Dear Ones,

Hope you have a healing day. Al is at Men’s group and I just made two Mexican pies and will have donuts for him when he gets home. We have a busy weekend with a funeral and two parties etc.  Devotions from Judy’s heart
Jesus is the Great Physician and He wants to restore us to wholeness. He often surprises us, as He might bring healing first to our soul before our body. When we are in need of healing it is best if we turn to the Lord in faith first, for we never know how the answer will come but we know He has the power and will respond.

But let us pray with confidence, for God wants to pour out His gift of healing freely. He can heal our deepest wounds in any area we are broken. I have witnessed His healing after my fall, and when I look down at my scarred leg I give Him thanks that He knit me back together. I am not sad for the long time it took to heal, for it was time I could spend coming to know Him in a deeper way.

I just finished reading a book on healing by Dr. Mary Healy, a seminary professor. My eyes have been opened more to see how healing is God’s very nature and how many ways He brings healing when we are open. In Luke 6:19 says, “All the crowd sought to touch Him, for power came forth from Him and healed them all.” Even today when we pray and don’t see anything happening, the Lord may be removing psychological and spiritual barriers in the person’s life. Sometimes soaking prayer over time is required because of the inner surgery needed. After the resurrection, Jesus also gave authority to all believers to not only heal but cast out demons. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that healing happens through ordinary people like you and me. Faith opens us to His power, but unbelief closes us to it.

When we offer our suffering up to the Lord, it can be used of God to purify and perfect us and even become a source of grace to others. Suffering has a way of humbling and softening us and can be used to shape us to be more like Him. When we embrace suffering in love, it can also touch the lives of others. My cousin’s grandson who had cerebral palsy recently died. His parents cared for him for twenty-six years with such love and devotion that all of our lives have been impacted by observing their loving care. We can also offer up our suffering, that it would be redemptive with fruit resulting from it while we also pray for healing in faith. There isn’t one answer, for there are times we embrace suffering in love and other times we pray for healing with expectant faith.

Perhaps we ask too little of the Lord. In Matt. 7:7, Jesus promised His disciples, “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Remember God is the healer and is in control. We are to pray, honor and love the person who needs healing, and watch God’s healing power at work. The results are up to the Lord.

Challenge for today: Have compassion for those who are sick, and pray in faith for them.

May you have a blessed day and prayers and love, JUdy