Pillars to Inner Healing

Position Yourself for Your Healing 

I like how Henry Wright, who is an expert at inner healing, breaks down the three essentials that are necessary to positioning ourselves to receive healing. Much of what Henry was speaking about concerned physical healing, but I believe it also applies to emotional healing as well. Having a right relationship with God, yourself, and others, is vital when positioning yourself to receive inner healing. I would like to break down each one of these here, as they are very important to anybody who is seeking healing from emotional wounds. 

1. Having the right relationship with God - In order to be healed, you must have a relationship with the healer. I'm not talking about being born again, but actively having a relationship with Him. Many Christians have what we call a religion with God, not a relationship. Religion seeks to earn it's favor with God, whereas relationship accepts what God's Word says about their being made the righteousness of God through their faith in Christ (see Romans 3:22).

This doesn't mean that we can live like the world, as that is unacceptable for a member of the royal family in the kingdom of God. But it means that when we're living for Christ, placing our faith in Him, and honoring Him in our life, then we need to stand on what God's Word tells us about how we are justified (made innocent, as if we've never sinned), forgiven our sins, and made right with Him (see Romans 3:24). 

We need to let God's Word sink into our hearts when it tells us about our conscience being purged from dead works to serve the living God (see Hebrews 9:14), and that through the Blood we can have confidence to enter the holy of holies (see Hebrews 10:19). Knowing that your sins are forgiven, and you are made right with God, is absolutely necessary or essential to freely receive emotional healing. The only way that you will reach that place is when you put your total and complete trust in the Blood of Jesus, knowing that it was shed for the remission or removal of your sins (see Matthew 26:28).

Dead religion is a terrible plague that hinders the healing of many emotional wounds. Religion does not connect you with the healer (the Holy Spirit), but actually hinders His work in our lives. Religion promotes fear, pride, and legalism, which is an enemy to the healing process. Dead religion creates an atmosphere where defense mechanisms thrive.

Defense mechanisms such as stubbornness and anger, are there to protect us from further harm, but at the same time, they actively hinder or even block the Holy Spirit's power from healing our wounds. It is important for us to understand and overcome defense mechanisms if a person is going to receive healing to their damaged emotions. I have a teaching just on Defense Mechanisms that I highly recommend reading to learn more about what they are, and what to do about them.

Fear and unforgiveness are the most popular glues that hold together defense mechanisms. Dead religion is fear based, whereas relationship is faith and love based. God's Word tells us that love casts out all fear (see 1 John 4:18). Many today are afraid of God; they are afraid that He is disappointed or even angry with them and may not be eager to forgive them. This is dead religion, and creates fear which brings torment (see 1 John 4:18).

How are you supposed to be healed, if you're in bondage to fear and being tormented? Through a genuine relationship (not religion) with God, our fears will begin to dissolve as we are made perfect in love (see 1 John 4:18). Unforgiveness is selfish (God will forgive us of even the worse offenses, why can't we do the same?), prideful (that person wronged ME), and is the result of not trusting God (to take care of that person for what they've done).

Love is the opposite of these things (see 1 Corinthians 13). As we allow God's deep and overflowing love and forgiveness towards us to sink into our hearts, our unforgiveness towards others begins to also dissolve. We cannot give something that we're not receiving, and we cannot receive God's love into our hearts, if we do not properly perceive it. It is impossible for you to receive love into your heart from somebody that you perceive hates you, and the same is true with our ability to receive God's love into our hearts. It is therefore vital that we have a non-religious relationship with God, in order to dissolve our defense mechanisms so that we can be healed emotionally.

Overcoming the religious mindset is a very important step to position yourself to receive healing to your damaged emotions. Properly perceiving our relationship with God is very important to positioning ourselves to receive healing for our damaged emotions. The Holy Spirit has shown me that a clean conscience is a fundamental pillar to receive inner healing. 

2. Having a Right Relationship With Yourself - When you have a right relationship with yourself, having a right relationship with others comes much more naturally. How can you truly love others, if you don't truly love yourself? I have a teaching titled, It's Vital to Love Yourself, that I highly recommend reading. It is not a loving yourself as in a selfish and prideful manner, but rather a humble acceptance of the person that God has made in you.

Self-hate is one of the most binding emotions that we encounter in the ministry of deliverance. There is no doubt whatsoever that this is one of the most destructive plans of Satan against the children of God. The fact is that when we hate ourselves, we are hating somebody that God made with His own hands, created in His image, and purchased the redemption of with the blood of His dear Son.

I assure you that such hate opens us right up to tormenting evil spirits. It gives them permission to act on our behalf against this person to whom we hate (us). Scores of mental and physical infirmities are rooted in self-hate. Self-hate is when we hate the person in us that God has created and loves dearly. We are hating God's special creation in us, and evil spirits will assuredly team up with us whenever we take on this attitude.

Let's say that you walked into a gallery, and pointed at a painting and said, "That sure is ugly! Who painted THAT?" Let me ask you, would that bring glory and honor to the painter of that painting? Do you think it brings honor and glory to God, when we point at His paintings, and consider them ugly, stupid, worthless, and of little value?

One day the Holy Spirit spoke to me very clearly and said, "I want you to love and appreciate the work of my hands, and that includes you, for you were made in my image!" I also heard the words echo in my mind, "When you hate yourself, you are hating somebody that I made." Having a right relationship with yourself is really a matter of seeing yourself as God sees you, and agreeing with His Word about the person that He has made in us.

It is not a prideful or arrogant way of seeing yourself, but rather a humble and thankful expression of the great and wonderful person that God made in you. I cannot tell you how much freedom and healing that I have received once I grasp the concept of how self-hate is a terrible poison that opens many sincere Christians up to terrible mental and physical infirmities. Being released from self-hate has an enormous affect on the healing process for many who bound with various emotional and physical infirmities.

3. Having a Right Relationship With Others - Are you out of relationship with others in your heart? Are you holding a grudge or failing to love others as Christ has loved you? Then you are not in right relationship with God either. Jesus warned us that if we do not forgive others from our hearts, that our own sins stand between us and the Father (see Matthew 6:15), but we are also giving legal grounds to tormenting spirits to operate in our lives (see Matthew 18:34-35). 

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15)  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. (Matthew 18:34-35)

Let me ask you this, how can we expect to receive healing for our damaged emotions, when we are separated from God (our sins stand before us), and we are in the territory of tormenting spirits? If you want to position yourself to receive healing, then you'll want to be in right standing before God.

Jesus tells us that if we forgive others, then we ourselves will be forgiven (see Matthew 6:14). That is a promise! Having our hearts clean from any ungodly feelings towards others is vital to receive healing for our damaged emotions. The root of unforgiveness has to do with a lack of trust in God. The reason that a person holds so tightly to unforgiveness is because they feel like they are the only one who is concerned about justice coming to that person who wronged them. They do not believe that God is going to ensure that justice happens.

God's Word tells us to give no place to wrath so that He can do something about what was done against us, but if we take it into our own hands, we fail to give place to wrath, and can actually hinder God from doing something about it. Do we want the person off our hook, or God's? Then we need to handle things the way that God has commanded of us in His Word. One of the keys to living a life of forgiveness, is getting it down into your spirit that God truly cares for you and what is done against you, and will bring justice to those who wrong us as we trust Him with those situations. -Author Unknown-

Bitter Water To Sweet

Bitter Water and Sweet Wood (Exodus 15:22-27) By Steve Rodeheaver Moses, Miriam, and the Israelites have finished singing, and now it is time to journey on. Moses leads the Israelites into the desert and they go for three days without finding water. Imagine traveling on foot from Yuma to Tucson and going for three days without water. This was a life-threatening situation. Finally they came to some water and their hopes skyrocketed - only to be dashed by the bitterness of the water. It was undrinkable. The Israelites named the place "Marah", which means "bitterness". Imagine literally dying of thirst, finding water, then discovering that it was salt water. Not a good life or death.

When the Israelites came to this bitter water they did what you and I would do: they grumbled against their leader Moses. Moses in turn cried out to Yahweh. Yahweh showed Moses a piece of wood which Moses promptly threw into the water. Immediately the water was made sweet and the Israelites were able to drink it. Moses then led them to a place called Elim which had twelve springs and seventy palm trees. This story is about the journey from Marah to Elim, from bitter water to twelve springs and seventy palm trees. The journey takes place externally and internally.

The external journey is the obvious one. Moses and company find themselves in a very bitter situation. They have been three days in the desert without coming upon a source of water. The water they have come to is undrinkable. Death is threatening. Moses cried out to Yahweh and Yahweh made the bitter water sweet. Refreshing themselves, they are revived and journey on to Elim. It is another revelation of the power and trustworthiness of Yahweh.

The message for us is clear: Whatever the bitter obstacles that we encounter in life's journey we can count on God to transform them, to use/redeem them for good, as God leads us to Elim. When we cry our Marahs out to God, God is able to "sweeten" them, that is, to make them drinkable, to turn them into a resource for the next leg of the journey. God is big enough to deal with, redeem, and even transform whatever external problems we might face.

The internal journey is less obvious, but it is the one on which the text focuses. Our English translations obscure this focus because of the difficulty in translating the verb for Yahweh "showing" or "directing" Moses to a tree/piece of wood. The verb used actually means to instruct or teach. Yahweh instructed/taught Moses a tree. That does not make much sense, but it is important to note because this verb is the root verb of the word "Torah". Torah means instruction, and it specifically refers to the instruction/law that God gave Moses on Mount Sinai for how the Israelites were to live in covenant with this God who brought them up out of Egypt.  

We might say that Yahweh "torah-ed" Moses a tree. When Moses cast this torah tree into the bitter water, the water became sweet. Torah is not for water, however, but for people. The bitter waters of Marah revealed the bitterness that lodged in the hearts of the Israelites. Notice that they grumbled against Moses while Moses cried out to Yahweh.

The external obstacle revealed the internal realities of their hearts. Moses trusted Yahweh and cried the problem out to Yahweh. The Israelites, on the other hand, betray a lack of trust as they grumble amongst themselves against Moses. What becomes evident in the face of Marah is that the Israelites needed deliverance from more than just Pharaoh.

They need deliverance from their grumbling, mumbling, bitter selves. And Yahweh is set to bring about that deliverance. Yahweh torahs Moses a tree of transformation. Right then and there, after Moses/Yahweh sweetened the water with the tree, Yahweh "made a decree and a law for them, and there He tested them. He said, 'If you listen carefully to the voice of Yahweh your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am Yahweh your Healer.'"

This text makes it plain that the emphasis is on the transformation of the Israelites rather than the water of Marah. In a word, Israel is to be "Yahweh-centered" in all their living. Remember, down in Egypt life had been Pharaoh centered. So Yahweh "tested" the Israelites there at Marah. This testing was for the purpose of training them, to reveal their hearts in order that their hearts might be changed where needed.

The test revealed that Moses was Yahweh-centered and that Israel was not. The test was a training exercise for Israel, designed to bend their bitter, grumbling hearts toward Yahweh. How did the bitter water become sweet? The tree. How does one become Yahweh-centered? The answer is Torah, God's instruction. It's kind of a circle. By listening to Yahweh one becomes Yahweh-centered which in turn enables one to be a better listener which in turn increases one's Yahweh-centeredness.

How did the bitter water become sweet? Yahweh, the giver of the tree. How does one become Yahweh-centered? The answer is Yahweh, the giver of Torah. "I am Yahweh, the One who heals you." Yahweh is the One who heals the heart, who is able to transform the bitter waters of the heart to waters of renewal. Again, notice that this internal transformation is the main point of the text, for Yahweh does not say "I am Yahweh, the One who heals the water" but "I am Yahweh, the One who heals you." Yahweh transforms the heart by means of Torah, Yahweh's instruction/word for sweet living. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. . .." 

Jesus is our Torah, our transforming Word from Yahweh on and for life. As we receive and follow Jesus, as we become Jesus-centered, we discover a healing transformation being worked within our hearts. It is the internal journey from the bitter waters of Marah to the twelve springs of Elim, from barren desert to seventy palm trees. May the tests of life bend us towards Jesus, that we might open ourselves to Jesus at ever new depths, heeding His word and experiencing His healing.

By the grace of God in Christ, may we make the journey and know His healing, that we might live the Jesus life. If life is bitter, stir in some Torah. Exodus 15:22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah.[a] 24 And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, 26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.” TRUTH-IN-ACTION (NSFB)

Devotion to God begins with growth in knowing God. In Exodus, God reveals part of His nature and character. Knowing God in truth will dramatically impact our lives. Exodus gives four keys to make our lives more faithful and fruitful.

1. Ex. 3:14,15 Understand that God is. His name is "I AM WHO I AM." Rest on this foundation. Be grounded and established in Him.

2. Ex. 15:25,26 Receive God as "The LORD Who Heals You." His nature is to heal; His Will and Compassionate desire is to make us whole. OT Divine Healing Covenant. It is called a "covenant," because in it God promises He will keep His people free from diseases and conditions the promise upon their diligent obedience. The covenant is made absolutely certain by the fact that God joins His mighty name to the promise, calling Himself Yahweh-Rapha. To recover to health and to sustain in health. The words used here for "diseases" (makhaleh) and "heals" (rapha) are regularly used for physical sickness and bodily healing. This is not only a spiritual concept, but also an intensely physical one.

3. Ex. 17:15 Rely upon God, who is "The LORD Your Banner." Surrender to Him, for the battle and the victory belong to the Lord.

4. Ex. 31:13 Pursue God, for it is He who sanctifies us. His life in us makes our holiness possible. While sin and disobedience are not always the direct causes of sickness, man's fall into sin is the original and underlying cause of all disease. 

Those who seek healing will benefit by looking to Christ Jesus our sin-bearer, along with pursuing renewed consecration. (James 5:14-16;I Cor. 11:29-32;Numbers 12:1-16). Kingdom Dynamics Numbers 12:1-16 Healing Repentance and Humility, DIVINE HEALING. This passage relates how Moses' sister, Miriam, was healed of leprosy. She received physical healing through the intercession of Moses. However, her healing was delayed seven days because of her sin in defying the God-given leadership of Moses.

Is it possible that delays in receiving answers to our prayer may sometimes be the result of a sinful attitude? Is there instruction in the fact that the progress of the whole camp was delayed until Miriam was restored? Repentance and humility will not earn healing, but they may, as with Miriam, clear the way for God's grace to be revealed more fully. Numbers 21:5-9 The Focus of Divine Healing, DIVINE HEALING.

The plague of fiery serpents sent upon God's people was, in reality, a self-inflicted punishment, resulting from their frequent murmuring. God's judgment was in allowing what their own presumption invited, and many died from the bites of the serpents. But in answer to the repentance of His people, God prescribed the erecting of a bronze serpent to which any might look in faith and be healed.

Jesus referred to this account in John 3:14, 15. He clearly implied that the bronze serpent typified His being raised upon the cross. Our healing both spiritual and physical, comes from looking to the identifying with Christ crucified, "by whose stripes you were healed" (I Peter 2:24) TRUTH-IN-ACTION (NSFB) Growing in Godliness - Building a life characterized by a constantly growing capacity for God is a vital message found in Numbers. Godliness grows as we are intentional in our pursuit of God. From the way we regard the community of God to the way we embrace the truths of redemption, every aspect of godly living is important.