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I grew up hearing the phrase “picture of health”. Adults were usually talking about someone who was in the hospital with an unexpected condition or had died. They were shocked since he/she had been the “picture of health”. What they actually meant was, what happened to them since it appeared that they were not ill? They were not truly a picture of health. It only seemed that way. Thinking about that particular phrase brought up the old movie “The Picture Of Dorian Gray” in my mind. I do not recall most of the movie. However, the part that I do remember is that the picture grew old while the guy didn’t. The guy was not what he seemed to be. The words “picture of health” might actually have come from just such a movie or book. I do not know. What I do know is that sometimes things are not what they seem. What does “picture of health” actually mean then?
God teaches us that Jesus is the picture of health. The problem that we tend to run into is that we forget that God always talks about the spiritual matters first. Always. Why? Because He is first spiritual, then the soul or mental and finally, physical. In order to see things from God’s point of view, which we must if we are to ever understand what He is trying to teach us, we absolutely must perceive spiritual matters first. If we do not, the lesson is not going to be understood. Jesus is the picture of health spiritually first. Schooling ourselves to look at God’s Word and what He teaches us from that point of view can be very hard to do if we are so used to thinking in the natural realm.
Let’s use the phrase “picture of health” again. Looking at it from God’s point of view, He heals from the inside out. Here comes our problem with that. We live in an instant world. Everything is either instant or at least fast. Instant messaging, fast food, instant transfers and so on. Since we live like that, it is not surprising to realize that even on an unconscious level we expect answers to happen right now! Fast. Instantly. Sometimes it looks like nothing is happening in our lives when we have sought God asking for His help. It might seem like He did not answer or it is felt that He ignored the request. I have felt that way myself. However, the answer might just be right there inside. You are unaware of it since God is working from the inside out. Sometimes, people stop these things themselves though.
Are you aware that if your spirit is unable to accept what God can do that it looks like He has said “no” when in reality you were the one who said “no”? If your spirit is unable to accept what God has to offer, He cannot force you to take it. He then must teach you in your spirit concerning this lesson. Therefore, He starts to work from the inside out teaching your spirit about Him and His word. There are times when people simply do not want to be taught. They will not be. God is a Gentleman and does not force anything on you if you do not want it.
We have God’s assurance that we are healed according to what Jesus did on the cross at Calvary. In I Peter 2:24, the Bible states that Jesus Himself bore our sins in HIS body. He went from being the picture of health to having all the diseases and sins on His body so that we would not have to take this on ourselves. See, we deserve it all…the cross, the sinful nature, the sickness. Jesus took it Himself so that we do not need to suffer for the results of disobedience and sin. We have only to ask Him into our hearts for this to be so. However, since we are not all the “picture of health”, it is necessary for us to learn the lessons God teaches us concerning healing. Sometimes those lessons can be pretty hard to learn. We all struggle with physical health, financial health, mental health and spiritual health. Yet, according to the scriptures, we should not have to struggle but we do. The lesson is clear. We need to learn it, making ourselves the “picture of health”.
(1Pe 2:24) He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that dying to sins, we might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.
The good news is that we can do this. That, too, was part of what Jesus did at Calvary. Makes me wonder what we’re waiting for. Ah but that’s the rub. This world is sin natured and it’s pretty hard to hear God sometimes. We do have our Bibles but there are questions. This is the time to get in touch with God by prayer and conversation. Yes, I said conversation. I have conversations with Him. Of course, a conversation includes both parties talking. Maybe it’s time to get in touch with God and have your own conversation. And the result just could be that you become the picture of health.
That statement rang through my head as I remembered something I had said years ago when I was first born again. How arrogant that statement sounds now. The words “do not be deceived” keep running through my mind. James, the disciple, wrote that same statement or one similar three times in just the first chapter of James alone. What is God talking about here? How easy is it to be deceived by someone? For anyone who has been in a relationship that went south, that should be a pretty easy question to answer. Yet, I used to think that it would be really hard for me to be deceived, which in itself is a deception. Can you see that?
When I was born again, things came very easy; my understanding was fresh and quite clear, at least to me. And I used to think it would be so incredibly simple to recognize the anti-christ–the man–but it is not as simple as it once seemed. Things are never completely as they seem in this world. Our God is unchangeable. All other things and people are subject to a change of one kind or another. All. Unless a person is thoroughly grounded in God’s Word, they can be deceived, sometimes quite easily. It is imperative that a person be taught God’s Word whether through sermons at church, through a visiting evangelist, on television (there are a number of good, Bible preaching ministries on air) or simply reading and studying your own Bible sitting at home.
Do you think it would be hard to deceive you? All right. The American media, and I am certain most other news media around the world, are quite obviously deceiving the public with their incredibly biased reporting. At times, they are so blatant with it that it is hard to understand why some people will continue to believe such drivel but they do believe it. Often, the public will believe simply because they see it on the television much like others will buy into some report just because it’s written and in front of their faces. Some people cannot be convinced that the media would lie to the American people. Come on!!! That is blatant deception.
We sometimes believe that we understand things that God says, which is true, but when we bend it to do what we want, it becomes a deception to ourselves. And we DO bend what God has in His Word to fit our own circumstances. Happens all the time. And in doing that, we deceive ourselves so easily. Only when we seek God’s face, get to know Him much better, know His Word very well and at least some part of what it means, do we stop deceiving ourselves. Growing stronger in the Word daily helps.
We need to take to heart what James says in Chapter 1, verses 17-26. To recap:
1) Don’t be deceived–the good gifts come only from God.
2) Don’t just sit and listen to the preachers and preaching without applying what you learn to yourself or you will be deceived.
3) You deceive yourself if you believe yourself to be religious but do not stop your tongue from saying evil things. (gossip, nasty comments toward people or about them, making people feel guilty)
You can cure all this by simply going to the Lord, getting to know Him, spending time with Him on a regular basis, reading and studying also on a regular basis. Now don’t just study when you “have time”. Make time to be in God’s Word so that you know what He has to say. The more you know, the less likely it is that you will be deceived by anyone. This is an evil world and the devil runs about to and fro trying to deceive even the elect. We do not have to be one of those.
So many times in my life, I reached out to God and it seemed that He did not listen to me. Must have been playing golf or something. My prayers went to the ceiling and no farther since I knew that if I were to pray, they had to go all the way to heaven, wherever that is. It must be terribly far away. I simply did not have his phone number memorized. That was how I felt.
So many days of me talking, so many days He said nothing. The silence was overwhelming me. And I felt so miserable because I just knew that, of all His children, I must have been the one that got away, was shunned. Apparently, I had asked too much. It could not be accomplished. Unworthy.
The truth, however, is so much better. The Father has us in the palm of His hand. He is watching us all the time, hoping that we will talk with Him. Notice I said WITH Him, not at Him, not necessarily to Him. With Him. He wants us to have a relationship, a fellowship with Him. When you have a friend, a really good friend or family member that you love dearly, you will talk with them in person and on the phone, email, whatever medium you find. God is right where you think He is, with you. It does not take a prayer to rise to the ceiling, just talk to Him. He is here. Seek Him and He will answer.
He told us to seek His kingdom first (Mathew 6:33 -But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.) instead of always wanting, wanting, wanting. It took me a long time to learn this. Sometimes, I feel that I have not yet done so. There are times when the prayer does not seem to go anywhere. But you know what I did when I felt that? Praise! Thanksgiving! I thanked the Lord for all He has done. I praised Him.
Do you understand that we do not have to see the end result before we can thank Him for what He does? Recently, I was pleading for something very dear to me. It did not seem as though God heard me. Then, I realized that my prayer was one of doubt and unbelief. If I truly believed God’s Word then I must apply it to my situation. Put my faith on the line. I did so thanking my Lord for that thing as if it were accomplished. I could see the end result before it occurred.
First, take the time to get to know your Father. He wants to tell you many things. However, if you are only wishing to talk, you cannot listen. If things get in the way, thoughts that are negative to the situation, you cannot hear. Put all that worldly stuff out of your mind and just get into the refuge of the Lord, the secret place of the Most High.
(Psa 91:1-2) He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall rest under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of Jehovah, my refuge and my fortress; my God; in Him I will trust.
Because you can trust in the Father, you will find that He is willing to talk with you, guide you and strengthen you. When you dwell with the Lord, your faith will grow. In time, you find that hearing the Lord becomes easier and easier since you are willing to rest in Him, allow His course for your life instead of your own. And that is how the joy of the Lord will come to you!!! What a blessing!!!
I wanted to publicly thank my Lord for the fact that I am an American. That does not mean that I am slamming any other place in the world. It simply means that God put me here, right now in the day and hour and I thank God for that. I think that it’s vitally important that we spend some time each day thanking God for those things that He has provided to us. In that area, I know that I fall very short. So, today, the day after the 4th of July, when all eyes are on the fireworks and giving thanks for the country we live in, I now give thanks for all that my Lord has given to me.
No, I do not intend to put the list here. Frankly, at this point you should be inserting your own list of thanks. I know that we spend more time wanting to thank God on Thanksgiving but we should be thanking Him each and every day. We should be giving Him all of our attention at some point in the day so that He can give us the boost we need to get past all the nasty things in the world.
So, take just a bit of time today, tomorrow and each day from now on to stop and talk to the Lord about those things that bother you, the things that you need to get a handle on, things that you worry about. Give it all to Him. He wants you to do that so that He can handle it for you. Take the time to get to know your Lord. He’s waiting right where you stopped talking to Him. He’s right where you left Him all those years ago.
Yes, I thank God I am an American but I also thank God that I am a Christian, a saved one, one who has asked Jesus to come into her life and be so blessed! I am so honored and blessed! Thank You, Lord Jesus, for going to the cross in my place! I am so blessed that I do not have to be without You! Praise God!
I have come to the conclusion that most folks believe that God is this amazing Sugar Daddy up in heaven just sitting around waiting for someone to beg Him to point and say “Bam, you got it!” when they want something. In fact, I have seen people mad because God didn’t pony up what they wanted as soon as they demanded or begged for it. A few posts back, I was talking about using God like an ATM machine. That is still the case with the people who simply will only believe God if He does it right, the way THEY want it done.
Actually, that has absolutely nothing to do with the scripture they are expecting to use to get what they want. You know the one:
(Mat 7:7) Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you.
People who expect God to simply move heaven and earth to give them anything they want are pretty delusional. God loves us. True. He is our Father and does not wish to hold anything from us. But the fact is that there are things that, if we had them, would actually make matters worse for us. Sometimes, I do not see that either but i do not have the vantage point that God has…seeing from beginning to end. I suspect that if we all were able to see our lives as God sees them, we would make incredibly different choices in our lives. But since we cannot, we must give the guidance job to God.
Just wanting, wanting, wanting does nothing to help either you or the people God intended for you to help in the world. The reality is that God isn’t a lottery, a bank, a Sugar Daddy and although He is extremely….the the largest extreme possible….rich, that does not mean that he needs you to be that too. The thing is that He will bestow that on people as He chooses. We must do our part. Our part is to be a good steward of what we are given. We are to get into the Word of God, study as much as possible, learn what God has to say and then go out and do as God has chosen you to do. Yes, you are chosen. He seeks you to seek Him. He loves you so much. Don’t sell God short with the begging and the pushing. God knows what is going on in your life.
Life is not always going to be the way you want it or like it. Things do happen. God will be with you through it all if you let Him. Take the time to be with your Lord and Savior today. It is well worth the effort.
I answered this question on another other blog. I love that question. Gets some people thinking. But it got me thinking because of the variety of answers. So, I will also pose the question…Do YOU believe in God? I find that so many do not. Others believe…sort of. What a dangerous time for people to believe this way. It makes me so sad to see that people will believe so many things that are not of God, not good for them. I do realize that God is a gentleman and will not push His will on anyone. However, sometimes I just want to shake the secular right out of folks.
We are living in the coming of the last days of this age. I say that because it is not the end of the world contrary to what many people believe. There’s that word again….believe. You know, you can believe just about anything if you put your mind to it. You can believe that the ground is going to produce a money tree but that does not make it so. That’s the problem. People tend to believe about anything but what is the truth? Doesn’t anyone want to know that?
I do realize that not everyone is going to be willing to believe that a man was born of a virgin, grew up in this world but never sinned, performed a lot of miracles, taught things that most people would not accept, died on a cross at Calvary and was resurrected on the third day at which time he began to walk the earth for another several days, then rose up to heaven. Yes, that would be a tad hard to swallow for me too if I did not know that I know that is the Gospel truth! God loves you! God loves me too. I originally had a problem believing that but I do now. Awesome!
Does God believe in you? Most definitely! He is the Creator. He gave us everything and believes that we are worth it to become saved from this sin natured world of evil and nasty things. He wants us to know Him better. We can have a close, personal relationship with Him if we will pray and study God’s Word, if we will talk with Him as if we are related because we are related. I am an adopted child of God through Jesus Who died for me on the cross, taking away my sins. Do I still sin? Of course I do but God forgives me each time if I ask Him. What He does not forgive is someone who willfully and knowingly sins and has no remorse. We must be willing to turn away from that sin and run to Him again.
So, the question here is Do you believe in God? I raise my hand high as I say, YES! I do! He is the best thing that ever happened to me…my husband is second and he’s okay with that because God is the best thing that ever happened to him too!!!
We have potholes dug into our street. They can be hazardous to the car’s health. After a whole lot of rain not too long ago, my Mom’s gravel road was so potholed that we dragged bottom and felt like we were going to be slung through the air. The potholes were deep, to say the least. The big problem is that because of those potholes, it is probable that our car repair woes were, at least in part, due to that road and our own street. Potholes. They are a danger to us all especially if we hit them at full speed.
Potholes on the Christian path work the same way. I don’t know about you but when I became a Christian, it wasn’t really explained to me that my life would be MORE filled with trials than before. But when I complained about it one time, I was referred to Paul and that wild boat ride he took. Yeah, that was special. But God was there with him and told him that while they would lose the boat and all the contents, none of the lives would be lost. It was true!!! No one died and they should have. That boat ride was awful, the sea tossing and turning, the boat breaking up. Those people should have died but they did not because God said so. Paul listened to God and was not afraid of the storm despite the fact that it looked like they would all perish. The rest of the people on the boat believed they would die. But God said they would not and it came to pass just as He said.
We will always have potholes in our Christian walk. That cannot change until Jesus comes or we go to heaven. Those potholes can be really deep at times but God is with us. Sometimes the potholes are quite shallow, just a small difficulty, and we think that it might just be too small for God to bother with. Not so. God wants to be part of ALL of your life, including the smallest things. Nothing is too small for God to handle. Nothing is too big either. Now, it may not be handled in just the way you want it to be handled but it will be taken care of. Take the time today to talk with God about your life. Seek His guidance before any decisions even the small ones. You will be surprised at what God can handle, even the potholes in your Christian walk.
When I was a kid, I wondered why anyone would pray at meal times. Even as an adult that question came up every so often. So, why do people pray at meal times? If it’s important, why not pray at a meal when out to eat? I wondered about this for so long. But God taught me the answers to these questions and it is so simple. But then, God is trying to teach us the simple things not because we are so stupid that it takes that but because the things of God are simple. They just seem complicated because we tend to make things complicated. We are human, after all.
There are a couple of reasons to pray over one’s food. The first thing I learned about that was that we need to be thankful that we have it in the first place. We need to be thankful that God provided it. Now, for many years I did not see it that way. I saw that one person or another worked for the money to pay for the food therefore God didn’t provide it, someone else did.
God is in control. Period. It may not always look like it but He is. He provides food and shelter and all sorts of things in His time, not necessarily the way we want but He does provide what we need. So, when the food is on the table, regardless of how it got there, God provides. We believe that it is important to acknowledge that fact in prayer. We, therefore, thank God for His provision.
Another reason for praying over one’s food, especially out to eat food in restaurants, is that you have no idea where it’s been. I know that sounds funny but the truth is that we do not know what is in the food nor do we know the circumstances that came about when the food was being prepared. Literally, the disciples prayed so that they would not be ill from the food they ate. So, we are to pray to thank God for the food AND we are to pray for our own well being where the food is concerned as well.
At those times, we must give God the thanks but it also gives God control of the situations too. That is so important. God is a gentleman. He will not intrude where He is not asked. If you think you can handle the problem yourself, God will step back and let you do it. But, ultimately, God is always in control!! I take great comfort in that fact. And I am certainly going to give Him all the praise for the food I eat and the fact that we have it at all. I hand God the controls of my life with those prayers as well. And after what He did for me, He can have it!!! Thank you, Lord!!!
Jim Croce sang the song “Time In A Bottle” but my life feels that way sometimes. Everything is compacted into this little space without wiggle room. My day goes from busy to nothing in a split second and back again. But the worst problem is that my time with the Lord is what suffers. When that happens not only do I suffer so do all those that God wanted me to help. 
I hate that. It makes me extremely sad.
The big problem is that in order to maintain a good relationship with anyone in your life, there must be contact. Those of you who have distance relationships know that if you do not do that, your relationship tends to die out. Even if the person is just a block away, if you do not contact them they feel like you do not care about them. I do not want that to happen with my relationship and fellowship with God.
So today, I am going to take time to talk to the Lord and I hope you will do the same. It is amazing what you can learn from Him if only you will take the time to listen to Him.
In addition to that, I have a place for those who like videos. Godtube is here!! I know it’s been around for quite a while but I had not heard about it until one day I stumbled into it…actually stumbled it. Please take the time to visit there because it has some amazing videos. One that I wrote about back in Oct. is A MUST See Video For Us All! That about says it.
I ask that question because tonight mine were opened by a comment on this blog. I had written a post that talked about “man made gods”. Those are the things that take you away from God, our Father, and what He has to say. It takes the time away that you could be praying, studying and thinking about what God says. And we all have that problem. All of us at one time or another find ourselves being swept away by something in the world. All of us!!
Is that strange to you? Preachers, pastors, ministers, laypersons in the church all have one thing in common, they are human. Each are subject to the same failures and the same problems. We all have them. What makes the difference is what you do with the failures and problems. If you decide that the problem, failure or the event takes your attention from the Lord, that becomes a man made god in your life. That man made god can overwhelm you before you know it. That’s what happened to me. My life took me over. Things got too big and busy. So, I stopped writing here. I cannot do that and be true to my Lord.
God has asked me to post here because He teaches me things to pass on to others. I have failed in my job if I do not do that. For one month, I did not post because my life came in and took over, the worldly god took my time. I allowed that to happen. But our Father is greater than any local god. He is greater than the world!!! And if you are of God, no worldly thing can defeat you!!! Come on! Defeat that fear, that worry, defeat that problem that so besets you. Our God is greater than the god of this world or any man made gods.
(1Jn 4:4) You are of God, little children, and you have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
Instead of feeling sorry for yourself because of your problems, grab hold of this! You are an overcomer! No problem is too great for our Father. No problem can defeat Him! No problem can defeat you!! Take the time to study and pray! Take time to talk to the Lord. He waits for your call! And it isn’t a cell phone!
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