God delivers his people from inner troublemakers who live in the realm of the personal unconsciousness, those powers which the New Testament calls demons of the spirit.
The good news for the day is God delivers his people!
Just as he delivered Noah from the great flood.
Just as he delivered Jonah from the belly of the whale.
Just as he delivered Moses and the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Just as he delivered Daniel from the Lion's Den. God will deliver you from anything and everything that holds you back, pushes you down, and stirs you up.
No inner demon can stand up to a child of God who intentionally tries to live their life in Christ through the established means of grace-communion, worship, charitable giving, daily prayer, Christian reading and church fellowship. No demon can stand up to faithful disciples of Jesus Christ!
He sat at ease, this well dressed man, as one in control of the world, until we began to talk about a new way of life, a life of Godly peace and love of others, a way of living and giving; and that's when it happened. His face reddened with tightness and a tint of blue. His eyes bulged in an uncharacteristic way and he jumped to his feet. I let the anger and bad language spew out of his mouth like a stranger and for a while I was amazed at what I was watching like an innocent bystander. And then I said in a firm voice, "Sit down or get out!" I wanted him to hear the strong invitation to sit down first rather than the other option "get out", though I really preferred that he "get out." Amazingly, he heard the invitation in spite of my attitude and did in fact sit down and begin to come back into focus. I waited and watched. When we both breathed a sigh of relief, I said " I want to pray with you before you go." I asked that God would keep him strong and would cast out the demons of hate and anger, guilt and anxiety, which struggled deep within his subconscious spirit. I prayed in the powerful name of Jesus.
If this morning you are struggling with inner demons which are holding you back or pushing you down or stirring you up, then listen carefully today, for through Jesus Christ you can be free. In the name of Jesus, your personal demons can this morning receive an eviction notice.
I'm talking this morning about serious inner problems which plague the soul of human beings and keep you one-step away from the abundant life which Christ offers to all. For example:
There are such demons whose names are fear, hate, guilt, unworthiness. There are others with other names obviously in the dark unconsciousness of human beings, but fear, guilt, hate and inferiority are common demons, which operate in a tag team fashion to reek havoc in our lives.
The opposites of the demons of the darkness are the gifts of God: not fear but faith, not guilt but forgiveness, not hate but love, not inferiority but confidence.
Psychologist Carl Rogers has written: "Time and again in my clients, I have seen simple people become significant and creative in their own spheres, as they have developed more trust of the processes going on within themselves, and have dared to feel their own feelings and express themselves in their own unique ways." Christ can give you that sense of trust.
Comic Sam Levenson was a short man, but had a healthy sense of self worth. At a reception once, he was surrounded by an unusual number of very tall, attractive actors. Someone asked him: "Sam, don't you feel rather small among all of these big men." And he answered: "Yes, I do, I feel like a dime among a lot of pennies." Now not many of us have that kind of inner confidence, but is important for us to realize that our lives really do matter. God created us. He called us into being. And he placed us where we are right now, for his purposes. Appreciate the wisdom of God for his creation of yourself and get on with life.
The scripture read today is the story of Jesus going to the synagogue in Capernaum, which was a village on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus goes to church and there encounters a demon. Don't be surprised at this, for a demon doesn't have to go to a bar, he's already won there.
He doesn't have to go to a home where people are unchurched and have no clue as to what a moral life is like, and are already breaking up, no he's already won there.
The devil and his troops don’t have to go to a dark, cluttered room where a person is depressed and has violated the trust of his friends, no, doesn't have to go there, for he's already won there.
He doesn't have to go to a teenage party where there is drinking and free sex for the taking and smoking pot, he's already won there.
No, it's at church where the real struggle usually happens. For here is where we talk about a life of integrity, love, confidence, faith and hope. It is here we talk about belief in a power greater than ourselves. It is here where the devil has to work up a sweat, to stir up problems, to encourage selfishness, or a vindictive, hateful spirit.
So we are not surprised to learn in the scripture that Jesus encounters a demon in the church. The biblical writer uses metaphorical language to describe this encounter in the dialogue with Jesus where the evil spirit says: "Leave us alone- "Leave us alone, what have we to do with you? Have you come to destroy us?" (The use of the plural form of speech, "us" means that there are more of us than just one down here in the dark subconscious-usually fear, guilt, hate, they are triplets who seldom can be separated.)
And Jesus says: "Hold your peace and come out of him.” (Sit down or get out) And we are then told: "The people were amazed for he taught them as one with authority."
When Jesus is present, when we intentionally seek to live our life in the center of the kingdom of God, which means obedience to God, when we pray, and worship and eat the spiritual food of communion, and live a life of giving and service, when we seek to have the mind of Jesus, then demons have to make peace with us or get out, and usually they get out! They go on to other more responsive opportunities.
This morning, I
invite you to step toward the communion as an act of commitment of your whole
life to Christ for he has authority over any and every demon that is troubling
you today. I say to those troublemakers of your soul, your fears, your guilt,
your worries, your burning hate, and your feelings of unworthiness; Hold your
peace or get out! In the name and the power of Christ:
Sit down or get out of here!
Jesus came into the world as a moral example of the Godly life. Live as he lived and you will achieve a healthy, abundant life. Live in any other way and life first becomes overwhelming and then breaks down.
The kids who wear these bracelets asking "What would Jesus Do?" are wise, as they have discovered a simple and smart approach to living life at its best.
The scripture for today indicates that Jesus was, from the very beginning, involved in various forms of healing ministry, thus helping those who were sick:
there is the casting out of the demons of the man in the synagogue in Capernaum.
there is the healing of Peter's mother in law.
Mark then says: "That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered together about the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons."
These early events in Jesus' life story would lead to his being referred to as, "The Great Physician."
It is further interesting, that, as Jesus was busy moving from one ill person to another like a busy doctor of today, Mark points out that early in the morning he withdrew to a lonely place to pray. Jesus had about him this rhythm of doing and being, business and rest, healing and praying. After a busy day of healings both in the synagogue and in the home of Andrew and Peter, Jesus withdraws to pray. Interesting that Peter and the disciples, early in the morning, come to find him and apparently speak harshly to him about wasting his time on a hill side when he could be back in the village building on yesterday's successes and Jesus is on a hill side praying. Prayer was important to Jesus, as was his healing ministry. It was in a time of prayer that Jesus resolved to move on in order to proclaim the Kingdom of God to a larger audience. Mark observes: "He preached in their synagogues, throughout Galilee and cast out devils." New resolves come in times of prayer. Wonder where God is leading you?
Even in his decision to move on to other villages, he was ever the servant, being obedient to the guidance of God in his life. For Jesus, preaching and healing, praying and doing, were but different word descriptions of the same phenomena of the Godly life.
There are so many wonderful dimensions of meaning in this scripture as is true throughout the pages of our Bible. If you are confused, in this scripture you learn that God will guide you. If you are sick, this scripture tells you that Jesus will be there for you. He will be there for you like the messenger Isaiah was there for Israel at the end of the Babylonian Exile and said: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended."
You should stamp on every biography of Jesus, a Surgeon General's message of warning: "Beware: this could be good for your health."
The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that during any given week, more than 80% of all Americans take at least one type of medication. Remember that Jesus said: "I am among you as one who serves." Choosing the "servant lifestyle" could be for you a better alternative. As Paul said in I Corinthians, "Let me show you a more excellent way."
A few years ago, a writer in the English tradition of our Church, produced an interesting book of sermons by a number of ministers who were instructed, "If you had but one sermon to preach, chose that theme and preach it." The choices were interesting and varied as each writer felt that God had spoken to each of them about important things in different ways, and their emphasis were all different.
From time to time, I have the opportunity to speak to different Church groups and to new Christians, both youth and adults who are just beginning this business of Christian living. Often I carry the burden of what can I say that goes to the essence of who we are as a people, knowing full well that in some cases, I will get but one chance, one opportunity and they will move on. So each Sunday, the message chosen is of crucial importance. Choral conductor Robert Shaw said, “You may have done this music a hundred times. I know I have. Maybe more. But I always prepare myself to meet the needs of two special groups in the audience…those who are hearing Handel’s Messiah for the first time, and those who may be hearing Handel’s Messiah for the last time.”
I believe that the Apostle Paul felt this burden when he wrote to the early church in Philippi where he said: "Have this mind which was in Christ. This mind of Christ, who considered his equality with God not something to be grasped, but emptied himself and became a servant even to the point of giving his life." This unique statement about Jesus, I believe is Paul's summary of understanding of who Jesus was and what he accomplished. You will recall in the last night of Jesus' earthly life, he took a washbasin and towel and like a common servant, washed the feet of the disciples as they came into the upper room from the dirty, city streets of Jerusalem.
“I am among you as one who serves"-here is a key to achieving the healthy life. It is interesting to note that Mark observes that when Jesus heals Peter's mother in law. “How I wish I had a name, rather than this reference-Peter's mother in law," not that that is bad, but it just implies that she had no identity other than her relationship to Peter, and every person has their own identity.
Well, Peter's mother in law is healed and then gets up from her bed and "ministers" to them. Interesting: she is healed so that she can serve others. At first pass you think, how cruel, give the lady a break, let her rest, but then you realize, Mark has captured the essence of the way to health-it is through service.
I had this aunt who was one of the neatest people I have ever known. She lives today in the nearer presence of God with other members of our family. But while she lived, she was prone to mystery moments of laughter and fun, but also moments of deep dark depression. Life, it seemed at times, was like a roller coaster. Over the years, I begin to realize something about her: When someone was sick in the family or a neighbor or a church member, needed help, she would get in high gear and help them in all sorts of ways and she was on top of it. But, when there was no one around who needed her, she dropped into one of those dark moods. It was when she was helping and serving that she was healthy. If someone needed her, she felt good. If no one needed her, she became sick. I learned as a kid watching her that health comes through helping.
At a recent Administrative Board Meeting, we celebrated Fred Braden's 78th birthday. I recall a few years ago during the time when Fred Braden, was caught up in a busy OBGYN practice, probably delivering some of you as babies, I asked him how he kept going all the time, night and day, day after day, and he said: "When I get down, I think back over the day and double back with a phone call or a visit to the hospital to a patient, who was really struggling that day. And in the experience of going back to those places of need, I experienced the gift of fresh energy and the synergy which comes from helping someone in need."
It is a proven fact that you achieve health through service.
Find a place to serve, first in the church to contribute to the health of the body of Christ. No job is too small. Secondly, in the community, the hospitals, schools, a dozen organizations, all need help, which you can give.
And finally, through service, enjoy your newfound health.
Let me tell you about the best kept secret in Pensacola!
Keeping secrets is
not easy because when you know something that is really interesting,
fascinating, exciting, intriguing, you want to tell it.
Over the years I have discovered something about the communities I have lived in
and that is that if you want to communicate something to the larger community,
there are some people you can tell them what you want told, and then say "Now
don't tell anybody this." If you choose carefully the persons you say that to,
it is better than taking out an ad in the newspaper.
In the scripture today, the writer of the Gospel of Mark recalls one of the miracles of Jesus where Jesus heals this leper, and then says to him: "Now don't tell anybody about this."
In Mark's Gospel there is what is referred to by Biblical Scholars as "the Messianic Secret". Jesus is the long expected Messiah but he is so different from the expectations of the Jewish tradition that Jesus doesn't want to have to deal with all the debate as to his nature. His purpose is to proclaim the Kingdom of God is at hand. Neither does Jesus want to be overwhelmed by people who are interested in him just for the miracles he can perform. There are people who are interested in Jesus and his Church, to this very day for what they can get out of it, not what they can contribute. Jesus was not interested in putting up with that kind of selfishness, therefore the Messianic Secret. "Don't tell anybody".
Now here's the story: This leper is healed. Leprosy was both a physical and a social disease. Your extremities lose their sensitivity, you are apt to burn yourself and not know it, or you may cut your foot or your hand and not know it until it is too late. The nerve endings lose their ability to communicate with your brain that "Hey, we are in trouble here." Whereas for most of us, if we get a splinter in our finger, sirens go off in our sensory system. Leprosy in Jesus' day was both fatal and extremely contagious and consequently the patient was ostracized or cast out of the family and out the village and lived outside the realm of the human contact. Thus over the years there were islands or remote desert areas where these sad and tragic individuals were confined to live till they died. Often times, in the mid east, the lepers lived in a section of the hills away from the village and were some of the poorest of the poor. Thank heavens that diseases like TB, polio and Black Plague, and now leprosy are treated with very powerful drugs and are quickly healed.
Well Jesus heals this lonely man who has been cast out of his family and tells him, interestingly enough, "You are cleansed".
(I knew this young lady who was struggling with the sin of her life, and she described her situation as, "I feel so dirty." If you feel dirty being involved in anything other than spring gardening, then you need to make tracks and wash up.)
So Jesus says to this leper who felt dirty, "You are cleansed." And then he says: "Go to the village Rabbi and present yourself for cleansings, which was a priestly act. Even to this day there is in Israel there are archeological discoveries of what was called Micva Baths, at the entrance of Synagogues. There the faithful would ceremoniously bathe themselves, before entering the synagogue, for cleansing before they presented themselves to God. Today, if you go into a Roman Catholic Church there is a bowl of water where you are encouraged to dip your fingers and cross yourself remembering your Baptism and thus cleansing yourself from the sins of the past week. It is a great symbolic gesture.
Now this healed leper, now cleansed and no longer contagious, returns to his family and to his synagogue. He didn't have to say anything, because of his very presence, whole and healthy again is the picture of health and when someone would ask him "what's happened to you?" He could not be silent. No way would he be silent.
"The prophet of Nazareth touched me. I saw him and just knew the minute I saw him, I knew he was different and I impulsively asked him to heal me and he touched me and look at this. The skin is clean and I am healthy again. Look at this. Look at this!"
Interesting enough, the healed leper was told not to tell anyone and he told everyone. At the end of Jesus' life he told his disciples, to now go and tell everyone, and what do we do? We tell no one! How long has it been since you said, "May God bless you, or I am not afraid because of my relationship to God through Jesus Christ.”
A member of our church the other day played golf with another member of our church who goes to a different service and when they were telling me about it, I said: "That’s great, you know he is a member of our church also?" To which he said: "No Way. I would never have dreamed that!"
We, who are vocal about the latest fads, and about the news of the day or the secrets of a neighbor, are too often quiet and reserve when it comes to the things of the gospel.
Jesus Christ has changed our lives forever, and we should be telling it. We, of all people, living in these United States of America and having the opportunities for travel, learning, serving, and doing things with no curfew and no fear. Living in the homes we live in. Worshipping in the sanctuary we worship in. Are we not blessed?
We should be telling all about the good news of what God has done for us.
1. We should be telling the very insecure, fearful people
of the world about the security we feel because of our faith in God.
We sing, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God, a bulwark never failing.”
"What have I to dread, what have I to fear, leaning on the everlasting
arms? I have blessed peace with my Lord so near, leaning on the everlasting
arms. Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms; leaning, leaning,
leaning on the everlasting arms."
William Sloan Coffin was the chaplain of Yale when his son was killed in an automobile accident. And his first Sunday back in the pulpit, he preached saying: "God offers us minimum protection and maximum security."
Here we sing our songs of faith. Here we hear proclaimed eternal security. . .and when we go out, we need to speak a word of security to those whose world is falling apart. Yes there are terrorists in the land with a distorted view of reality who are out to hurt our nation and our people and we are on high alert for caution, but ultimately not afraid. No, we are not afraid for we know one who rules heaven and earth, in whose hand is our future.
We do not depend on duct tape and plastic, but on faith in the eternal God.
2. First, we should be witnessing to the Security We Feel In God and no longer keep it as one of the best kept secrets of Pensacola. And Secondly, We should be telling the whole world that Practicing The Spiritual Disciplines Leads To Growth In Godliness.
When we pray daily, worship weekly, give our tithe and read our Bibles, God blesses us in ways we would have never dreamed of before and these are skills which enable us to move on up to the next level. Why do we keep this secret?
3. Thirdly, We should be telling the whole world that Life In Christ produces health for today and life after death. No, all things don't make sense, but I am heaven bound and I know that "though I now see through a glass dimly, one day I shall see face to face and I will know and understand." And this gift of inner confidence gives to me security and a peace which surpasses all understanding.
Take the Christian witness out of this world and I wouldn't want to live here. Someone passed it on to you and me and it is our great privilege to pass it on to those who will come after us:
In India, less than 3% of the population claims to be Christian, yet a fifth of all medical work is performed by Christian doctors and nurses. Ask an Indian peasant if he knows the word Christian and although he may never have known Jesus Christ, the first image to pop in his mind is a hospital. We do amazing work, in Christ. I wasn't surprised that recently in Afghanistan a female Christian missionary medical doctor who grew up in Montgomery AL was killed. We are everywhere doing this kind of work, don't you know it?
In Africa, the schools for the indigenous people once were 100% Church sponsored. Parts of Africa yet have a long way to go but education continues to help open the door to a more humane future. Ask Nelson Mandela if he knows of Methodist Schools in South Africa and he will tell you "Yes, thank God, I am a product of one of them".
Historians talk about the great religions of the world, but the word "great" is used to refer to those with great numbers, not necessarily great in values. If you are going to talk about the muslin and Hindu and Buddha religions as great religions, frankly I have to ask what they have done for the poor and needy of the world. How many hospitals or schools have they built? Show me where the muslin leaders have been over the past 1,400 years. Show me where they have helped improve the life of their people. They have controlled people who are not like them and they have kept women in their designated assigned place but they have not built schools for all the citizens or hospitals or community centers for everyone. Show me a nation that they have built a healthy and prosperous and humane society outside the oil rich lands of some of the nations of the Mid East.
Sure we who are products of Western Civilization where Christianity has been and is the dominate influence of our culture, and the truth is that we are too selfish, much too self-centered, much too concerned with ourselves; too preoccupied with the clothes we wear and our sexuality; but we also have fostered freedom movements and humanitarian efforts for the people's of the whole world, And It Is High Time We Stop Being Timid And Start Speaking Out To Our Neighbors About What Life In Christ Can Do For A Person, A City, A Nation And This Whole Global Village.
This will start when you are less timid about speaking out for Christ. This week have a prayer with a person in your office. Invite a person struggling to come with you to worship Beside You here in Church. Don't come back to your Sunday School Classes until you bring someone with you, for this community is filled with individuals who are lonely, and sick and confused and are dying. And it is not humane for those of us who know the way to abundant and eternal life, not to tell them.
We don't support terrorism. Neither do we support war's destructive ways. We support the way of love. God has created us and redeemed us in Jesus Christ, and promised to be close to us at all times and forever. We are not afraid.
Now listen, “Don’t tell anybody.”
The Apostle Paul said: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And Jesus said: "All things are possible to him who believes."
Dr. Karl Menninger, psychologist, once wrote: "We fail not in science, but in hope."
The problem with so many of the problems we face is that our failure is in the use of our imagination, in our hope. We go to war because we fail to be creative in our problem solving. Divorce and family feuds lead to irreparable breaches in families, not because problems cannot be solved, but because we are shortsighted in seeing all of the possibilities, or else we are angry.
In the scripture today, Jesus is in Capernaum and crowds of people have come to see him, to hear him, and some who are sick, to be cured. Because of the crowds, many turned away. I probably would have been one of those who would have missed him, because I don't do lines. I am very impatient to wait on anything and the problem, as with most character traits, has gotten worse over the years, rather than better.
One of the myths of those who are thinking about marriage is the myth that when they get married, they can change something about a person that drives them crazy. Listen, it gets worst, it does not get better. Decide early if you want to live with this or that and don’t think you will change the basic stuff of a person. Only God can do that and my advice is wait until God changes them and then decide if you like the new person and then marry them or walk.
However, less I lose my point, before I make it: "All things are possible".
In the story before us, there was this individual, a paralytic and his friends who were not to be turned away because of the crowds. They had heard about Jesus… but now the crowds prevented them from getting to him. So what did they do? They climbed to the roof of the home and tore away the thatch covering and let the paralytic down through the roof. The owner of the home was probably not impressed, but obviously Jesus was. He was impressed with their persistence and their creativity, for he said: "Because of their faith, you are forgiven." I assume he was talking about the persistent faith of the friends of the paralytic.
One has to conclude from this story that “All things are possible.
The paralytic would not be put off by the surrounding crowd. He and his friends found a way around those who stood between them and Jesus. It was the persistence of the paralytic and his friends, which impressed Jesus. They couldn't get in through the door so they went down through the roof. I wish all of us had the faith of these persistent individuals. They refused to take "no" or "impossible" for an answer.
Wasn't it some years ago when General Electric had this ad that said: "The possible we do immediately, the impossible may take a little longer." Don't you like that attitude? It produces desired results.
It could be that some of the nagging problems, which hold us back, are but opportunities for creativity, and who knows, maybe God is simply testing our stamina, our stick-to-it-ness. I know that in prayer, some of the things that I ask for, over a period of time disappear from my petitions, as they don't feel right when I talk with God.
I recall the song by Garth Brooks about seeing a high school sweetheart at a class reunion 40 years later. A girl, which he said, was the object of his every prayer when he was a teenager. And the title of his song was "Thank God for unanswered prayer."
All things are possible! But all things are not to be desired. All things are possible—To those who are persistent before God.
This Biblical Truth Has Implications For Every Part Of Our Life—Our Work, Our School Work, Our Marriages. There are those to whom learning comes easy in school and they can glance through a science or math lesson and get it on the first pass. But there are others of us who have to work hard at understanding. We have to read the lesson, think about what we have read, ponder over things, try this way and then another, before it dawns on us. I have said for years, that higher education is not necessarily a test of one's intellect but rather one's stamina. If you do the work, if you turn in your homework, if you pay attention, then you will do well. You may not have the top grade, but you will learn and you will be rewarded.
All things are possible, to him who is persistent.
There was an old chorus that we use to sing: "Only believe, only believe, all things are possible, only believe."
Jesus' affirmed this truth in many ways. He said this a number of different times:
Mark 11:24 "Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that…
Mark 9:23 "All things are possible for him who believes"
Matt. 18:19 "If two of you agree on anything, then ask and it will be done."
John 15:7 "If you abide in me ask anything you will and it will be done for you."
John 14:14 "Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it."
Matt 7:7 "Ask and you will receive, knock and it will be opened to you…seek and you will find.”
All things are possible!
Now, in conclusion let me make this observation. All things are possible, but all things don't work out as we might envision or desire.
There have been times when I have prayed for individuals and they have been healed, but also times when I have prayed for individuals to be healed and they have died. I prayed for my brother, who died at 59 with cancer, and he tried everything. He drank root oil, tried herbal diets, chemotherapy, specialists in Houston, witchdoctors in the mountains of Tennessee, radiation, and prayer, and he died. I have prayed with you for healing for many of your loved ones, and they have died, no fault of their own, but because of a devastating disease.
So you may ask how does this stack up with this story of Jesus healing the paralytic and my affirming, "All things are Possible."
I have concluded that God always heals, but he does not always cure. What God is interested in is that we be in communion with him. That we be companions with him now and for eternity. If our health helps this, then fine, we are cured.
Only recently have I begun to see for the first time that Jesus says to the paralytic, “You are forgiven.” “You are healed.” Later on he says: you are cured—“take up your bed and walk!” But first he healed him. "You are forgiven." Just like he said to the leper: "You are cleansed." He heals the sick by restoring their unity with God, which is why he came: To restore the unity of all humankind with the Creator of the universe.
We are so very interested in being cured, which has to do with our earthly life, but God has eternity in mind. This earthly life is not all there is and this part of this century is not the sum total of reality. Jesus was dealing with eternity. Thus our death is not a big deal to God who has eternity in mind. There is life after death. What needs healing is not our leg or stomach, but our relationship with God. Stacked up against that, paralysis doesn't matter. Our problem has been that we are thinking "cures" and God is thinking, "healing".
Consider the Apostle Paul, one of the early leaders of the Christian movement after Jesus. It is said that he healed many persons. Even his handkerchiefs were sent to the sick to heal them. Once he brought a dead man back to life. But you have to remember that Paul had a problem in his own body. He called it "a thorn in the flesh". It was never cured. He concluded that the thorn in his flesh was never cured because it was given to him to keep him humble. The Apostle knew the difference between cures and healings. He was healed. He was in a right relationship with God. But he was not cured. This very well could be our story as it has been the story of our loved ones in times past.
We pray for God's healing and a cure, but we trust in God to accomplish his greater purposes than our life or death.
God does not promise that we will be cured of all illnesses and we must face the inevitability of death. Such is the nature of the human experience. But what he does promise to all who are open to him is healing, a right relationship for now and eternity. He does not promise that we shall be spared suffering but does promise to be with us in our suffering. Trust in him, and you will be healed!
Almighty God, the giver of health and salvation, we give thanks to you for the gift of your healing presence. Restore your people and the nations of the world to a right relationship with you, and heal our illnesses that we may serve you with a loving heart, though Christ our Lord who taught "All things are possible to him who believes". Amen.