PMS

For the first seven year of our marriage, my husband walked on egg shells around me for two weeks out of four. I was grumpy, quick to jump to wrong conclusions, emotional and all-round a pain. Heck, I didn't even like being around myself, but I felt powerless to change. So when we began learning about spiritual roots and divine healing, my husband (gently) suggested I read the section in the book about PMS.

I remember sitting on the couch in my living room and saying to my husband, "Ha! Listen to this. The spiritual root of PMS is fear of pain. Shows how much he [the author of the book] knows!" Sweetly, as is his nature, he suggested, "Well, ask the LORD what He says about that." More out of obedience to my husband than expectation of hearing from the LORD, I bowed my head, closed my eyes and said," LORD, what do you have to say about fear of pain as the spiritual root of PMS?"

Immediately, my mind's eye was seeing an image from my middle school years. I had a bird's eye view of me as a young girl in the house where I grew up, doubled over in pain with my first period. The image reminded me I had to come home early from school that day because I felt sooo bad ... missing the pep rally with all my friends. As I watched and remembered, emotions washed over me and I was 13 years old again. I was sad and confused and in pain again. It was a bad place to be.

And then, suddenly, the image changed. Jesus was there, kneeling beside me, His arms around me. I couldn't see His face, but I recognized Him just the same. With His presence, the bad melted off of me into a puddle on the floor and then vanished. Poof ... the saddness and confusion and pain were gone. In their place, comfort and love and peace and protection from all that was bad that day filled me as I sat on the couch in my living room. I knew in that instant I was healed. Praise God!

The true test of healing came with each passing month. My husband will testify that he no longer had to tred lightly around me. And I can tell you I was released the prison of PMS.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

My guess is that if you suffer from PMS and I told you about a pill, some herbal tea or other remedy that produced such results, you would be quick to try it. But when the solution is easy -- a simple matter of bowing your head  -- and involves Jesus -- it is our nature to reject it. We tend to trust more in the created than the Creator. He designed the human body and He knows the number of hairs on your head. Don't you think He can handle a little PMS?! I encourage you to try asking Jesus about your PMS. Allow Him to speak to your pain and release you from your prison.

Basal Cell Carcinoma

A journey begins with a single step.

My first steps were on the wrong path. But sometimes doing something the wrong way leads us to search for a better way, to search for the right path. And as I journey on this better path, I am eager to share what I have learned and give testimony to Jehovah Raphe, the LORD who heals me.

My healing journey began with the medical diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma, a skin cancer that appeared on my face. The "C word" strikes fear in all of us because no one is untouched by the ravages of this disease. A mother, brother, grandparent or beloved friend has bled, and even died, on the battlefield known as cancer. Breast cancer, brain tumor, skin lesion -- some of many names and anatomical locations that conjur up a story with a familiar face.

The optimal plan of attack for the C-word is excision, complete eradication as quickly as possible. So I made an appointment with a dermatologist and had the lesion cut out. It was expensive (I wasn't covered by health insurance), but necessary ... right?

Several years later, my husband and I began to learn about spiritual roots of disease. We learned that a spiritual root of cancer is unforgiveness. So when the basal cell carcinoma came back, as they often do, I didn't make an appointment with the dermatologist. I went to the LORD in prayer instead. I said, "LORD, the book says that unforgiveness is a root of cancer. I think I'm OK in the unforgiveness department, but if there is someone I need to forgive, please let me know." I hadn't even opened my eyes before a name came to mind. Ugh! Her again?!

Standing right there, next to the mirror that reflected my cancer, I chose to forgive her ... again. Forgiveness is a choice, I reminded myself. It is a matter of will not a way of feeling. It is not saying a person didn't hurt me or treat me badly or do something wrong. It is saying that I release that person and what they did (and continue to do) to the LORD for Him to deal with. It made sense to me in a new way -- unforgiveness is a cancer, but it eats away at me, the unforgiving person, not her, the offending person.

After I made the choice to forgive (I actually said it out loud), the basal cell carcinoma went away in a matter of days ... on its own. No visit to the doctor, no expensive procedure. Praise God!

Now I try to keep a clean slate in the forgiveness department. I try to take care of any niggling feelings of unforgiveness as soon as they arise. However, every now and then, I only recognize harbored unforgiveness when another lesion crops up. As soon as it does, I go to the LORD for a name. One time, a name came to mind and I chose to forgive as I always had. But the lesion persisted. I was perplexed, so I went to the LORD again. He brought up another name. It took three names and three decisions to forgive before that pesky lesion diappeared. God is good like that, He wants to penetrate all layers of our sin to bring us to complete healing. That was the last basal cell carcinoma I have had. Hopefully, the last ever.

Two Bebefits from God: Healing and Forgiveness

Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:

Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases …

Psalm 103:2-3 NKJV

The Psalmist extols God’s benefits – forgiveness, healing, redemption, loving kindness, mercy, satisfaction and renewal. Take a minute to really look at this list of benefits the LORD has to offer that are recorded in Psalm 103. Thanks be to God! Then notice that forgiveness of sins and healing of diseases are first on the list. They are listed together, in the same verse, in parallel -- forgiveness and healing.

One day when reading this passage, it struck me that I didn’t believe the LORD heals all diseases. Not really, not deep down, not if I were honest with myself. If I did truly believe it, I would pray differently. I would behave differently when I get sick. I would receive news of loved ones stricken with illness differently.

It struck me that if I believe God forgives all my sins -- and I do -- then I must also believe God heals all my diseases. I can’t pick and choose what Scripture is true; I either believe all of it or none of it. So, I started meditating on this verse, asking the LORD to reveal its truth to me. The LORD was faithful to answer. He took me back to the basics of what He says about salvation and forgiveness –

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:19

▪ Jesus paid the price for all sins of all people when He died on the cross, giving everyone access to heaven and eternal life with Him,
but
▪ a person must believe in Him and confess his/her sins in order to receive God's gift of forgiveness and eternal life. If a person does not personally identify with Christ and allow His death to satisfy God’s penalty for sin, then that person will perish. That person will pay the sin’s price with his own life and suffer eternal death.

To help me apply what I understand about forgiveness to what I don't understand about healing, He gave me a practical example:
     Antibiotics like penicillin have been called “miracle drugs”. They are prescribed by the doctor for a person to take when sick with an infection. A specific regimen of how many times a day and how many days to take the antibiotic are always stressed to the patient when placed on this course of treatment. But antibiotics don’t work at all if they aren’t taken and the maximum benefit is not realized unless taken properly. Furthermore, harm may result if taken wrongly (such as organisms becoming resistant). The sick person must get the pill out of the bottle and swallow it. Somebody else can’t take it for them; the pill can’t be waved over them like a magic spell. A person must take the miracle drug as prescribed before experiencing its benefits of killing the bacteria and curing the infection.

God has laid out His prescription for our sin problem – believe on the LORD Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Likewise, God has laid out His prescription for health problems. We must find it in the pages of Scripture and apply it to our lives like the healing balm it is.

This blog is designed to help you find God's benefits in Scripture, and in doing so, to find your path to health and healing. I have come to believe His promises for healing are true and available to us here, today -- not just when we get to heaven. I believe God’s promises to heal us are available to everyone, but an individual doesn’t benefit until the promises are received and personal.

God’s prescription for forgiveness and salvation (Savior) are simple and straightforward. His prescriptions for healing (LORD) seem complex and sometimes hidden, even for the disciples who were eye-witnesses to His healing touch and had been God’s instruments of healing themselves. For example:

"(14) And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, (15) “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. (16) So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”  (17) Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” (18) And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. (19) Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” (20) So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. (21) However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” Matthew 17:14-21 NKJV

Jesus put His finger on the root of their failure – unbelief, lack of faith. Jesus put His finger on the root of my failure, too. Lack of faith.

Believe with me Psalm 103:3a right now, in its entirety. Believe He can and does forgive you and let Him redeem your life from its current course toward destruction. If you have never received Jesus Christ as your Savior, I urge you to do it without delay.

Christ may already your Savior, but the joy of your salvation is gone. Or He may be your Savior, but not the LORD of your life. If so, rededicate yourself to Christ right now. Confess your condition and ask Him to renew Himself in you and restore your joy. He is eager to answer you with a resounding Yes!

Speak Life

Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Proverbs 18:21a

Repeatedly in the creation account we read, “And God said … “. With the power of the spoken word, He created light, the firmament, dry land with grass, herbs and trees; the sun, moon and stars; creatures that live in the water and fly through the air; cattle and creeping things, every living creature that moves, including human beings. Genesis doesn’t report that He shouted, stomped His feet, waved His arms, sent a tornado, threw lightning bolts or caused an explosion; He simply spoke all creation into being.

Proverbs tells us the power of life and death is in the tongue -- our tongues, yours and mine. Since we are made in the image of Creator God, we like Him wield power with the spoken word. Have harsh words ever felt like a blow to your gut? Have comforting words ever felt like a balm to your wounds? Have wise words ever cleared the cobwebs of confusion from your mind? If so, you have experienced the power of the spoken word. The nursery rhyme “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me” is a lie. Don’t believe it.

Our tongues are one of the most important weapons in our arsenal of health. They are more potent than penicillin and sharper than a surgeon’s scalpel. The key is to use the power of the tongue for healing, with purpose and intent. For example, instead of saying “my cancer” or “my allergies” or “my arthritis”, divorce yourself from the disease and speak of it as the intruder it is – the cancer, those allergies, that arthritis. Don’t make it part of you by internalizing it with your words. Instead of saying, “If I get better”, speak with authority as a child of the Healer about “when I get better”. Affirm out loud each step of progress you make or hope to make, giving God the glory for how He is transforming you. And here is the hardest one -- instead of complaining about the pain or the loss or the disfigurement that plagues you, replace the complaint with scripture or praise. Here are a few to get your started.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:3

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55:11

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:8

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16

Praising Him and not complaining doesn’t mean you don’t hurt … you do. It doesn’t mean you are not grieving a loss … you are. It doesn’t mean you look the same or feel the same about yourself … that may have changed irrevocably. It doesn’t mean you should fake it, putting on a happy face and acting like nothing is wrong. What it does mean, however, when you hold your tongue from complaining and praise Him in all circumstances, is that you have faith in God’s word and His promises.

It matters that we speak aloud healing words, even if there is no person around to hear. We don’t have to understand it in order for it to be true. Genesis could just as easily say, “And God thought”, but in His infinite wisdom, it doesn’t. He chose to speak. He demonstrated the ultimate expression of the power of the spoken word in the creation account. It may just seem like semantics to be careful with your words, but remember -- the power of life and death is in the tongue. Choose life. Speak life.

The LORD Who Heals You (continued)

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. Exodus 20:2-3

Please re-read:
"(22) So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. (23) Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. (24) And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” (25) So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, (26) and said, 'If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.' (27) Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters." Exodus 15:22-27 NKJV

We must do what the Israelites did through Moses -- cry out to God, listen and obey. We must have a heart of obedience that follows the instructions of God even when we don’t understand, even when it seems to make no sense, even when it goes against the wisdom of man. We must be open to receive the divine revelation of God as Jehovah Rapha in our own lives, in our own circumstances.

People, medicines, diets and nutritional supplements, remedies and treatments, even prayer, are instruments of God’s healing; they alone do not have the power to heal. If you have entrusted your healing to any of these instruments, dethrone them now and transfer that responsibility to Jehovah Rapha. Put Him back on the throne of your health and life. If you have put your faith in any of these instruments, take time now to put your faith in the LORD who heals you. Please don’t misunderstand. I am not suggesting you cancel your health care appointments, quit taking your medicine or stop asking for prayer. What I am suggesting is that you reset your priorities, if need be, and align your thinking with what the word of God says:

For I AM the LORD who heals you.

Don’t discount the importance of what may seem like a subtle shift in your thinking. He desires a heart of obedience that acts even when we don’t fully understand. Tell Him you are relying on Him, putting your faith in Him alone. Ask the LORD to show you how significant this issue is in His view.

Are You Ready to Begin Your Journey?

And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things.

Mark 6:34

Today’s blog entry challenges you to evaluate where you are in your life and your circumstances, and to begin your journey on the path to health and healing. You may be in a place and condition similar to the Israelites in yesterday' blog post. You may feel like you are in the wilderness, a dry and barren place. Your skin may be dry and your throat parched, and there is no water that quenches your thirst. You may feel helpless to make your bitter circumstances sweet. You may even find yourself grumbling and complaining.

The timing of God’s revelation about Himself as the LORD who heals you was no coincidence. It came when they needed it. It came at the beginning of their journey to the Promised Land, after they were brought out of Egypt, after they had cross over the Red Sea on dry land. It came when they were ready to receive it.

We must begin where the Israelites began. We must be delivered from slavery to sin and rescued from death itself. If you do not know Jesus as your personal savior, you are still in captivity in Egypt. Your feet are shackled and you are not at the trail head of the path that leads to the Promised Land. You can take a healing journey on your own, but it will be harder, dark and lonely, and your destination is uncertain. However, once you know Jehovah God through Jesus the Christ, your feet can move freely on a lighted path with the Holy Spirit as your Companion and Guide. If you have not taken the first step, stop right now and begin at the beginning. (see the end of this post for how to take that first step to know God through Jesus Christ)

The enemy of the Israelites was Pharaoh and his army. Our enemy is Satan who seeks our death, both physical and spiritual, and from whom we need miraculous rescue by the blood of Christ.

Our wilderness is this world that does not know God as Creator and LORD.

Our thirst is unquenchable except by Jesus, the Living Water. He is looking on you with compassion and desires to teach you many things.

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It's as easy as ABC -- Acknowledge Jesus as The Savior, the one who bore your sin on the cross so you wouldn't have to, the one who paid off your debt to the Holy God. Believe He died, was buried and rose again, conquering death, hell and the grave. Confess who you are (a sinner) and who He is (Savior and LORD).  That's your part. In return, God is faithful to seal your decision to accept Him with the indwelling Holy Spirit. He will never leave you or forsake you. He gives you the gift of eternal life and the hope of heaven secure.

The LORD Who Heals You

For I am the LORD who heals you.” Exodus 15:26b

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is Jehovah Rapha*, the LORD who heals you -- a name He calls Himself and reveals to the Israelites.

What were the circumstances in which God revealed this name to His people? Exodus 15:22-25a tells the story:

"(22) So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. (23) Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. (24) And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” (25) So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet." NKJV

The Israelites had just been miraculously delivered from slavery in Egypt. They had just been miraculously rescued from certain destruction by the Egyptians as they crossed the Red Sea on dry land. With chariots and warriors bearing down on them from behind, the hand of God parted the waters of the Red Sea and the Isrealites fled to safety on the other side. The annihilation that pursued them was swallowed up as God removed His hand and the waters consumed Pharaoh and his mighty army.

The land immediately on the other side of the Red Sea was desert … with no water. After three days of walking, when water did finally appear, it was not suitable for drinking. It was bitter. They grumbled to Moses and Moses cried out to God. God answered and the water was made sweet, suitable for drinking.

I don’t know about you, but I think there is more to the story than is recorded in this passage. Meaning no disrespect to the Holy Scriptures, this is my version of what is left out of verse 25:

25 So he cried out to the LORD:
     LORD, this is Moses … again.
     Hello my son!
     LORD, you know we’ve been walking three days in the desert and not found water. Now, there is water but it is too bitter to drink.
     Yes, I know.
     Well, LORD, the people are thirsty and the livestock are thirsty. Everybody is irritable and grumbling. We need water to drink.
     and the LORD showed him a tree.
     See that tree over there?
     Yes, LORD.
     Throw it into the water and it will be sweet.
     Ah, LORD, let me see if I understand what you are saying: you want me to take this tree that is so small I can uproot it and throw it into this body of water so large it will quench the three-day thirst of over one million people and all their livestock?
     Yes, that’s what I said.
     OK LORD, I will obey you, but it makes no sense to me.
     Moses, Moses, do you not realize that I could make this water sweet without you or that tree? I have asked you to throw the tree into the water to confirm your heart of obedience to me, especially obedience in the midst of human reasoning that makes you doubt. And, I want you to experience the joy of taking part in the miracle. It’s human nature to want to help and to do something, so I have given you something to do. We’re partners in this -- you do your part, and I’ll do mine.
When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.

Then He tells Moses at the end of the next verse, “For I am the LORD who heals you.” This divine revelation came to God’s people after He delivered them from slavery and rescued them from death. It came when they were in the wilderness and thirsty with nothing to quench their thirst. It came when they cried out for help and when Moses listened and obeyed. It came when they were open to receive it.

Are you in a wilderness, thirsty and unquenched? Are you a slave to an illness or disease? Do you need to be rescued? Cry out to Jehovah Raphe ... then listen and obey.
 
*pronounced jeh HOH vuh RAY fah