Tag: deliverance
Pay it Forward!
Scripture reading for September 2: Psalm 41:1-3 “Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him: the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness You restore him to full health.”
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
God is merciful to the poor and needy. His example should flow to those who love Him and are filled with His Holy Spirit. In most societies, the poor are neglected or taken advantage of. They are often judged by others for their state of poverty. They are often called ‘lazy’ or labeled as bums or beggars. Sometimes they are homeless and many suffer from addiction and the consequences of their own sins. Some have physical deformities and others mental illness. But even in the covenant of law, God called His people to be kind and generous to the poor and Jesus was always mindful of the poor and needy.
King David spoke prophetically of the faithful believer who was blessed by considering the poor. He plainly stated that in their day of trouble the Lord would deliver them. It was kind of like paying it forward. If you cared for the poor and helped them, then God would assure that in your need, you would find help. If your enemy was bent on killing you, God would keep you alive. If you were cursed by your enemy, God would make you blessed and not give you up to the destructive purposes of your enemy. Finally, if you were attacked by sickness, disease, or plague, God would sustain you during the illness and restore you to full health. That sounds like the kind of deal I want in on!
Prayer: Lord, thank You for showing us Your heart of mercy for the poor and the incentives You offer Your people to care for them as an extension of Your hand. I want to receive Your blessings and say ‘Amen’ to the promises of protection, deliverance, and healing. Show me what You want me to do for the poor in my life. Amen.
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The Lost Book
Scripture reading for April 15: 2 Kings 22-25
Josiah became king of Judah when he was just eight years old! By the time he was 26, he was ready to begin what was to be the last revival in the land of Judah before God’s Word brought judgment! Josiah was a king who did right in God’s eyes and tried to follow the Lord. He was concerned for the temple, which had fallen into disrepair. As the work was going on, Hilkiah, the high priest found the Book of the Law and gave it to Shapan, the secretary to the king. Shapan read the Book, and then took it in to the king and read it to him. As the king heard the Word of the Book, he was humbled and tore his robes. He realized that God’s anger was against them because of their disobedience!
Josiah sent the leaders to seek the Lord through Huldah the prophetess. She told them of God’s coming judgment and how the Lord was merciful towards King Josiah because he humbled himself and wept before Him. King Josiah called the elders together and they went up to the temple where he had the lost Book read in their presence. They renewed their covenant with the Lord that day by pledging themselves to the Lord again. (2nd Kings 23:1-3)
Where do we end up when we ignore God’s Book? First, the temple of God will be in disrepair! Without God’s life-giving Word, things decay fast! Death and sin do their destructive work among God’s people without continual contact with the Book! Second, idolatry will fill the void. Idols had crept into the temple of the Lord! Josiah’s revival of reading the lost Book brought repentance and destruction of the idols in the land. (2nd Kings 23:4-7) Humbling and response from the heart is what God is looking for.
Have you lost track of God’s Book? Is your temple in disrepair? Now is the right time to make the change! Humility and repentance is the right posture to receive grace from the Lord! He is watching and waiting to restore and heal you!
Seek the lost sheep!
Scripture reading for July 29th: Joel, Matthew 10
Matthew 10: 1, 5-8 “And He called to Him His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. . . . These twelve Jesus sent out instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. An proclaim as you go, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.”
In response to their own praying to Father God for laborers to go into His harvest field, Jesus now instructs His twelve chosen disciples, including Judas, to go out to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. They were to go proclaiming the kingdom of heaven was at hand–now appearing in Christ and those who were His disciples. Not only that, they were given authority to heal all sickness and diseases and to cast out demons in demonstration of God’s kingdom authority and compassionate rule. They were especially sent to lost sheep–those Israelites in need of compassion and harassed by Satan and sickness and sin.
Matthew 10:40 “Whoever receives you receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him Who sent Me.”
Prayer: Father God, Your amazing mission of saving the lost sheep and using those You call and equip is dear to me. Thank You for those You used in my life to declare God’s kingdom and to minister healing and deliverance. Thank You that all benefits in the Kingdom are received by grace through faith–they can’t be bought or bargained for. I am in awe that though my witness, I represent You to lost people like the prophets of old and the disciples of our Lord!
Joel 2:12 “”Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster.””
Jesus took our illness and disease!
Scripture reading for July 8th: Matthew 8
Key Scriptures: Matthew 8:14-17 “And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve Him. That evening they brought to Him many who were oppressed by demons, and He cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.””
Some in the church today declare that Jesus only came to forgive sins and that the healing miracles He did were just for the early church when He was with them. These gifts passed away with the first apostles. But Jesus clearly demonstrated the Gospel by healing the sick and delivering those bound with evil spirits. His authority to do these works was evident to all and was also evident in His disciples as they also were sent out on mission. This was all a fulfilment of prophecy recorded in Isaiah 53 and applied to Jesus and His ministry of healing and deliverance as He went into the places of need and where hurting people were. In fact, Matthew 8:2-3 records a leper with a statement for Jesus: “If you will, you can make me clean.” Jesus answered, “I will; be clean!” Jesus is willing and able and on His cross in His own body bore our sicknesses and diseases! Praise His Name!
Isaiah 53:4-5 “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed.”
Faith Confession and prayer: Father God, thank You for sending Jesus, Your Son, to bear our sins, sickness and disease in His own body on our behalf. Thank You for the full Gospel of healing and grace to forgive sins. Fill me with the Holy Spirit to preach that full Gospel and to see healing and deliverance and salvation from sins bondage.
Mark 16:15, 17-18 “Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation. . . And these signs will accompany those who believe: in My Name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues’ they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”