Category: Health

How to Pray To See Your Wounds Healed (Insights in Prophets)

4/22/2013

In the preceding book of Micah, you learned how to gain spiritual maturity in order to pray confidently so sin is defeated. Nahum explains how to pray in order to see your wounds healed. By praying God's attributes of goodness, sovereignty, power and truth, your wounds will be healed, especially the lust for control and materialism.

Trust God's Goodness Who Cares
Nahum said the Lord was a jealous God who poured out His wrath like fire against His enemies. He was slow to anger, great in power and did not leave the guilty unpunished. God dried up the sea, withered Bashan and Carmel and trembled the earth. No one withstood His indignation. The Lord was good and a refuge in times of trouble. He cared for those who trusted in Him. He made an end of Nineveh with an overwhelming flood and pursued His foes into darkness (Nahum 1:1-8). Trust God's goodness as a refuge who cares for you in times of trouble.

Trust God's Sovereignty to Bring Good News
God ended plots against Him. Nineveh would be cut down and not afflict Judah any more. God broke their yoke and tore shackles away. He commanded that Nineveh would have no descendants. God destroyed the carved images and cast idols in the temple of their gods. On the mountains was the feet who brought good news and proclaimed peace. Judah celebrated their festivals knowing the wicked would not invade them (Nahum 1:9-15). Trust God's sovereignty to bring the right people to proclaim good news and peace to break the yoke of sin.

Trust God's Power to Restore Health
The Lord would restore Israel's splendor even though the destroyers ruined their vines. Nineveh's troops stumbled and the palace collapsed. It was decreed that the city be exiled like a pool with water draining away. Her wealth was plundered and their hearts melted. God burnt their chariots in smoke and the sword devoured their young lions. The voices of their messengers were no longer heard (Nahum 2:1-13). Trust God's power to restore health and defeat spiritual enemies.

Trust God's Truth to Defeat Lust for Control
Nahum pronounced woe on the city of blood full of lies, plunder and victims because she had lust of a harlot and sorceries. Nineveh enslaved nations by prostitution and witchcraft. God was against her and showed nations her nakedness and shame. All who saw Nineveh said she was ruined and wondered if anyone could comfort her. She was no better than Thebes with Cush, Egypt, Put and Libya as allies and her strength. Thebes was also taken captive, exiled, infants killed and great men chained (Nahum 3:1-11). Trust God's truth to defeat lust for control.

Strengthen Your Spiritual Defenses to Defeat Materialism
Nineveh's fortresses were like fig trees when the first ripe fruit was shaken into the mouth of the eater. The gates of their land were wide open to their enemies with women as troops. They should have strengthened their defenses by repairing the brickwork since fire devoured them. They increased the number of merchants more than the stars who were like locusts that stripped the land. Their guards and officials were like swarms of locusts that flew away when the sun appeared (Nahum 3:12-17). Strengthen your spiritual defenses through prayer to defeat materialism.

Pray God's Attributes to Heal Your Wounds
Their shepherds slumbered, nobles lied down to rest and the people scattered on the mountains. Nothing could heal their wound since their injury was fatal. Everyone who heard news about them celebrated because they felt their endless cruelty (Nahum 3:18-19). Pray God's goodness, sovereignty, power and truth to heal your wounds.

The following explains how to pray in order to see your wounds healed:
1. Trust God's goodness who cares in times of trouble
2. Trust God's sovereignty to bring the right people who proclaim truth and peace
3. Trust God's power to restore health and defeat spiritual enemies
4. Trust God's truth to defeat lust for control
5. Strengthen your spiritual defenses through prayer to defeat materialism
6. Pray God's goodness, sovereignty, power and truth to heal your wounds

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Conversions Necessary for Proper Stewardship (Insights in Law)

10/21/2012

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Martin Luther wrote that for proper stewardship, "there are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the heart, mind, and the purse." Deut. 13-15 explains proper stewardship begins with loving God (conversion of the heart). It continues with confronting sin and eating healthy (conversion of the mind). It concludes with paying the firstfruits of your earnings, giving generously to the poor and showing consideration to employees (conversion of the purse). Stewardship involves surrendering time, talent and treasure to God as you spend time with Him.

Love God
Do not listen to prophet or dreamer who correctly predicted a miracle if he told people to follow other gods. This was God's test to find out whether they loved Him with all their heart and soul to obey and serve Him only. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death to purge evil among them because he preached rebellion against God who redeemed people from the land of slavery in Egypt. If close relative of friend secretly enticed people you to worship other gods, put him to death so Israel would be afraid and not do evil thing again (Deut. 13:1-11). Love God with all your heart and soul so you can pray and confront sin in your family.

Confront Sin
If wicked men led a city astray to worship other gods, investigate thoroughly, put them to death, destroy both its people and livestock and burn the plunder in the middle of the public square along with the city as a burnt offering to the Lord as a ruin forever never to be rebuilt. The Lord would turn from His anger and show mercy, compassion and increase the numbers as He promised because of obeying His commands (Deut. 13:12-18). Pray and publicly confront church and community-wide sin so God shows mercy and compassion to multiply disciples of Christ.

Eat Healthy
Forbid cutting or shaving the front of peoples' heads for the dead since they were holy and chosen by God as His treasured possession. Eat ox, sheep, goat, deer, gazelle and antelope along with animals with split hoof that chewed cud except camel, rabbit or rock badger. Do not eat pig since it was considered ceremonially unclean. Eat creatures living in water with fins and scales along with clean birds except eagle, vulture, falcon, raven, owl, gull, hawk, osprey, stork, heron and bat. Do not eat flying insects but eat any clean winged creature. Do not eat dead creatures but can give to an alien to eat or sell to a foreigner (Deut. 14:1-21). Eat healthy foods to demonstrate God's holiness as His treasured people.

Pay Firstfruits
Eat the tenth of the grain, new wine and oil that the fields and firstborn of the herds produced each year at the place God chose as a dwelling to learn reverence for His name. If the place was too far, exchange the tithe for silver to buy cattle, sheep, wine or fermented drink and eat in the presence of the Lord. Do not neglect the Levites since they had no inheritance of their own. Every three years, all the tithes of that year's produce would be stored so the Levites, aliens, fatherless and widows could eat and God bless the work of peoples' hands (Deut. 14:22-29). Pay firstfruits from your earnings to learn reverence of God and provide financially for full-time vocational workers and the needy.

Give Generously
Cancel loans to fellow Israelites or brothers every seven years to proclaim the Lord's time for canceling debts. There should be no poor among them for God richly blessed them in giving the land to possess as an inheritance if they fully obeyed all His commands. They would lend to and rule over many nations but borrow from none and none would rule over them. Do not be hardhearted or tightfisted to a poor brother, but be openhanded and freely lend whatever he needed. He could appeal to the Lord and the stingy person be found guilty of sin. God blessed the work of those who gave generously without a grudging heart. Be open-handed toward brothers and the needy even though would always be poor people in the land (Deut. 15:1-11). Give generously to the poor so God can bless the work of your hands.

Show Consideration
Let a fellow Hebrew slave go free with many resources according to the Lord's blessing in the seventh year. God gave this command because of them being slaves and redeemed in Egypt. They took an awl and pushed it through ear lobe into the door of slaves and maidservants who wanted to stay for life. Setting servants free should not be a hardship since their service was worth twice compared to a hired hand. As a result, God blessed their owners in everything they did (Deut. 15:12-18). Show consideration and generosity to your employees.

Surrender Time, Talent and Treasure
Set apart every firstborn male of herds and flocks. Do not put the firstborn oxen to work and do not shear the firstborn sheep but eat them in the presence of the Lord at the place God chose. A defective, lame or blind animal with a serious flaw was not sacrificed to the Lord but they ate it without the blood (Deut. 15:19-23). Surrender the best of your time, talent and treasure to God as you spend time with Him.

Consider how you are doing in the conversion of your heart, mind and purse for proper stewardship on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being the lowest and 10 the highest:
1. Love God with all your heart and soul so you can pray and confront sin in your family
2. Pray and publicly confront church and community-wide sin so God shows mercy and compassion to multiply disciples of Christ
3. Eat healthy foods to demonstrate God's holiness as His treasured people
4. Pay firstfruits from your earnings to learn reverence of God and provide financially for full-time vocational workers and the needy
5. Give generously to the poor so God can bless the work of your hands
6. Show consideration and generosity to your employees
7. Surrender the best of your time, talent and treasure to God as you spend time with Him
Ask God to develop your one or two lowest rated conversions related to stewardship.

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Deal Seriously With Sin Before It Crushes You (Insights in Law)

3/25/2012

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Sadhu Sundar Singh wrote, "It is not necessary that every single member of the body should become useless and weak before death occurs. A weakness of, or a blow upon, the heart or the brain will suffice to bring an end to life, however strong and healthy other parts of the body may be. Thus one sin by its poisonous effect on the mind and heart is sufficient to ruin the spiritual life not of one only, but of a whole family or nation, even of the whole race. Such was the sin of Adam." Sin begins the moment we are born. Sin spreads through the body of Christ like leprosy in the human body. Therefore, deal seriously with sin in your life and the body of Christ before it crushes you like a boulder.

A woman giving birth to a male child would be unclean for seven days in her menstruation and on the eighth day he would be circumcised. For 33 days, she remained in the blood of her purification where she could not touch any consecrated thing. For female child, she would be unclean for two weeks and remain in the blood of her purification for 66 days (Lev. 12:1-5). God provides time for bonding to deal with original sin in your children.

When her purification was complete, she brought the child to the priest along with one-year-old lamb for burnt offering and young pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering to make atonement and cleansed from the flow of her blood (Lev. 12:6-8). God wants complete surrender to Him as you confront your children's sin nature.

When man had swelling or a scab and it became leprosy, he was brought to Aaron the priest or his sons to pronounce unclean if the infection was deeper than the skin of his body. If not, he would isolate him for seven days. If the infection had faded and the mark had not spread, the priest announced him clean and washed his clothes. If a leper had an infection, he tore his clothes, uncovered the hair of his head and cried, “Unclean! Unclean!” He would remain unclean all the days he had infection. He would live alone in a dwelling outside the camp. If a garment had a mark, the priest would quarantine it for seven days. If the mark spread, he would burn the article. If the mark had not spread, the priest ordered him to wash the article and quarantine for seven more days. If the mark had departed when you washed it, then it would be washed a second time and be clean (Lev. 13:1-59). Confess and forsake sin so it does not spread through the whole body of Christ.

The priest would go outside the camp to the leper, which was the law of the leper in the day of cleansing. If the infection was healed, the priest took two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet string and hyssop, while dipping them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was slain over the running water. The priest sprinkled seven times the one who was to be cleansed from leprosy, pronounced him cleansed and let the live bird go free. The one to be cleansed washed his clothes, shaved his hair and bathed in water for cleansing. He could enter the camp but stayed outside his tent for seven days (Lev. 14:1-9). Christ's death on the cross deals with the sin problem so one can become a new creation in Him.

On the eighth day, he took two male lambs without defect, yearly ewe and 3/10 of ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering and one log of oil. The priest took one male goat for the guilt offering with the log of oil and presented them as a wave offering before the Lord. The priest took the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right ear lobe of the one to be cleansed along with the thumb of his right hand, big toe of his right foot and poured the log of oil into his left palm. The priest dipped his right hand finger into the oil from his left palm to sprinkle it seven times before the Lord. Put remaining oil on right ear lobe, thumb of right hand and big toe of right foot and remainder on the head of one to be cleansed to make atonement before the Lord. The priest made sin, burnt and grain on the altar to make atonement for him (Lev. 14:10-20). Identify with Christ's death, burial and resurrection in the power of the Holy Spirit so the members of your body don't yield to sin.

If he is poor with insufficient means, he should take one male lamb for guilt offering and 1/10 of ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for grain offering and two turtledoves for sin, burnt and grain offering to make atonement. This is the law for those whose means were limited for his cleansing (Lev. 14:21-32). Everyone can experience wholeness in Christ by walking in newness of life.

When you entered Canaan given as a possession and God put a mark of leprosy on a house, the owner told the priest and he ordered its contents to be emptied. If marks were deeper than the wall's surface, the house would be quarantined for seven days. After inspection, all uncleaned surfaces would be scraped. The stones and plaster would be replaced and the house cleansed with a process similar to a leper. This is the law for any mark of leprosy—scale, garment, house, swelling, scab or bright spot--to teach when they were unclean or clean (Lev. 14:33-57). Teach others the connection between physical and spiritual health.

Ask yourself these questions:
1. What is your attitude to sin?
2. Do you live with sin or are you proactive in applying the blood of Christ by confessing and forsaking sin?
3. Do you prevent the spread of sin in the body of Christ by personal ministry in others' lives?

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Holiness Affects Spiritual and Physical Areas of Life (Insights in Law)

3/17/2012

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Many of us tend to dichotomize and compartmentalize our lives by dividing things into categories of either secular or sacred, material or spiritual, refined or natural. We separate what we are at church from our lives on the street. God wants you to move every mundane activity into the realm of holiness. Holiness is not about location, but a shift of perspective in living life. It’s more a matter of motive and intent in how we live life. Is God or self at the center of your thoughts? Do you focus on your own success or serve others so they become successful? To be holy is to be holistic. Leviticus 10-11 demonstrate how the principles of holiness affect both the spiritual and physical areas of life.

Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, died after offering strange fire not commanded by the Lord. Moses said to Aaron that those who came near God will be treated as holy and before all the people He will be honored. Moses told Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel to carry his relatives outside the camp. Moses told Aaron's sons Eleazar and Ithamar stay in the tent of meeting without uncovering their heads or tearing their clothes so they would not die (Lev. 10:1-7). Holiness enables you to build your relationship with God upon His word.

God told Aaron and his sons not to drink wine or strong drink when they came into the tent of meeting so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane and to teach Israel all the statutes. Moses told Aaron's surviving sons to eat an unleavened grain offering beside the altar. They also were instructed to offer a breast and thigh for a wave offering in a clean place (Lev. 10:8-15). Holiness enables you to depend on God for physical and spiritual necessities to sacrificially give to support His servants.

Moses was angry that the goat of the sin offering was burned and not eatened so Eleazar and Ithamar could bear away the guilt of the congregation and make atonement. Moses was satisfied with Aaron's explanation that mourning for his other sons caused them to not eat the sin offering (Lev. 10:16-20). Holiness enables you to not judge but identify with others' sin so you can minister to them.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron that Israel could eat mammals with split hoofs and chew the cud. They could not eat camel, rock badger, rabbit or pig since they were unclean. They could only eat water animals with fins and scales. Those without fins and scales were detestable to them. They could not eat birds like eagle, vulture, buzzard, kite, falcon, raven, ostrich, owl, sea gull, hawk, stork, heron, hoopoe and bat. Winged insects that walked on all fours were detestable except the locust, cricket and grasshopper (Lev. 11:1-23). Holiness enables you to eat healthy food to maintain good health.

Whoever touched unclean carcasses, including animals that walked on all fours, became unclean until evening. Those who picked up their carcasses washed their clothes. Swarming things like the mole, mouse, lizard, gecko, crocodile, sand reptile, chameleon were unclean. A dead swarming thing made anything it touched unclean (Lev. 11:1-38). Holiness enables you to maintain a lifestyle of cleanliness and isolation to prevent disease.

A person became unclean until evening if they touched a dead clean animal. He who ate or touched a carcass washed their clothes and became unclean until evening. One could not eat swarming things that crawled on its belling, walked on all fours or had many feet. Be holy since the Lord your God is holy. Don't make yourselves unclean with swarming things. The Lord brought you from the Egypt to be your God to be holy like Him (Lev. 11:39-45). Holiness enables you to prevent the transmission of disease through proper hygiene.

The law regarding every living thing was given to make a distinction between the clean and unclean and between the edible and what could not be eatened (Lev. 11:46-47). Holiness demonstrates that God can speak and has access to physical and spiritual areas of life.

Answer the following three questions:
1. What areas of your life are you not allowing to speak into?
2. How would that area change if you depended on God?
3. What is God asking you to do?

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Seeking Bliss! (Insights in Law)

6/29/2010

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The day-to-day grind of life can be boring and tedious. We long for excitement. Even those working at compelling jobs often get tired of the routine. We may pursue indoor activities like woodworking or dancing for a change of pace. Others prefer outdoor activities--gardening, sailing, golfing, hunting or fishing. Marriage is the most significant relationship of life, but it can lose its spark and romance when we take each other for granted.

Pleasures of life grow dull over time if they are disconnected from its life source. God designed work and marriage to bless humankind when Christ, as the tree of life, becomes the central focus (Gen. 2:9-10). Our work becomes meaningful and purposeful as we allow God to direct our activities (Gen. 2:15).

Christ should be the most important person in our marriage. How do we get there? When we allow God to choose our life partner (Gen. 2:18). By leaving our parents, we make a conscious decision to seek healing of our emotional hurts by Christ so we can develop an intimate relationship with our spouse. God uses he or she to fill the gaps in our lives so we become one flesh. The weaknesses in one person are the strengths in the other. Rather than shame, we experience emotional and spiritual health (Gen. 2:24-25).

As people go through the various seasons of life, many have no sense of a personal God. God is always speaking, but do we listen? As we respond to His voice, we move from awareness of God’s presence to understanding His total sufficiency for every need and desire. We experience God’s presence through meaningful work and especially through an intimate marriage. God designed marriage so husband and wife becomes one flesh spiritually, emotionally and physically. Marriage represents Christ’s love relationship with His church on earth. On a scale of one to ten with one being lowest and ten the highest, assess the climate in your marriage.

Ask God to show you practical steps to become one in your relationship whether you ask forgiveness for a bad attitude, affirm a strength in your spouse, or just listen to his or her concerns.

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How to Pray To See Your Wounds Healed (Insights in Prophets)

Conversions Necessary for Proper Stewardship (Insights in Law)

Deal Seriously With Sin Before It Crushes You (Insights in Law)

Holiness Affects Spiritual and Physical Areas of Life (Insights in Law)

Seeking Bliss! (Insights in Law)

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