Waiting on Healing – A Mindful of Christ Encouragement – Purity 1220

Purity 1220 12/12/2023 Purity 1220 Podcast

Purity 1220 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a painting of an Old Woman with a
blank stare being comforted by a young girl comes to us from yours truly as I
capture this haunting scene while visiting the American Painting Salon, on the
second floor of the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum in Springfield MA on
Saturday.  Although there are no
information cards in the American Painting Salon to tell us what this painting
is called or when it was painted, and I didn’t ask. the artist’s signature
reveals that it comes to us from L. Wittich. Even though its name and dates are
a mystery to me, Wittich’s haunting work reveals a truth that is timeless, we
all grow old and as we do we must come to grips with our own mortality.   The young girl comforting or trying to get
the attention of this old woman will one day and look death in the face
herself.  

Well, It’s Tuesday and as we move into this week I
have death and disease on my mind. Merry Christmas.  Not only was I musing over the issue of
mortality because of my visit to the Springfield Museums, as every visit to a museum,
anywhere, eventually causes me to ponder the fact that the people who are in
these paintings, or owned these antiquities are long dead, only leaving behind their
art or possessions and a small information card about who they were – But I
also got the news that a dear friend of mine, Bill Hamm, moved onto eternity last
Thursday.  

After being diagnosed with brain cancer in 2022,
Bill completed six weeks of radiation and chemotherapy and many prayers were
said for his healing.  A social media
post from June 1^st of this year shows Bill smiling with his daughter
gardening in the spring sunshine, but now six months later, Bill has graduated
to heaven. Sometimes, despite our faithful efforts and the latest medical
technology, healing doesn’t come on this earth, but when you have faith in Jesus,
like Bill did, death has lost its sting because he lives on in God’s
kingdom.   

These are the heavy questions of life and the adequate
answers come through faith in Jesus Christ.  
Until Jesus comes back though, we will all face those questions of how
long do I have and will I be healed.     Recently
Mindful of Christ’s Lauren Roskilly shared a blog post about her medical
struggles and I sharing it today because it looks at disease honestly but
offers hope to those who are “Waiting on Healing”. Lauren Roskilly writes:

“Waiting
on Healing  

(https://mindfulofchrist.net/waiting-on-healing/
)

“Are
you waiting on healing?

Perhaps
you’ve been sick, have a long-term illness, or according to the doctors a ‘non-curable’
disease.

I can
certainly relate to that one! My personal journey of 26 years of fainting. In
2018 given the diagnosis of Neurocardiogenic Syncope and being told there isn’t
a cure or treatment for it, then dealing with the grief, depression, and mental
health difficulties that came with it. To then being told I was healed in 2022,
getting my driver’s license back, taking the kids on holiday, and going to a
speaker conference in Vegas alone.

Then
on holiday with friends in August this year, bang! Passed out again, 10 days in
hospital, and struggling physically ever since.

Spent
the first week cross with God then another few weeks questioning everything and
trying to understand. I felt Him say to me that we may not understand certain
things and situations but we need to trust Him anyway.

“But
when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what he has
promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do
to me?” – Psalms 56:3–4 NLT

Rewind
to March 203, the Lord said “Battle Strategies for Spiritual Warfare” I asked
Him what He was getting at, His response was, “The next book.” I responded, “NO
THANKS!”

I
pulled a bit of a Noah for a week or 2 then returned to the Lord telling Him I
was ready to step up to the task.

As I
began researching and making notes the attacks began; on my family and finances
then in August to today my health.

To
the world, it looks like the Neurocardiogenic Syncope (NCS) has returned. Am
unable to drive again and only venture out with a willing friend & a
wheelchair. When people ask about it and how I am my (honest) response is; “IT
IS WELL WITH MY SOUL!”

It
is, because I put into action particular strategies both scriptural and
Christian Based CBT tools and techniques, in order to wait on my own healing ( and
dealing with other attacks too). All of which are included in the book,
including the vital point of turning my mind to Christ.

The
Spiritual growth journey this last 8 months has taken me on has been awesome!
And I thank Jesus every day!

I
know that I am healed! I know this is a season and attack.

“So
let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap
a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” Galatians 6:9 NLT”

Thank You, Lauren, for encouraging us with your life
story, where even in the midst of medical setbacks, you show us to keep going
and growing with God by directing your thoughts, prayers, and efforts to follow
the Lord.    You can get more encouragement
and Christian resources from Lauren by going to https://mindfulofchrist.net/ .  

Whether we are healed or not, as long as we live we
can experience peace and joy when we trust in and follow the Lord.  So no matter what you may be facing as we
move closer to saying goodbye to 2023 and the loved ones who won’t be with us
in 2024, keep walking and talking with God because as long as we trust in Jesus
and follow the Lord’s call on our lives, we don’t need to fear and can have
peace even in times of death and disease.  

——————————————————————————————–

Today’s
Bible verse comes to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By
John G. Kruis.

(
While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google
search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s
work. (https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Scripture-Reference-Counseling-Kruis-ebook/dp/B00CIUJZT2?ref_=ast_author_dp )

This
morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Church Discipline.

James 5:19-20 (ESV)
¹⁹  My brothers, if anyone
among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, ²⁰  let him know that whoever brings back
a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a
multitude of sins.

Today’s
verses fall under the third point of our counseling reference guide resource’s
section on Church
Discipline

3. Seek to save an erring
sinner.

Today’s verse encourages
us to reach out to those who have fallen away because if our efforts cause
someone to come back to the Lord, we can rejoice knowing that the Lord used us
to save their souls and to put them on the right path to God’s plan for their
life.  

Recently, I have received
some constructive criticism of how to minister to others compassionately, and I
have to be honest that I didn’t receive it well, at first, and I had the
immature reaction of just “quitting” and deciding to retire to my room full of
books and withdraw from ministering to anyone.  “If what I am doing is going to be subject to criticism, I’ll just stop
doing it.” I thought. 

 I know, real mature, but it didn’t take me
long to realize that the criticism I received was only intended to help me to
grow and to be a more effective servant to the body of Christ and that the decision
to quit would not only be applauded by the spiritual forces of darkness, it
would also leave my purpose in God’s kingdom unfulfilled and take away one more
opportunity for people to be encouraged in the truth and to find freedom and
healing in Christ.   

Jesus prayed for us to
work with Him to help the lost. 

Matthew
9:36-38 (NKJV) tells us  
³⁶  But when He saw the
multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and
scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
³⁷  Then He said to His
disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful,
but the laborers are few.
³⁸  Therefore
pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

So even though we will
face opposition from the world, the flesh, and the devil, and might even receive
some criticism from some in the body of Christ, we should never give up in
trying to reap a harvest of saved souls and healed hearts for Jesus and His
kingdom.

——————————————————————–

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.

Today we are sharing from “God is in the Manger-
Reflections on Advent and Christmas” – By Dietrich Bonhoeffer.   

As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage you all to purchase Bonhoeffer’s books for your own
private study and to support his work.  This resource is available online
for less than $10 at many sites.

God is in the Manger – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

ADVENT WEEK THREE –  REDEMPTION

DAY
TWO

Taking on
Guilt

Because what is at stake for Jesus is not the
proclamation and realization of new ethical ideals, and thus also not his own
goodness (Matt. 19:17), but solely his love for real human beings, he can enter
into the communication of their guilt; he can be loaded down with their guilt.…
It is his love alone that lets him become guilty. Out of his selfless love, out
of his sinless nature, Jesus enters into the guilt of human beings; he takes it
upon himself. A sinless nature and guilt bearing are bound together in him
indissolubly. As the sinless one Jesus takes guilt upon himself, and under the
burden of this guilt, he shows that he is the sinless one.

Lord Jesus, come yourself, and dwell with us, be
human as we are, and overcome what overwhelms us. Come into the midst of my
evil, come close to my unfaithfulness. Share my sin, which I hate and which I
cannot leave. Be my brother, Thou Holy God. Be my brother in the kingdom of
evil and suffering and death.

Sermon for Advent Sunday, December 2, 1928

Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what
good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask
me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into
life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said,
“You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You
shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; also, You shall
love your neighbor as yourself.”

Matthew 19:16–19^[1]

—————————more
tomorrow————————

Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage
Breaker”, “Freedom in Christ” series of Discipleship Classes via the
mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts

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These teachings are also available on the
MT4Christ247 YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MT4Christ247

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and
to be encouraged.

My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian
encouragement via her Ask Seek Knock blog (https://tammylynask.blogspot.com/ ),  her
Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on
Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)

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publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to
reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries,
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Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship