July 12, 2013

• Return to Sender

  When we first moved to Denmark, it seemed like I had one cold virus after another. It literally seemed like all the time I was coughing and blowing my nose. It wasn’t allergies. It was virus after virus. I take vitamins. I wash my hands often. I try to drink plenty of water and get enough rest, but I was still hit with all these germs! Grrrrrr! I was NOT HAPPY!

  I have read lots of books and heard lots of sermons about healing. It seems there are many schools of thought regarding this topic. Some say if you are sick, must be there is sin in your life. Hmmm....  Sure, I do think a sinful lifestyle may lead to sickness, but I know plenty of strong and righteous Christian people who have gotten sick. Some have died. We are human. We have a “shelf life!”

  Some people say that all that is required to be healed is FAITH. Yes, the Bible does say that, and I do believe it. However, if your affliction is something that God has allowed to come into your life to mold and shape you to be more like Him, then perhaps there comes a point when you have to surrender to His plan and trust Him for grace and strength. We need discernment. In spite of what you may have heard or read, there is no “formula” for healing. You can quote healing scriptures all day long, but if God has determined that you are to go THROUGH it, you would be better off to take His hand and start walking.

  But, there are those situations when we should use the authority Jesus has given us. Like I said, we need discernment to know. I felt God wanted to teach me something from all these colds. Here is how He explained it to me-----

  Have you ever ordered anything on line, or from a catalog? What do you do with it if, when you receive it, it is not what you ordered? Or, what if it doesn’t fit right? Or, it is damaged in some way. What do you do? You send it back, right?

  (James 1:16-17 NLT)  So don't be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

  If you receive something that is not good, it probably does not come from God. So..... what should you do with it? SEND IT BACK! Yes, send it right back to where it came from. Where did it come from? Well, if it didn’t come from  GOD, where do you think it came from? Yeah.... send it back there.

  So, I started taking authority in Christ’s name over all these pesky cold germs that kept coming my way. I felt God had given me understanding and a “green light” to do this. If I feel like I am starting in with a cold, I speak to it, like Jesus said to speak to the mountains in this verse.
  (Mark 11:23 NLT) “I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, 'May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.”  I tell the cold, “Get out of here in Jesus’ name. I don’t want you. I don’t need you, and I have authority through Christ’s mighty name to send you away.”  And you know what? Since I have been doing this, I have not suffered a bad cold! I tell it to go, and then I trust God!  I do not allow myself to think about it or worry about it. I consider it done. I guess you can think whatever you want to, but I thought I would just share what I have learned (and am still learning!)  

  We have authority in Christ, but we have to learn how to use it, and what to use it for. It is not to be used for selfish reasons or to make ourselves seem important. It is given to us so that we can build up God’s people and His Kingdom. It is given to help us overcome the enemy. We need to remember that without faith in HIM, we can do nothing.

  I am so thankful that I have not been sick with a cold for months and months. I have had a stomach virus a time or two, and I do have some physical things in my body I am dealing with, but not colds! It may not seem like much of a victory to you, but I am grateful to God for it. I am thankful for what He is teaching me about His authority.

  Send it back!

  • 4:21 am
  • 7 Comments