The Cross

“If we want proof of God’s love for us, then we must look first at the Cross where God offered up His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. Calvary is the one objective, absolute, irrefutable proof of God’s love for us.” – Jerry Bridges

The Cross defines Christianity, it symbolizes all that we believe in. Why? Because on it Jesus died so that we wouldn’t have to, and then after that death, He rose to life again. We serve a living God who suffered a painful death on a cross for us. Ever since that defining moment two thousand years ago, Christians across the world and through the ages have meditated upon, written about, and thanked God for the wonder of the cross.

On the cross, Jesus was mostly silent. The excruciating pain He endured would have made it nearly impossible for Him to speak. Any utterance would have used the strength needed to pull himself up by His impaled hands and feet in order to take a breath. Therefore, the words Jesus spoke from the cross are significant. Among the seven expressions attributed to Jesus during His crucifixion, three were prayers to His heavenly Father.

 As the soldiers divided His clothes and cast lots, Jesus cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Unsurprisingly, the first words of Jesus show that He was thinking of others until the end of His life. Even while experiencing the horrible pain of crucifixion, He was praying for the very people who caused His suffering. He came to earth for the purpose of forgiving sinners and He loved them and forgave them up until the end.

Another thing Jesus said on the cross was “…My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:46) This is the most difficult for the average person to get their arms around. The sinless Son of God who had been, from all eternity, in an intimate relationship with His Father, is now spiritually separated from Him.  Some scholars argue that this was the moment when the Son took upon Himself the sins of all humanity, and the Father turned from the presence of sin. Jesus was suffering the pain and separation that we deserve.  Regardless of one’s interpretation, Jesus’ second prayer exemplifies the depth of His suffering on our behalf.

Jesus’ final utterance from the cross is also His third prayer, “…Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” (Luke 23:46). Here, Jesus quotes Psalm 31:5 and announces to all His trust in His heavenly Father to raise Him from the dead. Just a few days later, He did. Jesus had to finish the task the Father had sent Him to earth to accomplish, namely to provide salvation for humankind. By living His entire life without sin, Jesus was able to become the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. The way of salvation had now been made complete. Jesus was the supreme sacrifice that satisfied the righteous demands of a holy God.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What does the cross mean to you?
  2. How do you put the cross in the proper perspective?

The Psalm On The Cross

“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief….Do not stay so far from me,  for trouble is near, and no one else can help me.” – Psalm 22:1-2, 11. 

The Psalms are must reading for the Christian. Psalm after psalm we see the writers just pour their hearts out to the Lord. No matter what their emotions and attitudes were, they approached their God with their concerns. We see psalms of praise glorifying the Lord for who He is and what He has done for His people, but we also see psalms with emotions and attitudes quite different from the psalms of praise; psalms of lament. In these psalms, we see some of the darkest moments of the psalmist’s lives, where they were the most troubled.

Psalm 22: in many ways this is the most amazing of all the psalms. In it, we have a picture of the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus painted by the psalmist David one thousand years before Jesus Christ was born. When Jesus was hanging on the cross in utter physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual torment, what Scripture did He recite? Psalm 22:1. “…My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:46) We see the scene of the crucifixion especially clearly in the words, “My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat. They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing.” (vs. 16–18).

In all probability, you will never hang from a Roman cross while being beaten, tortured, and mocked. And you will never have the weight of the world’s sin on your shoulders. But you will face difficult times and trying circumstances. You will feel and face despair. You will wonder where God went. We need to remember that Jesus experienced what we are experiencing, and more. We need to know our circumstances, as bad as they may be, are not the exception that God hasn’t seen before. We need to know we can, and must, run to God during these times.

The psalmist is in a sorry state (Psalm 22:6-8) and it is prayer for God to intervene (Psalm 22:9-13), with the psalmist admitting he is at the end of his rope. (Psalm 22:14-18) His prayer turns to worship and resting in God’s promises (Psalm 22:22-31). 

Jesus turns to Psalm 22 in His moment of utter agony. It’s a psalm that doesn’t deny the agony. It doesn’t sugarcoat it but instead addresses it head-on.  The good news is that the pain doesn’t win. Pain is part of the journey, but the victory is God’s. There is a power and a love beyond the agony, more powerful than the agony.

We need to see Psalm 22 as a pattern for the church and for the individual Christian. The pattern is this: The real and inescapable problems of life in this fallen world should lead us to prayer. Prayer should lead us to remember and meditate on the promises of God, both those fulfilled in the past and those that we trust will be fulfilled in the future.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Psalm 22 ends remarkably differently than it began. What details in verses 25-31 seem to contrast with the first half of the psalm?
  2. Why do you think the follower of God can experience such extremes of faith and emotion during their life?

I Want To Want What God Wants From Me

“We can see hope in the midst of hopelessness. We can see peace in the midst of chaos. We have a hope that the world does not have. We can see clearly that all things work together for the good of them that love Him and are called according to His purpose.” – Priscilla Shirer

When you stop and reflect back over the past few years, it is easy to be overwhelmed.  That is because the past few years have seemed anything but normal. Think about it, we have moved to online work and online school. Many people are isolated, and facing medical and financial issues. The old normal seems gone. So what does God want us to do in the new normal we find ourselves in? The same thing He wanted from us in the previous normal and every normal before that. 

Sound fairly simple, doesn’t it? But how are we questioning what God truly wants? What is His purpose? What’s the overall plan? What could the omnipotent creator of an entire universe—a creator that can, literally, have anything He wants—possibly desire? You’re not alone in asking this question. King David wondered the same thing in Psalm 8: 3-4, where he puzzles, “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?” If he can ask this eternal and important question, so can we.

To find out what God wants, we can look at what He asks of us. In Mark 12:30-32, Jesus explains God’s two greatest commandments: “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” 

What God wants, when it comes to you, is simple. He just wants you. C.S. Lewis said, “God doesn’t want something from us, He simply wants us.”  He wants a loving relationship with His children. He wants us to take that vertical love for God and make it horizontal by treating our neighbors as ourselves. If you read scripture you quickly come to the conclusion that love is absolutely the foundation of everything God does. 1 John 4:8 says it outright: “But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” He created you so that He might love you, and so that you might love Him.  He wants our love. This is the beating heart of Christianity.

The end goal of the Christian life is to become the person that God wants us to be. God longs to use you because He loves you. He’s not selfish. He doesn’t need your help. He wants to work with you. He wants your life to matter. He wants you to have an eternal reward for the things you do here on earth because He’s a good Father who wants an intimate relationship with His children. He wants your time at work, with friends, at church, driving, resting, relaxing, and having fun to be filled with the fullness of life that comes from doing life with Him.

Discussion Questions:

  1. If someone asked you what God wants from you, how would you answer? 
  2. Does what God wants from us change over time or with changing circumstances? Why or why not? 

The Agony of Gethsemane

” Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” – Matthew 26:36-38.  

Was Jesus’ crucifixion the most agonizing moment of His life? You would think so. Jesus knew what was coming. Death on a cross was death by prolonged torture. The physical frame becoming weaker, the mind becoming delirious… all excruciating pain. And it lasted a long time, maybe hours, sometimes days. Crucifixion was an intentional slow death so the condemned person experienced maximum agony and so those who watched learned never to rebel against the state. But perhaps, for Jesus, what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane was suffering just as great as the crucifixion. That statement would be seen to be irrational, but is it? 

When the Passover meal was eaten Jesus left with His disciples and went to Gethsemane. Jesus needed to pray, to pour out His heart to God, and He took three of the disciples to stay close to Him. In the hour or two that follows, Jesus bares His soul and we see pain beyond imagining (See Matthew 26:36-46).  Jesus told the disciples, “my soul is crushed with grief to the point of death.”

Jesus’ prayer in the Garden is remarkable for its straightforward honesty. “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Matthew 26:39).  When Jesus prays the prayer the second time He seems to know the answer. The words are slightly different. “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” (v. 42). Had Jesus sensed the answer to His prayer was “no?” Matthew records that Jesus prayed the same prayer a third time:”So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again.” (v. 44).

It makes sense that Jesus would ask if He could be released from the appalling suffering of death on the cross. There is deep inner wrestling here. But Jesus was not trying to avoid the will of God, He was ensuring this cup of suffering was the will of God. Certainly, His flesh recoiled from the prospect of dying in agony, and certainly, it was an unimaginable burden to absorb the pain and sin of the world in His body, but the heart of His prayer was always “may your will be done.” He wanted nothing other than what the Father wanted for Him. He had no agenda other than to do the Father’s will.

When Jesus left Gethsemane, the matter was settled. There was no more time for questioning. The agony of the cross was still ahead. Easter was about to come. And the world would never be the same.

Discussion Questions:

  1. By this time in His ministry, Jesus had faced, temptation, and the grilling by Jerusalem’s religious leaders, with total composure, why is this time in prayer so different? 
  2. What does Jesus’ time in the Garden of Gethsemane teach us about His humanity?

An Answer Is Forthcoming

“I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.” – Mark 11:24.

If you are like most Christians, you probably find yourself more consistently confused or failing in prayer than in any other area in the Christian life. Why is that? Talking to the God who chose us, saved us, and sustains us should be the most natural and delightful thing in the world, right? Perhaps it should, but more often than not, it isn’t.

We all know we should pray more, but we often don’t. Perhaps we don’t really understand what prayer is — or we’re prone to forget. Prayer is our fiercest weapon against the enemy and all things in this fallen world.

The power of prayer relies on the assurance that God is listening to you and what’s more wants to answer you. Since prayer is two-way communication between you and God, you will always receive an answer to your prayers. It just may not be the answer you were looking for or even the answer that makes the most sense. Sometimes, we feel like God has not answered. But you will get an answer. It might be yes, no, or not yet, but there will be an answer because unanswered prayer does not exist.

A lot of people think God doesn’t answer prayer because some things don’t go their way. What they don’t realize is that God did answer their prayers He just said no, wait, or we simply weren’t paying attention. One question we need to ask is how well are we listening. The way that God speaks isn’t as mysterious as we may think, we just need to be present and listen. Instead of repeatedly making attempts to be heard, we should be listening to what God has to say. A lot of our prayers that we think go unanswered can simply be attributed to our unwillingness to be silent. After all, how can you hear what someone has to say if they can’t get a word in? If we just listen to God we will be able to hear what He says and find out that He always answers prayers we just weren’t quiet enough to receive the message.

And then we need to be patient. “The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:25–26) When we ask God for something we shouldn’t expect to get it right away; God doesn’t give us what we want right away. He’s not always a same-day delivery God. He wants us to put our faith into practice by trusting that He will do what we asked. A big part of waiting is trusting that something will happen in the near future. By making us wait God is teaching us to trust that He will eventually do what He promised He would.

If God doesn’t give us what we are asking for, we have to remember that He has a good plan and a purpose for everything in our lives and He only wants the very best for us. This is where knowing God’s character and knowing His promises are so important. When we have faith and trust in Him, then we can rest knowing that He hears our prayers, sees our needs and He is faithful to answer according to His will.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you believe that God answers all prayers? Yes or no and why?   
  2. What should our reaction be if God does not answer our prayer in the way we want?
  3. Do you have any lingering doubts/questions about prayer? How can you best get those questions or concerns answered? 

Preparing For Easter

“The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But the good Samaritan reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?” – Martin Luther King Jr.

All over the world, millions of Christians and many thousands of churches are getting ready for Easter weekend. It’s an incredible opportunity for the church to spring into action to invite and welcome people who are far from the heart of God to hear the Gospel. And so as we prepare for one of the busiest weeks for the church, we desperately need the power of God—the same power that raised Jesus from the dead—to be at work in and through us. The resurrection of Jesus was the greatest demonstration of the power of God in all of history and we want people to hear the story, maybe for the first time, on Easter. 

This is why we do everything we do at Northstar. It’s so we can reach one more for Jesus. The typical person that you really want to reach is sitting at home right now totally oblivious to what Jesus has done for them and how much God loves them. To put it more simply, call on people to believe in Jesus, to grow deeper in Him, to find their place in God’s family, to discover their role in ministry, and to live on mission with God telling others the Good News.

Easter is one of two opportunities (Christmas the other) where people will come to church that normally do not attend. This is a witness to the truth that the Easter story has real meaning and continues to capture people’s imagination. It is an opportunity to reach people who are far from the heart of God to hear the gospel preached and let God work in their lives. But, only if we invite them. If studies are correct, then over 80 percent of your friends who are not Christians or do not attend church are at least open to and likely to respond favorably to your invitation to church for Easter. Let me encourage you to push out of your comfort zones and fight through the doubts to invite your neighbors and friends to our Easter services.

Inviting a family member or really close friend is a little different, You and these people know each other well. You know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. You know their tendencies, talents, dreams, and motivations. You have shared the good and bad times with each other. These people can tell if you are being yourself or not so when you invite them to do so from your heart. Show them you genuinely care for them and you simply desire for them to experience something that is important to you and will be beneficial for them. An in-person invite is best for someone closer but if that isn’t an option a phone call or personal touch lets them know you’re serious about the invitation.

Remember that this is God’s story, not our story. We get to play a small part by simply inviting someone to come to church. Most of the time, we have no idea what God’s doing in people’s hearts. All we need to do is love that person enough to get through a potentially uncomfortable conversation. A personal invitation to church is one of the most effective ways of reaching the lost. We are all called to be the church, and the church is called to be on mission with God. It is the church’s responsibility to reach the lost and the hurting. Easter is an amazing opportunity to do just that. Remember that 100 percent of the people you don’t invite will not attend. God can use your invitation to radically transform a life.

 

Discussion Questions:

  1. Ready to take the plunge and invite someone?  But what if they say no, what if they punch you in the face, what if they ridicule you to others, what if inviting them hurts your friendship, what if… How do we overcome the what if’s?

Are You A Bundle Of Energy?

“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.” – Deuteronomy 6:5

Deuteronomy 6:5 is the “all-command,” because of the three-fold “all” — “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.” (ESV). There is no room here for divided affections or allegiance. As Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). Throughout the Bible, this command is continually held up as the pinnacle of what the Christian life is to be centered around (along with loving our neighbors as ourselves). Jesus confirmed this in the Gospels when He answered the questioning of the scribes in Mark 12:30: “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”

Loving God with our hearts and minds seems very practical and easy to understand. Loving usually has to do with matters of the heart and we all know that our minds must be continually reigned in if we are to align our thoughts and actions with His. But what does it mean to love the Lord with all of our strength or might?

When the question of strength comes up, the World’s Strongest man competition comes to mind. The World’s Strongest Man competition is about more than just force: it is about stamina, skill, tactics, training, and strategy. Every event is designed to push the strongmen to their absolute limits, challenging not only their physical strength but their agility and mental toughness too. One impressive event is the vehicle pull where vehicles such as trucks, boxcars, buses, and planes are pulled across a 100 ft course, by hand, in the quickest time possible. For us ordinary people, pulling a medium-sized dog out the door when it is raining is just about our limit.  

But what about everyday life: To love God with all our strength means loving God with all of our energy. God has given all of us certain talents and abilities. You see, to love God with all of our energy, with all of our abilities, and with all of our spiritual gifts, means serving the Lord in whatever way we can. It means that when we’re using all that energy to do our very best at our job or in our studies, we’re pleasing God. Philippians 2:13 (MSG) says, “That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.” Psalm 68: 28-35 expands on the reality that energy, power, and strength come from God. This psalm ends on a note of confidence as David proclaims that “…the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!” (v.35). David prays, ‘Summon your might, O God. Display your power, O God, as you have in the past.” (v.28). David knows from his own experience that God’s power is more than enough for all his needs.

Will you choose to love God with all your strength, all your energy, and all of your being? Start today by thanking God for your specific talents and abilities, and asking how we can use them to glorify Him.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How would you rate your level of spiritual energy today? 
  2. What can we do this week to increase our level of spiritual energy? 

Does God Really Want To Heal You?

“And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” –  Acts 10:38.   

God is our healer. If you don’t believe that because of your experiences or the experiences of others, then believe it because the New Testament teaches that the Spirit gives this gift (and others) to the church: “The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing.” (1 Corinthians 12:9)  

We learn many things about Jesus, His nature, and power as we read through the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Throughout the gospel stories, we see Jesus healing the sick. He had compassion for the afflicted, those tormented by sickness and evil spirits, and He would heal and deliver them. These repeated stories from the Gospels leave us with an undeniable truth, that God in Heaven  is a God of compassion whose ultimate desire is to alleviate all pain and suffering on earth when Jesus returns. 

When God heals, it is always intended to glorify Jesus Christ and point us to believe in His gospel. None of us has authority to heal a body, only the Creator does: “…and why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness? For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this… (Acts 3:12–13). That’s why we always pray in Jesus’s name. 

God obviously doesn’t answer every prayer for healing. The ultimate reason is that He is God and knows best. He distributes this gift according to His will (Hebrews 2:4). God uses illnesses and afflictions to build our faith, cultivate our humility, experience His strong, sufficient grace, and heighten our joy. 

Do we have the boldness to ask Him in faith for the gift of healing? Or do we avoid seeking this gift because we don’t believe God will answer and we don’t want to look powerless?

We should pray for healing. The Bible provides a few models but no formulas. Basically, ask God. It’s the prayer of faith that heals the sick: “And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.” (James 5:15). 

When God touches you in healing, don’t forget to thank Him. “Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High.” Psalm 50:14) And don’t forget to thank those who helped you when you were in need – those who prayed for you, supported you, or provided material or practical help.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you believe that God is in the healing business and wants to heal you? Why or why not? 
  2. If you feel like God is not answering your prayer for healing, take a few moments to reflect on where He is providing for you in ways you have not expected.

 

 

 

God’s Purpose For Us

“Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope…You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense.” – Rick Warren.

Living a life without purpose can be incredibly frustrating. You’re talking to your next-door neighbor or to a person in your small group and you realize that the person you are talking to is living a passionate, engaged, meaningful life. You see it in their relationships, in their jobs, and their sense of direction that compels them to hop out of bed each morning with a spring in their step while you keep hitting the snooze button. 

The Bible is chock full of passages about living a life filled with joy. The Bible does not promise you that every single day you will be given the key to the city. It does mean that an overall sense of joy should permeate your life regardless of your present circumstances.  Psalm 138:8 (ESV) says: “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” 

Jesus is the perfect example of purpose. In Mark 1, Jesus begins His ministry; He casts out an evil spirit (Mark 1:21-28), healed Simon’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:30-31), and many people who were sick with various diseases (Mark 1:34). The Bible then tells us that “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.” So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons.” (Mark 1:35-39)

Jesus was the talk of the town. Everyone wanted His miraculous touch. But Jesus, having spent the morning in prayer, tells the people looking for Him it was time to move on to the next town because preaching the gospel was why He came out. Healing people was a good thing. However, the priority of Jesus was to preach the gospel and He needed to go where the people were. We see this throughout the Gospels. Whenever His presence in a town was dominated by His miracles, Jesus would move on to the next town so He could get back to His purpose. I’m sure some people were disappointed He did not stay longer and heal more people, but Jesus was focused on the work of His Father.

We get a glimpse of the all-encompassing purpose of God in these verses: “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we … might be for the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:11-12 NIV)

Each one of us should periodically pause and evaluate what we are doing and why. Work. Personal goals. Church responsibilities. All of those are good things, but do they conflict with our God-given purpose. We need to have the strength to say no to anything that does not align with our God-given purpose and priorities.

 

Discussion Questions:

  1. How is it possible to know what God is trying to do in you?
  2. What can we do this week to get in step with what God is trying to do in our lives?

Jehovah-Rapha: The God Who Heals.

”He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.” – Exodus 15:26.  

You can learn a lot from a name, and that’s especially true of God. Throughout the Bible, God presents himself with different names. The name Jehovah is used some 6,800 times in the Bible. Not only does it speak of God’s strength, but also it speaks of the sovereignty of God and the goodness of God. Each name reveals something important about God. One of the names of God is Jehovah-Rapha, “the Lord who heals.”

Does Jesus heal? The answer is yes. God heals broken bodies, broken minds, broken hearts, broken lives, and broken relationships. His very presence has immense healing powers. He can heal instantaneously by a miracle. He can heal over time through medicine.

The Israelites had been living in slavery in Egypt for generations. They cried out to God, and He miraculously led them out of slavery. They were on their journey out of servitude in Egypt and into the Promised Land when they become thirsty. They turned to God, complaining that He was not taking care of them. Moses turned to God and cried out for help. God intervened and instructed Moses to take a piece of wood and throw it into the water. Immediately, the water became clean, sweet, and refreshing. God then speaks to the Israelites, but he seems to change the subject. He talks about the diseases the Egyptians had suffered, and how the Israelites can avoid those conditions. God tells the people that He can heal them, but they need to obey.

We need to know this God can heal anything for which we need healing. Maybe you’re struggling with physical pain, emotional, or relational pain. God can heal that. Throughout the Bible, we read about people in dire circumstances. But no matter what the instance, Jehovah-Rapha heals and restores them.

In our own lives, we can call upon the healing name of God in prayer. This can help remind us about how God has healed people in the past, and He will come to our aid. Nevertheless, we do need to remind ourselves that although God heals, He may heal us in an unexpected way. “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.” (Psalm 103:1-3)

Discussion Questions

  1. How can God use your life to showcase His life, love, and healing to the world around you? 
  2. How do your life and lips declare that He is Jehovah Rapha?