Questioning Our Hope and Refocusing Our Wonder

byJohn Knight

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The topic of the new heaven and new earth is a popular one with some of the people we hang out with. As you can probably guess, they also have children with severe disabilities. There is comfort in thinking about our children being free from their limitations and pain.

But this hope can be dangerous, too. We envision heaven to be a wonderful place, full of freedom and laughter and conversation. No more seizures! Legs that can walk! Eyes that see!

And nothing about Jesus.

Does that thought make you recoil in horror? Can you imagine eternity without Jesus?

The Benefits Without the Person

For a long time I did just that. I wanted the benefits of Jesus’ work, but it didn’t really matter if he was there or not. When the suffering is persistent, lifelong and intense, the desire to be free from that suffering can overshadow the whole point of why we were created: to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

That subtle change of emphasis away from Jesus can also cloud our thinking about the Bible. The healing of the paralytic in Mark 2 can become primarily about his healing rather than what Jesus clearly stated as the purpose: “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Mark 2:10).

Remember What’s Most Amazing

When I focus on Jesus it becomes easy to get excited about spending eternity with him.  Jesus forgives sins. Jesus holds the universe together by the word of his power. We get to be with him, no matter our physical or cognitive abilities in this age, because Jesus paid a debt we could not pay, gives us a righteousness we cannot earn, and opens the eyes of our hearts to see him as he is. That is what’s amazing.

And the Apostle John tells us when he appears we not only get to be with him, we get to be like him (1 John 3:2).

I can’t even begin to imagine this. No more battling our sin. No more unrighteous thoughts.

Why It Will Be Wonderful

And no more disability. I believe that part of God making “all things new” (Revelation 21:5) includes my blind, autistic, cognitively disabled son being able to see, communicate clearly and think rationally.

I expect it will be wonderful. Not primarily because he isn’t disabled any longer, but because we both get to enjoy Jesus, forever.

From www.desiringgod.com

God’s Prescription for Divine Health

by Gloria Copeland

There is a medicine so powerful it can cure every sickness and disease known to man. It has no dangerous side effects. It is safe even in massive doses. And when taken daily according to directions, it can prevent illness altogether and keep you in vibrant health.

Does that sound too good to be true? It’s not. I can testify to you by the Word of God and by my own experience that such a supernatural medicine exists. Even more importantly, it is available to you every moment of every day.

You don’t have to call your doctor to get it. You don’t even have to drive to the pharmacy. All you must do is reach for your Bible, open to Proverbs 4:20-24 and follow the instructions you find there:

“My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health (Hebrew: medicine) to all their flesh.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.”

As simple as they might sound, those four verses contain the supernatural prescription to divine health. It’s a powerful prescription that will work for anyone who will put it to work.

If you have received healing by the laying on of hands, following this prescription will help you maintain that healing. If you have believed for healing, but are experiencing lingering symptoms, it will help you stand strong until you are completely symptom-free. And if you are healthy now, it will help you stay that way–not just for a day or a week, but for the rest of your life!

Powerful Medicine

To understand how this prescription works, you must realize that the Word of God is more than just good information. It actually has life in it. As Jesus said in John 6:63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth [or makes alive]; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

Every time you take the Word into your heart, believe it and act on it, that life of which Jesus spoke, the very LIFE of God Himself, is released in you. You may have read the healing scriptures over and over again. You may know them as well as you know your own name. Yet every time you read them or hear them preached, they bring you a fresh dose of God’s healing power. Each time, they bring life to you and deliver God’s medicine to your flesh.

That’s because the Word is like a seed. Hebrews 4:12 says it is “alive and full of power–making it active, operative, energizing and effective…” (The Amplified Bible). It actually carries within it the power to fulfill itself.

When you planted the Word about the new birth in your heart, then believed and acted on it, that Word released within you the power to be born again. By the same token, when you plant the Word about healing in your heart, believe and act on it, that Word will release God’s healing power in you.

“But, Gloria,” you may say, “I’ve met people who know the Bible from cover to cover and still can’t get healed!”

No doubt you do. But if you’ll look back at God’s prescription, you’ll find it doesn’t say anything about “knowing” the Bible. It says, attend to the Word.

When you attend to something, you give your attention to it. You make it top priority. You set aside other things so you can focus on it. When a nurse is attending to a patient, she constantly looks after him. She doesn’t just leave him lying alone in his hospital room while she goes shopping. If someone asks her about her patient, she doesn’t feel it’s sufficient to say, “Oh, yes. I know him.”

In the same way, if you’re attending to the Word, you won’t leave it lying unopened on the coffee table all day. You won’t spend your day focusing your attention on other things.

On the contrary, you’ll do what Proverbs 4 says to do. You’ll continually incline your ear to God’s Word.

Inclining your ear includes more than just putting your physical ears in a position to hear the Word being preached (although that, in itself, is very important). It also requires you to actively engage with God’s Word, to believe it and obey it.

In fact, The Amplified Bible translates Proverbs 4:20, this way: “My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings.” Submitting to the Word means making adjustments in your life. Say, for example, you hear the Word in Philippians 4:4 that you are to “rejoice in the Lord always.” If you’ve been doing a lot of griping and complaining, you’ll have to change in order to submit to that Word. You’ll have to repent and alter your behavior.

Take as Directed

In addition to inclining your ear to the Word of God, the Proverbs 4 prescription also says you must keep it before your eyes and not let it depart from your sight. In Matthew 6:22-23, Jesus reveals why that’s so important. He says, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!”

Your eyes are the gateway to your body. If your eye (or your attention) is on the darkness, or the sickness that is in your body, there will be no light to expel it. If, however, the eyes of your heart are trained strictly on the Word, your whole body will eventually be filled with light, and healing will be the result.

Granted, it isn’t easy to keep your attention centered on the Word like that. It takes real effort and commitment. It may require getting up a little earlier in the morning or turning off the television at night. But I urge you to do whatever it takes to take God’s medicine exactly as directed.

It won’t work any other way!

That really shouldn’t be so surprising. After all, we wouldn’t expect natural medication to work for us if we didn’t take it as prescribed.

No rational person would set a bottle of pills on the night stand and expect those pills to heal them. No one would call the doctor and say, “Hey, doc! These pills don’t work. I’ve carried them with me everywhere I go–I keep them in the car with me, I set them on my desk at work, I even have them next to me when I sleep at night–but I don’t feel any better.”

That would be ridiculous. Yet, spiritually speaking, some people do it all the time. They cry and pray and beg God to heal them, all the while ignoring the medicine He’s provided. (They might take a quick dose on Sunday when they go to church, but the rest of the week they don’t take time for the Word at all!)

Why do people who love God and believe the Bible act that way? I think it’s because they don’t understand how putting the Word in their heart can affect their physical bodies. They don’t see how something spiritual can change something natural.

If you’ll read the Bible, however, you’ll see that spiritual power has been affecting this physical world ever since time began. In fact, it was spiritual power released in the form of God’s Word that brought this natural world into existence in the first place.

When you realize that God’s Word is the force that originally brought into being everything you can see and touch–including your physical body–it’s easy to believe that the Word is still capable of changing your body today. It makes perfect sense!

The Lord will Fight Your Battles

As we headed south from Banner Elk, North Carolina, there was a long steep grade curving through the Blue Ridge Mountains.  We saw a sign that said “runaway truck ramp one mile.”  We wondered how in the world a ramp could be built that would stop a truck with no brakes as it barreled down the mountain.  Then in a moment we saw it, branching off to the right like a spur on the road and slanting only slightly uphill and maybe 50 yards long.  But it was all sand.  One big mound and then a series of small mounds.  It was the soft, deep sand that would stop the truck.

The first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles are like a runaway truck ramp.  They stop us when we ought to be trucking right on through the Bible.  I wonder how many people resolve to read through the Bible, but instead grind to a stop in the sandy genealogies of 1 Chronicles 1-9.  They are very hard to get over.

But the irony is that the highway through 1 and 2 Chronicles is dotted frequently with scenic overviews of God’s gracious purpose.  If we can get through the sands of chapters 1-9, these scenes are a tremendous refreshment to our faith.  Here’s one example to encourage you to dig yourself out and keep going in the Blue Ridge Parkway of God’s revelation.

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against Jerusalem when Hezekiah was king.  So Hezekiah gathered the people and the commanders together in the square at the gate.  If you memorize what he said to them you will know the power of God in a new way.  He said:

Be strong and be courageous.  Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with them; for there is one greater with us than with him.  With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.

Then the writer adds, “And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah” (2 Chronicles 32:7, 8).

I want it to be said of me, “The people took confidence from the words of John Piper, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church.”  That’s my goal:  “the advancement and joy of your faith.”  What is the “King of Assyria” in your life?  Whatever it is, remember: “there is one greater with you than with him!”  If you trust him, the LORD almighty is on your side and will fight your battles!  “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today…The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still” (Exodus 14:13, 14).

John Piper (www.desiringgod.org)

Nine Ways to Know That the Gospel of Christ is True

1. Jesus Christ, as he is presented to us in the New Testament, and as he stands forth from all its writings, is too single and too great to have been invented so uniformly by all these writers. The force of Jesus Christ unleashed these writings; the writings did not create the force. Jesus is far biggerand more compelling than any of his witnesses. His reality stands behind these writings as a great, global event stands behind a thousand newscasters. Something stupendous unleashed these diverse witnesses to tell these stunning and varied, yet unified, stories of Jesus Christ.

2. Nobody has ever explained the empty tomb of Jesus in the hostile environment of Jerusalem where the enemies of Jesus would have given anything to produce the corpse, but could not. The earliest attempts to cover the scandal of resurrection were manifestly contradictory to all human experience – disciples do not steal a body (Matthew 28:13) and then sacrifice their lives to preach a glorious gospel of grace on the basis of the deception. Modern theories that Jesus didn’t die but swooned, and then awoke in the tomb and moved the stone and tricked his skeptical disciples into believing he was risen as the Lord of the universe don’t persuade.

3. Cynical opponents of Christianity abounded where claims were made that many eyewitnesses were available to consult concerning the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. “After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:6). Such claims would be exposed as immediate falsehood if they could. But we know of no exposure. Eyewitnesses of the risen Lord abounded when the crucial claims were being made.

4. The early church was an indomitable force of faith and love and sacrifice on the basis of the reality of Jesus Christ. The character of this church, and the nature of the gospel of grace and forgiveness, and the undaunted courage of men and women – even unto death – do not fit the hypothesis of mass hysteria. They simply were not like that. Something utterly real and magnificent had happened in the world and they were close enough to know it, and be assured of it, and be gripped by its power. That something was Jesus Christ, as all of them testified, even as they died singing.

5. The prophesies of the Old Testament find stunning fulfillment in the history of Jesus Christ. The witness to these fulfillments are too many, too diverse, too subtle and too interwoven into the history of the New Testament church and its many writings to be fabricated by some great conspiracy. Down to the details, Jesus Christ fulfilled dozens of Old Testament prophecies that vindicate his truth.

6. The witnesses to Jesus Christ who wrote the New Testament gospels and letters are not gullible or deceitful or demented. This is manifest from the writings themselves. The books bear the marks of intelligence and clear-headedness and maturity and a moral vision that is compelling. They win our trust as witnesses, especially when all taken together with one great unifying, but distinctively told, message about Jesus Christ.

7. The worldview that emerges from the writings of the New Testament makes more sense out of more reality than any other worldview. It not only fits the human heart, but also the cosmos and history and God as he reveals himself in nature and conscience. Some may come to this conclusion after much reflection, others may arrive at this conviction by a pre-reflective, intuitive sense of the deep suitability of Christ and his message to the world that they know.

8. When one sees Christ as he is portrayed truly in the gospel, there shines forth a spiritual light that is a self-authenticating. This is “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:6), and it is as immediately perceived by the Spirit-awakened heart as light is perceived by the open eye. The eye does not argue that there is light. It sees light.

9. When we see and believe the glory of God in the gospel, the Holy Spirit is given to us so that the love of God might be “poured out in our hearts” (Romans 5:5). This experience of the love of God known in the heart through the gospel of Him who died for us while we were yet ungodly assures us that the hope awakened by all the evidences we have seen will not disappoint us.

Rev. John Piper

Understanding the Soul

What is the soul of man? Is it the same as the spirit? Does knowing the difference really matter? The answer to these questions will help you gain a greater understanding of yourself – spirit, soul and body. Understanding the relationship between these three elements will help you toward a victorious Christian life.

Christianity is not just another religion. It is the life of God abiding within and flowing out of the believer. Other religions leave you the same as you were before. But the wonderful thing about the Christian life is that it will completely transform you. But what part of you is actually changed?

Spirit, Soul and Body

When you are born again, your spirit is instantly transformed into the image of God. The spirit is that part of you which takes on the nature of God. According to the Word, once that happens you should immediately start the process of changing your soul. The Bible calls it “renewing the mind.”

Your soul is your mind, your will and your emotions. Spiritual growth is determined by how much your soul has been changed by the Word of God. Nothing is wrong with your spirit if you are born again; the life of God is in there. You are indwelt by the Holy Ghost. But you are hindered from living a spiritual life by a soul (mind) that thinks like the world instead of like God. This is true because your soul (will) also determines your actions.

Your Body Is Just Your “Earthsuit”

Once you have been born again, the Bible instructs you to “put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). This means your soul and body are to take on the same image as your spirit. This happens through the process of changing your mind, your will and your emotions to understand and walk in the ways of God.

To live in God’s perfect will you must renew your mind. You must learn to live from the inside out. There is no other way to live victoriously.

When we are born of the Spirit, we are to conform to the image of God’s Son (Romans 8:29). You and I ought to act just like Jesus. The only thing that stands in the way is our soul. Without a renewed mind we would not dare to walk and act like Jesus.

Be Transformed

“Be ye transformed,” Romans 12:2 says, “by the renewing of your mind.” “Transformed” is the Greek word from which we get the term “metamorphosis.” This Greek word is used in the Scripture in two other places.

One such account is when Jesus was transfigured on the Mount. The other is found in II Corinthians 3:18. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” “Changed” is the same in the Greek as “transformed” and “transfigured.” Our souls are changed when we spend time beholding the Lord in the Word and in prayer.

Renewing our minds causes our outer being to be transformed in much the same way as a caterpillar is changed into a butterfly. As we behold Him, our outer man changes to match the inner man which is created in righteousness and true holiness. The Spirit of the Lord is in us so that we can walk with God and please Him.

The Battle Is in the Soul

The more you know of the Word, the more you conform to the image of Jesus. The world would have you think that God is a liar. Yet God tells you that Satan is the liar. In between stands your soul, where the spiritual battle is fought. Therefore, your soul must be anchored. Anchored to what? To hope. To eternal things. If it is moored to this world, you will never walk in victory or in the power of God. If your soul is not fixed on eternal things, it will not hold steady in the time of crisis.

When you become a Christian, you are sustained from the inside. Your spirit is steady in adversity. You are upheld and maintained by your spirit man and not by your intellect or reasoning. “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

God’s Word divides (distinguishes between) the soul and the spirit. Nothing else can cause you to recognize whether you are being led by your soul and natural thinking or whether you are following your spirit which is led by the Holy Spirit.

Every problem, weakness or difficulty you have could be solved immediately if you knew the mind of God. But it takes effort, dedication and faithfulness to renew your mind. Mind renewal is not like the new birth. It is a process and doesn’t come overnight. Though your spirit is reborn and transformed, your soul must be constantly renewed by the washing of the Word in order to function in harmony with your reborn spirit and God’s Spirit (Ephesians 5:26-27).

The Soul Is the Seat of Will and Purpose

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” (Proverbs 23:7). The Word says we are what we think we are. Again, this is a process. You never do something that you haven’t already thought about. Thinking about something eventually leads to making a decision, which determines your actions. If you’re not happy with your life or the things you find yourself doing, examine what you are spending the majority of your time thinking about – what’s influencing your thought life. As you meditate the Word of God, your thoughts and emotions will align themselves with the Word, changing worldly decisions into Word-based actions.

The Scripture says that God energizes and creates in us the power and the desire to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13, The Amplified Bible). He works from the inside out, not from the outside in. He takes the image of the Word that is in our spirit and grafts it into our soul as we behold Him. Only then can we outwardly express the image of Jesus that we inwardly possess.

But this takes conscious effort. If you are just going to give God a couple of hours a week, your mind will not be renewed. The Word won’t be implanted in you. You might know some of it with your head, but it’s the Word in your soul, coming out your mouth that changes you. It’s the Word of God that controls your thinking and transforms your life.

So, take the time to get away from the world and study God’s Word. Meditate on it and let it change you from the inside out. Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you. Make a conscious effort to graft the Word of God into yourself. Only then will you begin to understand His Word and His will. Only then will you be on your way to Understanding the Soul.

The Time in Between

I remember when I was a kid we used to take my dad out to the airport for business trips. And as I’d see him leaving with his briefcase on those old airplanes (well, they weren’t old then, but they seem that way now). I thought, “Oh, flying would be glamorous wouldn’t it, if you had to go fly a lot.” Yeah, well I’ve learned since, having had to fly a lot of times, and sometimes every month. If you’ve seen one plane, you’ve seen them all.

Now, for example, I used to fly often to Chicago from New York, and there are about two hours in between. You’re leaving something important, and you’re going to something important. But then there’s the time in-between that can be such, like dead time.

You think that’s bad? I went to South Africa some years ago. It was 18 hours…the same equation – leaving something important; going to something important, but all this dead time in between. But I learned that the time between destinations can be valuable too. You don’t have to use the headphones. You don’t have to watch the movie. You don’t have to just think about plastic lunches or read about the life jacket. Some of my best time to create, to write, to prepare, to think, has been on an airplane. You really can make use of that seemingly useless time en route.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Capturing the Time in Between.”

Now, our word for today from the Word of God is from Jeremiah chapter 29, and I’ll be reading from verses 4-7. We’re reading about some people who were going to be in-between for quite a while. What had happened was the Jews had been carried away in captivity. They really didn’t want to be where they were in Babylon, but that’s where they were going to be – but not forever. God said, “This will change. You will eventually be back to your homeland.” It’s that same kind of in-between time I have on an airplane, but it’s a whole lot longer in their case.

Here’s exactly what God instructs them to do, “Say to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry, have sons and daughters, find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there, do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

In a sentence, God is saying, “Bloom where you’re planted. I know you’re not going to be there forever, but I want you to act like you’re going to be. Put down roots. Get busy. Change things. Live 100% where you are.” Now you may not be in captivity, but you might be in one of life’s in-between times right now. It feels like you’re between destinations. And basically, maybe you’ve been cruising until you get to your destination. Maybe you’re between jobs, or waiting to get into or back into college. Maybe you’re single; just sort of coasting until Mr. or Miss Right comes along; waiting for God’s will or waiting for an open door. Maybe you’re in a time of illness or a financial in-between time.

There are many seasons in your life, but you feel like right now you’re between two important things and you’re not doing much. Well God says through this passage, where you are right now is important, not just where you’re going to be. Give 100% to this assignment. Act as if you’ll be there forever. Because in the course of capturing where you are, God will show you where you are going to be. This is God’s will right now! This situation as much as that next milestone will be. Serve Christ actively in between. Do things for Him that you may not be able to do when the next big destination comes along. Don’t waste this travel time. Capture the time in between.

Ron Hutcherson