I think this might be one of the the biggest keys to really understanding the Bible…  and at this moment, I think it is the point from God’s perspective, is having that intimacy that He had with Adam and Eve, where he walked with them and hung out with them often was the norm.

My thought today…   it isn’t about just any relationship though is it.     It is about a relationship that is in proper godly order….   Meaning God is the head….   Clearly that God remains Almighty and at the centre of all with His will, ways and plans being core in all things… with his nurtured, love, cared for, corrected, punished, lavished children.

I am reading a book right now by Dr Dobson on “Binging up Boys”.    There is just too big of a cost to the health and wellbeing of the child if the parent takes on a buddy role instead of a Father role.       Is it possible that these types of parent/child relationships are undermining what a godly relationship with God really is?

Hmmm…. it seems that the verses like “If you love me, obey my commandments” are regularly swept under the carpet.    Somehow, somewhere, I am convinced that the perfect love of the Father can only be truly and purely expressed and experienced when the commandments are obeyed… Hence the reason why only Jesus did this thing perfectly.

Praise God that we are in no way called to this level of perfection and ultimately, we are judged not so much on what we successfully do, but the heart set with which we did… Is it possible that fearing the Lord and desiring to obey the Word and longing to do all things with a humble cheerful attitude  are actually necessary elements to really represent and share the love of God truly and effectively?

I have conversations on a regular basis with someone who i dearly love who is not a believer at this time.    He is always bringing up that if we as christians can’t agree even on what God is like, whether or not there is a hell etc…   why should he even consider what we believe?

As an unbeliever myself not such a long time ago, I needed for every word that was written in the Bible to prove true.    And the longer I abide by it, meditate on it, study it and live according to it, I find that every word really is proving true in my life.    I am seeing the Lord change me, heal me, set me free from mindsets, fears, bitterness, stress, and general malcontent….

I recently got a youtube post from my father about a lady named Rachel Held Evans who wrote a book  called “A year of biblical womanhood”.    There are some really interesting things she adds to the conversation but also a shocking disregard for the Bible really being an authority… That God really does see things from a higher and clearer perspective.

Somehow, something extremelyimportant seems to be missing when I look at the power, fruit and love and respect (relationship with other believers) that are supposed to be the very signs that we are in fact believers.     Praise God, I believe that He really does “give us the desire and ability  to do what pleases Him” , and only in the power of the Holy Spirit and only if we let let Him.

It’s no secret that wherever we go, we find this striking disconnect between what we read was the experience of the new believers in Acts and those that we meet today… Oh I pray the Lord will lead us to fill in the gaps so that that fruit and power and the love of the Father can flow.

Lisa

I share this post simply as a loving sister in Christ who has found this is one of the hardest subjects/questions to broach when a dear sister/or brother is suffering from this evil disease…       This is the only disease that is treated at Be In Health ministries where in virtually every case they see, this same root is present.    They have many testimonies of people who were completely healed once this root was dealt with.

Hey, isn’t it safe to say that if someone announced in the news tomorrow that they have found a specific environmental trigger that seems to be consistently involved in this disease that we would at least take the time to consider it for our own lives..    Kind of like how they link tobacco smoke with lung cancer….   It’s not like the Bible gives us the remote option to holding onto this particular sin anyways and the blessing for being rid of it is awesome…

so begins my first attempt at a note explaining this possibility to friend, loved one or person who is fighting this disease..

Dear..

 I know that what I am about to share, might be really easy to have an emotional reaction to…   I share it in love and also based on personal and on the the broader experience of the hundreds who are treated who Be In Health Ministries every year.

 Even Doctors have to ask some awkward, difficult questions in trying to assess the situation of the patient they are treating.

 Here is the biblical foundation for what I am about to share.   The Bible is clear that we are being changed from glory to glory(2 Cor 3:18), becoming ever more like Christ and ever less like our old carnal selves.   This process is not instantaneous.   In the Cleansing Streams ministry offered at our church, the process that this involves is called sanctification.. the layer by layer stripping off of the sins and sinful nature and the releasing of the new.  Ephesians 5:26 that we are washed clean “by the cleansing of the Word”

We also know that we all sin and that only Christ was 100% sinless.   No condemnation in this but the reality of what the Word says.

 We are also told that this is a little by little process (Deut 7:22)… not an instantaneous one.    So the reality is, even if we are wonderful, sweet God fearing people, there are some areas in our lives that God simply hasn’t gotten to yet.    Often these are buried in past hurts and wounds, sometimes that we will only remember when in His perfect timing the Lord brings them to our recollection so that we can deal with them and have all areas that were wounded restored.      This particular thing often lurks somewhere in their midst.    Most of us still battle with this particular issue often.

 So here is the question.  Please resist any urge to be offended as it is a high probability that it may come.   Is there any remote possibility that the person suffering from the cancer is holding bitterness against any person from any time in their life?  Especially a close friend, blood relative, in-law or husband.    Now please note that the Biblical definition of bitterness is keeping a record of any wrong ever done, Love simply keeps no record of being wronged (1 Corinthians 13:3-5).  That record is a flag to a bitterness, an unforgiven issue.  When the Lord forgives He erases even the record of the accusation (Colossian 2:13:14).

For my personal experience, the first lady I met who had this was probably one of these most lovely, godly woman that you could imagine, she was of great reputation, was a dedicated intercessor and was filled with the Holy Spirit in abundant measure.    One would never have suspected that any bitterness played any part of her life… But…  as it turned out, she too had a past that she had buried and not dealt with because it was simply too painful too touch.   And it turned out there was great bitterness with her own children, her own mother and her husband.

The second time I had an encounter with this, the answer was the same, the woman we are talking about is simply too good for this to an issue for her..   It was not until after the funeral that the revelations came to light and yes, bitterness had been there too.

The most recent experience I had with a good friend was bitterness against her mother, and yes, it was the left breast that was affected by the disease.. Praise God, she was able to forgive her mother and was blessed with greater freedom and peace than she has had in years.   She did go through a full course of surgery, radiation etc.. and is now cancer free.   Of the three I have known, she is the one that is still alive and well.

 In my personal experience (which is extremely limited), this root has been present in every person I have asked who has been diagnosed for breast cancer.    Be In Health, which ministers to hundreds every year, has found this so commonly present that they say it is there in almost every single case they have treated, and even predictable enough that if the bitterness is against a husband or blood relative, it affects the one breast and if it is a close female friend or extended family member, it affects the other.   This is the only disease that they have found the same root so consistently in..

 If this is not so in this case, praise God, we have eliminated one more thing from the list of possible things from the list of things to consider and we don’t bring it up again.

 Just as a doctor must in all ethical practice eliminate the most common culprits, it only makes sense to at very least ask and do as much when a condition is so often spiritually rooted.   We can never assume that this is the case for all and certainly are not suggesting it is in this case.   But simply in love and due diligence want to eliminate the possibility as if this root does exist and does not get dealt with, there is a very high probability that the disease will come back.

Have you ever longed to know the Lord better?  To regularly hang out with Him and just talk to Him…  or so sit at His feet and listen as Mary did?

It hit me again how simple this is and how available He has made this for us.   The reality is that every single time we open our Bible, we can make a choice.  A choice to read it like a book… or a choice to recognize the awesome, exciting, powerful, comforting, love-filled conversation that we could have with our Lord.

Sounds too easy and kind of strange to have a conversation with a book…. except that it isn’t really just  a book now is it.

The Bible states it so clearly.   “The Word became flesh”

Yeshua (Jesus) became flesh…

Here is how this looks from a practical application.

As you read, line upon line, slow down, read it out loud and listen to it as intently as you would reading a letter from a dear friend or sweetheart.  Stop after each line and respond in prayer to the Lord to what you have just read.  Now keep in mind, that this is what  a conversation with God sounds like to me.. yes this is how my brain thinks and speaks… but your own conversation with reflect your words (not fancy, not clever, just the raw you and the real deal of who you are, what you are struggling with, what you are longing for with zero pretense).   You might notice that I spend a lot of time apologizing for my shortcomings..    This is done in joy and thanksgiving as I am utterly relieved to know that the Lord has made great provision for this and I am being totally real with my Daddy.  Please forgive the font issue.. I haven’t been able to figure out why the verses are small…. I would inverse it if I could as I think what God says is so very very important.

For example

Psalm  103

“Let all that I am praise the Lord;     with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.”

Oh Father…  I long to have a heart of praise and to be able to praise you with all my heart.  Please forgive me for being so distractable..  Oh I desperately need a revelation of the holiness in your name…  It is something that I still don`t understand but long to be able to speak to you with the awe and reverence that You are so clearly worthy of

“² Let all that I am praise the Lord;     may I never forget the good things he does for me.“

How is it that I take you for granted so much of my day… would you help me even with this my Lord.     Oh do change my thoughts that I might forever think  on the good things that You have done for me, on the awesome work of the cross and on the never ending tide of blessings that you surround me with every single day.   Oh that You would free me of all yucky selfishness, of pride, of the entitlements, judgements and comparisons that steal my joy and peace and ability to simply be thankful for all that you do.

“³ He forgives all my sins”

When I think about how constantly I fall short of the standards you have set in your Word, I am amazed, shocked, deeply humbled to think of the depths of your mercy towards me, the depths of your love, compassion and understanding.   Oh please help me to have the victory over my old self today, oh that the Spirit of Truth would have His way in me today.   If it wasn’t for your perfect grace, I know I would drown in the condemnation and guilt of how often I fall short and some else gets hurt or offended.    Oh search me and show me where I am harboring any of the tiniest bit of bitterness in my own life, that i could pour out this forgiveness on all others that you have lavished on my life.

    “and heals all my diseases.”

Oh Papa…. there are so many people who are hurting today who simply don’t know that your Son was beaten and literally chunks of flesh were torn off of His precious body that we might be healed.   They are hurting and feel so betrayed, so desperate and experience such depths of pain that my heart hurts to think of what they are going through… OOOHHHH that they would have a revelation… that the healing You have paid such a heavy price for would be revealed to them and overtake them quickly.    Thank you, thank you, thank you for healing me and for continuing to give me greater and greater freedom and health.     I am amazed at how much you bless me.   Even in this pregnancy…   At the slightest hint of morning sickness, I am humbled and encouraged to remember that Yeshua (Jesus) overcame the original curse released on the world by Adam and Eve…   I no longer have to go through a difficult, laborious, painful birthing and pregnancy process but am utterly and thoroughly blessed.   I am still amazed that each time I speak this truth, all of these symptoms simple stop and I am free to feel great and have a wonderful joyful pregnancy.    Please forgive me for agreeing with the tiredness,   and give me revelation as to how much to do and how much to rest.   Thank you so much for my new intestines that are on the way..  Also for blessing my current intestines with the ability to absorb incredible amounts of nutrition.  Oh Father you are so very good to me.

And so it goes..    A true conversation.   I am convinced that if we stopped and read the Bible this way…  Constantly responding to the slightest conviction we feel with confession and repentance, crying out to God in response to our own shortfall and needs, Crying out for greater revelation of the stuff we don’t get yet, praising Him and thanking Him for His great and wonderful provisions, stopping and meditating on just how big, powerful, loving, able, faithful, mighty He is…   I really think we could accomplish more in 2 months of this than most of us see happen over 2 years…    There is more freedom, more joy, more deliverance, more sanctification, greater understanding and greater depth and yet it is so very simple..  At it’s core is the point.

Having a relationship, a real, alive relationship with God and not simply using Him as a magic lamp that we rub when we need something.

Oh I pray that this blesses you as much as it blesses me.

with love,

Lisa

⁴ He redeems me from death     and crowns me with love and tender mercies. ⁵ He fills my life with good things.     My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

Ok… so this is a link for those who long to go deeper… truth seekers only…   I have only started to read this…  I would love to hear your thoughts.

http://aramaicnttruth.org/downloads/Galatians.pdf

I have discovered a fascinating, really exciting new version of the Bible called the Peshita. The one I am reading was translated by Andrew Roth. What is this you may be asking yourself? It is the Bible translated from the original Aramaic manuscripts. So many of the versions are translated from the Greek manuscripts (which were in many cases translated from Aramaic to Greek).. There are things that get lost in this two layers of translation that comes out more clearly with direct Aramaic to English. It is helping to bring great clarity to my understanding.

Something I highly highly recommend to those who believe in deep probing of the Word for the original meaning of the words.
Lisa