God's Medicine Bottle

My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart.
For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. Proverbs 4:20-22
 

God is saying in this verse "My child if you take My words and My sayings the right way, then they are life to you and health to all your flesh", if we have health in all of our flesh, we cannot have any sickness in us.

Derek Prince relates this scripture to "God's Medicine Bottle"... "The cure is guaranteed by almighty God and the four directions are on the bottle:"
1. Give attention.
2. Incline your ear to God's sayings
3. Do not let them depart from your eyes. 4. Keep them in the midst of your heart.
jus sayin!!

 

A Simple Privilege

The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the [whole] person; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Psalms 13:7 

I cannot imagine a higher honor than being able to talk to and hear from God, and I believe prayer is the greatest privilege of our lives.  It's not something we have to do; it's something we get to do.  Prayer is the way we partner with God to see His plans and purposes come to pass in our lives and in the lives of those we love and in the world.  It is the means by which we human beings on Earth can actually enter into the awesome presence of God.  It allows us to share our hearts with Him, to listen for His voice, and to know how to discover and enjoy all the great things He has for us.  Communicating with God is indeed the greatest privilege I can think of, but this high and holy work is also the simplest privilege I know.  I do not believe talking to God or hearing His voice was ever meant to be complicated and that, from the very beginning, He intended it to be an easy, natural way of life by which we are connected with Him all day, every day..Let prayer become like breathing; do it naturally and simply all throughout the day.

Worship From The Heart

O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and supplication]. Psalms 95:6 

I believe that worship creates an atmosphere in which God can speak to us. Worship is difficult to define. It is more about Who God is rather that what He does for us. True worship comes from deep within us; it is precious and awesome and it is our attempt to verbalize how we feel about God. It is a powerful outpouring of our hearts toward the Lord and it represents a depth of love, gratitude, and devotion that we find difficult to put into words. Human language is not rich enough to describe everything that true worship is. In fact, worship is so personal and intimate that maybe we should not even attempt to limit or define it with our words. Worship is much more that just singing songs. In fact, true worship is first and foremost a condition of the heart and a state of mind. We can be worshiping passionately without singing a note. Worship is born in our hearts; it fills our thoughts and then it is expressed through our mouths and through our bodies. If our hearts are filled with awe for God, we may want to sing, dance, clap, or lift up our hands in worship. We may also be reverently silent and still before God. We may desire to give offerings or offer other forms of outward expression of love for God. But any of these actions done without a right heart are simply formalism and meaningless to God. I encourage you to sincerely worship God today. Do it because you love Him, and don't be surprised if He speaks to you while you are worshiping Him.

As A Child......

Luke 18:17 says, Truly I say to you, whoever does not accept and receive and welcome the kingdom of God like a little child [does] shall not in any way enter it [at all]. 

Have you thought about this statement?  God hears the simplest, faintest cry and receives the most child-like requests...I have learned just a few things from watching my children.  I used to think that they were complicated but now I know that they aren't complicated, we as parents make them complicated.  Children have no trouble letting you know what they want, running into your arms when they are afraid, or giving you a big generous kiss, sometimes for no apparent reason.  If they are told something, they believe it completely...if they read something, then it is set in stone...just has to be true..When they ask their parents a question, they fully expect to get an answer. Children are not sophisticated enough to hide their hearts or feelings very well and as a result communicating with them can be easy and refreshing at times.  Maybe we all need to put some of their actions into practice.  That's the way God wants us to be when we go to him.  We need to approach God with childlike simplicity and wait, eager to hear what He has to say to us.  Just as children are naturally inclined to trust their parents completely, we also need to be innocent, pure, and free from doubt as we trust God's voice.  When we pray with simple, childlike faith, we can experience God's miracle-working power and see things change.  Today, I challenge you, as you pray today, call God, "Daddy", and confide in him completely.  God is SIMPLE, His promises are simple, His laws are simple, His reward system is simple, His divine healing is simple, He is simple because He created it all.  We are the ones who make it hard & complicated.

New Levels

Even though God wants us to live joyful, contented lives, He sometimes causes discontent or a feeling that something is not right because He does not want us to continue doing the same old things anymore. He wants to prod us to seek Him so He can take us to new levels. God always wants us to grow stronger, to go deeper, and to increase in intimacy with Him. Most of the time, He leads us into that process of maturity by leading us out of places where we have been comfortable in the past. Too much comfort for too long can mean that we are not growing. Don't be afraid of change, welcome it! Get a new perspective on even old issues. Seek God, ask Him to show you! Out with the old and in with the NEW!! And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. Rev 21:5 New things bring change.......

Seven Invisible Barriers To Healing

What I am about to share with you guys is both from personal experience and from a book that I am currently reading entitled God's Word Heals by Derek Prince.  I am sure that there are many of you out there that right at this very moment needs God to heal you from something. I have shared with the group my testimony on my most recent healing, if you have not seen it then you can check my FB page or go down to older post it is there. For many years I have watched my mother walk with God.  I have witnessed several times when God has stuck his hand down and carried her and I both through certain areas in our lives.  I know how much my mother loves God and I know have seen her faith work miracles in my life and in others lives around us.  She is full of passion for people and their salvation.  She would stand firm against anything or anyone who comes against our Father.  However, my mother has battled sickness for many many years, and she acknowledges that prayer and her dedication to God is what has brought her where she is today.  Recently, sickness has tried to take her out and I know that it is not her time...we still have much left to do.  These spirits of infirmity has produced a rage in me that will not be satisfied until she receives what it is that God has promised her and I.  For weeks now I have been on a search for truth, for wisdom, for understanding, I don't know everything that that God has promised, I still have a lot left to learn, but I do know that for a father or a mother to give up their only son (I imagine me giving up Gabe, my only son as I speak) that God's love for us is a love that only God could have...until we come to know him through His Son Jesus.I know that the Word of God says that He is a God that cannot lie. I know that every single Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God will not return void, but will accomplish that which it was sent to do.  I know that the Bible is God breathed. I know that there are angels waiting for us to release commands so that they can perform on God's behalf and on our behalf. This is where the book comes in... I am sure that I will be posting more as I read but I felt lead of the Holy Spirit to share what Prince has said concerning healing.  If you do not know who Derek Prince is just Google him..... I know that this is long but I encourage you to finish reading this...we all have something we need to be healed of, whether it's sickness, unforgiveness, or ourselves. John 16:13-15 says, But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].
He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.
Everything that the Father has is Mine. That is what I meant when I said that He [the Spirit] will take the things that are Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.
There are certain barriers to healing that we can clearly identify, and which the Holy Spirit will enable us to understand and remove so we can receive the healing Christ has provided for us.  The barriers are not on God's side. When Jesus died the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, signifying our access to God through Christ, and every barrier on God's side was removed. These barriers remain within the hearts and lives.  Whether you are seeking healing for yourself or for others, you must be aware of the barriers and deal with and remove them first. The first barrier, is Ignorance of God's Word & His Will!  Isaiah 5:13, the Lord says, Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge.  No knowledge of the Word of God, which is all of God's promises to us.  No knowledge of what was accomplished by the death of Jesus on the cross.  Hosea 4:6 says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.  The next barrier is somewhat related to the first and it is unbelief.  Some regard unbelief as a kind of harmless weakness but the New Testament calls it a sin..read Hebrews 3:12-13  There are so many "Christians" out there today that still believe that God puts sickness on people and that he does not heal.  There are many that believe in healing for others but don't feel that they are worthy of healing because of unconfessed sins or secrets, not realizing that it is not based on our works but again it is based on what Jesus accomplished on the cross.  The third barrier is unconfessed sin.  Proverbs 28:13 lays down a vital principle;  He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.  Many people are more concerned with what others think of them and their unconfessed sins, than what God already knows.  When you have told Him the worst about yourself , you haven't shocked Him.  He knew it all before you told Him.  God is not asking you to confess in order to find out what you have done.  He is asking you to confess because when you do, HE CAN HELP YOU.  He is never embarrassed to hear your confessions.  He desires to forgive you and to free you from your sins.  Forth barrier is unforgiveness toward other people.  Mark 11:25 states, And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failings and shortcomings and let them drop. Forgiveness is not an emotion but a decision-a decision of the will.  Ask the Holy Spirit to show you if there is any hidden root of bitterness in you.  Allow the Holy Spirit to remind you and show you what unforgiveness you may be holding in your heart towards others. Acknowledge it, confess it, renounce it, and forgive as God has forgiven you.  Involvement in the occult is another powerful barrier that keeps us from receiving healing.  There are many forms of the occult and today it is common..being in some way or having been, notice I said, have been involved in. Examples, fortune-telling, Ouija boards, horoscopes, any way in which superstition and satanic cults have invaded our contemporary culture.  We have to be careful of what we expose ourselves to.  Be careful not to allow ourselves to become desensitized to the things in the world around us and our family.  seek the Holy Spirit and He will show you things that need to be renounced. Renounce every contact with the occult.  In Exodus 23, Moses gave instruction to the children of Israel as to how they were to deal with forms of worship and religion that had been in the land of Canaan.  He warned them they were to have no part in it.  Ask God to forgive you and release you from it's influence.  Another barrier occult related is Ungodly Covenants.  It is possible for people to enter into a covenant with other people who follow false gods.  If you do that you become involved in the guilt of those people and their false gods.  This I personally have experienced with the father of my two daughters.  He is a Muslim.  This may be offensive to some of you but I say it in love because I know it to be true.  My covenant that I made with him has allowed the influence of false gods and the occult which is practiced by his family members to prevail at times in our lives.  My entering into a covenant with him has placed not only me but my entire family under a curse.  There are other groups or secret societies that fall into this category. Ask God to show you, release you, forgive you, and break its power over you right now in Jesus name.  The final barrier is the effects of a curse.  There are 7 common indications of a curse.  If several of these things apply to your or your family members, there is probably a curse over you.  The good news is that Jesus was made a curse so that we might be redeemed from the curse and receive the blessing.  1: History of mental and emotional breakdown 2: repeated chronic sickness, especially hereditary ones.  The mark of a curse is that it passes from generation to generation. 3: repeated miscarriages or female problems 4: breakdown of marriages and family alienation, always at war with each other. 5: Continuing financial insufficiency, never getting out of the poverty syndrome 6: Being accident prone 7: history of suicides or unnatural deaths.  The Holy Spirit is able to deal with any kind of curse in your life. I urge you to seek the Holy Spirit to see what barriers there are in your life that are preventing you from receiving your healing.  Let those who have ears hear in Jesus Name......  to be continued........

God Is Not Hiding

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork. Psalm 19:1
 

God does not hide from anyone. He reveals Himself to all humankind. He speaks to everyone through His handiwork, and nature itself testifies of His power and His plans. Look around and pay attention to the world God has created. The main thing He says to us through nature is that He truly exists. He tries to reach us everyday and He leaves clues about Himself everywhere, clues that say, "I am here! You don't have to worry or be afraid. I am here!" Every morning the sun comes up and every evening it goes down. The stars come out to sparkle against the night sky and the universe remains in order as a reminder that God is watching over us. When we consider how some trees look totally dead during winter and come back to life each spring, we are reminded that God will bring our lives back into full bloom, even if we feel lifeless or hopeless because of our circumstances. I enjoy simply looking at a tree and watching it blow in the wind. I have noticed that dead leaves sometimes cling to branches for a while, and then a big gust of wind comes along and blows them off, making room for new buds to grow and thrive. This reminds me that the wind of God's Spirit is faithful to blow away everything that is no longer needed in our lives and that He will protect all that needs to remain. He will bring new life and growth and times of refreshing. Remember these examples of how God speaks through nature and look for His clues everywhere you go today!! I challenge you to ask God to show you the beauty through the ashes!

God's Love

No man has at any time (yet) seen God. But if we love one another, God abides (lives and remains) in us and HIS love is brought to completion (to its full maturity, run its full course, is perfected) in us! 1 John 4:12 We cannot give away what we don't have. Trying to love others is useless if we have never received God's love for ourselves. We should love ourselves in a balanced way, not a selfish, self-centered way. Love ourselves, not be in love with ourselves. To love yourself, you simply need to believe in the love God has for you, know that it is everlasting, unchangeable, and unconditional. Let his love affirm you and make you feel secure, but don't begin to think of yourself more highly than you should (Romans 12:3) Loving ourselves does not mean we love all of our behavior, it means that we love and accept the unique person God has created us to be. Loving ourselves in a balanced way is what prepares us to let love flow through us to others. Without receiving God's love for ourselves in a healthy, appropriate way we may have feelings of affection or respect for others, a humanistic type of love, but we certainly cannot love people unconditionally unless God himself inspires and provokes that love. The Holy Spirit purifies our hearts so we can allow the sincere love of God to flow through us (1 Peter 1:22) to others. This is the part of being filled with the Spirit. God wants us to express His love to others. When we think of others and how we can bless them, we keep ourselves filled with the Holy Spirit, Who is the Spirit of Love. You have something wonderful to give the world today---the love of God that is in you!!

Prayer For Others

When we pray, we both speak to God and listen to Him speak to us. We are to intercede for one another. Crying out to God on someone else's behalf, taking their needs to him in prayer, and at times hearing something from Him about their situation. Intercession is one of the most important kinds of prayer because many people do not pray for themselves of do not know how. Why? Because they have no relationship with God. There are also times when circumstances are so difficult, stress is so high, the hurt is too great, or things are so confusing that people do not know how to pray for their own situations. And, there are times when people have prayed and prayed and prayed for themselves and they simply have no strength left to pray. Who are you praying for today? Who does God want you to intercede for?