Thinking Big

"When you believe something is impossible, your mind goes to work for you to prove why. But when you believe, really believe, something can be done, your mind goes to work for you and helps you find the ways to do it."  Thinking Big,  David Schwartz, PHD.

I have been reading some very old books.  One of them is referenced above.  I am thoroughly enjoying the reading.  Books that old have a certain flavor that is no longer present.  What amazes me about both books is that they are discussing, so many years ago, things like the above quote.  We are talking today with renewed interest and excitement about the power of positive thinking and the law of attraction.  In thinking about these ideas, I suddenly had the thought that God is the author of this truth.  It was not new then (in 20s and 30s) or even now.  God said a long time ago that as a man thinks so is he.   

Biblical counsel like the power of life and death is in the tongue is being proven by today's science.  We are excited about that.  For one thing, it validates the word of God.  It is rather sad, however, that we could not just understand that Word and heed that Word without the science.  Are we so shallow that we cannot see what has been there all along?  Thank goodness, that God keeps repeating His truth in different ways for different generations.   I feel like our generation has been given extra help in understanding this dynamic of as a man thinks so is he. 

What challenges me is this.  What do I want to do with this truth.  Am I going to allow it to change my life?  Am I going to allow it to change my DNA?  Am I going to allow it to heal my sicknesses?  Am I going to allow it to change the way I perceive myself and others...wonderful creations from God's hand.  He is totally invested in us.  What are we worth to Him?  The life of the Son.  That is staggering. 

How are these thoughts challenging and changing your life?  Have you figured out yet how to make these truth applicable to your own life?  Are you having trouble embracing the power that is in this truth that as a man thinks so is he?  Are you understanding how you think?  Do you hear your own self-talk?  Do you hear the ranting and raving towards yourself?  Do you hear it directed towards others?   

We can create something positive.  We can create something negative.  It affects our health down to our DNA.  It affects our relationships with self, God, and others.  It affects the quality of every part of our life.  To me, this seems like a huge assignment in the management of this power.  Yet, I want to embrace this and see how I can make this life and world a better place.  I believe in each of us to make a difference.  I also believe that we sometimes get stuck in some sort of place that is undermining all our good intentions.  This is where we need Divine intervention.  And many times, it is helpful to have a group that is invested in the good of each one in the group.  Support may be in the form of proactive praying for truth encounters.  That is so much better than the misery loves company that is so often called prayer. 

I am being challenged right now because I see the potential for good if we embrace this information, but I FEEL that struggle that we have with change.  Transition is hard.  When there is something that needs to be overcome, I can no longer say, "I cannot."  God's truth has been validated.  What do we do with it?

Meanderings

Do you ever just watch life as an observer?  In your heart you are curious about what God is going to do next.  It is like you are not exactly involved in the action anymore; you are just watching from the sidelines.  I have been feeling a lot of this lately.  What kind of place is this? 

Do you think you have some answers to life?  Then things move along, and you realize that those answers do not work...and maybe, just maybe, you do not even know what the questions are.  Another realization is...what if the answers you thought you had do not matter anyway?   

There is research in physics that proves that we get that for which we are looking.  That is amazing.  Maybe having a mindset a certain way creates the answers we think we need or are correct.  Maybe those answers are just correct for oneself...created in my image.  I am not really talking about absolutes like God is love.  It is all the other stuff that I am questioning.  Maybe instead of looking for an answer that is either/or, the answer is really a great, big resounding "yup" to both either/or.   

I have found that usually my questions on things are self-serving.  I am trying to maintain my comfort level in some way.  If I say that something is stupid, it is more a statement that it is not what makes me comfortable.  Then, we tend to put ourselves into groups that think the same things are stupid.  If enough of us think "that" is stupid, then we are all safe.   

This seems like a strange meandering this morning.  The last year, I think that I have been more of the observer than the person with THE answer.  It is really a great relief.  It actually feels rather freeing to realize that the world has not come to an end because I did not extend an answer.  Actually, maybe the world has taken on a different reality because I did not extend an answer...maybe someone else got to stand in the place and do some creating for a while! 

God says that everything has its season.  Maybe the same is true with questions, answers, and observations.  Do I have anything worthwhile to say in this meandering?  Will it matter?  Years ago, I lead a support group for women.  It was a great experience.  When I moved from that city to another one, I asked God if I had made any difference to anyone in the group.  His answer was amazing!  "You are the one to whom you have made a difference.  When the others need some answers, they may think on the seeds that you have planted."  What a beautiful understanding that God spoke over me.  It kind of reminds me of the Bible story where the Lord told Peter that he would be crucified, too, before his end came.  Peter then asked about John...what would be his fate.  Jesus said, "What is that to you?"   

The Lord was basically telling me that I did what He wanted me to do in that situation.  I was faithful with that assignment.  I could say that I had finished my course as far as that effort went.  We all want to make a difference to others, however, that may not be why you are being obedient to your assignment.  Immediate results can be deceiving.  Look at the crucifixion. 

In all the meandering this morning, I encourage you to be faithful your assignment right now.  The one who is getting something out of it, the one who is being blessed by this, is you.  If we could look at things from the standpoint of having a wonderful opportunity to paint a picture in this moment and expressing ourselves beautifully, then maybe responsibilities would feel more fun and less heavy.  We have all been taught that life is so tough and hard and we have to be responsible.  What if it really is a beautiful opportunity of expression?  I kind of like that thought. 

Jesus...an Energy Healer

John 9…what an amazing story of healing! When I read the Bible, I ask to be shown the story between the lines. The stories are so often given in a few sentences, but if you will allow your anointed, holy imagination to assist you, you will be so blessed with the story between the lines.

Let’s look at the prelude of the story of the healing of a blind man.

In John 8, Jesus had been teaching in the temple, and the Jews did not like what He was sharing. They took up stones to stone him (John 8:59). “…but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” Then Chapter 9 begins with Jesus passing by a man who was blind from birth. The disciples asked Him whose sin caused this blindness…the man’s or his parent’s. Jesus said neither. Jesus said that this man was blind so that the works of God could be made manifest. 
 

It is very important that we rightly discern the meaning here. Some people believe that God allowed this man to be born blind so that he could suffer all his life...just waiting for Jesus to come along and heal him. This idea does not line up with the character of God. He does not punish us to just show off. Here is something that is so important. Sickness can be caused by what we do, what someone else has done to us, or just because “time and chance” happen to all of us. Jesus was tearing down their belief that sickness was a punishment for sin. We need to do the same. 
 

I love this story! Already, I am excited about what Jesus is teaching us in just a few words. Next, Jesus spits on the ground and makes clay. Then He anoints the eyes of the blind man with the clay. OK, let’s go in between the lines! I am full of questions. Why didn’t Jesus just speak the word and heal this man? Why did He use dirt and spit and anointing…oh yes, and one more thing had to be done before healing was complete. Jesus told the man to wash in the pool of Siloam. Why?
 

As a Natural Health Professional, I see some beautiful lessons in this story. One of those lessons is this: Jesus used natural remedies…dirt and spit. As a student of homeopathy which is based on the principle that like cures like, I see that Jesus created a homeopathic remedy by taking the dirt (we were created from the dirt) and infusing it with His spit (Heaven’s infusion of life). He used an energetic remedy to bring healing to this man.
 

OK…so He could have healed the blind man by speaking, but He didn’t. He could have healed the blind man by just putting the anointing clay in his eyes, but He didn’t. There was something else that had to happen in this case…I don’t know why all this is specific to this particular story. Maybe it’s for the benefit of you and me so we can stretch our minds to grasp the concept of energetic healing.
 

The next thing that needed to happen…the blind man had to go wash in the pool of Siloam (which meant sent). As a Natural Health Professional, I have worked with many people. One lesson that I have learned is this, unless they embrace their healing process, healing doesn’t happen. There is a work for each of us to do in order to be well. The power of natural remedies, anointing, and prayer can be blocked unless a person wants to participate in the healing experience. For this man, he had to go wash. Now, obviously, he had to have help getting to the pool, so someone helped him. He had to also allow that kind of help.

 

 

Even Jesus occasionally asked, “Do you want to be whole?” Whole means so much more than “well”. It means mind, body, spirit being in oneness with God. James 1:8: “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” At the time of this healing, people thought matters of health and wellness were the consequences of sin. This man was living under that condemnation. It was a lie.
 

We often live out the programming of lies. In the work that Jesus did in this healing, He was breaking down lies. He was modeling truth that dispelled the darkness of His day. Some of that darkness still remains. Energy healing is not new. Remember the stories of Jesus speaking the word and people were healed. That’s energy healing. Intercessory prayer is another type of energy healing. In our time, science is studying and measuring the power of prayer as it changes our body’s frequency or the frequency in foods that we bless. Scientists are measuring the energy released from the hands of people who are praying over you.
 

In this story of healing, may we be drawn into the truth that sets us free. When our hearts are aligned with the Divine and we pray over or anoint or bless each other, we are truly being energetic healers after a Divine Order.

Healing the Leper

In Matthew 8, we see Jesus on the mountain surrounded by multitudes who are listening to his teaching on the Beatitudes. When He comes down from the mountain, the multitude follows Him. Matthew 8:2 says that a leper came and worshipped Him. The Scripture says this so simply, but it was not simple for the leper.

The leper had been pronounced unclean due to the leprosy. This disease was viewed to be a judgment from God for sin. A leper was to stay away from other people. But the Scripture says that this leper came and worshipped Him (Jesus). I’m sure that the other people watching all this moved away as quickly as possible. Perhaps some shouted at him. Perhaps some threw stones. Perhaps some tried to shield Jesus.

 

Nevertheless, the leper came and worshipped Him. In my mind, I see him falling prostrate on the ground in front of Jesus. Evidently he had heard something about Jesus that did at least two things to him:

 

1. His faith was touched – his hope enlivened.

2. His courage surfaced.

 

To this point, a leper had never been healed by Jesus. But this man believed in Jesus and His ability to heal – even him, the outcast leper. It took courage to come among the clean, acceptable people. It took courage to disobey the law regarding the leprosy. It took courage to fall down at the feet of Jesus in front of everyone who condemned him.

 

Why did he worship Jesus? And what was the meaning of this act of worship…to the man and to Jesus? Worship, to me, is a response. Evidently, the man had heard of the greatness and compassion of Jesus – specifically about healing. What he heard about Jesus created a worship response. This was a place of faith for him.

 

It is one thing for a person to be healed of a physical malady, but for a person to be healed of the “judgment” of God, is a very different thing. To be released from the sin, the judgment, and the sickness, and to be restored to your place in your spiritual camp is a whole different level of healing. This leper needed that kind of healing, and it must come through divinity. I think this is why he worshipped. To prostrate himself before Divine Love, to become one with the ground from which he was created, positioned him perfectly for re-creation.

 

Jesus, knowing the heart of the man, was thrilled by this man’s recognition of Him as divine Savior. So many people followed Him to hear his words, to study out the meaning of this or that. They were waiting for political freedom ushered in by a political messiah. This man recognized his need for healing and restoration – his need for a Savior from the physical, not for the physical.

 

“Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” (Verse 26). The leper had not yet felt the touch of God on his body, yet he trusted the heart of God. These words acknowledge that his state of being was completely up to the heart and hands of Jesus. The “if” is not doubt. This “if” is a word of worship in the waiting room.

 

As mentioned, to be made clean is different than being just physically healed. The leper is asking for an inside change that will manifest in external physical changes. I believe the leper’s awareness of his physical and spiritual state was so great and his conversion so complete that it was not necessary for Jesus to say, “Go and sin no more.”

 

Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him saying, “I am willing, be cleansed.” This is an awesome visual aid of the gospel of salvation. “I Am that I Am” is willing to come into a leper colony (our world), touch and take on the curse (all the sin of mankind), cleanse us, re-crate us and restore us. The heart of God continually pursues us, and the hand of God continually seeks to touch us. The word of God, “be cleansed” is made flesh in the leper and immediately he is healed on all levels – emotionally, physically, socially and spiritually.

 

“I Am” is present tense. We all have things in the past for which we need healing. We all have the lie, “unclean”, that has been pronounced over us in some way. In the darkness of this lie, we live on the fringe of the spiritual camp as one who is unclean…feeling disconnected and insignificant. In the shadow of this lie, we are unable to fully embrace the truth that we have been and are forgiven. This name of God, I Am that I AM, is full of promise to all of us who need to let go of the past and embrace our spiritual inheritance in Him. I Am that I Am is willing...may the light of this truth dispel the darkness of the lies that have been pronounced over each of us.

 

Thank you, Jesus!

God's Pathway

Proverbs 77:13:  Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?   

We have been talking about God's way in the sanctuary.  It is such an exciting study, and it offers us so much healing as we understand the big picture.   Let's look at other ways that the principle of each emblem is represented in the layout of the New Testament. 

 

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John:  These tell the story of the altar of sacrifice/the Lamb.

Acts:  The story in Acts is about the baptism of the Spirit and the repeated experiences of baptism by the Spirit.  This is the laver.

Romans through Jude:  Holy Place (table of shewbread, menorah, and altar of incense) representing Bile study and prayer and relationship with God and man. 

Revelation:  Most Holy Place (ark of the covenant), judgment/atonement (oneness).  Revelation puts us in the very throne room of God with heavenly scenes and an very visual picture of entire great controversy and how it ends.  Pretty exciting! 

The Old Testament is all about the devil trying to destroy God's people because he did not want the beautiful Lamb to come and work out God's pathway to Heaven.  Having this understanding of God's pathway makes it all make so much more sense. 

Another way to see this is in reverse.  Start with the ark of the covenant...the throne room of God.  Jesus left the Heavenly places to come to earth.   

On earth, He took upon Himself the role of intercessor/mediator (altar of incense), the Light of the world (menorah), and the Bread of Life (table of shewbread).  This was His ministry on earth.   

In the Garden of Gethsemane, He sweat great drops of blood and water.  This is the laver 

On the cross, He was the sacrificial Lamb.  This is the altar of sacrifice. 

This was His path.  The reverse of it, He offers to us.  He has made a way for us to return to throne room of God...be in His presence in the sanctification process as well as the literal heavenly throne room when time is fulfilled. 

Does this not make your heart rejoice?  Sometimes, when we read the Bible, it just seems like random stories.  There is meaning to it all.  It is God's rescue of us.  God is love.  Put everything into that context.  It changes everything. 

Continuing In His Path...the Sanctuary

Micah 4:8 states, "And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem."

Here the Old Testament states that the Messiah would be born at the "tower of the flock" (Hebrew: Migdal Edar).  This watch tower from ancient times was used by the shepherds for protection from their enemies and wild beasts. It was also the place where ewes were safely brought to give birth to the lambs. In this sheltered building/cave the priests would bring in the ewes which were about to give birth for protection. These special lambs came from a unique flock that was designated for sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem.    

Some scholars believe that based on the Micah text, that this is where Jesus was actually born.  The Bible says he was laid in a manger...feeding trough for animals.  Whatever a person wants to believe about the birth of Jesus, it is Heaven coming down to us.  It is the sacrifice being born.  It is the first step of the sanctuary service. 

The second step is observed at the baptism of Jesus.  This was the laver experience.

 In the wilderness temptation, there were three temptations.  The first one, you remember, regarding bread.  This was the table of shewbread.  The second temptation involved distortion of scripture (the light) and having to have the ability to discern between lie and truth.  This was the menorah.  The third temptation was a counterfeit intercession, the altar of incense.  Satan was saying the to Christ that he knew that His goal was to redeem the earth and its people.  If He would bow down to him, he would just give it to Him. 

The ark of the covenant is Jesus as the shekinah glory...if you see me, you see the Father.  Here is the throne of God.  You have the law in the ark and the mercy seat covering that.  Ponder that for a while.  Jesus brought a new understanding to the law when He taught things like: You have been told it is wrong to murder.  Now, I tell you that if you hate, it is the same as murder. 

The ark of the covenant experience is about an "inner parts" experience.  In Psalm 51:6-13, there is a beautiful description of what is happening in this inner experience.  David, the man after God's own heart, is praying.  He sinned terribly with Bathsheba, and then he murdered Uriah her husband.  David is confessing in this Psalm.  Notice that he asks to be cleansed with hyssop.  Hyssop is an essential oil that has cleansing chemical properties.  It can actually remove the memory of sin...emotionally, spiritually, and physically.  It is a deep cleaning for which he is asking.

 

Psalm 51:6-13:  6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. 

This is a wonderful example of most holy place cleansing where you are before God and His throne, and He is writing the law on your heart and mind.  He is taking your heart of stone and replacing it with the heart of flesh.   

This is the dying daily that Paul speaks of.  Other words used for this process are sanctification or abiding.  It is something that we all have to learn to do.  Seek His face.  Hear His voice.  Desire to know Him and feel His presence.  What a beautiful opportunity the Father has given us.  Thank you, Lord.

God's Pathway

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

 

In the sanctuary service established by God for the children of Israelwhen He brought them out of Egypt's slavery, there is a pathway of instruction that is very beautiful and significant for us today. Do you see the cross in the layout of God's emblems?

 
That is no accident.  In the order of these you find the experience of the children of Israel.  Beginning God's pathway is the altar of sacrifice with the offering of the Passover Lamb.  This stands between our slavery and God's pathway to freedom!

The next part of the pathway is modeled with the experience of the Red Sea.  Here is God's laver in symbolic baptism.  You pass through the water leaving the old behind and embracing a new path.

The next part of the journey was the giving of manna...the table of shewbread.

The menorah is full of meaning, and I see it as being given emphasis in Exodus 19:3-7 where God is given them light about His plans for Israel.   If Jesus pictographs, the word menorah translates to: the mighty Son first revealed. 

The altar of incense is pictured in Exodus 19:9 where God says to Moses that He will come in a thick cloud so that the people can hear God talk to Moses.  When the incense (essential oils) was put on the altar, it made a white cloud of smoke that symbolically represented the righteousness of Christ...the white robe.  Verse 14: Moses sanctifies the people.  The altar of incense is a place of intercession.  Moses is definitely fulfilling that role for Israel.

 

Ark of the Covenant: the rest of Exodus 19 and Exodus 20 is the Shekinah glory come down and the giving of the law.  The law was put into the Ark of the Covenant,  The Ark of the Covenant is symbolic of God's throne, and the law is the foundation of that throne.  In Exodus 24:9-12, we are told that Moses and three priests and seventy elders went up on the mountain and they saw the God of Israel...and under His feet was a foundation of sapphire (blue) stone.  In the Bible blue represents obedience.  The ten commandment stones were from this sapphire foundation of God's throne.   

The Bible is so amazing.  There is nothing insignificant in the information that we are give in God's word. 

Our text today is given new light when we can see that what looks like to us a trial (and indeed it may be) is a part of that same wilderness journey that Israel took.  We have the same lessons of trust to learn.  We may be able to view that from a different perspective when we overlay the sanctuary process on it.   

Proverbs 77:13:  Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?  I just love discovering more and more truth from the beautiful emblems in the sanctuary.  I guess it is our visual for the first chapel, and our God is still speaking to us with this pathway. 

 

Resonance and Health

Resonance.  One definition of resonance is sound produced by a body vibrating in sympathy with a neighboring source of sound.  Everything in our world is about energy, and consequently resonance means a great deal to us.  Our bodies also resonates with the negative or the positive thoughts...they are energy, too.

On an emotional and spiritual level, the energy of a virus is defined as: the ugliness and bitterness of life overshadowing the beautiful.  Science has proven that down to a cellular level our bodies are responding to our beliefs.  A cell resonating with positive energy (beliefs) will not open to a virus cell.  It is only when the negative energy overpowers the positive energy that the cell opens to a virus, and we get sick.

Science has shown that our DNA is also being changed by our thoughts...for positive or negative.  Proverbs 23:7 tells us that as a man thinks so is he.  Science is validating that a merry heart is like a medicine. 

I am so glad to live in a time that we have this scientific validation of the word of God because it is helping us to see more clearly that the word of God has application in our lives.  Our lives have been so fractured into the medical, the emotional/psychological, and the religious, and each part has been given its expert.  The problem is that in the fracturing, the wholeness of our situation is ignored. 

I see it in the natural health arena also.  People pursue that one thing that is going to heal everything...and fast.  What vitamin can they take to help this?    People come in with bags of nutritional supplements that they are taking, and they do not feel better.  What is wrong?  If a person  has a negative belief (lie) that they have been carrying a long time, there is no supplement or herb that can overpower that resonance.  It must be eliminated. 

With our fast-food fix mentality, we really do not want to be bothered with looking within for our answers.  We have been well taught that all our answers are outside of us and in the hand of an expert.  We just have to find the right expert or the natural panacea.  We keep chasing or suppressing symptoms.

It is time that we turn to the word of God for our answers.  Yes, I believe that even the answers to our health are in the Bible.  Psalm 107:20:  He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. It may take us a time of learning to get the hang of this, but James 1:5 is a promise for wisdom.

What good is the Scripture if it has not practical application in our lives?  All the religion in the world does not help anyone out of the darkness of their wounds and lies.  In Jesus ministry, He meet physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.  I suggest that we start reading the Word from these levels and ask God to reveal Himself in all of them.  Often, we read a story and only make shallow interpretations of that, or we simply take someone else's opinion about it.  Again, we are looking for our religious answers outside of ourselves.  The answer needs to become "flesh" in us through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and through our own personal experience.  No one can give us their personal experience.  It is the five foolish virgins asking the five wise for oil (Holy Spirit).  It is something we have to obtain through knowing Him. 

 The Bible says that the Lord is our Shepherd and we shall not want.  Contemplate that!  Let us ask God how we are not believing these words.  Matthew 7:7: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."  Praise God!