healing

He is Our Shepherd

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” – Psalm 23:1-3 We will be looking at Psalm 23 for the next few days as we continue talking about living a life without lack and having everything we need in the sufficiency of God’s Kingdom. I encourage you to memorize individual Psalm verses as we go through them so you may dwell on them and truly let their truth sink into your spirit! The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing. We have a good Shepherd and in His love, we have everything that we need. He makes me lie down in green pastures. Sheep lie down in green meadows when they have had enough to eat. A pasture is where flocks

November 9, 2021 No Comments

What’s Your Battle?

“Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, you shield my head in the day of battle.” – Psalm 140:7 The late actor Robin Williams once paraphrased Plato in saying: “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about, so be kind, always.” And as cliche as this expression sounds, I think it’s important to understand how true it is so that we allow it to shape our interactions with others. The reality is that life is hard, and humanity is struggling with all kinds of issues — some people are just better at hiding it. No one has it all together, and the mistaken belief that they do is what causes many of us to feel alone in our pain. Nevertheless, we’re not flawed because we’re going through stuff, and it’s important to give ourselves grace so we can heal and extend mercy to our fellow brothers and sisters. Nobody

September 28, 2021 No Comments

Leprosy of the Soul

“For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” – Ephesians 5:5 If I were to ask you, “What’s the opposite of gratitude?” — what would you say? If you answered ingratitude, you wouldn’t be wrong, but I think there’s a more accurate way to describe it, and that’s entitlement. Unfortunately, we live in a society that’s filled with people who feel they deserve instant gratification, free stuff, endless entertainment, and a hassle-free life. However, I want to submit to you that the greed underlying this outlook is actually a kind of leprosy of the soul. Just as the disease eats away at the flesh of its victims until there’s little left, so a person who feels as if the world owes them is being destroyed from the inside out by

September 26, 2021 1 Comment

There’s Power in the Blood

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” – 1 Peter 1:18,19 We’ve learned recently that Jesus sent ten lepers on a journey to Jerusalem in order to receive their healing. He instructed them to go and show themselves to the priest, and the Bible says that they were cleansed as they went. But what most of us don’t know is what happened to them once they got there. In order for a person suffering with leprosy to be admitted back into society, there was a ritual ceremony that took place. After the priest examined and declared them clean, he instructed them to take a live dove and dip it in blood and

September 22, 2021 No Comments

The Journey to Healing

“Then he said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well.’” – Luke 17:19 In continuing our study of the story of the ten lepers who cried out to Jesus for healing, it’s interesting to note that He bid them embark on a journey in order to see their miracle manifest. Though He often touched someone — or even spoke a word — and restoration happened immediately, this time it was different. Rather than instantaneously changing their circumstances, He instructed them to go and show themselves to the priest, who happened to be in Jerusalem. Since they were near Samaria at the time, it would have been a three or four day walk from where they were to get to the temple. And while they could have come up with any number of reasons why they shouldn’t make the trip, they started moving with the faith that

September 21, 2021 No Comments

God’s Word is For Everyone

“One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.” – Luke 17:15,16 Yesterday, we looked at the story of the ten lepers whom Jesus met as He was traveling along the border of Samaria, between Galilee and Jerusalem. When they cried out to Him for mercy, He gave them instructions to go and show themselves to the priest, even though they weren’t immediately healed. As they obeyed His directive and started walking, they were restored somewhere along the way. Interestingly, something that we frequently miss in this account is that one of the men was a Samaritan. While this may not seem significant to us today, back then, it was like saying that one of them was a member of a violent gang or a hate group. This is

September 20, 2021 No Comments

A Lesson in Walking By Faith

“Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, Master, have pity on us!’ When he saw them, he said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed.” – Luke 17:11-14 We’ve talked before about the plight of those suffering from leprosy in the ancient world. Unfortunately, after someone was declared leprous, they were forced to leave their families and live on the outskirts of town with others who shared their diagnosis. So grim was their lot that many saw no way out other than to die or receive a miracle. And this is where the story in Luke 17 picks up. Jesus was traveling from the northern country of Galilee south

September 19, 2021 1 Comment

Hold Others Gently

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” – Ephesians 4:2 Henri Nouwen once said that being in a relationship with another person is like holding a bird with broken wings. In other words, we must acknowledge that the human soul is fragile. An injured bird is delicate, and it can’t be grasped too tightly lest it be crushed and hurt further. Likewise, as we attempt to connect with and express care for someone else, we must be gentle. Otherwise, we might squash their spirit and smother them in our attempts to “help.” And while we can’t hold on too tightly, we also can’t be careless with our connections. Like an injured bird will fall and die if not cradled securely, when we refuse to engage emotionally with those closest to us — whether our spouse, our kids, or our friends — our bond is

September 14, 2021 No Comments

Your Mess Can Be Blessed

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” – Psalm 42:11 Yesterday, we learned that we can’t pick and choose our emotions and that in order to experience all of the good the Lord has for us, we must be willing to wade through the hard stuff, too. That said, we need to know up front that things probably will get worse before they get better. Most of us are inherently aware of this truth, and that’s why we remain stuck in patterns of dysfunction. Somehow, we know that going deep will be a process, and we feel like we don’t have the bandwidth to embark on the journey. However, if we’re grappling with these thoughts, the single most important thing we can do is put our trust in God. His mercies

September 12, 2021 No Comments

What You Can’t Pick and Choose

“Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.” – Psalm 42:7 Something I love about the Psalms is that they are raw and real. Most of them were written by King David, a man who minced no words regarding the depth of his feelings. In fact, if we have ears to hear and eyes to see, his ancient poems have something important to teach us about our human journey — something that’s been repeatedly backed by science: you can’t pick and choose your emotions. A song of hope and victory is often preceded by a song of lament and sorrow. Pain is a necessary part of the human experience, and unless we acknowledge this truth, we can never move fully into abundant life. Unfortunately, many people try to push down the yucky things that they feel and simply pretend

September 11, 2021 2 Comments

He is Our Shepherd

What’s Your Battle?

Leprosy of the Soul

There’s Power in the Blood

The Journey to Healing

God’s Word is For Everyone

A Lesson in Walking By Faith

Hold Others Gently

Your Mess Can Be Blessed

What You Can’t Pick and Choose

Receive your daily eDevotional

Don't miss new updates in your email!

WATCH

CONNECT

SHOP

ABOUT

DONATE