Healing God’s Way

 

There are many different types of healings that only God can do through divine intervention such as physical healing from a disease, mental healing, and emotional healing. The one I want to focus on is the emotional healing process. When something traumatic happens in our life such as a car wreck where the person next to us dies, abuse, sexual assault or whatever your case may be the easiest thing for us to do is to deny that it ever happened. We just begin to sweep it under the rug and try and forget the pain. Eventually this pain is going to re-surface if it was never dealt with. When this pain and hurt begins to re-surface it can cause many problems in our life including blaming ourselves for what happened to us, you begin to get angry and you begin to dwell on the problem as though you can not get away from it, it follows you everywhere.

The first step to begin healing is to accept that it happened and that it is NOT your fault. We as human beings are the best at building walls around our problems and pretending things never happened. We do this because we don’t want others to know what happened, we are afraid of being rejected, or misunderstood. But in Psalms 147:3 it says, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” When we admit the wrong that has been done to us and accept that it is not our fault then God can begin his healing process. He can begin to turn our darkest days into a glorious testimony that can be used to touch other peoples lives around us. When we stop holding on to all the bad and allow God to replace it with good our lives will flourish.

The second step in the healing process is confessing your faults to someone you can trust. There is something that happens when we verbalize what has happened to another person that does wonders for us. This verbalization relieves the tension that has been bottled up for so long.

And lastly the third step into healing Gods way is for us to assume personal responsibility as long as we deny our past and try and sweep it under the rug we will never become free from it, we will always be chained to the past. No one can be set free from a problem unless they are willing to admit they have one. When we admit that we have a problem this always us to get help from friends, pastors, and christian counselors to help us cope with the pain and hurt.

Even though our problems may have been brought upon us because of something done against our will we have no excuse for letting this problem persist and take over our lives. “our past experiences may have made us the way we are but we do NOT have to stay that way.”- Joyce Meyer

~Lauren~

“Giving it all away, away!” Part 2

….Well lets get started right away on part 2 of this blog.

     The third way to surrendering your life fully to God is giving away your plans for your life and following what God has in store for you. Admit it we all have a plan for our life whether it be where we want to go to college, when we want to start a family, what kind of job we want to have, etc. Believe or not but God has his own plan for our life as well! Some of you may be wondering how can he already have a plan for my life, well let us take a look at the story of Abram and Sarai (Abraham and Sarah) and see how God’s plan for their lives was completely different then what they expected.

Genesis 18:1-15

1The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

3He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord,do not pass your servant by. 4Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”

“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”

6So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahsof the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”

7Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

9“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.

“There, in the tent,” he said.

10Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

13Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

15Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

 Abraham and Sarah had been trying to have children for many years before this but were not able to. So, as you can see in this passage the Lord planned for Abraham and Sarah to have a son, named Isaac, even though Sarah was long past the age of child bearing. God’s plan for our lives may be very different also just as God promised Abraham to be the father of many nations( Genesis 17:1-8), God has something amazing planned for our lives too. You see Abraham had doubt that he couldn’t possibly become the father of many nations since Sarah was unable to bear children at the time, so sarah took matter into her own hands and presented Abraham with a servant named Hagar for him to sleep with and have a child. Let’s take a look at just what happened:

Genesis 16 

1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”

6“Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

11 The angel of the Lord also said to her:

“You are now pregnant

and you will give birth to a son.

You shall name him Ishmael,

for the Lordhas heard of your misery.

12He will be a wild donkey of a man;

his hand will be against everyone

and everyone’s hand against him,

and he will live in hostility

towardall his brothers.”

13She gave this name to the Lordwho spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seenthe One who sees me.” 14That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

15So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

When Abraham and Sarah took matters into their own hands things didn’t go as planned and in the same way if we try to take matter into our own hands we will end up fall flat on our face. We must rely on God to guide us down the right path and open the right doors for us at the right time. If we follow his plan for our lives things will work out smoothly and perfectly the way he wanted, not saying it is going to be easy but it will be easier than trying to do it all on our own with no help. We are going to go through hard times no matter what, but when we have someone we can look to for guidance and direction everything will turn out for the good ( check out my blog “Hard times, how do you react?” for more guidance in this area).

     The final thing we should do is allow the Holy Spirit guide our steps and lead us in the right direction everyday. Have you ever felt the urge to go and pray for someone, or felt a strong urge in one direction on a specific issue or decision that needed to be made? That could have been the Holy Spirit guiding you and using you for Gods purpose. Lets take a look at

John 14:25-26

25 “All this I have spoken while still with you.26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

The Holy Spirit was sent to the earth to help guide us and remind us of all that Jesus said. He is here to help and comfort us and is here to remind us that Jesus will one day come back for his Children. If you want to learn more about the Holy Spirit stay tuned in for my next blog.

~Lauren~

Worship at Capital Hill Assembly of God 12/1/12

“Giving it all away, away!” (Part 1)

     Have you ever tried to accomplish something that almost seems impossible without help from anyone? Go ahead and admit it we are all stubborn, and at some point we have refused to get help when we really needed it. If some of us wouldn’t be so stubborn and just ask for help every once in a while our lives would be much easier and less stressful. This concept is the exact same in our christian walk with God. Many of us push God away and try to get through the struggles of life on our own without his help. Think about it…isn’t that what he is there for, to help us through our struggles and temptations, yet we still push him away in the most needed times. Lets take a look at James 4:7, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Many times people overlook the first half of this verse and only concentrate on the part that says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” 100% of the time when trying to resist the devil by yourself you will fail miserably. We must first SURRENDER ourselves FULLY to God and then resisting the devil will be easier to accomplish with God’s help.

     Today we are going to take a look at what it means to FULLY SURRENDER ourselves to God. Surrendering yourself to God can basically be summed up in a few words, LET GO AND LET GOD. When submitting ourselves we are giving up what we want in life to accomplish what God wants in our lives. The song GO by Hillsong is a great example of what it means to surrender our lives to God, the song goes like this, “We’re giving it all away, away. We’re giving it all to go your way.” This is one of the hardest things to do as a christian, because we all have our lives all planned out whether it be where we want to go to college, where we want to move to when we retire, or who we want to get married to, we all have our own plans. Believe it or not God has his own perfect plan for each one of us. In my own life, I’ve always wanted to move back to Tennessee from Oklahoma and go to Vanderbilt medical school and get a degree in Family medicine. After I graduated Vanderbilt I planned on joining the Air force and becoming a doctor on a base somewhere in Tennessee. I’ve also always enjoyed playing music, but never thought it would be part of my life forever. After praying for months and months about what God wanted to do in my life, I finally felt a calling on my life to music. While playing worship at Kids Camp all summer I began to feel the calling of children’s ministry and playing worship on my life. After praying and seeking God for direction, I found out that i’m supposed to play live worship in kids ministry. Okay, that’s enough about me back to FULLY SURRENDERING.

One of the first steps any christian should take when fully surrendering their life to God, is to ask for forgiveness and let go of any sins and failures in your life. Letting go and moving past these mistakes and failures is crucial in your walk and relationship with God. Holding on and dwelling on those past mistakes can hinder you from fulfilling God’s plan for your life. It doesn’t matter what you have done or where you came from, once God has forgiven you he forgets all about it. That is truly amazing that he can choose to forget the sin you committed when you asked for forgiveness. For example, look at the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1. When looking at these verses you can see that many of Jesus’ ancestors had past failures. For instance Rahab was a prostitute, however once she asked for forgiveness God used her to do mighty things for his kingdom, including being an ancestor of Jesus ( what an honor it would be to be one of Jesus’ ancestors, even after you failed so many times). There are many others including Judah and Manasseh, etc. These failures didn’t keep Rahab or the others from furthering God’s kingdom, therefore past failures should hinder you from doing great things for the kingdom of God. We must learn not to dwell on the things of the past but look into the good of the future.

Another step in SURRENDERING FULLY is to have a real relationship with God not just a check-list relationship. Many of you are probably wondering what the heck a check-list relationship is. Well, a check-list relationship one is where you do things because you HAVE to. You HAVE to read you bible everyday, you HAVE to pray everyday, you HAVE to go to church every Sunday and Wednesday. No!… you should want to do these things. You shouldn’t have to force yourself to do these things, if you are having to force yourself to do these things it would probably be better to just not do them. Forcing yourself to read the bible isn’t going to get you anywhere because you aren’t willing to learn, forcing yourself to pray isn’t going to get you anywhere because it isn’t out of a sincere heart, and forcing yourself to go to church isn’t going to accomplish anything, because truthfully you aren’t going to be listening. Think about it, if you  are having to force yourself to go to church you are probably going just to say, “oh I went to church today!” Having a real relationship with Jesus Christ should be something you want to do. When you are surrendering yourself praying to God for help and guidance is crucial, without it you might make a wrong decision or fall into the trap of the enemy. You must constantly pray for help and guidance, just as Daniel did when he was in the lion’s den. Lets take a look at Daniels story to see how praying helped him survive in a dark pit with a bunch of starving lions.

Daniel chapter 6:

   ¹ It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, ² with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. ³ Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. ⁴ At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. ⁵ Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”

⁶ So these administrators and satraps went as a group to the king and said: “May King Darius live forever! ⁷ The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den. ⁸ Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” ⁹ So King Darius put the decree in writing.

¹⁰ Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. ¹¹ Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. ¹² So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?”

The king answered, “The decree stands—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”

¹³ Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.” ¹⁴ When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.

¹⁵ Then the men went as a group to King Darius and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.”

¹⁶ So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”

¹⁷ A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. ¹⁸ Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.

¹⁹ At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. ²⁰ When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”

²¹ Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! ²² My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”

²³ The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

²⁴ At the king’s command, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

²⁵ Then King Darius wrote to all the nations and peoples of every language in all the earth:

“May you prosper greatly!

²⁶ “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.

“For he is the living God
and he endures forever;
his kingdom will not be destroyed,
his dominion will never end.
²⁷ He rescues and he saves;
he performs signs and wonders
in the heavens and on the earth.
He has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.”

²⁸ So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus^[b] the Persian.

This is just one of the many examples of how praying for help and guidance can get you through a difficult situation, in this case being eaten by lion’s! Daniel’s faith also helped him to win people to God through persevering through the trial he faced, and believing God would save him. Prayer is very powerful, and in this case it helped save a life. Prayer can heal, save, give guidance, etc. Prayer is a very crucial part of you walk with God. Well, this sums it up for the first part of SURRENDERING FULLY to God. In the next part we will look at how to surrender our lives and do exactly what God tells us to do.

~thoughts from Lauren~

Hard Times, How do you react?

Everyone will face some type of hardship in their life, whether it be a family member passing away, a struggle with temptation, health problems, etc. Whatever the circumstance may be ask your self, how did I react, or how am I going to react when that time comes? Many people in today’s world, including many christians, try and solve their worldly problems with worldly solutions, such as, drinking, drugs, suicide, etc. As christians we must fully rely on God and trust in him to bring us through those hard times. Lets take a look  at 1 Samuel 23:7-29 and 1 Samuel 24: 1-12, and see how David  reacted to the hardships that arose in his life.

1 Samuel 23:7-29 describes a story of David running for his life as King Saul pursued him, trying to capture and kill David. Saul chased and chased after David, but as David relied on help from God, God spared his life time and time again. Ultimately God sent one of Davids’ good friends, Jonathan (Saul’s son), to reassure David that the situation was in God’s hands, and God was going to deliver him. In verses 27-29 a messenger came running to Saul telling him, “Come Quickly! The Philistines are raiding the land.” Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. David then lived in peace in the strongholds of En Gedi.

Look at verse 14, “David stayed in the desert strongholds and in the hills of the desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.” When looking at this, you can see that Saul could have easily followed David and killed him, but God intervened and saved David by hiding him in the Desert. God provided for him and he can provide for you in every aspect of your life. Usually, when we think of God providing for someone we think of Financial aide or blessings, but God can provide in any way possible no matter how big or small your problem is, he will always find a way to provide for you in your hardships.

Next, lets take a look at how God can deliver you from your Hardships and trials. Take a look at 23:26-29, Davids’ army and Saul’s army were just on opposite sides of the mountain, when God sent a messenger to Saul saying that the Philistines were raiding the lands. This messenger probably saved David’s life. When, Saul received the message of the Philistines he immediately stopped all searching for David, and went to meet with them.  This is where God stepped into David’s situation and delivered him. God sent the messenger so that David’s life would be spared and he could live peacefully without worry in the strongholds of En Gedi. Just as God delivered David from his situation he can do the same for you, if you are willing to allow him to intervene and do it his way.

That brings us to our last idea of this story which can be found in 1 Samuel 24:1-11. To summarize the story it might go something like this: When Saul returned home from pursuing the Philistines he was told that David was living in the desert of En Gedi. From there Saul went out searching for him with 3,000 chosen men. When the men spotted a cave and sheep pens, Saul went in to use the bathroom. David’s men then spotted Saul and said to David, ” this is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘ I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.'” David then preceded to cut off the corner of Saul’s robe. After cutting the corner off David felt convicted and said to his men, ” The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lift my hand against him, for he is the anointed of the lord.” We could stop there but we would miss the most important part, the part where David actually listens to God and surrenders to the plan God has set out for him, ok back to the story. Where were we… oh yeah look at verse 7-12, David did not allow for his men to attack Saul, and Saul left the cave. David then ran out of the cave and basically called to Saul saying , how could you listen to the words of men that I would want to harm you? As you can see today I had a chance to kill you but I spared your life. I will not lift my hand against my master for he is the Lord’s anointed. David then went on to say that he did no wrong, and that the Lord will take care of the wrongs that Saul did to him, but he himself will not lay a hand on Saul. In our lives today we must surrender to God and his plan for our life, we must let go of those grudges or burdens and let God take care of them. He has a perfect plan set out for our life, if we give it all to him and allow him to work in and through us, in every aspect of our lives.

These hardships just as David suffered are going to arise in our life no matter if how good of a person we are, trials are always going to come. It is up to us though to decide how we are going to react these situations and how they are going to affect our walk with Christ. If we allow God to work through us he will provide for us and deliver us from the hardships, and sometimes use these experiences to further his kingdom. God has a amazing plan for your life, “you’ve just gotta let God do what God’s gonna do.”

~Thoughts from Lauren~