Hey Girls!
I received the notes from Cat along with some of the questions that arose during this class. As soon as I have time to write I will try and add my own thoughts into the mix.
In the meantime, enjoy your week in Chapter 10 'Pausing for a Moment'!
with love,
Come on in,
pull up a chair,
and join in on the conversation in...
The Comment Cafe
Hi girls...I am sorry to have missed class this morning but we had to shuffle use of the car and it was to late to get a hold of anyone :(
ReplyDeleteuntil next week :)
We missed you Edna.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeletethanks so much.
Hey Girls! I have Cat's e-mail in front of me and am looking at the questions... you all seemed to have a great discussion in this particular class and I would love to answer some of Cat's questions and enter into the discussion!
ReplyDelete1. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, He says He will heal their land. We understand for Israel it was literal, but what are the spiritual implications of that for us today? I suggested that we have a fair amount of sick churches, and if we collectively turn in repentance, that He will heal them, but we wanted your insight as to how this applies to us.
🌺 I went back to Hosea 4:1 where God states His case against THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND. We are also inhabitants of THE LAND spiritually. They were brought out of Egypt, we were brought out of darkness. I agree with turning in repentance, yet the church is made up of individuals just as a collection is made up of individual pieces, it's as individuals that we are to turn in repentance and be healed. Hosea 6:1-3 shows us that our 'sickness' our 'need of healing' is from God's own hand... it is He that has wounded, He that has torn, yet it is He that will heal, bandage, revive and raise us. This is why we must KNOW HIM. His people perish for lack of knowledge, Yada, intimacy of and with The LORD.
So what does this have to do with the healing of THE LAND for us today? Just as the temple in Bible days took up a fair chunk of ground, of land, we too are the temple of the Living God Who has taken up residency in us. Every where our foot treads the LORD has given to us... think of it this way... He has brought us into the Promised Land, we stand IN it and we stand ON it and everywhere our foot falls we can expect healing in that place... but only if we had LISTENED (Hosea 4:1) to the Word of The LORD, only if we have RETURNED to and PRESS ON TO KNOW The LORD (Hosea 6:1-3).
This watering of the land (Hosea 6:3) is healing. The land itself is never healed before the children within it. The children first (individual/spritiual) then the land. The LAND, I believe from my study so far, is entering into the REST of GOD, that no matter where our foot treads on this earth, bad marriage, oppression, sick body, we experience no lack (Psalm 23). This is the inward healing that effects the outward circumstance, that brings glory to God and proves us witnesses to the reality of the promise.
Ok, that's my two bits! Onto the next question!
2. Matthew 8:16-17 got us talking a bit about demon possession and mental illness and things. Then we were talking about demon possession vs. oppression and the Christian. I stated that the Holy Spirit and demons do not cohabit, we are sealed. I know Neil Anderson states otherwise in The Bondage Breaker, and I thought, what a missed opportunity if he's cast out demons in people he still believed to be Christian, instead of calling them into fellowship with the Spirit.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible for a demon you had previously invited into your life to continue to cling to you after accepting the Holy Spirit? I understand that no, not indwelling, but oppressing...
🌺 I agree with Cat here. We have been SEALED for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:31)
I do believe that the Christian can be OPPRESSED or INFLUENCED by a demon to such a degree that it may look like possession, but it is not.
The only thing I know to do is to look at Scripture, because you will find so many people within Christendom with so many opinions on this, but I don't want opinions, I want truth!
In Colossians 1:3 we are told that God Himself has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of Christ.
In 2 Corithinans 6:15-16 we are asked the rhetorical question of 'what harmony harmony has Christ with Beial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them and I will be their God and they shall be My people.'
One of the most important scriptures for me is 1 Peter 1:5 where we are told that believers are 'protected by the POWER OF GOD THROUGH FAITH'... don't miss it... it is by FAITH that we are PROTECTED by the POWER of GOD!
Also, as a little tag on here, 1 Corinthians 2:16 tells us that as believers, we have been 'given the MIND of CHRIST'... the battleground is always the mind and this is where satan attacks, is it any wonder that God tells us in Hosea LISTEN to the Word of the LORD!
On to the next question!
3. At the end of the Matt. 8 section, Kay asks when was Is. 53:4 fulfilled. Because Matt. 8 states it was fulfilled at that time, but I see that as a partial fulfillment, pointing to the complete work of the cross. I think I didn't explain myself very well and thought maybe you could clarify.
ReplyDelete🌺 It did fulfill Isaiah 53:4... yet Isaiah 53:5 was still ahead!
Onto next question!
4. Our next question was in 1 Tim. 5. What do you get from this passage as it relates to sickness and sin? The statement telling Timothy to use wine for his frequent ailments just seems so randomly stuck in there. It shows that sometimes frequent ailments aren't a direct result of sin, but what else are we supposed to see?
ReplyDelete🌺 Hmm, well, we know that ALL sickness stems from sin. All sickness, physical, spiritual, mental all had their beginnings in mankind at the Fall (and I don't mean Autumn!
From my study, I've also believed that this particular verse is better seen within the context of where it finds itself.
In Chapter 3 Timothy would have taken to heart the admonition to deacons that they must be above reproach, and not to be addicted to much wine. In all probability Timothy avoided to the greatest degree, anything that might cause him to become a stumbling block to others. So here, the instruction to not drink water only, but to also use a little wine, for the sake of his stomach and frequent ailments, was to give him the freedom to partake for health reasons, good health that would enable him to minister.
oh, boy, and of course this could be taken to a ridiculous degree by those that would like to partake often of the bottle...
good time to go on to the next question!
5. We struggled with James a bit, because it seems to state that if you do these things, you WILL be healed, and clearly that's not always the case. We talked about restoration of the soul, and being raised up in the last day, and that in Christ, we ARE healed. But still...
ReplyDelete🌺 ... mmm-hmmmm... but still...
I have looked at this particular verse so often. I can only share what I believe at this point in my study...
First of all, i come from the standpoint that if God has said it in His Word, and He has, then it is truth. Period.
Second, FAITH plays a huge part in this... the prayer offered in faith will restore...
Third, that word RESTORE in the original is SAVED
Fourth, even when prayer is offered in faith, there are other things that God sees that we do not, after all He is El Roi.
Fifth, most of our prayers are for the alleviating of pain, discomfort, affliction, perhaps those very things have come from God Himself (remember He creates calamity and well-being, He also tears and heals, He wounds and He bandages and there is a time for everything under heaven... perhaps this is just His time and the healing and bandaging, the reviving and raising up in this particular instance, is not for this moment. That there is a greater work at stake that we cannot see.
Perhaps our musing of '...but still...' when we read this scripture is a wondering and the truth of what we see before us...
I remind myself often that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen and that faith says that I already have the thing... that is what our amen is all about... it is already done... so be it....
one more question left!
6. Finally, Linda was wondering what is meant by the sun of righteousness in the Mal. 4:2 reference in the group discussion questions.
ReplyDeleteHa, I said just a few things and I've written a book. Thanks for all you do in serving us and our Adonai.
Love and God bless!
Cat
🌺 Hey, Linda!
There are so many scriptures that I could give you on this one, but the one verse that seems to say everything to me is Proverbs 4:18... "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter UNTIL THE FULL DAY! (exclamation mark mine, I just couldn't hold back!)
Jesus Himself is our righteousness and so the sun of righteousness is Christ Himself, Who is the Light. Full and complete healing of all that comprises our humanity on planet earth will be realized for those that revere His NAME...
Love you girls!
Love you Cat!
See you on March 26th 😊