qualities and abilities, our attitudes reflect religious superiority. We think His ideals are lofty and they impress us, but we believe He is not in touch with reality- that what He says cannot actually be done. Each of us thinks this about Jesus in one area of our life or another. These doubts or misgivings about Jesus begin as we consider questions that divert our focus away from God. While we talk of our dealings with Him, others ask us, "Where are you going to get enough money to live? How will you live and who will take care of you?" Or our misgivings begin with ourselves when we tell Jesus that our circumstances are just a little too difficult for Him. We say, "It's easy to say, 'Trust in the Lord,' but a person has to live; and besides, Jesus has nothing with which to draw water- no means to be able to give us these things." And beware of exhibiting religious deceit by saying, "Oh, I have no misgivings about Jesus, only misgivings about myself." If we are honest, we will admit that we never have misgivings or doubts about ourselves, because we know exactly what we are capable or incapable of doing. But we do have misgivings about Jesus. And our pride is hurt even at the thought that He can do what we can't.
My misgivings arise from the fact that I search within to find how He will do what He says. My doubts spring from the depths of my own inferiority. If I defect these misgivings in myself, I should bring them into the light and confess them openly- "Lord, I have had misgivings about You. I have not believed in Your abilities, but only my own. And I have not believed in Your almighty power apart from my finite understanding of it."

The Destitution of Service

Saturday, February 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!

"...though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved" (II Corinthians 12:15).
NATURAL human love expects something in return. But Paul is saying, "It doesn't really matter to me whether you love me or not. I am willing to be completely destitute anyway, willing to be poverty-stricken, not just for your sakes, but also that I may be able to get you to God." "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor..." (II Corinthians 8:9). And Paul's idea of service was the same of our Lord's. He did not care how high the cost was to himself- he would gladly pay it. It was a joyful thing to Paul.
The institutional church's idea of a servant of God is not at all like Jesus Christ's idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of others. Jesus Christ actually "out-socialized" the socialists. He said that in His kingdom the greatest one would be the servant of all (see Matthew 23:11). The real test of a saint is not one's willingness to preach the gospel, but one's willingness to do something like washing the disciple's feet- that is, being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God. It was Paul's delight to spend his life for God's interests in other people, and he did not care what it cost. But before we will serve, we stop to ponder our personal and financial concerns- "What if God wants me to go over there? And what about my salary? What is the climate like there? Who will take care of me? A person must consider all these things." All that is an indication that we have reservations about serving God. But the apostle Paul had no conditions or reservations. Paul focused his life on Jesus Christ's idea of a New Testament saint; that is, not one who merely proclaims the gospel, but one who becomes broken bread and poured-out wine in the hands of Jesus Christ for the sake of others.

The Delight Of Sacrifce

Friday, February 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!

"I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls..." (II Corinthians 12:15).
ONCE "the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit," we deliberately begin to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ's interests and purposes in others' lives (Romans 5:5). And Jesus has an interest in every individual person. We have no right in Christian service to be guided by our own interests and desires. In fact, this is one of the greatest tests of our relationship with Jesus Christ. The delight of sacrifice is that I lay down my life for my Friend, Jesus (see John 15:13). I don't throw my life away, but I willingly and deliberately lay it down for Him and His interests in other people. And I do this for no cause or purpose of my own. Paul spent his life for only one purpose- that he might win people to Jesus Christ. Paul always attracted people to His Lord, but never to himself. He said, "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (I Corinthians 9:22).
When someone thinks that to develop a holy life he must always be alone with God, he is no longer of any use to others. This is like putting himself on a pedestal and isolating himself from the rest of society. Paul was a holy person, but wherever he went Jesus Christ was always allowed to help Himself to his life. Many of us are interested only in our own goals, and Jesus cannot help Himself to our lives. But if we are totally surrendered to Him, we have no goals of our own to serve. Paul said that he knew how to be a "doormat" without resenting it, because the motivation of his life was devotion to Jesus. We tend to be devoted, not to Jesus Christ, but to the things which allow us more spiritual freedom than total surrender to Him would allow. Freedom was not Paul's motive at all. In fact, he stated, "I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren..." (Romans 9:3). Had Paul lost his ability to reason? Not at all! For someone who is in love, this is not an overstatement. And Paul was in love with Jesus Christ.

The Discipline of Spiritual Perseverance

Wednesday, February 22, 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!

"Be still, and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10).
PERSEVERANCE is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered. Our greatest fear is not that we will be damned, but that somehow Jesus Christ will be defeated. Also, our fear is that the very things our Lord stood for- love, justice, forgiveness, and kindness among men- will not win out in the end and will represent an unattainable goal for us. Then there is the call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated.
If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified. Every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God. But one of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting for God. He brings fulfillment, "because you have kept My command to persevere..." (Revelation 3:10).
Continue to persevere spiritually.

Do You Really Love Him?

Tuesday, February 21, 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!

"She has done a good work for Me" (Mark 14:6).
IF WHAT we call love doesn't take us beyond ourselves, it is not really love. If we have the idea that love is characterized as cautious, wise, shrewd, and never taken to extremes, we have missed the true meaning. This may describe affection and it may bring us a warm feeling, but it is not a true and accurate description of love.
Have you ever been driven to do something for God not because you felt that it was useful or your duty to do so, or that there was anything in it for you, but simply because you love Him? Have you ever realized that you can give things to God that are of value to Him? Or are you just sitting around daydreaming about the greatness of His redemption, while neglecting all the things you could be doing for Him? I'm not referring to works which could be regarded as divine and miraculous, but ordinary, simple human things- things which would be evidence to God that you are totally surrendered to Him. Have you ever created what Mary of Bethany created in the heart of the Lord Jesus? "She has done a good work for Me."
There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him even small gifts of surrender, just to show how genuine our love is for Him. To be surrendered to God is of more value than our personal holiness. Concern over our personal holiness causes us to focus our eyes on ourselves, and we become overly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, out of fear of offending God. "...but perfect love casts out fear..." once we are surrendered to God (I John 4:18). We should quit asking ourselves, "Am I of any use?" and accept the truth that we really are not of much use to Him. The issue is never of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. Once we are totally surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time.

Taking the initiative Against Daydreaming

Monday, February 20, 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!

"Arise, let us go from here" (John 14:31).
DAYDREAMING about something in order to do it properly is right, but daydreaming about it when we should be doing it is wrong. In this passage, after having said these wonderful things to His disciples, we might have expected our Lord to tell them to go away and meditate over them all. But Jesus never allowed idle daydreaming. When our purpose is to seek God and to discover His will for us, daydreaming is right and acceptable. But when our inclination is to spend time daydreaming over what we have already been told to do, it is unacceptable and God's blessing is never on it. God will take the initiative against this kind of daydreaming by prodding us to action. His instructions to us will be along the lines of this: "Don't sit or stand there, just go!"
If we are quietly waiting before God after He has said to us, "Come aside yourselves..." then that is meditation before Him to seek His will (Mark 6:31). Beware, however, of giving in to mere daydreaming once God has spoken. Allow Him to be the source of all your dreams, joys, and delights, and be careful to go and obey what He has said. If you are in love with someone, you don't sit and daydream about that person all the time- you go and do something for him. That is what Jesus Christ expects us to do. Daydreaming after God has spoken is an indication that we do not trust Him.

Taking the Initiative Against Drudgery

Sunday, February 19, 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!

"Arise, shine..." (Isaiah 60:1).
WHEN IT COMES to taking the initiative against drudgery, we have to take the first step as though there were no God. There is no point in waiting for God to help us- He will not. But once we arise, immediately we find He is there. Whenever God gives us His inspiration, suddenly taking the initiative becomes a moral issue- a matter of obedience. Then we must act to be obedient and not continue to lie down doing nothing. If we will arise and shine, drudgery will be divinely transformed.
Drudgery is one of the finest tests to determine the genuineness of our character. Drudgery is work that is far removed from anything we think of as ideal work. It is the utterly hard, menial, tiresome, and dirty work. And when we experience it, our spirituality is instantly tested and we will know whether or not we are spiritually genuine. Read John 13. In this chapter, we see the Incarnate God performing the greatest example of drudgery- washing fisherman's feet. He then says to them, "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet" (John 13:14). The inspiration of God is required if drudgery is to shine with the light of God upon it. In some cases the way a person does a task makes that work sanctified and holy forever. It may be a very common everyday task, but after we have seen it done, it becomes different. When the Lord does something through us, He always transforms it. Our Lord takes our human flesh and transforms it, and now every believer's body has become "the temple of the Holy Spirit" (I Corinthians 6:19).

Taking the initiative Against Despair

Saturday, February 18, 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!

"Rise, let us be going" (Matthew 26:46).
IN THE GARDEN pf Gethsemane, the disciples went to sleep when they should have stayed awake, and once they realized what they had done it produced despair. The sense of having done something irreversible tends to make us despair. We say, "Well,it's all over and ruined now; what's the point in trying anymore." If we think this kind of despair is an exception, we are mistaken. It is a very ordinary human experience. Whenever we realize we have not taken advantage of a magnificent opportunity, we are apt to sink unto despair. But Jesus comes and lovingly says to us, in essence, "Sleep on now. That opportunity is lost forever and you can't change that. But get up, and let's go on to the next thing." In other words, let the past sleep, but let it sleep in the sweet embrace of Christ, and let us go on into the invincible future with Him.
There will be experiences like this in each of our lives. We will have times of despair caused by real events in our lives, and we will be unable to lift ourselves out of them. The disciples, in this instance, had done a downright unthinkable thing- they had gone to sleep instead of watching with Jesus. But our Lord came to them taking the spiritual initiative against their despair and said, in effect, "Get up, and do the next thing." If we are inspired by God, what is the next thing? It is to trust Him absolutely and to pray on the basis of His redemption.
Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step.

Taking the Initiative Against Depression

Friday, February 17, 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!

"Arise and eat" (I Kings 19:5).
THE ANGEL in this passage did not give Elijah a vision, or explain the Scriptures to him, or do anything remarkable. He simply told Elijah to do a very ordinary thing, that is, to get up and eat. If we were never depressed, we would not be alive- only material things don't suffer depression. If human beings were not capable of depression, we would have no capacity for happiness and exaltation. There are things in life that are designed to depress us, for example, things that are associated with death. Whenever you examine yourself, always take into account your capacity for depression.
When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday things of God's creation. But whenever God steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things- things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there. The inspiration that comes to us in this way is an initiative against depression. But we must take the first step and do it in the inspiration of God. If, however, we do something simply to overcome our depression, we will only deepen it. But when the Spirit of God leads us instinctively to do something, the moment we do it the depression is gone. As soon as we arise and obey, we enter a higher plane of life.

The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative

Thursday, February 16, 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!

"Arise from the dead..." (Ephesians 5:14).
NOT ALL INITIATIVE, the willingness to take the first step, is inspired by God. Someone may say to you, "Get up and get going! Take your reluctance by the throat and throw it overboard- just do what needs to be done!" That is what we mean by ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes to us and says, in effect, "Get up and get going," suddenly we find that the initiative is inspired.
We all have many dreams and aspirations when we are young, but sooner or later we realize we have no power to accomplish them. We cannot do the things we long to do, so our tendency is to think of our dreams and aspirations as dead. But God comes to us and says, "Arise from the dead..." When God sends His inspiration, it comes to us with such miraculous power that we are able to "arise from the dead" and do the impossible. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life and power comes after we "get up and get going." God does not give us overcoming life- He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says, "Arise from the dead...," we have to get ourselves up; God will not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand, "stretch out your hand" (Matthew 12:13). As soon as the man did so, his hand was healed. But he had to take the initiative. If we will take the initiative to overcome, we will find that we have the inspiration of God, because He immediately gives us the power of life.

The Discipline of Hearing

Tuesday, February 14, 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!

"Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops" (Matthew 10:27).
SOMETIMES GOD puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into "the shadow of His hand" until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2). "Whatever I tell you in the dark..."- pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood- darkness is the time to listen. Don't talk to other people about it; don't read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.
After every time of darkness, we should experience a mixture of delight and humiliation. If there is only delight, I question whether we have really heard God at all. We should experience delight for having heard God speak, but mostly humiliation for having taken so long to hear Him! Then we will exclaim, "How slow I have been to listen and understand what God has been telling me!" And yet God has been saying it for days and even weeks. But once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart- a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now.

The Devotion of Hearing

Monday, February 13, 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!

"Samuel answered, 'Speak, for Your servant hears'" (I Samuel 3:10).
JUST BECAUSE I have listened carefully and intently to one thing from God does not mean that I will listen to everything He says. I show God my lack of love and respect for Him by the insensitivity of my heart and mind toward what He says. If I love my friend, I will instinctively understand what he wants. And Jesus said, "You are My friends..." (John 15:14). Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord's this week? If I had realized that it was a command of Jesus, I would not have deliberately disobeyed it. But most of us show incredible disrespect to God because we don't even hear Him. He might as well never have spoken to us.
The goal of my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me (see John 11:41). If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God all the time through the devotion of hearing. A flower, a tree, or a servant of God may convey God's message to me. What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things. It is not that I don't want to hear God, but I am not devoted in the right areas of my life. I am devoted to things and even to service and my own convictions. God may say whatever He wants, but I just don't hear Him. The attitude of a child of God should always be, "Speak, for Your servant hears." If I have not developed and nurtured this devotion of hearing, I can only hear God's voice at certain times. At other times I become deaf to Him because my attention is to other things- things which I think I must do. This is not living the life of a child of God. Have you heard God's voice today?

Are You Listening to God?

Sunday, February 12, 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!

"They said to Moses, 'You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die'" (Exodus 20:19).
WE DON"T consciously and deliberately disobey God- we simply don't listen to Him. God has given His commands to us, but we pay no attention to them-not because of willful disobedience, but because we do not truly love and respect Him. "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15). Once we realize we have constantly been showing disrespect to God, we will be filled with shame and humiliation for ignoring Him.
     "You speak with us...but let not God speak with us..." We show how little love we have for God by preferring to listen to His servants rather than to Him. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we don't want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God's servants speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative. We respond by saying, "Well, that's only your own idea, even though I don't deny that what you said is probably God's truth."
     Am I constantly humiliating God by ignoring Him, while He lovingly continues to treat me as His child? Once I finally do hear Him, the humiliation I have heaped on Him returns to me. My response then becomes, "Lord, why was I so insensitive and obstinate?" This is always the result once we hear God. But our real delight in finally hearing Him is tempered with the shame we feel for having taken so long to do so.

Is Your Mind Stayed on God?

Saturday, February 11, 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!

"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You" (Isaiah 26:3).
IS YOUR MIND stayed on God or is it starved? Starvation of the mind, caused by neglect, is one of the chief sources of exhaustion and weakness in a servant's life. If you have never used your mind to place yourself before God, begin to do it now. There is no reason to wait for God to come to you. You must turn your thoughts and your eyes away from the face of idols and look to Him and be saved (see Isaiah 45:22).
     Your creative mind is the greatest gift God has given you and it ought to be devoted entirely to Him. You should seek to be "bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ..."(II Corinthians 20:5). This will be one of the greatest assets of your faith when a time of trial comes, because then your faith and the Spirit of God will work together. When you have thoughts and ideas that are worthy of credit to God, learn to compare and associate them with all that happens in nature- the rising and the setting of the sun, the shining of the moon and the stars, and the changing of the seasons. You will begin to see that your thoughts are from God as well, and your mind will no longer be at the mercy of your impulsive thinking, but will always be used in service to God.
     "We have sinned with our fathers...[and]...did not remember..."(Psalm 106:6-7). Then prod your memory and wake up immediately. Don't say to yourself, "But God is not talking to me right now." He ought to be. Remember whose you are and whom you serve. Encourage yourself to remember, and your affection for God will increase tenfold. Your mind will no longer be starved, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.

Is Your Ability to See God Blinded?

Friday, February 10, 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!

"Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things..." (Isaiah 40:26).
THE PEOPLE of God in Isaiah's time had starved their imagination by looking on the face of idols. But Isaiah made them look up at the heavens; that is he made them begin to use their imagination correctly. If we are children of God, we have a tremendous treasure in nature and will realize that it is holy and sacred. We will see God reaching out to us in every wind that blows, every sunrise and sunset, every cloud in the sky, every flower that blooms, and every leaf that fades, if we will only begin to use our starved imagination to visualize it.
     The real test of spiritual focus is being able to bring your thoughts and imagination under control. Is your mind focused on the face of an idol? Is the idol yourself? Is it your work? Is it your idea of what a servant should be, or maybe your experience of salvation and sanctification? If so, then your ability to see God is blinded. You will be powerless when faced with difficulties and will be forced to endure in darkness. If your power to see has been blinded, don't look back on your experiences, but look to God. It is God you need. Go beyond yourself and away from the faces of your idols and away from everything else that has been blinding your thinking, your imagination. Wake up and accept the ridicule that Isaiah gave to his people, and deliberately turn your thoughts and your eyes to God.
     One of the reasons for our sense of futility in prayer is that we have lost our power to visualize. We can no longer even imagine putting ourselves deliberately before God. It is actually more important to be broken bread and poured-out wine in the area of intercession than in our personal contact with others. The power of imagination is what God gives a saint so that he can go beyond himself and be firmly placed into relationships he never before experienced.

Are You Exhausted Spiritually?

Thursday, February 09, 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!

"The everlasting God...neither faints nor is weary" (Isaiah 40:28).
EXHAUSTION means that our vital energies are completely worn out and spent. Spiritual exhaustion is never the result of sin, but of service. Whether or not you experience exhaustion will depend on where you get your supplies. Jesus said to Peter, "Feed My sheep," but he gave him nothing with which to feed them (John 21:17). The process of being made broken bread and poured-out wine means that you have to be the nourishment for other people's souls until they learn to feed on God. They must drain you completely- to the very last drop. But be careful to replenish your supply, or you will quickly be utterly exhausted. Until others learn to draw on the life of the Lord Jesus directly, they will have to draw on His life through you. You must literally be their source of supply, until they learn to take their nourishment from God. We owe it to God to be our best for His lambs and sheep, as well as for Him.
Have you delivered yourself over to exhaustion because of the way you have been serving God? If so, then renew and rekindle your desires and affections. Examine your reasons for service. Is your source based on your own understanding or is it grounded on the redemption of Jesus Christ? Continually look back to the foundation of your love and affection and remember where your Source of power lies. You have no right to complain, "O Lord, I am so exhausted." He saved and sanctified you to exhaust you. Be exhausted for God, but remember that He is your supply. "All my springs are in you" (Psalm 87:7).

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