Healing by Immersion in God’s Word

I. Humility, God’s Word, and the Jordan River

 

As Naaman took dip one in Jordan’s river,

Humbling himself wholly before Christ,

God’s word began to penetrate his skin cells

And struck him as a bit of good advice.

 

First taste of faith. Step out and take a break now.

Dry off. Relax. Into your chariot climb.

Then see your servants’ arms crossed, feet a-tapping.

They’re right, of course. Let’s try it one more time.

 

Dip two: Submerge the body head to toe, guy.

Come up again with goosebumps. That was wild!

Could be Elisha’s word is truly working.

And yet the change appears to be quite mild.

 

But on the third dip, how the water tried him,

A burning flame to tame his leprous skin!

“Oh, what have I gotten myself into?”

Asked Naaman with his face full of chagrin.

 

II. Let’s God’s Word Go Deep

 

Set aside your own agenda, dear commander, and obey.

Immerse yourself within it. There’s healing in this Word.

It must sink deep within you to remove the icy berg.

 

It is the berg of unbelief. We see it on the surface.

It’s floating on your skin. To shame you is its purpose.

Beneath it lies a mountain that can tumble the Titanic.

Only the Man of perfect faith can tread on that Atlantic.

 

Your berg of doubt would block the faith that God seeks to impart.

You must let Him dissolve the rock of pride that’s in your heart.

One dip is not enough to penetrate such stubborn soil.

You can’t get rid of it with fervent sweat or fearful toil.

 

No river of Damascus can remove your ingrown sin,

But bathing in the flow of God’s good news gives peace within.

Transgression may rise up, but much more does God’s grace abound,

With drastic change that places your feet back on solid ground.

 

You do not need a man to wave his hand over the spot.

Just take the word, believe it, exercise the faith you’ve got

By soaking in the scriptures. Drink His truth in, undiluted,

For which no earthly medicine can well be substituted.

 

Behold the stones that testify to Christ’s amazing power

To make God’s flood of judgment part that you might now cross over,

receiving sweet for bitter, mercy streams to end all strife,

For all who do believe in Him have passed from death to life.

 

 

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The Holy Spirit Meets Deep Healing Needs

I. The Holy Spirit Does Deep Healing, Bringing Order out of Chaos

Sometimes those who struggle with a chronic illness or disease need deep healing because the pain of mental anguish has turned their world “upside-down.” The first chapter of Genesis seems to speak of such a world.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (verse 1)

“And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” (verse 2)

Though Biblical scholars disagree as to the meaning of this verse – did God create the world that way or did it become that way (after the fall of Lucifer)? – one thing seems clear: the world was dark. Little meaning could be seen amid the disarray. But then we read:

“And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (verse 3)

Then God spoke, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (verse 4)

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God brought order out of chaos. He performed a “deep healing” on a world whose “body parts” were in disarray. The earth was like a lifeless corpse, but He brought order to it, separating light from darkness, waters from waters, and water from dry land.

“and God saw that it was good” (verse 10)

He spoke to the waters and they brought forth living creatures “abundantly” (verse 21). He brought forth many creatures from the earth as well.

“And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.” (verse 31).

II. Deep Healing For Deep Needs

God did not create the world to break down or become diseased. Everyone and everything was happy and healthy. But then, like the “pestilence that stalks in darkness” (Psalm 91:6), confusion snuck in, taking the form of a serpent. They didn’t see it coming but they felt the plague.

“Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat . . .’ ?”  (Genesis 3:1)

Man ate forbidden fruit. The result: heavy toil, hard labor, and death (Genesis 2:17; 3:16-19; and 3:22-24)

Adam and Eve didn’t die that same day in a physical sense, but death soon took its toll on their family. Their first son Cain acted insane by murdering his brother Abel, thus turning his parents’ world upside-down. No plant-based medicine could heal their aching hearts.

But the Holy Spirit hovered over their darkness, waiting one day to fulfill the promise spoken  in Genesis 3:15 :

“And I will put enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

One day Jesus, the “seed of the woman” (not Eve but her natural descendant Mary) would fulfill this promise by bruising the head of the serpent’s seed (meaning Satan, who used the serpent to trick Eve into eating the forbidden fruit – see Revelation 12:9).

“Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”  (Luke 1:35)

The Holy Spirit is the one who shows us Jesus Christ our healer, the one whose blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:24).

 

 

 

Comic Books, Like Bibles, Can Act as Portals

Comic books, like Bibles, can act as portals, transporting readers to a supernatural realm. That is a main theme in my book Speed of Sight, a Superhero Adventure. It is about an ordinary boy who reads a special comic book. This comic acts as a portal, transporting him to places he’s never been before and opening up his mind to the supernatural.

Like the Bible, this special brand of comic book inspires faith and gives hope to the broken-hearted. It enables the hero to see beyond his circumstances into a different, more powerful reality. As his home life falls apart, he sees the comic in his hand. It shines light on the evil forces that wish to ruin his life and shows him how to deal with them. After reading this comic, he finds himself sealed in a transparent pod which takes him on a trip through outer space.

Like Philip from the book of Acts, he gets “translated” from one place to another – in this case, it involves another realm. The comic acts as a catalyst, providing the faith fuel the hero needs on his journey.

While in this other realm, the hero meets the one who wrote the special comic books. This man, like Christ, is the author and finisher of the hero’s faith. With one touch  of  his pen,  this Christ figure empowers the hero with supernatural abilities. These supernatural abilities enable him to defeat bullies and save lives.

Such abilities, in a broad sense, represent spiritual gifts. The ability to see things others can’t, for example, may correlate to words of knowledge, wisdom, or discernment. The ability to move at super speeds is like a supernatural form of transportation. Again, I think of Philip, or perhaps Enoch the Old Testament saint.  He was the one who walked with God. Then suddenly one day he disappeared.

It was a miracle.

Miracles come from connecting with God and believing what He says.

As Daniel 11:32 declares, “Those who know their God will be strong and do exploits.”

Or, to quote Jesus, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes on me, the works that I do he shall do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” (John 14:12)

Such Bible words build faith and open portals to the supernatural. Inspired comic books, which enable us to picture those words, can do the same. That’s what Speed of Sight is all about. Feel free to check it out. If you like it, take the time to give it a thoughtful review.

After all, it’s all about that portal, the connection that enables us to transcend time and space in order to connect us with the supernatural.

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Making a Few Necessary Changes

Okay, so I’m sure at least a few people have noticed that I’ve made some changes to my website. I’m not doing it to confuse anyone, but after all, it is an author website. After doing some needed research, I realized that some things were missing with this website – essential items that help people to contact me and buy my book. (No pressure to purchase, but it’s nice to have the information at your fingertips for immediate and/or future reference).

Yes, I’ll admit, I feel the pressure to make sales. (Too few reviews sound like bad news. I wouldn’t want to blow a fuse). But that’s not the reason I write. I write because I have a message to share and I can’t type it fast enough, and then I have to think about “Is anybody reading it?”

I know. What does that bird have to do with anything? I wish it would stop peering over my shoulder already.

ARRRGH! I’m a writer. I just want to write. I have another book to finish but marketing is a distraction. It’s like the carrots in the pot roast that refuse to cook all the way through, but the meat has been done for three hours. Even the potatoes are tired of waiting for them to cook. Anyhow, I think you get my drift. I’ve made some major renovations to this site over the last few months – renovations that in some ways correspond with renovations in my life. As some children prepare to move overseas (I will miss my grandson!) others come back home.

They’re here and then they’re there. They like to travel everywhere. My rhymes almost sound like a Doctor Seuss book. I used to wonder about his last name; sounds like the Hebrew word for horse.

Doctor Horse. Good name for him. I can see the toothy grin. Reminds me of Mr. Ed the talking horse. Remember him? If so, you’ve probably been around a while – long enough to go through numerous changes.

Like my website. I’ve been writing more articles for authors and for readers too. But my main message hasn’t changed a bit. To me it’s all about the miracles and healing Jesus still performs. He’s just the same today as He was two thousand years ago.  That’s what the Christian fiction stories I write are really about – children walking in the power of the Spirit, taking His inspired comic books at face value and using them to take incredible adventures.

These heroes are like people who read the Bible and do what it says without wavering.

They’ve had it with the Snore Bore. They won’t listen to his dead weights, and – well, I think you get the picture. They trust God to help them make those needed changes in their lives, even though some things can be so frustrating – like figuring out where all those widgets go and how and why and – Anyhow, change can be good. Now if I could only figure out where my villain ran off to…

 

 

Faith Working Through Love: The Fruit of Patience

Patience (aka long-suffering) is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5:22). It is also the first attribute associated with love in I Corinthians chapter 13.

How many people these days exhibit patience though? I know I struggle with it. I want people to be nice to me NOW.  When they get impatient, I get upset. I am impatient for them to be patient! Oh, what a flawed world we live in. We have more flaws than we know.

But God is patient. I John 4:8 tells us that God IS love.  To know God is to have this patient love living in us. As God the Father’s only begotten Son Jesus Christ demonstrated that love toward us (see John 3:16). It is a very patient love.

Acts 10:38 declares that Jesus did good and healed everyone that the devil oppressed. Out of love – the Father’s perfect love – He healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out devils. His love was full of patience  and endured  much  unbelief.

One time there was a man whose son had a deaf and dumb spirit. Jesus’ disciples could not cast it out. When Jesus heard this, it frustrated him. “O unbelieving generation! How long must I remain with you?” he said. “How long must I put up with you?” In other words, “How patient must I be?”

Why did he say that? Perhaps it is because people still questioned His ability to heal, despite the many miracles He had done.  Imagine, for example, that you are an expert table maker.  If anyone can make a table, you can. But despite the fact that people know you built thousands of tables, they question your ability to build another one. Perhaps they suspect your “table-building anointing” has run out. They asked your workers for help but they weren’t as skilled, so they wonder if perhaps you  have resigned from the business.

“I know  you did  it before, but are you sure you can do it again?” they ask.

You know you still have what it takes to build tables, but most people doubt you can. Even after seeing you at work, they’re still not sure. You feel the patience draining out of you.

“Oh, puh-lease! You’ve doubted me a hundred times and I’ve had it up to here! No more, that’s it, I’ve reached my limit. I’m finished, do you hear me? Completely finished with you!”

That’s what Jesus could have said. But love is full of patience – aka long-suffering – meaning that it suffers long. Despite the continual episodes of unbelief His people demonstrated, Jesus showed them patience.

He said, “Bring the boy to me.”

The father made another mistake. He said, “If” – as in, “If you can do anything, please help us.”

Again, Jesus showed patience, by encouraging him. “If you believe, all things are possible to the one who believes.”

The father asked Jesus to help his unbelief and Jesus did.

The fruit of love is patience, and patience comes from God.