A young person recently came to my wife and me for prayer about a health challenge. She had received a gloomy prognosis from the doctor and was quite downcast about it. The doctor’s words caused her to become very anxious about her healing. We noticed that words and thoughts—good or bad—can greatly affect the healing process.
Does our mental diet influence what happens to our bodies? The scriptures show that healing is very dependent on the words we allow into our minds and hearts.
A “happy church” is a joy to see. Believers are allowed to fully share and grow together under the loving guidance and care of a pastor who does his or her best to walk with the Father and serve our Lord Jesus Christ. But what about the times when Satan deceives spiritual leaders?
Have you ever met a “self-made” person? I haven’t. Without God, people wouldn’t even have a physical body or be alive. But today it’s all about self-improvement and self-sufficiency and self-help and “selfies.”
Our heavenly Father called us in Christ. We can answer that call and walk each day in God’s Word.
Ephesians 4:1: I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.
Here is a poem about our calling:
I remember our two-year-old son standing in my size-13 shoes. Sometimes kids want to grow up fast, overnight. But that’s not how most things work in real life. Plants take a while to grow, in stages. The same is physically true of animals and people. Jesus Christ worked lovingly and patiently with Peter to help him grow in commitment over time.
Since I was young, I dreamed of finding the “right” person to marry. I longed for someone to spend my life with—someone who would stand with me through the good times and the challenges. Like so many others, I wanted a spouse I could depend on. The key to realizing such a wonderful relationship is in its foundation, its center.
We saw in Part 1 that to be “asleep in Christ” refers to a born-again believer who is physically dead and awaits the return of Christ. That is when believers will “wake up”! That is our great hope for the future. Now let’s see more of the how and when those who are asleep in Christ will get up.
Many sincere Christians believe that upon death a believer goes to heaven to live with the Lord. They even teach that those who died are conscious and are “looking down” upon those of us on earth. This teaching opens the door to spiritualism and evil spirit impersonation of the dead (familiar spirits). What do the scriptures say about those who are “asleep in Christ”?
In the Eastern culture of the Bible, the word “father” is used of someone who begins or supplies something. God, our heavenly Father is the beginner and source of mercy, glory, spiritual ability, and light.
In Part 1, we saw the great truths in Psalm 91 that show God’s great love and protection for the Messiah. Now we will see in Philippians 2 how God kept His promises to Jesus Christ by raising him from the dead and making him lord. And we will see in Ephesians 6 what we have today with Christ in us, the hope of glory. We can trust in our heavenly Father’s unlimited supply, and not in man’s meager attempts at sufficiency.