Do We Live In a Time That We Glory In Our Shame?

"Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is onearthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." Philippians 3:17-21

When I read the third chapter of Philippians, I got more understanding of what Paul was saying to the Philippians. Let's see if I can express it the way i understand it to be.

First, he warns about Judaizing seducers and tells them to follow his example (Paul). He also reminds them who his own lineage and his own status, that he rejects to be a follower of Christ (verses 1-6). The in verses 7-14. Paul talks about his choice to be what God has designed him to be.

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. " Philippians 3:7-14

Here Paul begins to talk about attain what the Lord has already attained for him and forgetting the past failures and successes to press toward this goal in Christ Jesus. Paul is stating to put it simply: Do not have confidence in your flesh but put your confidence in Christ. It does not matter what you have or the world thinks that you have. You must be willing to put it all aside for Christ and achieving this one goal.

So far, Paul is speaking to the church and he goes on to say in verses 15-16: that we must be mature and have this mind. He also tells us to govern ourselves by what we have already attained through the teachings and revelation of God's truth. Which leads us up to verses 17-21. Paul here is not addressing those that are not in Christ but those that are stating that they are in the body of Christ. He is warning them not to be like some who are, in my words, perverting the things of God by "their god being their stomach, their glory is in their shame, and their mind is on earthly things." Paul says, "they live as enemies of the cross."

So, with all this said, do I believe that this scripture is relevant for the time we live in? YES. My reasoning being many are living as enemies of the cross, but say that they are friends of the cross. They smear the reputation of the church. They tend to forget it's not about earthly gain or what you can be or get here. It's all about helping people see Christ is still the answer. They promote themselves in a way that people come to see them and not the one who sent them. They pollute the gospel for their own gain.

Some of us have forgotten that this world is not our home we are just passing through. Paul reminds even the Philippians of this too.

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." Philippians 3:20-21.

I hope I made myself clear, your thoughts welcomed.


You are Bound No More. 

Pastor Linda Hillman 

(c) 2015 LAH Ministries International 

Booklindahillman@gmail.com 

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Will You Be Made Whole 

In The Meantime

Ten Lepers Healed, One Restored

"Thy faith has made thee whole." What does it mean for Jesus to say these words to you? Well first we have to look at the three different times He said it in the Bible. 

The first we have the woman with the issue of blood. Then we have Blind Bartimaeus, and finally The ten Lepers. I will focus on the Ten Lepers in this post. I am sure in the upcoming weeks we will talk about the woman with the issue of blood and Blind Bartimaeus because each incident has some wonderful gems to gleam for understanding in healing, transformation and restoration.

Let me just briefly say that each account has Jesus asking a question before He says the famous words, "Thy faith has made thee whole." In the testimony with the woman with the issue of the blood the question was: "Who Touched my clothes" Mark 5:30, "Who Touched Me?" Luke 8:45. I find it interesting that Matthew does not make mention of the question just said Jesus turned and saw her. Again that's another post. In the testimony of Blind Bartimaeus, He asked "What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?" Mark 10:52. In the testimony we are going to focus on His question is "Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?" Luke 17:17. 

One more thing you should take note of regarding the similarities in these testimonies. In all Jesus asked a question and in all He gets a reply. In Testimony of the woman with the issue of blood it was His disciple, Peter that answered. In the testimony with Blind Bartimaeus, it was Bartimaeus that answered. However, in the testimony of the ten lepers; Jesus, Himself, answers.

So let's look at this unique healing. The entire account is found in Luke 17:11-19. Here's a quick recap. Ten lepers see Jesus traveling afar off and they cry out to Him, Master have mercy on us. Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the Priest. They all leave to do just that, the Bible says that as they went they received their healing. One realizing that he was indeed healed; ran back to Jesus and with a loud voice praised him, showing his gratitude. Jesus ask where are the others and makes reference to him being a Samaritan (stranger) and then utters the words; Thy faith has made thee whole.

As I prayed about a revelation, some very important things stuck out to me from the Scripture and then God breathed a revelation that floored me. So let's take a look at the points this passage has. 

Note: Now don't get me wrong, there are more but for the sake of time, here are just a few of my main points. :)

1. Jesus was recognizable from afar off. Since these men were lepers they could not interact with others. They were uncleaned and they had to keep their distance. "A leper wasn't allowed to come within six feet of any other human, including his own family. The disease was considered so revolting that the leper wasn't permitted to come within 150 feet of anyone when the wind was blowing." (Got Questions?org). 

2. Leprosy was a outward symbol of sin in the life of those afflicted. The way that leprosy disfigured it's host was symbolic of how God views sin and it's destructive nature in our lives. "In ancient Israel leprosy was a powerful object lesson of the debilitating influence of sin in a person’s life." (Got Questions?org). Leprosy cannot be cured by man, thus you have to fall on the mercy of God to override the sin and it's affects in your life. Just like they had to go to the Priest to show themselves, we must confess our sins to one another that we might find forgives in the house of the Lord. It is by God's grace and mercy toward us that we can be redeemed, restored and reaffirmed.

3. Now it required faith on their part to go to the Priest to show themselves. When as they turned, their situation still looked the same. It required faith in Jesus' spoken word. Many times Jesus has spoken to us to do something. He does not give more instructions than that. Sometimes we are like Nathan and we take offense at his request. It seems so silly, so insignificant. Surely he would wave his hands, have a prophet call me out in a service, or split the sky open to answer me. However, all He says is "Go wash or show yourself to the priest. We are underwhelmed. We wanted more. These men just moved on his request. as they moved, something changed. They were healed.

4. Now the Bible makes specific mention that one of the lepers was a Samaritan. This is important only because Jews did not like Samaritans. It is assumed that all the other lepers in this group were Jews. Now this is two part for me. 1. It shows me that misery loves company and it does not matter if it is coming from a professed enemy. When you are low you will do things that you would not have done normally. 2. It also shows that the Jews, felt entitled. They took Jesus at His word and now they could get back to their lives and be normal again. However, the Samaritan, realized that this was not a small feat. It was God that had given him a second chance at life. He realized that a mere man could not have done this. His thoughts were on glorifying the giver of this new life. Everything he had lost was something he could acquire again.

Now he turns and falls at the feet of Jesus. "He turned back towards Him who was the Author of his cure, whom he wished to have the glory of it, before he received the benefit of it. The Samaritans were separatists from the Jewish church, and had not the pure knowledge and worship of God among them that the Jews had, and yet it was one of them that glorified God, when the Jews forgot, or, when it was moved to them, refused, to do it." (Matthew Henry Complete Commentary) This Samaritan worshiped, God the best way he knew how.

5. Jesus notices that he was the only one to return and for this, he gets an added blessing. He hears Jesus utter the words, "Thy faith has made thee whole."

As I pondered on this, God spoke to me and said, "Linda, would you want to be healed or Whole?" I then asked, "Is there a difference?" Then it hit me. there was a flash of a man disfigured and mangled by leprosy. He was missing skin, limbs, hair and badly scarred. I saw this man from head to toe. His entire body had been affected by this disease. I could see the disease was gone but the aftermath was horrific. This man would always have signs of the disease that ate his flesh and claimed body parts. It was hard for me to look. Then I heard God say, "healed." As I continued to look, this same man began to change right before my eyes. Where there had been no nose, now a nose grew. Where his eyes were discolored, they were now a brilliant blue color. The white scars on his skin turned to creamy smooth ivory skin, blemish free. This transformation took a few minutes until the man stood before me, restored. Then I heard God say, "Whole."

What God showed me was that everything that this man had lost was now returned to him. He would not have reminders that his disease had robbed him of his life. He was whole again, new and redeemed. His mind, his soul and his spirit were free to breathe again. Elder Smith said on a prayer call that he was restored emotionally, mentally, physically, financially, socially and spiritually. I agree! Nothing lacking, nothing missing, WHOLE. Free to live a new life with all it's benefits.

"The rest were made whole by the power of Christ, in compassion to their distress, and in answer to their prayer; but he was made whole by his faith, by which Christ saw him distinguished from the rest. Note, Temporal mercies are then doubled and sweetened to us when they are fetched in by the prayers of faith, and returned by the praises of faith." (Matthew Henry Complete Commentary).

So in conclusion, I am still studying this but I just had to share this with you. I think as we move forward and we allow God to reveal to us what's holding us back from living a complete and fulfilled life. As He uncovers our hurts, habits and hang ups, that we don't forget to thank Him for His mercy bestowed upon us. We worship Him for who He is. We shout it from the mountain top that although we appreciate what He has done, we know that HE was the only one that could do it. Before we bask in the benefits of no longer being bound, confined, or an outcast...we remember the Author of our cure and magnify him.

You are Bound No More.

Pastor Linda Hillman

(c) 2014 Living Above Hurt Ministries

(209) 565-4055

Pastorlindahillman@hotmail.com

References:

Why is leprosy talked about so much in the bible. Got Questions?org http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-leprosy.html

Luke 17. Matthew Henry Complete Commentary http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/luke/17.html