Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Wednesday's Words to Live by For March 28th - April 3rd 2012 "We Are Already Healed" Part II



Scriptures - Deuteronomy 7:15a & Isaiah 53:5 - I will use different translations this week for the teaching:
New International Version (NIV): The LORD will keep you free from every disease (Deu. 7:15a).

English Standard Version (ESV): And the LORD will take away from you all sickness (Deu. 7:15a).

New Living Translation (NLT): And the Lord will protect you from all sickness (Deu. 7:15a).

New Living Translation (NLT) - Isaiah 53:5: But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.


Sickness, disease, or any other plague has no legal right to be on or in our bodies and we must NOT allow it to remain. We are already healed and God’s healing grace keeps our healing in place. Isaiah 53:4 said, “Jesus carried our weakness...,” weakness here means, disease and sickness. Therefore, if Jesus has already carried our diseases and sicknesses in His body, why do we need to carry them in ours? We don’t! The enemy is going around as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour; he is looking for someone, anyone to steal, kill and destroy them by any means necessary – but this will not work! Romans 8:26-27 says: 26 “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.” For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for but the Holy Spirit prays for us with groaning that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will” (www.biblegateway.com - NLT).

God is saying today what He told Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is all you need; My power works best in weakness” (NLT). God told Paul this three times; each time Paul would ask Him to remove his thorn in the flesh.

 After God did not remove the thorn, Paul finally got the revelation because he said in verses 9-10, “So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (NLT).

Jesus has healed us because of God’s grace! What is grace? It is much, much more than God’s unmerited favor. According to seekgod.org’s web site, “Grace is an undeserved free gift, undeserved favor, and undeserved love. Only through Jesus Christ we are offered grace, a free gift. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8).

God has already given us His grace for healing! He loved us so much that He sent His only Son Jesus, to die so we could live! We must accept Jesus to activate our grace! We cannot have grace without Him!

We must grow in the grace that God has given; if we do not know we have grace or do not know what it is, grace will not do us any good. 2 Peter 3:18 tell us to grow in grace: “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen” (KJV).

How do we grow in grow? We grow in grace by transforming our minds to the truth of God’s Word. We must know God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and by knowing the Trinity, we will know what our inheritance is; what our covenant benefits are. Until our minds are transformed to what Jesus HAS done, we cannot receive our healing grace. Once our minds are transformed, we will be able to receive and apply the Word of God, which is health to our flesh, to every circumstance and situation in our lives (Proverbs 4:22).

Your thought life can nullify God’s healing grace in your life. It’s not that God’s healing grace is not present to heal in your life; it’s just you cannot receive because of your thinking. Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so he is.”

Let’s embrace the grace of God, not only for healing, but His full grace that He has provided for us through His Son Jesus! Again, we do this by renewing our minds to what His Word says and believe what Jesus has already completed for us. Now also, the Holy Spirit is living inside of us, comforting us, teaching us, so we cannot lose! All we have to do is not allow our bodies or any other situation or circumstance cause us to waver in our faith! God’s grace IS sufficient for us!


God bless,
Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks
  

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Wednesday's Words to Live By For Mar 21st - Mar 27th 2012 "We Are Already Healed" Part I



Scriptures - Deuteronomy 7:15a & Isaiah 53:5 - I will use different translations this week for the teaching:
New International Version (NIV): The LORD will keep you free from every disease (Deu. 7:15a).
English Standard Version (ESV): And the LORD will take away from you all sickness (Deu. 7:15a).
New Living Translation (NLT): And the Lord will protect you from all sickness (Deu. 7:15a).
New Living Translation (NLT) - Isaiah 53:5: But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

Deuteronomy 7:15a was a prophecy of what was going to happen. I like all the versions above but I think the ESV corresponds best with Isaiah 53:5: Jesus was beaten (dictionary.com’s definition of beaten is: to strike violently or forcefully and repeatedly) so we could be whole (dictionary.com’s definition of whole is: total; entire or complete sum; altogether; every part, member, aspect - nothing, missing, nothing broken, nothing lacking in our lives; to walk in total peace with God, the peace Jesus gave us in John 14:27; the peace that Paul talks about in Phil 4:7: “...which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus”). God’s peace will open the door for His grace and power to flow (“How to Live in Peace” series by Dr. Larry Hutton).

Also, Jesus was whipped (dictionary.com’s definition of whipped is: to beat with a strap, lash, rod, or the like, especially by way of punishment or chastisement; flog; trash) so we could be healed.

Since this already has happened, we are already healed! I am going to take the other two versions and combine them together with the first version to make a declaration of what Jesus has already done: Jesus will take away from me ALL sickness, protect me from ALL sickness, and keep me free from ALL diseases. According to dictionary.com, here are the definitions for sickness and disease; they are not the same:
  • Sickness – the condition of being ill; ill health
  • Disease – a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors

No matter what the cause of sickness or disease, Jesus has already conquered the cause and bore OUR sickness and disease in His own body; they have no legal right to touch our body!! I am not denying the sickness or disease but I am denying them a right to live in my body or touch my body because Jesus has already bore every sickness, every disease, every pain and everything else (including negative emotions) that would ever attack us! Negative emotions (stress, anger, anxiety, bitterness, unforgiveness, etc.) will keep us from walking in the peace of God which will also have a reaction on our bodies.

God wanted and wants us well! Healed! Whole! Jesus did just that; again, He took all sicknesses and diseases away from us – I cannot stress that enough. Jesus said “It is finished!” Therefore, it is finished! When these things come to us, we must take our shield of faith and quench those fiery darts and keep quenching them until they leave! We must fight facts with the truth of God’s Word! The fact might be there is a sickness or disease in your body but the truth of God’s Word says “By Jesus stripes we are healed.”







Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Wednesday's Words to Live By For Mar 14th - Mar 20th 2012 "God Is An On Time God! (Just Not Our Time)" Part II


This is a continuation of the message, “God Is An On Time God! (Just Not Our Time);” we will be discussing the second and third reasons why God wait to answer our “urgent” prayers – let’s begin. The second reason why God wait sometimes to answer our “urgent” prayer request is so our faith can be tested. James 1:2-4 says: "2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way." (www.biblegateway.com - Message Bible)

That “urgent” need is a trying of our faith. The test is not for God’s purpose, He already knows where we are, it’s for our purpose. I could not see clearly that I was not trusting in God for my financial needs until God allowed my false source to dry up; I immediately panicked at first. That’s when I realized, for years, I had thought I was trusting God to take care of me but I was not; I was trusting in that false source. Now, I am learning how to put my faith in God so I can really trust Him because you trust whatever your faith is in. If your faith is in people, you trust them; you look unto them for everything – they become your source and you leave God out. I used this example because that is what I did. I would run to people for everything – I thought everybody was my friend. I found out the hard way, everyone I met was not my friend; they saw the neediness in me and used me – I did not know I was putting a curse on my own self.
Jeremiah 17:5  states: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord” (www.biblegateway.com - NLT). Jeremiah 17:7 tells us what is going to happen when we put our trust in God: “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence” (www.biblegateway.com-NLT).  Therefore, when we put our trust in man and not God, we are cursing our own selves; and we wonder why we are not being blessed sometimes. Jeremiah 17:9 let us know no one knows what is in a man’s heart; but God: “The heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” (www.biblegateway.com-NLT)

The third reason why God wait sometimes to answer our “urgent” prayer request is to test our love for Him. Again, He already know how we feel, this is for our sake. God is asking you as He asked Peter, “Do you love Me?” Do you love God enough not to get upset with Him if that “thing” you are praying about dies before He answers? Once it does, will you say, “God You know best?” or will you say, “Why did You let this happen?” Especially if your “urgent” prayer request is for God to heal a love one; or if that “urgent” prayer request is to keep you from losing your home, car, or other material possessions. No matter what request we are believing God to answer, He knows what He is doing because He is in total control of our lives. God has us in the palm of His hand and nothing and no one will be able to pluck us out of His hand (John 10:28-29).

We get into trouble when we try to figure things out; when we lean to our own understanding instead of trusting God with ALL our hearts (Proverbs 3:5-8). We must allow God to work in us the way He sees fit. God wants to move one way but we expect Him to move another; let’s not be narrow minded – God has many, many, many ways that He can work things out for us. We give God permission to move in our lives as He sees fit but when He does, we try to tell Him how to move. Once we accept the will of God for our lives, we will not be disappointed when things don’t work out like we thought they should. We must put our lives in God’s hand, trust Him that He knows best for us, and rest in what He says.


God Bless!
Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks

These materials are copyright protected therefore you must request permission to reproduce any part of them. To request permission, contact: Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks: dehooks@abusedwoman.org

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Wednesday's Words To Live By For March 7th – March 13th 2012 "God Is An On Time God! (Just Not Our Time)" Part I



I have heard many people make the statement, “God may not come when you want Him, but He is right on time,” this is a true statement; however, it can be confusing to you if you have not received the revelation about its meaning.

As I was making my bed, God begin to deal with me about the Scripture where Lazarus had died (John 11:1-45). Lazarus sisters, Mary and Martha, called for Jesus days before he died to let Jesus know Lazarus was sick. But Jesus deliberately delayed going to Lazarus until after he died. Jesus knew if He did not go right away, Lazarus would die; God knows everything before it is going to happen. Jesus delayed because He knew He would perform a miracle and God would get the glory (vs. 4-6). Martha was upset with Jesus when He came because Lazarus had died; he had been in the grave for four days. Why did God bring this Scripture to my mind? It was because I had just finished praying, asking Him to do some things for me which had deadlines. Also, God wanted me to clearly see, His timing is not my timing. In other words, what’s an emergency to me is not an emergency to God. Although Jesus was late, on purpose, coming to Lazarus, in the end it all worked out for Mary, Martha, and Lazarus’ good; foremost, God got the glory for the miracle. God will not share His glory with no one! We are not smart enough, rich enough, strong enough, etc. to bring ourselves out of ANYTHING! Everything we have, God gave it to us; we can do nothing without Him.

Sometimes when man does not help us and they can, it is because they either have not allowed God to touch their heart to help or God don’t want that man bragging about “he” brought us out. Even when things don’t work out like we think they should sometimes, most of the time, when we have our own “ram in the bush,” God allows it to fall through so to save us from getting the big head and saying, “I” did this or “I” did that.

These are the three reasons God gave me why He wait to answer our “urgent” prayer request: The first reason why God wait sometimes to answer our “urgent” prayer request is so He can get the glory; in the end, it will work out for our good, whether the answer is yes or no. God said in Jeremiah 29:11“I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out –plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for”(www.biblegateway.com - Message Bible).

Therefore God knows what we need and when we need it. God has our lives already planned out. All we have to do is line up with His plans for our life, not the other way around; we must conform to God’s will, God does not have to conform to ours.

I know how Mary felt when Jesus did not come when she thought He should come. I use to get upset with God because things did not work out like I thought they should. Oh how foolish I was! Thank God for His mercy, grace, and love for me; this kept Him from striking me down. I would verbally scream and throw temper tantrums and say, “God, why did you allow that to happen to me.” I thought God was supposed to give me everything I ask for because I was His child; now I know better. God will give us what is best for us, not everything we think we should have. I now look back and say, “Thank God for not honoring every request I made to Him.” And the ones He did allow me to receive, I wish He would not have; He tried to tell me but I would not listen.

God might tell us, show us, or have other people tell us not to do something but the final choice is ours. He is not going to twist our arm to stop us from making a choice. But we must realize there are consequences to every choice we make, whether good or bad. For every action there is a reaction (whether in the natural realm – you see it or spiritual realm – you can’t see it); I paid dearly and unnecessarily, for the unwise choices I made. We know most of the time when we are out of the will of God because deep down in our spirits there is unrest. We might not know what it is but we know something is wrong. This is the time to honestly seek God for answers, not go on as if everything is alright; I definitely am!! Remember, God can see farther down the road than we can, so we need to let Him be God and follow His directions.

God Bless!
Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks

These materials are copyright protected therefore you must request permission to reproduce any part of them. To request permission, contact: Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks: dehooks@abusedwoman.org.