Tag Archives: healing

Behavior Speaks Louder Than Words

28 Monday Nov 2016

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Now it was time to wait. I had come to receive treatment for a newly diagnosed eye condition. I was alone and with nothing to distract, I began watching and listening to the people around me.

My eyes moved around the waiting room and took in the canes, walkers, and wheelchairs; the patients accompanied by family or friends. I thanked God that I didn’t need walking aid and was able to drive myself to the clinic. I wondered about each person there. Was theirs a longstanding situation or were they dealing with a new diagnosis as I was?

One lady sitting in a wheelchair across from me seemed asleep, but then she suddenly began saying to the two ladies with her that she wanted to go home. Did she want to go home because she wasn’t feeling well? Was she dreading what she might hear today? Her companions didn’t seem too concerned and barely acknowledged that she had spoken. They appeared to be working from a list of people, calling each one to leave a message of concern and express their love for them. Yet here was this lady right there with them receiving little of their attention. Isn’t it the way with people; we look for some good act to do when there is an immediate need right in front of us?

The staff moved about through hallways and doorways at a fast clip. Each one was focused on the work that was theirs to do. They were professional and friendly, having no side conversations with one another that didn’t involve patient care. Their demonstration of being highly skilled in patient and family interaction was impressive. They had either been hired well or trained well. Most likely, both had occurred.

I’m a people watcher by nature, but I become even more so when I’m in a healthcare environment. For more than 25 years I worked in healthcare and that has made me overly sensitive to staff that isn’t professional. In fact, I was at this very clinic because the first ophthalmologist I saw had a staff that interacted playfully with one another but very little with their patients. The physician was rushed into each room by staff and it felt somewhat like I was on an assembly line. After three visits, I determined to find a better fit. This was my eyesight we were dealing with and I needed the utmost confidence in every player involved with my care.

Did you know that over 90% of communication is considered non-verbal? What a person “hears” involves body language, tonality, and attitude. When I began teaching communication techniques in 1984, Dr. Herbert Benson, a cardiologist and founder of the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, graded it as over 90% even then. That old adage of “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care” is sound advice.

I left the clinic grateful to have found a physician and staff that care about how they represent themselves to patients.  That lets me and the others I watched in that waiting room relax into their care. We can come with confidence that highly skilled people are taking care of us and that goes a long way in how well we deal with our particular healthcare situations.

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say. –Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Power of Relinquishing Prayer

03 Monday Oct 2016

Posted by in prayer

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There is power in relinquishing prayer. Power and peace. When we’ve prayed all we know to pray and the answer we want just doesn’t come, there is one more prayer to pray: “Father, Thy will be done.” And that is the prayer of relinquishment.

Catherine Marshall’s experience with this is one of the most memorable for me. She had been sick for six months with a lung infection that kept her bedfast. Medical treatment was not working. She had exhausted every approach to prayer she knew and nothing happened. So she said to God that if He wanted her sick and to spend the rest of her life in bed, then she would accept it. But with that prayer of relinquishment to God’s will came heavenly power and her recovery began.

Pastor David Cross of my church, First Assembly Memphis, tells of his being on a treatment table to receive radiation for a golf ball size cancer on his neck.  As he waited, he prayed. Actually, he worshiped. For Pastor David didn’t petition God but said “Even if you don’t heal me, you are still my Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals.” He unconditionally relinquished his self-will to God’s will and at that very moment he knew healing had happened. He felt his neck and the tumor was gone. “I’ve been healed!” Pastor David cried out. “Yes, you certainly have,” declared the Radiation Therapist with tears in her eyes.

I had my own experience with relinquishing prayer when I thought my daughter was dying. For years, I had pleaded with God to heal her of health problems that had stolen so much from her. Then one day, her body began to shut down. In my car, headed toward the other end of the state and not knowing if she would be alive when I got to her, I gave it all to God. I told Him I was through pleading for her health and if it was His will to take her, I accepted that will completely. It was my relinquishing prayer.  Immediately, peace poured over me—and she did not die.

When we can get to the place of total relinquishment, we honor God. We stop questioning. We cease struggling. We simply step away from all attempts to control what we never could control anyway. We believe in God’s love for us however He decides to give it. We accept His will. Sometimes relinquishing prayer brings exactly what we prayed for. Other times, we don’t get the answer, but we do get peace. My child lived, but she still has health problems; yet the complete peace God gave me in 2012 has solidly remained.

When we desperately want something, it is hard to relinquish. Most of us pray for long seasons of time for things we are desperate to have. Our prayers are at first relentless, not relinquishing. But when we can finally reach the place of giving unanswered prayer to God, we will know peace that only God can give. And with that peace is the power to accept whatever is the will of God.

Jesus prayed in Luke 22:42 Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (NIV). May we do no less.

Bullying: A Behavior not to be Ignored

25 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by in aggressive behavior

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LHPROM2015KATMAT 197

morgueFile, LHPROM2015KATMAT 197.jpg

I don’t understand bullying. Why deliberately set out to hurt someone? And why is it a behavior seen too often in children?

One of my earliest memories is of a shiny little red purse I had at about age 4. I dropped the purse and the few coins I had in it spilled out. An older girl quickly picked up the change and then laughed because she had taken it from me.

I tutor second grade children and some of them have confided in me about times they were bullied. One child, in running away from the one spouting hurtful words, fell and broke her arm.

My daughter had her share of bullying in school. There was one classmate in particular who bullied and I tried talking to the mother. She simply dismissed it, saying she knew her daughter would not do such a thing. It continued, of course. Only when Kristi’s dad went to the child’s father and very firmly insisted he deal with his daughter, did the bullying stop.

Why do children bully? It may come from having been physically or emotionally abused. It could be that one of the parents is a bully and the child is acting out what has been seen at home. It may also be from feeling left out at home, school, or other social event and the individual is being a bully to get attention.

Research says that bullying begins at preschool age and, if not addressed, worsens through the school years. A bully left undisciplined will be attracted to gangs and a high percentage of bullies become criminals by their mid-twenties. It is not a conduct to be taken lightly, or to assume a child will grow out of the overly aggressive behavior on their own.

What can be done to protect children from being bullied? Here are suggestions from “Psychology Today” (www.psycholgytoday.com):

  1. Avoid the bully
  2. Use a buddy system (stay near a friend or two)
  3. Hold your anger and don’t retaliate; that is exactly what the bully wants to provoke
  4. Maintain eye contact and keep your voice calm and even
  5. Use the bully’s name when addressing their behavior
  6. Act bravely by walking away; try to ignore the bully
  7. Tell an adult early on. This is not tattling but is what the bully will try to make you think it is.
  8. Talk about it with a parent or older person who will give you support and love.

My heart aches for any child being bullied, but I also ache for the one who bullies, because I know that a child who continuously bullies is broken. Something very deep-seated is hurting in any individual who wishes harm or ridicule for another. It may not be easy, but as followers of Christ, we must remember to pray for the one who bullies, as well as for the one being bullied. Prayer is a mighty weapon; I know of one case where prayer alone turned a situation around.

Buffet Decision-Making

24 Monday Aug 2015

Posted by in making decisions

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I had a friend who said to me once “Treat it like a buffet. Take what you like and leave the rest.” I was trying to make a decision about going forth with something I wasn’t altogether sure I needed. This friend, Joanne, saw something in me I had not seen: that I was holding on to anger over a failed marriage. She wanted me to see her chaplain friend to get help letting go. The rest of the story is I did see him and he was a great assist in helping me identify unhealthy attitudes and behaviors and correct them. He helped me move on.

It was Joanne’s great example of how to treat counseling that made me act on her advice.  It was such visual direction. 20150109_181557I have never forgotten how effective it was and how it can be used in many scenarios.

I’ve been thinking about it lately as I’ve watched a friend do this with a tough situation in her life. There are many things that don’t work for her, but she is able to rise above and choose from the situation the things she likes—and leave the rest. She is cautious, but upbeat. She moves on with anticipation of good in every day and I admire her tremendously for handling her difficulty with a buffet approach.

I see the ability to “take what you want and leave the rest” as many things: wisdom, focus, staying positive, and going forward when you might otherwise stay stuck in emotional mire. By using the buffet method, one can build on the good and not allow the bad to control.

I’m still applying the buffet method in my life. I’ve used it in work situations. I’ve used it in matters with my house. I’ve use it with social affiliations and friendships. I’ve use it with memories—what to keep and what to discard—but I admit that’s the hardest of all for me. The thing the buffet method effectively does is release one from pain and regret that haunt. It releases one from indecision and disappointments—great and small. It can even bring levity to a piece of life that could otherwise be a burden too heavy to bear.

So to Joanne, my dear friend of long ago and at a time of grief and transition, I say thank you. Thank you for being brave enough to call my hand on something I couldn’t see and was tripping me up. Thank you for explaining how to take advice. How to sort through and keep only the parts that helps you grow.

We never know when something we say will become a building block in someone’s life, do we? It pays to be cautious with words, but it can also pay to be bold. file561270689520

 

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Prayer Time in Room 144

27 Saturday Jun 2015

Posted by in prayer

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At 10:30 each Tuesday morning, women gather in Room 144 of our church. We come happy, grateful, and expectant. We arrive for one purpose and one purpose only: for intercessory prayer.

For the most part, we are members of First Assembly Memphis. But there is a sprinkling of ladies from other churches who are just as faithful to Tuesday morning prayer time. We are a diverse group, yet beautifully united in our commitment to intercessory prayer each week. We love the Lord and believe He is a miracle-working God, eager to hear our prayers.

Always before we pray, we worship through music our leader, Kathy Cobb, has prayerfully selected for the morning. It is a drawing music, one that ushers us into the presence of the Holy Spirit. We still our minds and let the music wash over us, preparing us for prayer. We sit, stand, or kneel; it happens however each one is personally led to embrace these preparation moments for spending time with our King. We have checked our pride and reserve at the door. We have come to worship, to pray, and to believe.

Up until a year or so ago, we prayed for an hour. Then, as our group grew, so did our prayer time. Now it is 90 minutes or longer. We leave when we feel we have covered every need brought to us.  Always, we pray for our nation and its leaders. We pray for Israel. We pray for schools, both our church school and others in the area. We pray for family needs, financial needs, job concerns, and for those who need healing. Many times, people come to us especially to be prayed over for healing. Whatever the need, we are there to pray. We have a basket where some write their requests rather than speak them and at the close of our gathering, we pray over the basket.

So much happens in our church’s designated room for prayer:  Scripture is read. We sing to the Lord. We share praise reports. Every attempt is made to control lengthy talks and keep the focus solely on worship and prayer.

Gail, Kathy, me

Kathy Cobb, our prayer leader, center. Gail Spiller, original member of the prayer group on right. I am on the left. What a privilege to be a part of this group of believing women.

The Hour of Power prayer group welcomes all who need prayer or wishes to join us as an intercessor. We realize some are not comfortable praying aloud and that is not a prerequisite. Just come and agree with us by your presence and your love for the Lord. Being in a disposition of prayer is the only requirement we have for anyone’s presence. We invite you to enter in.

Hitting Bottom

07 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by in Prodigal

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When I worked in a hospital, we sometimes had meetings over lunch for educational purposes. I have often thought of one speaker in particular, a counselor from our Behavioral Health facility, an off-campus care center for treating drug and alcohol addictions. The counselor, who had once been addicted to drugs, explained what it was like to be bound by obsessive cravings that served only to destroy one’s life. She said the addicted person had to hit bottom before he or she would turn their life around.

The story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 is a story about hitting bottom. Perhaps the rebellious son was addicted to greed and pleasure. At his pleading, his father gave him his share of inheritance that rightfully would not have been his until after his father’s death. Immediately, the son went away and quickly squandered a fortune. He all too soon found himself with nothing, not even necessary food for living. He had hit bottom!

The parable of the Prodigal Son is a picture of our Father God and how he responds to His children—us—no matter what self-orchestrated bottom we hit. He never stops loving us and He is always on watch for His confused, wayward child to return to Him.

Addiction of any kind is a demanding and jealous master; I don’t know that any addiction can be broken outside the power of God’s love.  It is His love that gives strength when we have none.  It is His love that puts the right people in our path to help us find our way out of an all-consuming habit. It is His love that never gives up on us—and that steadfastness gives us hope that we can be restored and the courage to begin.

When the Prodigal Son set off from home, he was dizzy with high expectations for a life of sheer pleasure. However, it didn’t turn out that way. His frivolity became his downfall and he was soon unable to take care of even his basic needs. When he returned to his father in abject poverty, his greatest hope was to be treated as a servant so that he might have food to live. But the Father met with delight and compassion this wayward son (Luke 15:20), certainly not what the Son who had hit bottom expected.

The account of the Prodigal Son is the story of anyone who willfully chooses to worship anything but God. Finding oneself in a pit of shame and guilt, we may ask “Will God take me back?” And the answer is a resounding yes! When we take the first step toward God, the step of repentance, our Father comes quickly to meet us. Not to condemn, but to welcome us home. He will reward our decision to trust Him with compassion and healing.

Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.  

Psalm 6:4 (ESV)

In the Presence of Jehovah

15 Friday Nov 2013

Posted by in music in healing

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The song, In the Presence of Jehovah, was written by Damaris Carbaugh (lyrics) and Becky and Geron David (music). When I hear it, I feel as if I am being escorted into the very throne room of God; it touches something inside me in a supernatural way. The words express the simple truth, that we can find healing for whatever our need when we get alone with God.

I went through a very tough time some years back. One of the ways God restored health to my body and joy to my soul was through this song. A very dear friend and pastor’s wife sang it to me on a Sunday afternoon, touching directly the anguish I was feeling and from that moment on it became my anthem. I found an old tape by our church choir with “In the Presence of Jehovah” and played it over and over as I took long walks. It was like a release to pent-up anxiety and pain. One of our church soloists sang it with what seemed to me more frequency in a shorter period of time than usual. And I sang it to myself, letting the melody and words take the edge off the sharp, piercing pain I was experiencing. My entire being was calmed and soothed by this music with a solid truth.

Because God fashioned us, He knows what will minister to our particular need. Without question, He gave this song to the writers that it might tell of Him and His grace. God laid it on Susan’s heart to sing so that His love could flow through her to me. He gave it again through Dianne’s sweet angel voice. Even the supplying of recorded music by our church choir before it was “my” church choir was by God’s hand. Over and over He drew me into a sacred space with Him and tended to my brokenness. It was (and is) like feeling the embrace of the Almighty.

In the presence of Jehovah,

God Almighty,

Prince of Peace.

Troubles vanish,

hearts are mended,

in the presence of the King.

This is just the chorus. Follow this link http://youtu.be/ZgQX4lDzpWg to hear the very meaningful verses and the beauty of the music.

Closing Thoughts on Jesus’ Healing Ministry

01 Sunday Sep 2013

Posted by in healing

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How many people did Jesus heal in His days on earth? We have the stories of just a few (I count 26 separate individuals whose stories have been written), but there are scriptures that tell us the accounts reported in the gospels were a very small number of the entirety.

In Matthew alone, there are eight references to Jesus healing multitudes of people with various diseases and afflictions. (See 4:23, 8:16, 9:35, 12:15, 13:14, 15:30, 19:2, and 21:14.)

Hear Matthew 4:23: “News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and He healed them.”  And Matthew 15:30 says “Great crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at His feet; and He healed them.”

Healing_the_Blind008 How could we possibly imagine the total sum of people healed by our Lord? He healed all who asked of Him, every single one.  The last thing the disciple John said in his gospel was this: “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25). We are told about 26 specific healings. It gives us some idea of who and what our Lord healed, but I suggest it is only that—an idea.

We can’t close out without a mention of the one healing that would have been in higher number than all the rest. It was the most important healing then, and it is now. Spiritual healing. We can be sure that as bodies and minds were healed, so were souls. That which gives us quality of life is valuable, but it is spiritual healing that goes with us into all eternity.

It was faith that released the power of the Lord. Over and over we hear Him say it is faith that brings about healing. Sometimes it was the faith of the one afflicted, other times it was the faith of the one bringing the one in need to Jesus.

John Wesley said “When we have learned the process of faith for receiving healing, we have learned how to receive everything else God promises us in His Word.”

Raised from the Dead

18 Sunday Aug 2013

Posted by in healing, raised from dead

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Daughter of Jairus (Matthew 9:18, 23-25; Mark 5:22-24, 35-43; Luke 8:40-56)

“Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with Him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying” (Luke 8:4-42 NIV).  The story is reported by three writers, but only Luke tells us the ruler’s child was his only daughter and was about 12. Because he was a physician, he would have investigated every story for details others might not have considered important. Maybe they weren’t, but they were interesting.

When Jesus gets to the ruler’s house, He finds the grieving has begun. Funeral music is playing via piped instruments and the crowd of people in and around the house is noisy. The custom of that day was to grieve the dead by loud, woeful cries, continuing until they could emit no more than a sob. This would have been the noise of the crowd.

Jesus tells the crowd that the child is not dead, only sleeping. They laugh at Him and He sends them away, allowing only the little girl’s parents and three disciples, Peter, James, and John, to go with Him to where the child’s body lay. How did He come to just these five? Perhaps He was surrounding Himself with only those of strongest expectation. Certainly the parents were desperate for their child’s restoration and Jesus had compassion for them. The disciples chosen were the three Jesus was closest to, and He needed them to see His power, for soon they would be sent forth to heal in His name.

Scripture says Jesus took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up” (Luke 8:54)! Dr. J. Vernon McGee, preacher, teacher, and author, said those words could be translated “Little lamb, wake up.” (See Thru the Bible, notes on Luke 8:54, page 284.) That sounds like the way Jesus would speak to a child, doesn’t it? Full of love and compassion for a little one. Verse 55 says “Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up.”

The royal official’s son in Capernaum (John 4:46-53), the son of a widow in Nain (Luke 7:11-17), Lazarus (John 11:1-6, 11-44)

There were three other reports given us of Jesus raising the dead to life. Of all, Lazarus is probably the most familiar and the most spectacular because he had been in the grave for four days (John 11:17). This would mean a decaying body with a horrific stench.  It must have been a frightening thing for the family, even knowing of Jesus’ past miracles, to think of what would be revealed when the grave was opened. But Jesus was God! Four days in the grave to Him was no more than a child’s scraped knee. So after thanking God the Father for hearing Him, Jesus commands Lazarus to come out. And Lazarus, dead and buried for four days, walks out of the grave and goes home. (See vv 41-44).

Would these four restorations from death be the only ones that happened? I doubt it. I suspect these are only representative of many.  We know Jesus healed many more than were reported for Luke 4:40 says “At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them.”  And Mark 1:34 says “and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons . . .” In final support that we know only a little of His miracles, John said this in his gospel (21:25): “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”

We will not know all the miracles our Lord did until we reach heaven. And as the gospel song goes, “Won’t it be wonderful there?”

All scriptures are from New International Version (NIV).

Deaf and Mute Man

10 Saturday Aug 2013

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Mark 7:32-37

“Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis. They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him” (Mark 7:31-32 NAS).

Jesus_the_Healer005When this story takes place, Jesus has already healed many and word has quickly spread. People who had seen or heard of His miracles must have talked about them constantly. Surely there was not a day that went by that they were not discussed and marveled over. Can you imagine what it would mean to be in need of healing and hear that there was one who was able to heal every need, no matter how long-standing or serious? That there was nothing impossible with this man named Jesus? He could touch a person or simply speak a word, and people were made whole.

I like the way the New Living Translation (NLT) words Mark 7:33: “Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue.” I like the NLT version because it makes it very clear that Jesus wanted to be alone with the man, to get him away from all distractions so he could focus on the One who would heal him. Think about the noise of the crowd and their shuffling for space to get a clear view of what was sure to be another miracle.  Since the man could not hear, he would have to be very centered on Jesus to understand what was happening. And Jesus had more for him than bodily healing and He didn’t want the deaf and dumb man to miss it. He had the greatest gift of all–healing for his soul.

This healing involved more outward actions than usual.  He may have put his fingers in the man’s ears to let him know what was about to happen—that He was going to open them. He may have touched the man’s tongue with His sacred saliva to indicate power would leave His body and flow into the man’s body. Whatever His reasons, we can agree with The Pulpit Commentary: “We may be assured that, in the case before us, these signs used by our Lord were intended to awaken the afflicted man’s faith, and to stir up in him the lively expectation of a blessing.”

There was one other case of healing where the healing was of one both deaf and dumb (or mute). It was of a demon-possessed boy, told in Mark 9:14-29. In verse 25, it says this: “When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, He rebuked the evil spirit. ‘Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,’ He said. ‘I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again’” (NLT)!  This was one of the many healings of demon possession and that topic will have separate coverage.

Were both situations caused by evil spirits? I don’t think so. Scripture says Jesus spoke to a spirit in the child–a demonic possession. There was nothing in the first  healing that indicates it was anything but a physical abnormality. He simply touched the man’s ears and tongue and he was healed.

Writing about the man deaf and dumb reminds me of a personal experience. Quite a few years ago, I served as the church director for the Exceptional Department, a ministry for mentally challenged adults. Most of the men and women lived in group homes with house parents and the house-mother from a home called one day saying one of the women there, Margie, wanted to talk with me about Jesus. The Holy Spirit was moving through the Exceptional Department, as one and then another wanted to profess faith in Jesus and be baptized. Now Margie was asking for that same thing. I knew Margie’s father was still alive so I asked the house-mother what he thought about this. She said she had talked with him and he very much wanted Margie to have this chance to talk to me about her understanding of Jesus. Margie wasn’t deaf, but she did suffer from a speech impairment so severe I could hardly understand a word she said. This caused me great concern on how we would communicate. Certainly, I prayed about our coming time together, but when I got to the house, I asked Margie if Sandy could meet with us and help me if there was anything I couldn’t understand. Sandy had just a mild disability and she was a favorite friend of Margie’s. Margie quickly nodded her head that it would be fine for her to join us.  However, on that day, Jesus opened my ears just like He did the man of Mark 7:32. For I understood perfectly every word Margie said, and there in her room, she gave her heart to the Lord. That was a day I stood on holy ground.