Heal As Jesus Healed

GLENN CLARK

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Examining the ways of Jesus in healing equips us to touch the lives of suffering people

The miracles that Jesus performed were done with such ease that the methods defy analysis. Like a great baseball pitcher who throws the ball with such lightning speed that we hardly can see it, Christ furnishes so great an ideal for us that we despair of following in His footsteps.

Fortunately, Jesus left for us one example of what I might call a slow motion, close-up view of His technique of healing people who were sick. Careful study of this incident will present a perfect model for us to follow with confidence that we are following in the right path.

I invite your attention to Mark 9:2: "And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves" (KJV).

"Six days shalt thou labor" (Ex. 20:9), says the Scriptures, and that phrase "six days" has symbolized good honest work. Our high moments of prayer come, not out of neglecting our duties and responsibilities, but they grow out of facing life's hard realities with faithfulness and honest toil.

Keeping the Faith: Don’t Pray for Rain

by Ronnie McBrayer in Christian Living
I’ve made a habit lately of studying the Amish. I use the word “study” loosely as this is not a simple curiosity of mine or some kind of theological experiment. My exploration flows out of a deep respect and admiration for their faith and spirituality.

We English (that’s what the Amish call us outside their communities) recognize them because of their familiar beards, horse-drawn buggies, fine woodworking, or barn-raisings, but there’s a lot more to this group than sturdy furniture and firm dispositions. They have a lively, vibrant faith despite their archaic lifestyles.

The Amish (and their cousins the Mennonites, Brethren, and a few other groups) I have come to know are lovers and active makers of peace. They value simplicity above almost any other thing. They love their families and community, and they have a profound trust in God. This trust, employing a good Amish-German word, is called “Gelassenheit.”

“Gelassenheit” is usually translated into English as “submission” or “to yield,” but it is so much more. It is a total letting go of entanglements.

Do You Have "I" Issues?

By Jennifer Rothschild

"He must become greater; I must become less." John 3:30 (NIV)

In the late '70s I sat with my folks in a hospital room in the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. The doctors who had just completed tests on my eyes were explaining what it meant to have retinitis pigmentosa. They described how I would slowly lose my remaining sight and eventually be totally blind. My mind raced and my heart welled with confusing emotions. I was silent in that hospital room that day.

A few days later at my next visit, I only wish I had been silent.

We went back to the same room with some of the same doctors. This time it was to help me get on a rehabilitative program. One doctor described how large, thick glasses might help with the little vision I still had. Another discussed walking with a cane. Another doctor told me how important it was for me to have an oversized magnifying glass and advised me to use a flashlight to find my locker at school.

Ever Surrendered?

And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love; and will meditate on Your statutes. Psalm 119:48

Operation Desert Storm of 1990, do you remember it? It was our definitive answer to Psycho Sadaam Hussein’s brutal and unprovoked takeover of oil-rich Kuwait.

I remember watching footage of that military offensive. Sadaam called it the mother of all battles, but the truth of the matter was the Iraqi soldiers were ill-equipped to take on America. In one memorable scene, the Iraqis surrendered to U.S. military without even a shot being fired. They came out of their bunkers with their hands in the air – the global sign of surrender.

A surrendered soldier has ceased fighting. He has relinquished his weapons and his rights. He is now pliable and agreeable to the will of the conqueror.

SURRENDERED?

Depression: Illness or Spiritual failure?

Written by Cynthia Cavanaugh

Angry, frustrated and confused, I boarded a plane for Southern California. My dear friend and mother-in-law lay in a hospital bed with the shadow of death hovering. As I sat on the plane numb and expressionless. I cried, “Lord, where are you? Can’t you see my wounded heart?” I wanted to scream instead of cry, “LORD, I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE!” I felt as though his face was shrouded from me.

This was one of the few times in my journey with God where I truly felt that I had been abandoned by Him. So many traumatic events had happened. Just two weeks earlier we had buried my grandfather–the spiritual rock of our family. I had had the privilege of caring for him and walking with him through his last days and now, just weeks after his death, I was possibly facing another. I felt as though the foundation of my childhood was being bulldozed.