Do You Want to Get Well?

Do you want to get well? This may seem like a silly question, but it is the question Jesus asked the paralytic (John 5:6).  Why would Jesus ask such a question? Surely, everyone wants to be well.

The truth is that not everyone wants to be well. The desire to be well precedes all healing.  If you do not want to be well, then you will not get well.  But if you want to get well, you will get well as you seek God's wisdom and pray for His direction. You will get well as you believe that you will get well. 

How can you tell if you want to be healed?  Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

1) Am I using my physical sickness or my emotional illness as a means of getting attention?  If so, am I willing to give up that desire for attention in exchange for wholeness?  

2) Am I willing to renounce the doctrines of men and the doctrines of devils in exchange for the truth of God's Word? Much false teaching is out there regarding healing. This false teaching comes from people and from demons. You may have been the recipient of this false teaching in your church or elsewhere. False teaching will keep you from wanting to be healed. If, for example, you have been falsely taught that God makes people sick to teach them something, then you will feel conflicted about wanting to be healed because you will think that you are violating God's will. But, if it is true that God makes you sick to teach you something, then you are violating God's will by going to a doctor.

3) Am I willing to concede that, while I may not be responsible for what happens to me, I am totally responsible for how I respond to what happens to me? It is far easier emotionally and psychologically to blame others for our troubles than to assume the responsibility ourselves. But the truth is that we cause many of our own problems.

4) Am I willing to concede that while God is in control of the universe, He has given me dominion over the earth, a free will, and, therefore, dominion over my choices?  It is far easier to blame our negative life situations on God's sovereignty than on our responsibility. Saying that everything happens because God is in control is a cop-out.  Some things happen because of our poor choices. God never intended for them to happen.

5) Am I willing to give up all of my excuses to pursue emotional health? Am I willing to go through the pain in order to discover the freedom that is on the other side of the pain? Emotional health requires a price on our part.  That price is the laying down of our own solutions to our problems and the embracing of God's solutions as found in His Word.

So, do you want to be healed?  I hope you'll shout a resounding YES! :)

How to Identify the Lies You Are Believing

In this week's post, I am assuming that you have already accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord and that you are a believer.  If you have not yet accepted Christ, I urge you to read last week's post entitled "Lies and How They Hinder You".

Today we're going to discuss how to identify the lies that you are believing and that are keeping you in bondage.  Here is a basic rule of thumb in identifying lies:  Any thought you have that contradicts what God says about you is a lie.

So how can you know what thoughts contradict what God says about you?  Great question! A question to which there is an easy answer. But first let me tell you a story.

When a person trains to become a bank teller, she has to learn to recognize counterfeit money.  But, amazingly, she never handles counterfeit money to learn what it feels like. She handles only real money.  And she handles real money so often and so well that if a counterfeit bill should pass through her fingers, she would instantly recognize it as counterfeit. Why?  Because she knows what real money feels like, and she can immediately recognize when false money is in her hands. 

The same is true with us. If we handle God's Word (the Truth) often enough and well enough, we will instantly  recognize the counterfeit (the Lie) that Satan sends our way. 

So the first step in identifying the lies you are believing is to study the Bible.  Read it. Memorize verses. Meditate on the Word. Saturate yourself with it as much as you can so that when Satan throws a lie at you, you will instantly recognize it as a counterfeit.

If you have not formed the habit of reading the Bible every day, start today.  Begin with the Gospel of John in the New Testament.  Read slowly and apply what you read to your personal life.  As you do, you will be handling the Truth and you will be getting to know it well.

Next week, we'll explore what it means to want to get well. 

Lies and How They Hinder Us

If you're like a lot of people, you are walking around with deep emotional pain but you are keeping it to yourself.  You may feel as though you're the only one going through what you're going through.  Sometimes, you may even feel as though you're losing your mind.  If this describes you, take heart. There is a reason for your dilemma, and there is a way out of it.

Please bear with me as I build a foundation for you. This foundation is important to your understanding of what follows and to getting free of your emotional pain.

You are a three-part being. You have a spirit, a soul, and a body. How do I know this? This information is found in the Holy Bible in the First Book of Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse 23. I believe that the Bible is God's manual for man and explains who we are, how we function, and how we should live to create a successful life for ourselves.  

When you were born into this world, your spirit was dead. In other words, it was separated from God by what is called original sin.  Original sin is the state of separation from God that resulted when Adam and Eve sinned against God by disobeying Him. Their disobedience separated them from God and severed their relationship with Him. Because Adam and Eve could pass on to their children only what they were, we inherited their sin nature and are also born into this world separated from God.

But God the Father loved you so much that He sent Jesus Christ, His Son, to give you a new spirit so that you could be reconnected to God.  That is the message of the Gospel, also called the Good News! 

Now before you decide that all of this is nonsense, please hear me out.  

Adam and Eve sinned because they believed a lie that Satan told them, the lie that God was holding out on them by commanding them not to eat the fruit of a certain tree in the Garden of Eden. In reality, God was protecting them. In disobeying God's command, Adam and Eve essentially called God a liar.  The truth was that Satan was the liar.

And he still is. Satan is still whispering lies into people's minds, including yours. But you may not recognize them as Satan's lies. You probably think they are your own thoughts, and sometimes those thoughts drive you nuts. 

If you are in bondage in any way to harassing thoughts, bad habits, or tormenting emotions,  you can be sure that Satan has whispered lies into your mind and that you are believing those lies. The only way to get rid of the harassing thoughts, bad habits, or tormenting emotions is to identify the lies you are believing, renounce those lies, and replace them with the truth.

The first step in doing this is to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. If you have never done this, I urge you to do so now.  None of what I will be talking about will make sense nor will it work unless you have accepted Christ.  The reason is that Jesus Christ alone is the Truth.  You will never be free without Jesus Christ because He is the Truth Who sets you free. He Himself said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).  So pray this simple prayer with me now:

Lord Jesus, I come to You just as I am. I believe that You are the Son of God, that You died on a Cross for me, and that You rose from the dead. I receive You now as my Savior and Lord. Make of me what You created me to be. Set me free by Your power, by Your Spirit, and by Your Love. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer, please let me know so that I can send you some follow-up information. You may reach me at drmaryann@healingthehurtingheart.com.

In future blog posts, we will talk about some of the most common lies that keep people bound. And we will talk about how to identify those lies, renounce them, and replace them with the truth of God's Word.

If this post has helped you, please let me know. And please tell others about Healing the Hurting Heart.