Matthew 4:23, “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. 24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.”

As you can see from Matthew four, nothing was beyond Jesus’ healing anointing! Spirit, soul, and body.

Spiritual Healing

Let’s take a brief look at Spiritual healing. Before we came to Christ, all of us were in spiritual darkness. Upon being Born-again, the Holy Spirit of God came to live in us. For that reason alone, the Devil and all his demons can not possess a born-again believer! The Spirit of God is greater than any spirit of the Devil. The Devil may try to oppress or depress the soul or even attack the body, but the light of Christ drives out the darkness of Satan. It is impossible for the Devil or Satan to exist in a true Believer of Jesus Christ. 

Emotional Healing 

For the rest of this message, my focus will be on healing of the Soul, otherwise known as emotional healing. Next time I will focus on the physical healing of the body.

The Structure of an Emotional Wound.

It’s usually easy to recognize people who are “hurting on the inside” because they wind-up hurting others. I’m sure you have heard the expression, “Hurting people, hurt people” People with issues and problems that have not been healed will hurt other people. Proverbs 18:14, “The spirit of a man will sustain him, in sickness, but who can bear a broken (crushed) spirit?”

Memories

What is important to realize is that memory plays an essential part in the health of a soul (mind). There are many types of memories, but I want to take a look at two- normal and emotional memories. These two types of memories are stored in different parts of the brain.

1. Normal memory or recall
   1. Working memories – i.e. 2+2=4
   1. No emotions are aroused.
2. Emotional memory 
   1. The recall caused by smell, sound, taste, or emotion in others brings back a memory that may be pleasant or painful.
   1. Sometimes we are not aware of the “trigger” that produces an emotional recall.

There are many causes of emotional injury or a broken spirit. Some common examples are:

1. abandonment 
2. rejection
3. divorce
4. abortion
5. physical abuse
6. emotional abuse
7. verbal abuse
8. sexual abuse

All of these events can produce painful recall experiences in individuals. Remembering the hurtful event can create the same emotional impact as if it were happening again, even if the original incident occurred many years ago.

Dysfunction or Behaving Badly

Let’s take a look at how a broken spirit can produce dysfunction.

1. The wounding – this is the event that caused the pain.
2. False belief – this is the lie the Devil wants you to believe. The lie is that you deserved it or that it was your fault.
3. Emotional pain – This is the pain caused by believing the lie.
4. Dysfunctional behavior – this is the behavior as a result of trying to get rid of the emotional pain. TSome will turn to alcohol or drugs, inflicting pain on oneself as in “cutting.” It may be uncontrollable anger or rage. It can also be immoral behavior as well. There are too many ways, “hurting people” can be dysfunctional.
5. Trigger circumstances – This would be the event that triggers the cycle all over again. It can be as simple as someone saying something that reminds the person of the “wounding.”

How can one break the cycle caused by emotional dysfunction? One needs to encounter the healing produced by Jesus. There are two things that Jesus brings, truth and forgiveness.

1. The wound —- Jesus’ healing comes as we accept His forgiveness and empowers us to forgive others.
2. False belief —- Truth, the light that drives out the darkness. It is the truth that sets us free John 8:31,32,36.
3. Emotional pain — Peace in place of the pain, fear, confusion, and turmoil
4. Dysfunctional behavior — Transformation, replacing the old with the new. Romans 12:1,2.
5. Trigger circumstances — Now gone because the wound has been healed.

Jesus will always respond to repentance and forgiveness…

Luke 4:18 Jesus heals the brokenhearted.

I want you to remember from our last message three things:

1. Grace is what God has already provided through Jesus and the Cross. All of the exchanges we have been talking about were meant for us to enjoy. God wants to take away all the negativity and fear and replace them with blessings and joy as we follow Him.
2. It is by faith that we receive God’s grace. We must contend or struggle for what is rightfully ours in Christ Jesus. The reason for the struggle is that you have an enemy, and his name is Satan. Satan will use every deception, and any demonic means to keep you in bondage. The way to counteract what the Devil wants us to believe is to focus on what God has said, and then we must trust that we receive what He has said!  The evidence that we believe what He has said is to actually do and act like we already have the promise.
3. All of the people, places, and circumstances in life have shaped who we are today. Some of those experiences in life have left emotional scars that make us feel that we are unworthy of God’s grace. It is this sense of unworthiness that is an obstacle to believe, or have faith, that we have God’s grace or goodness available to us.

Our Confidence in Jesus

Philippians 2:12-13 says the following, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

Verse 12 can easily be misunderstood in that if we apply it to salvation as something that can be lost, we will always live in fear and doubt as to whether we are truly saved. That kind of uncertainty can never lead to peace. We must look at the verse “Working out our salvation with fear and trembling” from a different perspective. It has to do with the fruit of what salvation produces. Salvation is both an “event” and a “process.” The event is when one accepts by repenting and then believing in Christ as Lord and Savior. The process is the life-long progression as one learns what it means to become Christ-like.

The apostle Paul wrote Philippians, but he also wrote the book of Romans. In Romans, Paul clearly makes the case that we are saved by grace and not by works. For instance, look at   That “no condemnation” is used to make the point that we are not condemned to Hell! Our home is Heaven! Then Paul explains that it is not by the flesh or works but by the Spirit which we received when we made Jesus our Lord and Savior. In other words, as we learn to be led by the Holy Spirit to be transformed from the inside out to be more like Jesus.

Look at some these other verses in Romans:

• Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
• Romans 8:31, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
• Romans 8:38, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The only conclusion is that nothing or no one can snatch us out of the hand of God! (John 10:28-29) So why does Paul say, “Working out our salvation with fear and trembling”? It is because we must learn to walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh. Walking by the Spirit of God is the ultimate faith walk. Learning to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit through the Bible and discerning His voice in everyday life is the greatest challenge we face as Christians.

Jesus intends that we be “Free Indeed!” John 8:32, 36.

Here is the primary point I want to make, if we feel unworthy of God’s grace, we will never release the faith to walk with the Holy Spirit in victory. The Devil wants to keep you in bondage. He wants to keep you in bondage to your past. Have you forgotten what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17? “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” The “old you” is dead! You are now loved, forgiven, and accepted and deserving of all that Jesus purchased for you through the Great Exchange!

The Holy Spirit is at work in you.

Earlier, we looked at Philippians 2:12-13, but our focus was on verse 12. Let’s take the time to look at verse 13, “… for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” What does it mean that God is at work in you to both will and do for His good pleasure? I believe that this statement is evidence that God’s Holy Spirit is at work to give you the desire for righteousness and the supernatural ability to live righteously. If this is the case, why is it that so many live their lives in bondage and not Hope, Healing, and Wholeness? It may be that there are past issues known or even hidden that are obstacles to walking by faith.

Blinded by the past.

It’s usually easy to recognize people who are “hurting on the inside” because they wind-up hurting others. I’m sure you have heard the expression, “Hurting people, hurt people” People with issues and problems that have not been healed will hurt other people.   

There are many causes of emotional injury or a broken spirit. We will be looking at them in our next post, but before I close, let me say that Jesus is in the business of healing. He wants to heal emotionally, mentally, and physically. Look at Jesus’ mission statement found in Luke 4:18,

• “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
• Because He has anointed Me
• To preach the gospel to the poor;
• He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
• To proclaim liberty to the captives
• And recovery of sight to the blind,
• To set at liberty those who are oppressed.”

As I close, remember these four promises; Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you, if God is for you who can be against you, nothing is impossible with God, and God always keeps His promises!

The way the “world” presents peace is through prosperity, importance, celebrity, and so many things that give a sense of peace to others looking at you, but never the inner peace that only God can provide. Someone can look like they have peace on the outside, but all the while, be in emotional turmoil and torment!

The peace that Jesus gives is so important in this life that I am breaking it up into two teachings. Let’s now begin with part one.

The word peace in the New Testament means precisely what you would think it means. Peace, according to Strong’s Concordance means to produce prosperity (a good journey in life, not just finances): to be one, quietness, rest. The word peace is used in at least three important ways in the Bible:

• a state of national tranquility exemption from the rage and havoc of war
• peace between individuals, i.e., harmony, concord, security, safety, prosperity, felicity, (because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous) of the Messiah’s peace the way that leads to peace (salvation)
• of Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is the blessed state of devout and upright men after death

Darkness vs. Light

When the scriptures talk about walking in darkness, it doesn’t always mean doing evil deeds. Darkness also means the state of mind in ignorance and deception. Ignorance in the sense of not being aware or knowing the truth.

The most essential truth, as a Christian, is to know that we don’t earn God’s Grace, nor do we deserve it (Ephesians 2:8-9). Grace is a gift of God to His sons and daughters, and as Christians, we are the sons and daughters. Remember, every good gift comes from above the Father of Lights, and light illuminates the darkness just as the truth illuminates ignorance. 

God’s Grace is like a flow of living water that is released by the Holy Spirit. We are the vessels through whom God desires to flow, His Spirit producing genuine life in us and through us. The most important question for us is, how do we activate God’s Grace?

Activating God’s Grace in our Lives

1. The same Grace that produces salvation is the Grace to live life with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (the Fruit of the Holy Spirit described in (Galatians 5:22 -23).
2. Grace is not made available by our efforts to be good, although that is important. To know what God expects of us and then to do it is the road to blessings. However, God’s Grace is released by one thing and one thing only, that is Faith. Faith is simply believing what God has said and then trusting and obeying that He will fulfill it.
3. Grace is the table of bounty available to all believers to take from. Faith is then merely reaching up and taking what has already been provided. Grace is first, and then Faith receives it. Grace is God’s work, and Faith is your work. Faith does not create Grace, it simply makes what is available… now!
4. In the same way, salvation is provided through Jesus Christ. Jesus made salvation available, that’s Grace, and by Faith, we receive it. Mark 11:24 states, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” We walk in what has been provided. Every other provision provided by God is obtained in the same way.
5. It is not by how good you are but by the fact that you are seeking His kingdom and His righteousness that enables us to have genuine Faith in Him. The question is not how good you are, but do you know Him. If you are in a relationship with Jesus through His Holy Spirit, He will transform you into being like Jesus in every way.
6. You can’t accomplish the work of the Holy Spirit through your efforts alone. You really can’t change your character and nature. Many confuse rehabilitation with transformation (Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. Rehabilitation is man’s work; transformation is God’s work (Romans 12:2). Rehabilitation is changing the outside of a person hoping that it will change the inside. Transformation on the other hand, is the work of the Holy Spirt on the inside, the heart of a person, and it will change the outside behaviors and character.
7. The key to all change in Christ is, “do you know Him!” Not simply know about Him, but do you know Him? Do you have a relationship with Jesus? Do you talk to Him? Does He talk to you?
8. Think about it; all the relationships you have had in life, parents, family, friends, and teachers have made you who you are. In the same way, a relationship with Jesus will make you the person God wants you to be.

If you can agree that all of the relationships in your life have shaped you into the person you are today, then you can also agree that not all of those relationships have been healthy or beneficial. Along the way, in life, there have been people, places, and things that have caused you great pain and sorrow.

In life, we all have grown up with mistaken ideas about life and carry the scars of making very bad decisions. Those bad decisions can often keep us from moving forward in the life that God has called us to. In a sense, they are emotional scars that we try to keep hidden. In the process of keeping them hidden, we become dysfunctional. Some dysfunctions are minor and irritating, and others are major and crippling.

Listen to what the Apostle Paul said in  Philippians 2:12-13, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

What Paul is saying is that our salvation or being saved requires us to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He changes how we think and act. God’s Holy Spirit is at work to “will” or give us the desire to change and the strength to allow Him to complete it. Remember Philippians 1:6, “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

No Jesus no peace; Know Jesus know peace!

Grace and Faith

Before we go there, let me remind you of the relationship between Grace and Faith. God offers the free gift, and we describe it as Grace. Something that is unearned or undeserved but is made available by Faith for every Believer of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 11:1 states that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In simple terms, Faith makes something already available a present reality. That which is available is what God has provided by Grace!

This reminds me of a story I heard many years ago. A wealthy Christian father promised his son a new car when he graduated from school. On graduation day, the son was filled with excitement, anticipating a new car. The son expecting the keys to a new car was shocked and angry when the Father gave him a bible instead. 

The son was so disappointed and upset at the gift of a Bible instead of a car that he left the Father’s home and refused to speak to his Father for ten years. 

The Bible sat on a shelf unopened all that time. One day the young man was moving things around on his bookshelf, and the Bible fell to the floor. As he bent down to pick up the Bible, an envelop fell out of the Bible. He opened the envelop to find a bank check made out to the car dealership for a new car! The young man broke down and cried, now realizing that he always had what his Father had promised, but the promise sat on a shelf unopened for ten years.

Faith is believing what God the Father has said, which is His Grace, and then acting upon what was promised. All of the promises of God are given to us by Grace, but it is our Faith that acts upon the promise-keeper and makes it real. That is an important point; our Faith is not in the promise alone, but in the Promise-keeper, Jesus!

The Exchange

In the last three episode, we have mentioned three promises made available by Jesus. These particular promises are called exchanges, a term used with scriptural covenants. Jesus took something and gave us something better. He gave us Forgiveness for Sin, Life for Death, and Heaven for Hell.

A Home for Homelessness

As I said earlier, we will be looking at the truth that “Jesus took our lost and homeless condition and gave us an eternal home.” The key scripture is John 14:2, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” In other words, we have a home in Heaven.

While we don’t know a lot about Heaven, we do know that it is a place of great joy, peace, and worship. God says in Revelation 21:4, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Therefore, by Faith, we believe that every good thing will be made available to us in Heaven.

The verse before John 14:2, Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In other words, don’t worry about your future simply trust in Him. Jesus then confirms that He is “the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

Present Situation

No matter what your situation is at present, God has a plan for your future, and it is a good plan; it is a plan to prosper you. You may be living in wealth and security, or you may just be getting by. Jesus promised to give you what you need. Too often, we worry about what we don’t have instead of being grateful for what we do have.

Do Not Worry

Matthew 6:25-34 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little Faith?

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

The key is to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Remember, Jesus knew how to get by with what He needed instead of what He wanted. In Matthew 8:20 Jesus said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Jesus said this in the context of giving up everything to follow Him. However, it also shows that Jesus didn’t overly concern Himself with the trappings of success in this life. Jesus didn’t own homes, have a big bank account, or anything else that in His time would indicate wealth. However, He had the greatest treasure of all! That was the peace of God that comes with the knowledge of God that surpasses all understanding.

As someone once said, “We sometimes think that poverty is only being hungry, naked, and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty.” Through the Great Exchange, God, through Jesus Christ, has made you wanted, loved, and cared for by the Creator of this Universe!

Always remember that there is a “Mansion” for you in Heaven where there is joy, peace, and love. All of this because Jesus gave you a home.