“He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” Psalm 107:20 (KJV)
Proverbs 4:20-23 King James Version (KJV)”20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. 23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
Hosea 4:6 KJV “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge…”
Some Guidelines:
To give God/the Word and the Holy Spirit the greatest measure of freedom while also maintaining and guarding a safe and welcoming place.
- Resist putting each other on the spot.
Usually we take turns going around the table reading the verses that are in bold to the group. If you prefer not to read, just knock or tap the table to show this preference and the person next to you will then read. Just showing up and listening is participating. Our goal is to never put someone on the spot by asking for their input.
- Resist responding to and reacting to, debating with others.
Please briefly share what jumps out to you as we read different verses. It is very possible that you will strongly disagree with what someone else shares. I know that what I am asking for here is different than most studies. If we all stick to simply sharing what we see in the verses and resist the temptation to comment or react to what others share, this will encourage those who are more timid, or young or who have been wounded in the past to be able to share what they see without fear or rebuke or rebuttal. We are wholeheartedly trusting that the verses themselves speak so strongly that each one can go home and consider what they have heard and be led by the Spirit to the truth. As mentioned before, there will be a window at the end for those who want to stay longer to “discuss” things.
- Give us some notice of upcoming changes or new additions to the group.
We will be preparing a scripture package for you at the beginning of each session. The church has generously offered to provide these free of charge. We are delighted to have more people join us at anytime but do need some notice so we can prepare these packages for them. Please have newcomers contact the church and I can arrange to meet with them ahead of the next meeting to brief them on this intro material.
- Do all that you can to be kind to one another.
We want this to be a safe place. If you feel like God is telling you that you need to say something to someone or give them “a word” about something, please resist the temptation unless you have permission from them to do so. If at any point during this process you would welcome that kind of input, you can let me know privately or if you would welcome it from anyone in the group, you can let everyone know that this would be appreciated. Even then, share with one another privately and not during group time.
What we can’t encourage you enough to do each week:
The course material is mostly scriptures with a space underneath for insights, etc. We cannot encourage you enough to spend some time each week reading the scriptures that will be covered during the next teaching. Our hope and our prayer is for you to receive direct revelation from God, so as much as possible we would love for Him to have a chance to tell you what He wants to say to you, before you are biased by hearing what others see. We will be discussing the scriptures in bold during our time together. Faith comes from hearing though, so the more often you hear the verses and the more often you read them, especially out loud, the more opportunity you are giving the Word to work powerfully in your life and body.
Therefore, I encourage you strongly to commit to and book either a daily time,or a larger chunk of time weekly to get alone with God in a quiet place with these verses and chew on them, meditate on them, let them role around in your heart and mind. Not all of them, most likely you will find that there are 1 or 2 things that really, really jump off the page to you. Those are the very things to chew on.
Write the 1 or 2 verses that jump out at you down or commit them to memory and then meditate on them throughout your week. I call these back-pocket verses as I like to write them down on cue cards. Make it a goal to think about these verses 3, 4, or as many times as possible each day.
Be faithful in the small things and God will multiply your progress and knowledge, just like in the miracle of the talents.
3 “flags” that you might need to put in some extra effort to really hear and register what a certain verse has to say:
- You are having a hard time focussing or your mind keeps drifting off.
Take a moment to ask God for eyes to see and ears to hear and the ability t to understand in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
2.“Ya, ya, ya . . . I already know this one, I have read it so many times before”.
There is a very good chance that your head knows it but not your heart. If you haven’t seen whatever it promises to actualize in your life yet, that is a sign that it is fertile ground for a truth that is ready to move from head knowledge to heart knowledge. Our brains get bored with things that we have seen often, and tries to skim over what is familiar. So, if you are struggling to get something from here (your head) to here (your heart), you will find being mindful of this super helpful. Once a verse becomes heart knowledge, it stirs up the power and the joy and the expectation you have in that verse. Kind of like ice cream, or whatever other treat you look forward to. You enjoy it every single time.
- Anything that stirs up a strong faith or a defensive reaction.
As people share, you might notice a strong emotional, defensive response that wells up inside of you. An almost visceral need to correct, or defend the position you presently hold, a desire to debate and prove a certain point might be suddenly upon you. These can be (not always) areas of error that the enemy has set up a guard of religious/legalistic thinking. A God truth is one that you know that you know that you know and don’t need to defend as you recognize it is so plain in scripture that the Lord will show it to anyone who comes genuinely seeking to know what is there. Even Eve remembered what God said incorrectly. And sometimes it is a difference in which translations people are reading. I strongly encourage you to go back to these verses, ask God to clear out any error and or give you eyes to see what is really there. You will be amazed at what He can show you in a verse you have seen even dozens of times.
Here is a suggestion on how to do this:
- Get into a quiet spot, where you won’t be interrupted (even for 10 minutes)
- Pray a simple prayer such as “Lord, I pray that you would reveal the wisdom and knowledge you have for me in these scriptures, please bless me with eyes to see and ears to hear and the ability to understand.”
- Read through the scriptures, ideally out loud. Underline, circle, highlight, write down the things that pop out to you, your questions etc. And if you are really motivated, look up the context, and possibly other versions of the same scripture, (biblegateway.com is a great site for this) to receive a better understanding. Tools like the Strong’s Concordance are excellent for digging into the meaning of the original Greek and Hebrew words. Copy out any verse(s) that jumped out to you and that you want to focus on for meditation in the coming week.
You will be hearing variations of these 2 questions a lot.
Q1- What stands out to you?
Q2- Why?
A Closer Look (Consider using language tools and other translations):
Strong’s Concordance :
- Words= rbd = H 01697 = speech, word, speaking, thing , speech saying, utterance word, words business, occupation, acts, matter, case, something, manner (by extension)
- sayings = rma = H0561= utterance, speech, word, saying, promise, command
- life = yx = H02416 (root02421) = living, alive , green (of vegetation) ,flowing, fresh (of water) ,lively, active (of man) ,reviving (of the springtime) n m ,relatives ,life (abstract emphatic) ,life ,sustenance, maintenance n f ,living thing, animal ,animal ,life ,appetite ,revival, renewal ,community
- Health = aprm =H04832health, healing, cure healing, cure health, profit, sound (of mind) healing incurable (with negative)
- Flesh=rXb= H01320= flesh of the body ,of humans ,of animals ,the body itself ,male organ of generation (euphemism) ,kindred, blood-relations flesh as frail or erring (man against God) ,all living things ,animals , mankind
Different Versions of the Bible
Proverbs 4:20-22
New King James Version (NKJV)
“My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.”
King James Version (KJV)
“My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.”
New Living Translation (NLT)
“My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body.
Amplified Bible (AMP)
“ My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh.”
The Message (MSG)
“Dear friend, listen well to my words; tune your ears to my voice.
Keep my message in plain view at all times. Concentrate! Learn it by heart! Those who discover these words live, really live; body and soul, they’re bursting with health.”
*Note Bene: There is more than a lifetime’s worth of wisdom and knowledge to be learned regarding this subject and we are not claiming to be authorities or perfect in our understanding. Our goal is to be always true to and in line with scripture, and to share what He has revealed to us so far. Therefore, your correction, insights and counsel are welcome and encouraged.
Take Home Suggestions:
- Start reading the verses for our first topic.
- Keep or start keeping a praise and thanksgiving journal/Things I am learning from God journal close at hand and start making entries as God shows you things and/or things
Healing and Discipleship 