Breaking Through Barriers To BlessingНамуна
We have established that sins must be repented of, wounds must be healed and demons must be expelled. The correct remedy must fit the particular problem. Misdiagnosis will likely result in mistreatment.
In most of our lives, there has been a mixture of all three of these fields. However, these three distinctions are helpful in clarifying exactly where our real problems lie. For example, many people have been trying to unsuccessfully repent for a sin without realising that it has actually been a coping mechanism for some underlying pain or emotional wound. As we have discussed, repentance is non-negotiable - it needs to happen for the freedom to come - but without healing for underlying hurts, the chances of complete moral victory are very slim indeed.
God’s Word searches us completely, scanning us in order that the Great Physician should diagnose our condition. God is able to distinguish sins of the flesh from wounds of the heart. With surgical precision, the divine scalpel of God’s Spirit can pinpoint exactly where our problems lie. We need to know what sins need to be repented of and what the wounds are that need healing. This discernment is vital.
Is your thought life troubling you? Are you exhibiting emotional distress? Are there behavioral patterns that are getting out of your control? All these are indicative of the fact that something buried deep within you is broken. Proverbs 18:14 states that if our inner part is injured, the whole person will struggle: ‘The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit?’.
The good news of Jesus Christ is that on the cross He not only bore our sins, but He also bore our brokenness and our sorrows. The wounds that Jesus our Savior bore on the cross have the power to heal our wounds and human brokenness.
It’s impossible for any of us to pass through this life without incurring wounds. We all have them, the question is: what do we do with them? Do we deny they exist? Do we ignore them, hoping they will disappear, only to find them raising their grotesque head later in life? Do we try to stupefy them with some thrill or addiction? Or do we bring them to the only One who can truly help us in our human brokenness - Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race?
About this Plan
Has there been some unidentified hindrance in your Christian life? Do you often ask the question ‘why me?’ when things go wrong on a personal level, or ‘why not me?’ when you feel God’s blessings are eluding you? David Legge helps you unravel the things that may be holding you back from receiving God's blessings.
More