Heart of Kim

All of us at one time or another have felt alone.  We don’t necessarily have to “be alone” to feel lonely. We can find ourself  alone with nothing but our own thoughts and the world around us  becoming a blurr.  All kinds of negative emotions can invade our hearts and minds and try to take them captive.   If there is absence of peace and joy in an “alone place” and all you are experiencing is sadness or depression,  it is the beginning of an attempt of satan to isolate you.  His plan is to get you to a vulnerable place; a place of weakness.  The intentions of satan are to implant suggestions in your mind so that you begin to question your value and worth to yourself and others.  These negative thought patterns are sent to ultimately destroy self esteem and confidence.  But - YOU ARE NOT ALONE!  You are very valuable to God.  In fact,  He is thinking of you right now!  Look at the following scriptures: 

Jeremiah 29:11 says in the KJV -
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Look at this passage in another translation –

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Now that’s the way God is THINKING about you!  You are not alone, even if you feel like you are.  His thoughts are to give you HOPE! Jesus said that He would never leave us or forsake us and in  Psalms 94:14 He says – For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.  When Jesus hung on the cross, He cried out; My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”  He was cut off, out of the land of the living and bore all our sin alone.  He did it for us, that we might never have to be alone or lonely.  What a compassionate and loving God!.  He loves you more than you can comprehend and He is closer to you than your breath.  He is there with you now.  Yes, there are times we may “feel”  lonely.  But “feelings” do not always tell the truth.  Feelings can be deceptive and satan will use our feelings and emotions to deceive us and manipulate us.  The Word of God is Truth and when we KNOW the Word of God, our knowledge will make it a lot more difficult on the devil to confuse us, deceive us and manipulate us with unwanted thoughts and emotions. The Truth that we know will make us free from the lies of the enemy. The truth is:  You are not alone! The truth is:  You are in the thoughts of God!

 In fact, the truth is, Jesus is thinking about you right this moment.  He is interceding for you as you read this!  He is representing you to the Father.  I’m going to give you two scriptures to prove it!

Hebrews 7:24-25  But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Romans 8:32-39  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.  34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.  35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.  37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,  39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 Put on the garment of praise today for the spirit of heaviness!  Know that He is there with you! Know that He cares for you!  You are so special to Him, He sent His son to die for you! But also know, Jesus didn’t stay dead.  Jesus was raised to life for you that you might be raised to life.  Jesus is alive. Jesus sits at the Father’s right hand thinking of you!  My, what a Saviour!   You are NOT alone. He is with you this very moment. You are on His mind.  He is Thinking about YOU!

John 10:10 says – The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.  

Have you ever seen a “happy” sick person?  I haven’t!  No person that is sick or diseased is truly happy!    Sickness robs people of  quality of life, productivity, and joy!  Plain and simple:  Sickness is an enemy!  It certainly isn’t our friend!

Now tell me, Do you honestly think that our God would inflict such a thing on a person when it was for their deliverance that He came?  Doesn’t even make sense;  does it?

I am confident that if sickness and disease could teach us something, that Jesus would have surely said to some of those people;  No, you keep that a little longer so you can learn a lesson……..  or,  sorry, no healing for you today, you  need to suffer a little longer…..  or,  maybe I will heal you tomorrow after you have discovered the purpose of your torment……   OH COME ON!  That would be absolutely absurd to even consider Jesus in this manner!

Throughout scripture it is evident that God is for us, not against us!  God is against sin; so much so that He sent Jesus to pay the penalty for us.  In paying that penalty, Jesus took upon Himself  ALL of the curse, that we might be blessed!  Yes, we live in a corrupted world and yes, we await our new bodies that we will receive one day.  Until then we can believe that our bodies be quickened according to Romans 8:11. The enemy would like to deceive us into believing that sickness and disease are from the Lord.  Absolutely not!  Look at the following scriptures:

Psalm 103:   1Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

 2Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

 3Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

 4Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

 5Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

and in the new testament: 

Matthew 8:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

We can get discouraged and we can get down because of circumstances and situations.  I encourage you today to lift of your head and trust Him. He is with you.   I think there were a lot of smiling faces throughout the earth ministry of Jesus.  Everywhere He went there was always LIFE and life more abundantly.  I believe that when we believe His Word, He is honored.  Why would we want to suffer what He has already suffered.  I don’t think so.  Let’s continue to believe the Word.  Let’s continue to ask the Lord for eyes that see, ears that hear and a heart that understands.  Let’s stay on His side and continue to grow up in Him! I certainly don’t know everything there is to know; but I know Him and I know that He is GOOD, ALL THE TIME!

There is a scripture that some folks use when they cannot explain something tragic or devastating.   It is where Job ascribed to God as being the one behind all his troubles.  Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.  Now I know there have been endless debates by theologians throughout the years over this one topic.  However, I am not here to debate and a single post is not nearly enough space to write a discourse on this portion of scripture.  The point I want to make is this:  God is never the one who takes away!  I say that emphatically and with confidence. Job made this statement based on insufficient  knowledge of the character of God. I believe people still make this statement today because of the same reason, hence, I see people hurt, angry and bitter against God because of it.  Look at some of the following scriptures with me:

 Jesus himself said in John 10:10 – The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Now think about it for a moment.  Jesus himself answers the age-old question concerning Job.  Jesus is plainly telling us that it is satan who is the thief.  It is satan who steals, kills and destroys.  But what about God’s sovereignty you ask?  I’m glad you ask.  Adam gave away his dominion when he sinned in the garden of Eden.  Guess who he gave it to?  He gave it to satan.  Yes, God is sovereign!  But God is also just.  God didn’t act unjustly and take back dominion from satan when Adam lost it.  What makes us think that God would take away anything that is legally someone elses.  God Almighty is the Righteous Judge and he always judges righteously. 

 Mankind is in the state it is in because of sin.  Jesus willfully came and paid our price and satisfied the righteous justice of God when he hung on the cross and went into hell.  Whether we like it or not, satan is still the god of “this” world and he is god over anyone who has not received Jesus Christ as their saviour and Lord.  It is not till a person receives Jesus as their saviour that they are translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.  

Another reason that I know that God does not take is because the scripture says that Jesus was the express image of God. Hebrews 1: 2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:   Jesus kept saying, If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.  Show me somewhere in the new testament where Jesus ever took from anyone.  Jesus was the epitome of  GIVE, GIVE, GIVE.  He hasn’t changed.

 Another reason:    People get the idea that they got to carry the cross of Jesus by the suffering of sickness, disease, poverty, tragedy, loss, etc.  This is not so!  All these sufferings are listed in Deuteronomy 28 and are labeled as curses of the law.    Then, Galatians 3:13 says: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree…  Once again, God is giving, not taking away!  Every one knows John 3:16 which says that God so loved the world that He gave….   Every thing that Jesus suffered was for us. But everything that Jesus bought and paid for us has to be received “by faith”.  

Another reason:  I hear a lot of folks say that they or someone they know is sick because God wants to teach them something.  My dear friend,  who in their right mind would teach their own child something by making the child sick or breaking its legs, etc.  To even consider that God would teach His children in that manner is utterly ridiculous.  The Word of God says in John 14:26 says But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.  In correcting His disciples, Jesus always corrected them with His words. Jesus has not changed; He is the same yesterday, today and forever. 

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to perish from lack of knowledge.  And I certainly don’t want to be accusing God of things that are totally out of character for Him.  And I shutter to think that I would misrepresent Him to others.  I pray that the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him be upon all who are part of the body of Christ.

I know this has been a long blog post, but I thought it necessary to try to fully explain to the best of  my ability why God is not the Taker but He is the Giver.   I will conclude with the real suffering that we enter into and the real carrying of a cross with Him.

Paul said in  2 Timothy 1:11 - …for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.  Paul was talking to Timothy concerning the sufferings of imprisonment  and persecution that he continued to experience because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.   This was written close to the end of Paul’s life and he is writing to Timothy words of  wisdom and encouragement from his cell in a prison in Rome.  We are told in verse 12 of chapter 3 of 2 Timothy that  all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.  There are those all around the world today who are suffering this type of persecution.  We don’t see a lot of this type of persecution in America.  I am thankful to live in a free nation that has been built on christian principles!   However;  there is verbal, mental and emotional persecution against the church everywhere.  Yes, there is suffering.  But the sufferings that Jesus shed His blood to redeem us from, let us receive by faith our healing and deliverance to the Glory of God.  And the suffering that comes from persecution, let us endure to the end to the Glory of God! 

I got news today that a former aquaintance of mine had died of a drug overdose this last weekend.  I just read a news article where a former child star was missing and had been suffering from depression.  Last week,  a man flew his plane into a government building because he was angry at the IRS and a woman allegedly methodically shot and killed several co-workers at a university because she disagreed with their decision to deny her tenure.   Each week there is heartbreaking news all around us and the reality of people thinking that there is no hope is staggering. 

 Look at the following scriptures:

 Ephesians 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
 

 Psalms 42:11  Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
 

Jeremiah 17:7   Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.  

Hebrews 6:19  Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast

HOPE is a very powerful thing!  As believers, we are privy to a powerful force called HOPE.  Thank God for HOPE!  As we walk out our journey in this life, we have access to this  wonderful thing called HOPE!  We have a confident expectation of good! 

 I Peter 3:15    But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear

 There is HOPE!  It is found in Jesus Christ.  

Proverbs 4

20My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.                

21Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

 22For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

 23Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 

The main subject in this passage is God’s Word.  The Word that He has spoken is full of the essential substance of life.   Mankind has a great need to place great value  on the integrity of the Word of God.  Many view the Bible as just another book.  Many view Jesus as just a prophet.  I view the Word of God as the most precious, most valuable tangible substance that there is.  

  The Word is the substance of life.  It comes fully packaged with answers to lifes toughest questions and all the power necessary to change whatever condition you might find yourself in at the moment.

In this world, material things are valued greatly and all the world runs after them to find one day that those things cannot and will not satisfy the void deep within their heart.  I choose the Word of God.  It is life to me.  Jesus is the Word of God.  The Word is Jesus.  The value is off the charts and no price can ever be assigned to it. The Word of God is a person. 

The Word of God is there for you to desire it, seek it, hunger after it, pursue it and receive it.   It’s benefit package includes life and health.  Every so often, let’s re-evaluate our appreciation for the Word of God and it’s contents.  It comes from our  loving heavenly Father.

It is His love letter to us.

“Be still and know that I am God” Psalms 46:10.     In this hectic paced world we live in, this notion of stillness has become foreign to our lifestyles.   The word ”still ” in this passage means slacken, cease, faint, idle.  When we are  going a hundred mph and our mind is racing and we are anxious or burdened,  there is definitely an absence of stillness!   I think we desire this place of being still but we prioritize our lives just the opposite and miss all the benefits of  this wonderful place!   Even Jesus went up the mountain, away from the crowds to pray and be still.  He even advised His disciples to get rest. 

 Why is this so important?  Today I want to focus on just one reason and it’s in the word “still” itself.  The word still in this passage is the hebrew word “raphah”.  Does that ring a bell?  It comes from the root word “raphah”  (same spelling) that means:  mend, cure, heal, physician, health, medicine.  WOW!   There are so many beautiful insights and truths embedded and hidden in the the Word of God!   So as you go about your day today, remember to be still (on purpose) and know that He is God.  Remember that  He is Jehovah Rapha!,   and remember that He loves you!