healing

Monday, March 10, 2014 (7:10 a.m.)

Awesome, Holy God,

(7:30 a.m.)

Healing. Yes. Blessed Father, would You speak to me about healing?

So far this morning I've read about boundaries and hope and deceits. In praying for a dear friend I also have read and printed the following:

Talk to me about what The Word says about hopelessness and trust. I believe you to be in SUCH a perilous place! A place so scary and dark and unsafe that I don't even know where to begin to help. What does The Word say?

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This very well may be more for myself than for you... As SOON as I tapped out the words above, I was led to page 742 in my Life Recovery Bible. Along the outer margin I have written in pencil this quote from the movie Patch Adams. “Arthur Mendelson: 'You're focusing on the problem. If you focus on the problem, you can't see the solution. Never focus on the problem! See what no one else sees. See what everyone chooses not to see... out of fear, conformity or laziness. See the whole world anew each day.'”

I have an arrow directing me to a comment for Isaiah 26:3. “When our mind is absorbed with playing back memories of abuse, failure, and shame, we are full of anxiety and turmoil, whether we were the victim of the abuse or the main perpetrator of wrong. But when we learn to work through the past and change our mind-set so that it is fixed on God, we can be flooded with His peace.”

I have the date 3-12-96 penciled in next to the bracketed comments for Isaiah 25:1-5 and the one above. 3-27-96 is written next to brackets I had drawn for Isaiah 25:1 and 26:3. I don't know what was going on with us at that time. But these were truths I desperately needed!

Right under CHAPTER 25 A Day of Rejoicing is “O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for You are my God; You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them, just as you said!”

Just across and a little further under CHAPTER 26 The People Sing to God is “He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in Him, whose thoughts turn often to the Lord!” (v.3)

Then I had underlined verse 4. “Trust in the Lord God always, for in the Lord Jehovah is your everlasting strength.”

Dear, precious friend how I encourage you NOT to withdraw to protect yourself (see other email!). YOU can do n-o-t-h-i-n-g to better this present circumstance. You CAN'T protect yourself from the pain and hurt and all the other negatives that are threatening to overtake you. You can however take every single thought captive (2Corinthians 10:4-5) and give it back to the Lord.

Ephesians 3:20, “Now glory be to God, who by His mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of - infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.”

Here again is another recovery comment at the bottom of the page. This one is for verses 14-21. “For the church or a small group (think of US as a small group!) to function effectively as a vehicle for recovery, it must be driven by God's dynamic and unlimited love. Paul prayed that his friends might be deeply anchored in and strengthened by God's love. As we begin to discover how much God loves us, we will become confident that anything is possible with God. In fact, God is able to do far more in and through us than we could ever imagine! This is a truth to bank our recovery on! We may feel that our life is in a hopeless state, well beyond the point of recovery. If we trust God to help us, however, we will discover that restoration and healing are never impossible. When we are grounded in God's love, our recovery is assured.”

Precious Friend, I KNOW I am saying too much and seemingly hitting you over your head with my Bible. That is NOT my intent! I LOVE YOU!!!!! I truly don't know what or how to say all that is in my heart to encourage you toward hope. Not hope in what WE think we want but in all God wants for us.

My thinking has changed so much through our years of sharing together. You speaking Truth to me during the toughest times has helped to establish a foothold in The Word that I had never had before. I want desperately to give that back to You. Jesus loves us. He cares. He came to give us life in abundance!

John 10:10, “The thief's purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.” Please, please, please don't let the thief steal all that Jesus has for you. Whether it's for today, this next minute or whatever time He has allotted you.