believe

If Only …..

/ SurrenderedHeartWorship / 4 Comments

If Only …..

If only we could be loved straight through all of our highs and lows. The ups as well as the downs.  If we could be accepted not only when we do something to please others. Or say only those things they agree wholeheartedly with. Or act and respond in the way they want us to respond and act in any given situation.

If only we could be loved fully with grace and compassion. What does that kind of love look like?  What does it feel like?  I only ask, because I don’t see it very often. Sadly not even in the church; a place I would totally expect and hope to find it.  Sure, I don’t expect to see it in the world. That’s because it is our job to show it to them. But do we?

See, Jesus didn’t wait to love you until you had it all together. He loved you before you could ever be cognizant of your actions. And He continues to love us with an everlasting love. Straight through all of our messes and hang ups.

So why can’t we love each other that way? Or maybe a better question is: Why won’t we?  I believe we can!  We can love, because He first loved us!  We can love others first, too. Before they impress us. Before they give us something we value. Before we get so easily offended at what the enemy knows is the pettiest thing in light of eternity. And bigger still, after we’ve been offended. I’d love to see THAT kind of mature love in action! Wouldn’t you?

We are to love like Jesus because He modeled love both in life, and death.  How He was moved to compassion by the very people who crucified him is mind boggling to me. But He asked God to forgive them!  And He personally asks us to love and forgive others the way He has loved and forgiven us. Love with compassion. Love with grace. Love without demanding our own way. Love straight through the disagreements. Love beyond the disappointments. Give others a love that bears all things. Hopes all things. A love that endures all things. Faith, hope, and love remain… but the greatest of these is, and always will be, LOVE.

What could happen if we stopped making excuses as to why we cannot love another person in this way?  If we cannot, it is solely because we have chosen to love only as far as our flesh will allow, negating the power of the Holy Spirit. He never asked us to love sin. We can hate that because it hurts people. But He does encourage us to love the sinner. He Himself chooses to love us despite our sin, too. I keep thinking of the woman caught in adultery in John, Chapter 8:1-11. Read or re-read it if you get a chance.

… Why would we make a conscious choice or decision not to follow in Jesus’ example when it comes to loving and forgiving others?  Why would we choose to live beneath His power, when we have been told that our love will show the world that we are His children? Here is the goal:  This year, I encourage you to mature in your capacity and ability to love and forgive others. This is my heart’s desire going forward, too. When it begins in you, it will begin with you!

Love, -Cindy Magsig

Scripture References for Further Study:

“We love each other because he loved us first. If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:19-21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us. And God has given us His Spirit as proof that we live in Him and He in us.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:7-13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:9-10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:4-7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.”
‭‭2 John‬ ‭1:6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Pursuit of Healing

/ SurrenderedHeartWorship / 1 Comment

Healing is a gift. No matter how it comes to us, or in what form; when we are desperate to be healthy, well, cured and free, it is a gift. The longer I live and the older I get, I realize I need healing in many areas of my life. Areas that are not limited to that which is purely physical, but areas of emotional and spiritual wellbeing as well.  Fortunately, for those of us who believe in God’s Word, we have lots of promises like:

Psalms 103:3  “He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.”  And  Psalms 147:3   “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” (NLT)

Many times, it is not enough to simply believe in words, but to act on what we say we believe.  If you took time to read many of the stories in the New Testament when people were healed by Jesus, you would see some very common threads.  At times, Jesus was passing by, saw a need, and decided to bless with the gift of healing.  But more times than not, people came to Him seeking to be healed. For example:

Mark 1:40 “A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed…”

Matt. 21:14  “The blind and the lame came to Him in the Temple, and He healed them….”

Mark 7:25  “A woman who had heard about Him came and fell at His feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evil spirit, and she begged Him to cast out the demon from her daughter….”

Luke 6:8  “Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” So the man came forward, and Jesus restored his hand….”

Then, there’s  this:  (…..I just love this….)

Luke 6:17-19  “Jesus went down with them [the disciples] and stood on a level place. A large crowd of His disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases [physical]. Those troubled by impure spirits [spiritual/emotional] were cured, and the people all tried to touch Him, because power was coming from Him and healing them all.”    [added words in brackets-mine]

…So cool that regardless of what version of the Bible you read concerning Luke 6:19, all say the same thing:  … “Power was coming from Jesus, and He healed ALL of them!”  (see also Matt. 15:30).

I’m convinced that those of us who come to Jesus, believing by faith that HE is the source of our healing, will walk away healed.  It may not be the way we, in our human mind and heart, believe it should be. But in the power and sovereignty of God, we will be blessed with the gift of healing!  We can place our hope and trust in this.

Gonna close with this incredible story of healing in the N.T. It’s in Luke 7:1-10

Here’s a quick paraphrase:

A Roman officer had a slave who was sick and near death. The Roman officer highly valued this slave. So he sent some respected Jewish elders to Jesus to ask Him to come and heal his slave. The elders begged Jesus to come saying; “If anyone deserves your help, he does, for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.”

Jesus decides to go with them, but before they get to the house, the Roman officer sends some friends out to tell Jesus this:

“Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. I am not even worthy to come and meet you.  Just say the word from where You are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am a man under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers.  I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come.  And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.” 

You know?  I love the understanding this man has of authority!  This concept of authority becomes key in this story of healing.  And it is key in our understanding of healing as well.

The Bible tells us that when Jesus heard what this man said, He was amazed!  And He turned to the crowd that was following Him and said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all of Israel!”

How would you like to amaze Jesus and have Him say that of you?

….Hand raised really high goes here….. Yeah. Me, too!

Of course, the slave was completely healed by the time they all got back to the house.

But here is this powerful man who humbled himself to just let Jesus be Jesus, and believe!  In essence, he was saying, “I’m not worthy of Your power and Your sovereignty, but I will yield to it, because I believe AND You alone hold all authority to heal.”

So much so, that Jesus was impressed with his faith!!  This is the kind of faith I need. Pretty sure you do, too.  It all begins when we come to Jesus in our pursuit of healing…..for whatever it is we need to be healed of!  And we let Jesus be Jesus, and do it His way.  And we resolve to believe His way works! …Because it really does!

Love & Blessings!
-Cindy Magsig

Song – “Healing is in Your Hand” by Christy Nockels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sG94EKGDcU
Song – “Healer” by Kari Jobe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2yDB528p3Q
Additional Scriptures: Luke 13:1-13, Luke 5:17-20, John 5:1-9, Mark 9:17-27