Praise the Lord everyone in the precious name of Jesus Christ.
In wanting to be healed we will go to great lengths in praying, fasting and crying with humbleness. If we believe the sickness to be more severe we will even remind the Lord “I don’t want to die.” Too often the Lord answers with healing and back we go to our old everyday habits and not give another thought to our being healed or the mercy that was shown upon us.
Jesus Christ did not come for us to skip over natural death but he did come for us to conquer the workings of the carnal mind and fleshly actions. We have learned through great searching of the WORD that it is not the natural eye or hand that needs to be cut off or plucked out but instead the spirits of lust, pride and desires that inhabit the mind. We could dismember all members of this natural body and still have a mind that would visualize lusts, pride and desires and how they could be accomplished with the imaginations we had left.
A scripture very seldom recognized is, For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (1) Romans tells us, concerning the flesh Christ came. (2) St. John says, As thou hast given him power over all flesh and I have overcome the world. (3)(4) Let’s put all these scriptures in perspective and see what they equal. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Now if the Father of Jesus Christ is the spirit which he is faithful to (St. John 4:24, 5:18) we now can take the first half of I John 3:8 where he says, He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. So, with the understanding of this gospel when Jesus told the Jews, Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do we can understand that the devil is that Spirit ruling man which we call “Flesh.” (5) Can you remember what I John 2:16 said was in the world?
We who want to be saved are after a mind inhabited with the pleasures, desires and lusts of the spiritual world. We too pray for natural healings of the body but understand that we are not to forget the healings or the one who showed us mercy. We pray for our healing and so it comes. We ask for pleasures and so they come. These are not the pleasures to show we belong to the “Flesh” for our pleasures must be with joyfulness bringing forth peace and righteousness.
When the Lord does something for us it is not for us to forget why he (Lord) answered us nor what it took to receive his mercy. The “Flesh” lives for himself, therefore man’s mind has become his own worst enemy. Let those of us that are laboring for a spiritual life not be found having the same mindset as the men of the world.
There is a scripture which says, for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. (6) That scripture is so true. If you need healing, if you need a prayer answered or if you have a need from the least to the greatest you know who to go to. Now, can we be faithful and willing to manifest that “Flesh” is not our life but rather the Spirit of Life is the one we serve?
Luke 11:9 says, And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Just as the “Flesh” has been given the rule of the world with all its promises, so have the spiritual promises been given to the men who have determined to make this “gospel” his/her life.
If the kingdom of God is set up within you (our minds) then we have a duty to
manifest it through our actions and attitudes. (7) If you want this gospel to be a beautiful story book, or a belief of some day, or something you just like having sitting around the Spirit of righteousness will not stop you. The Spirit of Jesus Christ wants willing minds with willing members. Does this take work? Well, we can find in St. Luke where Jesus said, The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. (8) I have yet to see that it is easy to get off anger, speak words only of truth, keep the conversation from being offensive, fulfill all that charity stands for, manifest the Spirit of Jesus Christ daily, keep the true faith without being swayed by man and be clean in all the things that we must do. Now, this all takes work and if we want to take the word that the Bible uses, “suffering.”
As often as we have read, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, we now can understand what was written so many centuries ago. (2) Have others been able to know and understand these mysteries? They could if they applied themselves for the purpose of Christ.
Jesus told the Jews, If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. (9) This New Testament is the doctrine which Jesus lived by and taught all men to do the same. The Spirit that he wanted to control his mind is a Spirit that men cannot comprehend unless they labor to prove their worthiness to receive that Spirit. Read the book of St. John and open your mind to what it is saying. Forget for a few moments what men have taught you and indulge your mind into what is being said by this book.
To know we trust in a Spirit that can heal is a great belief. A greater belief is to trust that same Spirit to give understanding and the ability to mortify the other spirits that seek to dwell within our mind. The greatest of all beliefs is to know that when we have succeeded in the first two beliefs we know that we are preparing our soul for a greater life.
Many things will be endured in these coming years and many will be too weak to stand the pressure. Reading the gospel isn’t what gives us the strength when strength is needed. Being doers of what we read is what will give us strength. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. (10)
As I lay down my pen I would like for you to remember a scripture for the month.
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. (11)
@ Pastor Elaine Miller
1. I John 3:8
5. St. John 8:44 9. St. John 7:17
2. Rom. 9:5
6. St. Matt. 5:45
10. Hebrews 4:2
3. St. John 17:2
7. St. Luke 17:21
11. Hebrews 4:10
4. St. John 16:33
8. St. Luke 16:16