Jehovah Rapha

Every three months we get this little devotional at church called; The Word For You Today. Sometimes I pick it up and read a few of the days all at once instead of reading them as I should. Tonight I picked it up and turned it to December 10th. The title is...Believe God For Your Healing. The verse they used was the last few words of Exodus 15:26, "I am the Lord, who heals you." For me to read this tonight I believe is a God thing. If you know me you know I have a heart issue. Lately it has been making me sick a lot and I'm not real happy about it. As I read this devotion tonight I realized that I need to really believe God is going to heal me and not just say it because that's what everyone wants to hear from me. Here is some of what the devotion says...

One of the names God chooses to be called by is "Jehova Rapha", which means "I am the Lord who heals." Now, if God calls himself the healer, then you have the right to believe what He says and expect that, given an opportunity, He will perform His role competently.

Here are a few verses that were used...

Psalm 138:2b NLT
for your promises are backed
    by all the honor of your name.

Malachi 3:6a
 “I am the Lord, and I do not change."

Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

So...I read this and thought about how I have really just got to do what this says...

Believe God for my healing. And, I have to pray in faith...believing! 

I know that this is all true. So...

Starting right now I am going to start claiming what I know to be true. Jesus Christ is the same and He never changes. He is the only one who can heal and He is going to heal me. Marge told me some weeks back that...the answer is on the way! I believed it then but somewhere lost that belief. Right now I am claiming that word and in faith believing that my healing is on the way!

Just An Outlet Tonight

Ever have life just totally knock you down? Well, lately it's been getting to me big time. It seems when things aren't going well in one part of my life...physically...spiritually...or mentally...that all the rest eventually start being affected. I don't like that I let that happen. When I give in to circumstances of life in one area it's a lot easier to let the negative into my life in all the other areas.

After some less than good moments tonight I looked down at my Bible...laying open on my desk where I had left it last night...and read this...

Psalm 63:1

O God, You are my God;
I earnestly search for You.
My soul thirsts for You;
my whole body longs for You
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.

This is saying to me how I am feeling. With everything I have...the entirety of me...my whole being is longing for Him. For God. When things are happening in my life and I'm not trusting God with them as I know I should, my spiritual life starts lacking. My soul starts to get dry and ache.

Sometimes I know that I need to really press in to God and yet I let things just hold me back. It's as if I have hit a wall and I can't go over it...under it...or around it. For me, I know I just have to push my way through it.

Reading further on...

Psalm 63:6-8

I lie awake thinking of You,
meditating on you through the night.
Because You are my helper,
I sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings.
I cling to You;
Your strong right hand holds me securely.

Tonight I know that this is the answer. To think on and meditate on the Lord. He is my help in the time of trouble. In the time of anything in my life that throws me off balance. I have to cling...hold on to the Lord...through all the stuff in my life. I know this is true for me. I know this is right.

I really didn't start writing this tonight for anyone except myself...as an outlet for how I am feeling.
But as I end it I know that there are probably others reading this that are struggling with things in their life as well. If so...try doing what David did. Meditate on the good things of God. Let Him lift you out of the place you have let yourself get into.

 

It's That Trust Issue Again

Tonight while sitting and thinking...way more than I should be...I was finding myself getting into a bit of a funk. You know...having my own little party! While doing this, every know and again it would flash in my thoughts...read your Bible. As I'm sure you can guess, I didn't get right up and grab it! But... just as I am persistently stubborn...the Holy Spirit is also persistent. The thought just kept coming to me...Read your Bible. Finally I went and got it and decided to read in Psalms. This is where I turned.


Psalm 62:5-8

5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
    for my hope is in him.
⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress where I will not be shaken.
⁷ My victory and honor come from God alone.
    He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
⁸ O my people, trust in him at all times.
    Pour out your heart to him,
    for God is our refuge.

This is perfect! I know when things are going well, and when they aren't, that God is my rock...fortress...hope...salvation and refuge. I also know that the Lord must really want me to get this because on November 10th I used these same verses in my post. Tonight I believe what He wants me to know and what He wants you to know is this...

It doesn't matter what we are going through. The Lord our God is with us. We need to just put our life in His hands and trust Him with it...at all times!