Monday, May 7, 2012

Just What the Doctor Ordered


Beautiful Lord, wonderful Savior
I know for sure
All of my days are held in Your hands
Crafted into Your perfect plan ~Darlene Zschech

Welcome back friends!  I hope you're doing well and that you had a good weekend.  Pour yourself a cup of tea/coffee, pull up a seat, and stay for a little while.  Let's get started!

Have you ever heard the Lord called by the name, The Great Physician?  I have called Him by that name many times in my prayers for healing, whether it be physical healing, emotional healing, or spiritual healing.  He is The Greatest Physician who ever came to heal the sick. I completely believe that miraculous healing can and does happen, but there are times when we have a part in the work God is doing.  He will faithfully do His part, but He won't do ours.  What was my part in being free from all those things I struggled with, which I shared with you in the previous posts?  The first step was to admit I had problems in these areas.  I then learned I needed to replace the lies I had been believing with what God says about me.  It wasn't enough to just say I wanted to do this, I had to put action behind my words.  If I didn't replace the lies, then I would only end up falling right back into the old ways of thinking, which would start the whole cycle over again.  I started to replace those lies by reading God's Word.  This is His love letter us.  He used His Word to show me who I was in Him.  I also read some other material that helped me tremendously, which I will list at the end of this post for you.  The next thing I did was speak those truths out-loud to myself.  Please understand that this was not a one time occurrence.  This was something I did every day; sometimes several times a day.  Each time those negative thoughts would come, I would speak those truths from God's Word.  Even though that was several years ago, there are still times when I do this because I am not at the point where I no longer struggle with these things.  The reason for speaking the truth out-loud is because our words have power.  God's Words have power!  They have the power to change the way you think.  Proverbs 18:21 (MSG) says, "Words kill, words give life;  they're either poison or fruit—you choose."  I had spent way too many years speaking words that brought death and were poisonous to me.  I needed to speak words of life and healing.  I wanted to see good fruit coming from the words I spoke.  There is another reason for you to speak these truths out-loud, so the enemy will hear it.  He has been a willing party to fill your mind with lies about who you are.  He has spent a lot of time putting you down, speaking words of death to you.  When you start speaking the truth about yourself, this lets him know you are onto him and that you are not going to be fooled by him any longer.  As hard as Satan tries to beat you down, there is another who can beat you down even more......yourself.  You can be your own worst enemy, or you can be your best cheerleader. You have the power to change the way you think!  What are you going to do?

This is where I will close for today friends.  Join me on Friday for my next post entitled, "Leaning on the Arms of Love."  Here's something for you to think about over the next few days:  I know how hard it is to make the changes in this area, but please know dear ones, it is so worth it.  I am still growing in this area, but I actually like who I am.  I don't say that in a puffed up or cocky way, but for so long I compared myself with others, thinking I was supposed to be like this person, or that person.  I believed a bunch of lies.  God made me to be me, no one else.  I am going to try to be the best me I can be.  That is what I would like to ask you to do this week....be the best you that you can be!  Don't try to be just like someone else.  Don't let anyone make you feel like you're not good enough.  Spend this week focusing on all the wonderful things about yourself.  If you don't think there are any wonderful things about you, then you are believing lies.  Go to God's Word and ask Him to show you who you are.  He will do it.  He will expose the lies.  Until next time my friends, be blessed!


*Reading Material That Helped Me-
Battlefield of The Mind by Joyce Meyer
Loving God With All Your Mind by Elizabeth George
Who I Am In Christ by Neil Anderson
How To Handle Your Emotions by June Hunt (This book was suggested to me by a very dear friend.  It helped me tremendously in knowing why I felt the way I did.  I highly recommend this book!)

*Scripture Verses to Encourage You-
"The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it [a]overflows)." ~John 10:10 (AMP)

"I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty." ~John 6:35

"I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." ~John 8:12

“I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” ~John 15:5

"And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you. ~Philippians 1:6 (AMP)

"How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.  Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. " ~Ephesians 1:3-8 (MSG)

2 comments:

  1. Praise the Lord that He is the Great Physician for our emotional and physical needs! I've had to visit Him quite a bit! And guess what? It didn't cost me anything, no bill. He already paid the price for me, all I needed to do is show up to receive from Him. Love this message, Sherry. <3

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    1. Thanks so much for your encouragement! :) Yes, I praise Him too! You got that right my friend! We don't even need to schedule an appointment either....He's always got time for us.

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