House of Hope Online

August 20, 2023

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The last three or four weeks we have been talking about the end times and the events that will take place, such as the Rapture, the seven-year Tribulation period, the 1,000-year reign of Christ and the saints, the Great White Throne Judgment, and finally, the creation of the new Heaven, the new Earth, and the new Jerusalem.  We saw the devastation that is in store for those who do not accept Jesus in their hearts.  The Tribulation will put the earth and the world economy under the control of the evil rule of the antichrist, and the Bible prophesies the collapse of financial markets and the final battle of Armageddon, when Jesus defeats all evil. 

If you are new to these podcasts, you can find these and other words of the Lord at houseofhopeonline.com.

As a Christian, I find these promises of God uplifting and a source of peace in my spirit because my God has promised to supply all your needs according to His riches in glory (Phil 4:19), and of course He has promised to Rapture us as a Church (1^st Thessalonians 4:13-18).

And so, what is our takeaway from all of that? 

What message does the Lord want us to share?

Is it: “You better accept Jesus in your heart to avoid the terror of the Tribulation and eternal damnation?”  That is certainly true, but is that the reason to accept Christ?  This question is the focus of today’s word.

Why Come to Jesus?

I think the reason to accept Jesus in our hearts is to enter a love relationship with Him, a relationship He initiated by loving us first.  We do not marry someone for what they can do for us.  We marry because we love the person, and because the person loves us.  We praise Him for what He does for us, but we worship Him for who He is.

1^st John 4:

 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

 16 And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

 17 ¶ By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.

 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

 19 We love, because He first loved us.

If you confess that Jesus is the Son of God, not only are you saved but the love of God abides in you, and that love is perfected in you so you may have confidence in the day of judgment.  His perfect love casts out our fear.  And so verse 19 teaches that we love because He first loved us.

The profound wisdom of verse 19 is lost on our world today.  Many of us try to love others without first accepting Christ and receiving God’s love.  We try to give love without really having love in us.  You cannot give what you do not have, and until you experience Jesus’ love, you cannot give it.

The Gift

Jesus’ love for us is a true gift from God.  It not only saves us from the tribulation, but it also has great benefits in our daily lives today.  Heidi Baker, the leader of Iris Ministries, recorded a CD with Kevin Prosch in 2009 entitled “The Gift.”  The title track includes the following lyrics:

How silently the purity of the wondrous gift is given.

For love has made a way for us to come into Your presence.

For you are the Bridegroom, take us in Your arms.

We refuse anything that hinders love!

It’s the joy of being lovesick, the pleasures of loving You!

It’s the joy of being lovesick, the pleasures of loving You!

So, we plant our lives in the soil of Your love,

And we watch them grow and bloom.

The aching, the longing to see You face to face,

To behold the stain of love, our Groom.

You said You would not share Your glory with another one,

But we are not another, we are Your beloved!

We are not another, we are Your beloved!

Spread Your blanket of love, over the lovesick ones.

Let love flow now!

The Spirit and the Bide say come, Come for the lovesick ones.

Let love flow now!

His love makes a way for us to enter His presence, where the Holy Spirit ministers to us while we await His coming.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to avoid those things that hinder love.  We plant our lives in His love, and we therefore grow and bloom.  The Pharisees never got that.  They never learned the Word of God was about love.  They thought it was rule making and fear driven.

As Christians, we ache and long to see Him, and we know we are His beloved.  Knowing you are beloved makes a difference in your life.  It gives you a Christ-centered self-esteem that can withstand the judgments of the world, the judgments of those who do not truly love you.

The Spirit and the Bride say “Come!”

His Love Includes Healing

Jesus’ love for us manifested on the cross, but lest you take that for granted, bear in mind that Jesus contemplated the pain that love would cost Him. 

Mark 14:

 34 And He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.”

 35 And He went a little beyond [them,] and fell to the ground, and [began] to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by.

 36 And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for Thee; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what Thou wilt.”

He knew He could ask the Father to spare Him the pain, but He wanted what the Father wanted – a perfect love that would cast out fear, and that would take a sacrificial death and a miraculous resurrection.  So, He bravely went forward in love for us.

Because Jesus suffered wounds and rejection on the cross, His love includes healing for our bodies, for our minds, and for our emotions.  The Word of God and the love of God promised healing early in the Old Testament.

Exodus 15:

 26 And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.”

King David gave earnest heed to the voice of the Lord and received his healing.

Psalms 103:

 1 ¶ ([A Psalm] of David.) Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, [bless] His holy name.

 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;

 3 Who pardons all your iniquities; Who heals all your diseases;

 4 Who redeems your life from the pit; Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

 5 Who satisfies your years with good things, [So that] your youth is renewed like the eagle.

 6 ¶ The LORD performs righteous deeds, And judgments for all who are oppressed.

Psalms 30:

 2 O LORD my God, I cried to Thee for help, and Thou didst heal me.

A tremendous passage of scripture is found in Isaiah 53 which speaks in past tense about what Jesus would do 700 years or so later.  Isaiah knew by the word of the Lord that Jesus’ love included healing.  As you read this, understand that, because of our love relationship with Jesus, we can be healed of the very pain, rejection, and oppression that He experienced while on earth.

Isaiah 53:

 3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

 4 ¶ Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.

 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being [fell] upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.

 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.

 8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living, For the transgression of my people to whom the stroke [was due?]

 9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

 10 ¶ But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting [Him] to grief; If He would render Himself [as] a guilt offering, He will see [His] offspring, He will prolong [His] days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

 11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see [it] and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.

 12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors. (NASB)

Note in verse 5 Isaiah says we are healed, not we are going to be healed.  Jesus’ disciple, Peter, reemphasized the Isaiah prophecy and acknowledged that by Jesus’ wounds we were healed.

1^st Peter 2:

 21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,

 22 WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH;

 23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting [Himself] to Him who judges righteously;

 24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

 25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

Having that knowledge, that the Lord’s love includes healing, we must patiently await His touch.

God’s Waiting Room for Healing

We talked in prior weeks about receiving a reconstituted body at the Rapture, one that will endure for eternity without the pain and limitations we feel in our current bodies.  We also discussed the healing leaves of the Tree of Life in the new Jerusalem of Revelation 22:2.  I find myself in my old age asking God for an advance on that reconstituted body, to help with some of the aches and pain I am feeling today.  But there is something we can do in the meantime while we await our healing.  We can believe the scripture that we already have been healed.

Matthew 9:

 20 And behold, a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak;

 21 for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I shall get well.”

 22 But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” And at once the woman was made well.

Be honest with yourself about your faith and ask Jesus to help you with your unbelief.

Mark 9:

 20 And they brought the boy to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he [began] rolling about and foaming [at the mouth.]

 21 And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.

 22 “And it has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”

 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can!’ All things are possible to him who believes.”

 24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out and [began] saying, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

 25 And when Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again.”

 26 And after crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and [the boy] became so much like a corpse that most [of them] said, “He is dead!”

 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up.

I appreciate the father’s honesty in verse 24.  The boy’s father acknowledged the weakness of his faith and asked Jesus to help Him believe.  Jesus immediately moved to heal the boy.

The message for us?  It’s okay to admit to Jesus when our faith is weak.  It does not disqualify you from your miracle.  Remember He loves you!

Let us pray for healing ask the Lord to help our unbelief.       

Father God, thank You for so loving us that You sacrificed the body of Jesus, Your only begotten Son, that we might be saved and healed by His stripes.  We plant our lives in the soil of that love, and we know we will grow and bloom.  We intercede for those who are experiencing pain, surgery, undiagnosed conditions, cancer, heart disease, back ailments, leg ailments, fatigue, joint pain, and all others.  We also pray for those who are experiencing emotional pain, rejection, depression, anxiety, sorrow, grief, and a lack of self-esteem.  We pray for healing in our own bodies and emotions in Jesus’ name and we declare with the certainty of Isaiah that by His stripes we are healed!  Lord, we believe, but help our unbelief.  In Jesus’ name and by His urging, we ask all these things.  Amen.