Let Go and Let Jesus
Good Morning Friends,
There is absolutely nothing wrong in praying for healing and hope for life. When my mom went into the Emergency Room on Thursday evening pretty much the whole family was praying for her healing. Our attention though can get out of focus. We should treasure modern medicine. Without it she would have died, but we should not put our faith in our doctors, our hospitals or the latest drugs or even ourselves when it comes to restoration. We can only put our faith in God and sometimes God heals and sometimes, God knows that it is time to die. That is what happened to Jesus. And even he hoped for another way. But now friends, because of Jesus, death, no matter how painful or frightening or foreign, has become an achingly beautiful invitation into God’s glory. Ok it is not easy to see it as freedom. Never the less if the time is right it is a release, it is an exodus to the Promised Land, an opportunity to Let Go and Let Jesus.
Scripture: Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.
-Galatians 5:16-26 (NRSV)
Sunlight Poured from His Face
Six days later, three of them saw that glory. Jesus took Peter and the brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain. His appearance changed from the inside out, right before their eyes. Sunlight poured from his face. His clothes were filled with light. Then they realized that Moses and Elijah were also there in deep conversation with him. Peter broke in, “Master, this is a great moment! What would you think if I built three memorials here on the mountain—one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah?” While he was going on like this, babbling, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them, and sounding from deep in the cloud a voice: “This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of my delight. Listen to him.” When the disciples heard it, they fell flat on their faces, scared to death. But Jesus came over and touched them. “Don’t be afraid.” When they opened their eyes and looked around all they saw was Jesus, only Jesus.
Matthew 17:1-8 The Message (MSG)
With a Mere Kernel of Faith
At the bottom of the mountain, they were met by a crowd of waiting people. As they approached, a man came out of the crowd and fell to his knees begging, “Master, have mercy on my son. He goes out of his mind and suffers terribly, falling into seizures. Frequently he is pitched into the fire, other times into the river. I brought him to your disciples, but they could do nothing for him.”
Matthew 17:14-16 The Message (MSG)
Message: I really do not know if it is my mom’s time.
But it is a time to think about the process and the proper focus to have. You see the disciples could not heal the boy with epilepsy and there was a reason. They were trying to do it on their own focusing on earthly things not heavenward. The transfiguration was still in their minds but they were still thinking of memorials.
Friends, we are not to have faith in healing but faith in Jesus. Jesus healed lots of people but to presume that more life is the only sort of blessing He offers is, is to forget how big God is really. For all the pain and sorrow and brokenness of death, there has to be room for a reality that it all pours out into eternal life. We are not to worship in churches of biomedicine putting our trust in technology as a promise to stave off death. These experiences sap and drain the very Spirit out of life. Our worship and healing needs to come from something very different. We need to confront our substitutes for God. So finally I confronted the evil and it was crucified. But the process was absolutely painful. This process of putting emotions under God’s control is the only way if we are to respond with love. Christ set the example for which we are to strive. Christ teaches us to be gentle, to not be anxious and to have great faith in Him. He is the one who heals…He is the one who conquered death.
Pray we have power under control in our lives but it does not kill us in the process. Pray we realize how gentle God has been with us and how many times He could have condemned us but instead offed mercy. Pray He gently leads us so we too can be gentle with others. Pray we too begin to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Pray that when we are confronted with trials and tests that we would have faith in God’s faithfulness in our lives. Pray we allow the Spirit to work within us. Pray we have faith when going through a painful experience. Pray we keep pressing on in the face of difficulties. Pray our love hangs on to faith born of the Spirit. Pray we are filled with the Spirit of life even as we face the possibility of…the hope for a different kind of death.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 