I felt enlightened by the deep inner healing ministry workshop that I have been attending for the past two saturday mornings organised by fountain gate ministries http://www.fountaingateministries.net/PREP-final.htm It is a pity that our church does not yet have such a specialised counseling ministry. I think it is much needed for a big congregation like ours and especially so if we were to grow bigger. People are coming in with diverse and complicated needs which are not necessarily met by our usual cognitive-behavorial way of preaching. Hopefully the leadership will think of this area in due time
All of us need healing,at some stage or another, in our lives. From the moment we accept Christ, He promises salvation, not only being saved from the penalty of sins but include the element of forgiveness, restoration of relationships and God's healing touch. It is the ongoing process of healing that began when we received Jesus:
-It is wholeness in the broadest sense
-covers physical, spiritual, emotional and relational dimensions
-means freedom from whatever captivity
We receiving Christ does not mean all our past sinful self will be wiped away with a magical wand. It does not happen that way as most of us would wish to be the case. Salvation does not necessarily assume instant healing and freedom! We need to be determined to do what is ncessary to work along with God, to work towards freedom
1 Pet 1:23
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
1 Pet 2:1-3
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
We can bury our emotions 'alive', suppress them without realising the need to unlearn past wrong programming and relearning by the renewal of our minds
Some examples
X can be a dynamic, gifted and eloquent speaker and entrepreneuer, has great visions but be another person in his private life, living a sinful lifestyle
Y can pray, serve, lead cellgroup but struggling with insecurity, depression inside etc
I find it useful to understand that deliverance and responding to altar call is only one aspect of the process. No doubt God works in different ways for each individual, but the bad fruit in our lives need to be examined and dealt with at the roots. Delivering only prevents the fruit from growing further but it does not take away the root issue. You can respond 600 times at altar call but if one does not take personal charge and ownership, the bad fruit can only grow further and at an increasing rate.
I re-visited the concept of 'Whatsoever a man sows, that he shall also reap'. It is such a simple concept but yet it is very powerful also. In the natural realm, law of gravity exists by default. Whatever comes up must come down. In Newton 2nd law, For every action, there is an equal and opposite reactive force. God's laws are not mutually exclusive from the natural laws. They run parallel. Likewise, our spiritual lives. If we sow seeds to please his sinful nature, from that self will reap only destruction. Vice versa.
Gal 6:7-10
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
I thought it is so true as I remember David's life, though he committed adultery and took someone's life, the consequences were felt indirectly in his sons. There is no running away from feeling the consequences of sinning. You will 'reap' the consequences of the judgments and/or sinful actions sown. He exercises Godly discipline in our lives. God gives us freewill for a reason and He wants us to receiving the healing so that we can fulfil the call He has for us in our lives. Not to merely scrap past our struggles or numb the pain but to receive healing deep within and moves on with our lives. We are called to shine and be His ambassadors.
There are so many hurts and wounds that one can experience throughout his life, be it childhood abuse and neglect, growing up in a divorced family, being labelled as 'a mistake', 'unwanted', mind you, we are living in a very imperfect world, some of these wounds can be: abandonment, rejection, feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy, shame & guilt and desire to escape. We have a tendency to repress such negative memories and wounds not dealt with will become larger and deeper.
It can result in bitter root judgment, what is it?
- It is when we have judged or held an offence, against a person who had hurt us
- Often the hurt and bitter root judgment apply not only our conscious action, known and perfom outwardly, but also to what is buried or lodged in our hearts, repressed, unknown and unexpressed
- There is a particular need to focus on judgments made against parents as these can powerfully affect our own marriages and parenting next time
- Making an accurate assessment of a hurt done to us and beginning to work through forgiveness does not constitute a judgment
How do we reap bitter root judgments?
- We reap a judgment in wounding others in a smilar way to how we were wounded
Matt 7:1
Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
Rom 2:1
1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
For example, from my own life, by His grace, working at it, to allow God to take control,
Bitter root judgment: Life has been unfair to me, not the same as others
Bitter root expectations: I will forever live a slumber life, fail to make it big
Inner Vow: I will do all that I can to make sure I am sufficient and not dependable on anyone
Bitter root judgment: Father has been irresponsible and absent in my younger days
Bitter root expectations: I cannot rely on him for care and support
Inner Vow: I will never be like him in all aspects of my life
(I will share more about inner vows next week in my posting when it will be taught, should be a powerful one)
James 1:13-15
13When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
There is nothing wrong with sinful emotions but it is the sinful usage of them that are harmful. God wants us to acknowledge where the pains are, nothing to hide, what is happening in these emotional pains and take ownership and responsibility to bring these pains to Jesus. I realise how important it is, in my course of work with my boys, this is an area that needs much attention and focus, dsyfunctional family backgrounds can just so easily sow seeds of hatred and bitterness within them which might be too late to reverse or 'help' when they are grown up. By them, they will have devised their own coping mechanisms, be it healthy or unhealthy. Psychotherapy can only help so much but Jesus should be the answer for them! =)
Just as untreated wounds, if not treated, get infected and grow bigger, it will become toxic and invite demonic spirits to come and attach themselves to the wound and feed on it. This is because sin opens the door for the evil one to come in and reside. It will be pretty late by then for God's Word to penetrate within our hearts
Some ungodly coping mechanisms
- rationalisation: you think that you are right, justify by whatever means
- domination: cutting off of relations, work through obligation or authority position
- manipulation: twisting the current circumstances to your advantage
- secrecy & hiddenness: very private and reserved to talk about oneself, dare not share openly to others about own life
- pride and self-centredness
In summary
God does not allow us to use our wounds as an excuse to continue to sin but wounds need healing. Sin must be confessed and repented, and the flesh must be crucified
1 John 1:8-10
8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
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