In the previous post, I mentioned Faith and how it begins with trust and ends with action. Today, I want to mention the next step to becoming limitless. And that is letting God heal you and your wounds. This world is a messed up place, but God has every desire to fix it and rebuild it to the way He originally designed it at creation. His first priority though is humans. God says in His Word that one day He will reconstruct the universe and re-create it. However, that is in the future. There is one thing He can’t wait for and that is restructuring people’s lives now. That is something God cannot put off, it pains Him too much to see people suffer. So how does He do it? How does God heal? Well first, I need you to do something for me. I need you to read Luke 8:43-48.
Read it? Good. The first step to healing is taking the initiative and by reading that passage on your own you’ve practiced taking the first step. Ok. So first off, what happens? A woman with medical issues touches Jesus and is healed. Hmm not much to explain....or is there? First off, we notice the woman is afraid to publicize her healing. She just wants to touch Jesus and run. No one will know and no one will see. But what does Jesus do? He makes a show out of it. He says “Who touched me?” The first step to healing is touching Jesus. Making that attempt to reach Him, to tap in on the shoulder and say “hey man, I need some help.” Second step is for Jesus to shine the spotlight on you and say “who are you and what have you done?” Jesus wants you to admit your problem, confess it, and then find someone so you can publicize it with because admitting the problem keeps you accountable to your sin. After you do that, then the healing can begin, and Jesus can say to you “your faith has made you well.” Now is that the end of the story? Nooo. Next is the hard part, because now I need you to read another story nearby in Luke 7:36-50. Read that story now.
So did you take it all in? Reread it if you have to. How does this story relate? Well, so far we have discovered how to begin the healing process, and now we will discover how to pursue the healing process. What happens in this story? A woman anoints Jesus, kisses his feet, washes them. How does Jesus react? First, He confronts the problem directly. He gets in Simon’s business and says “Hey, what’s your deal? Don’t you see what’s going on?” The actions of the woman are exactly the next step. Realize forgiveness. Jesus forgave you when He said “your faith has made you well.” That’s Him saying “It’s ok, what you did was wrong, it mattered to me (as in it hurt me), and I release you from it. Let’s move on.” That’s forgiveness. Think about that........let it soak in....pray if you have to............. Moving on, what happens next? What does the woman do as a result of being forgiven? Yea she does kind things to Jesus, but what is she really doing? She’s showing Him love....... thanking Him, and actively saying I appreciate all that you did for me. Forgiveness spurs one on to Love. You can’t love without being forgiven, and forgiving others. If you can’t love, then there’s a problem. Because love frees one from sin. Without love there is no freedom. You can’t be limitless without being able to love. God is love, God is truth, God is free. What did Jesus say? “The truth shall set you free.” Once you realize God’s love, the truth will free you. But most importantly, love frees you of your past sins, and lets you forgive those who hurt you or humbles you before those you hurt, and reconciles that relationship with those people, just like your relationship was reconciled with God. Of course, the opposite is true. Sin is hate, Sin is false, Sin is bondage. When you reject God’s love you deny God the opportunity for salvation. Hebrews 12:15 says “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” You begin to hate and hate blinds you from the truth which puts you in bondage and thus limits you to being a slave of the devil and his purposes. Sounds rough. I don’t know any nation in the world that wants to be enslaved like in the old days. Most of the world is now independently living which is why we have over 200 different nations in this world. Living the way someone else wants you to. Doing what they say all the time without any opinion. Can you see why there are so many angry people out there and why people are afraid to love others? They don’t want to be hurt by someone else over and over again. I’d never want to live that way and neither does God. You weren’t created to live that way.
So in conclusion, this whole healing process is about reconciling your relationship to God, and reconciling your relationship to others. When you finally do that, then you can begin to live the way God intended you to..... free of pain, hurt, and fear. Then you can begin to work on your sin problems, otherwise known as a strategy for a new life. Let God help to recreate yourself into that person you’ve always wanted to be, and that person He always intended for you to be, Limitless.
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