LifeLift

A strange bit of theology in this talk…

We often “PUNT” the promises of God to the future.

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Go back to the Bible, though, and they thought— most of them— that the promises of God were only for NOW— not later.

In fact, in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul had to go out of his way to remind the early church that they had hope in the afterlife as well as the present (they had the opposite problem we do— they thought faith only “worked” for now— not then).

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The writer of Hebrews says the New Covenant is far superior to the Old (8:6).

So if…

⭐️ the blessings and benefits of the Old were for “now”

⭐️ their experience of God was for “now”

⭐️ things changed “now”

… then it also makes sense that they early church was on to something…

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God’s goodness works for LATER (after you die) as well as NOW (while we’re here).

That’s the subject to this talk…

A lot of people worry and press and push on to please God.

But what if all the working and striving and staining can’t do it, because it’s already done?

What if God ALREADY accepts you?

And what if “awakening” to that reality has the power to change everything…?

In the ancient world, people worshiped gods to keep them appeased. They offered sacrifice so something bad wouldn’t happen…

… or to amend and right a wrong that had happened.

(Surely, the gods were angry?).

🤷‍♂️

The Bible presents something radical.

Come to God for what you GAIN— not just for the punishment and penalties you push off…

(For sure, a lot of preachers preach more like the ancient prophets of other religions than masters of grace in the tradition of the great Jewish Rabbi.)

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Bottom line: don’t forget the benefits.

There are (at least) seven of them…

Sins, mistakes, blunders, mishaps, nonsense, chaos… and every other bad thing… all overflow from the inside-out. It’s who we were…

But, we’ve been re-made, re-created into the image of something better.

And that shift means that who we are now is BETTER than anything we do. Even the low points.

In fact, you’re far more valuable than your lowest lows AND even your highest highs. Your worth has already been determined, set, and sealed…

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A lot of people are afraid of judgment…

… and, at first glance, we have reason to be (it seems).

However, God looks at us differently than we imagine.

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In the Bible, He always looked to the perfection of the sacrifice, not the perfection of the sacrificer…

… that is, grace (by its very nature) kicks in at the moment we realize that we can’t / don’t measure up and need help.

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Judgment already happened.

And it occurred 2,000 years ago.

And you weren’t the one being judged.

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The Bible uses a seemingly odd word to talk about our freedom: redemption. 

It's a word that refers to the slave markets of the ancient world. It denoted people the price paid for a person to be set free.

But to understand it, we've got to go way back to the story of Exodus as well, because that's the first (and second) time we see the word used in Scripture...

... and the PLACE we find it reveals much about just how radical the redemption we have truly is.... 

If you need a miracle, and it’s not coming, I want to encourage you to shift your thinking and— just maybe— see something “new” in this talk.

30 times we see “healing” in the New Testament, it refers to a supernatural in-breaking of Heaven.

40 times it doesn’t.

Well, it doesn’t AND it does…

There are two different concepts presented throughout the Bible, both working TOGETHER and not separately. And, when we see how they fit, what they do, and what it all means practically…

Well, listen in.

Because whether or not the miracle comes, you can begin walking healing today. Even supernaturally so.

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Links for this talk

Take the free mini-course on healing = www.Jenkins.tv/FGH 

Claim your book = just $7 = www.Jenkins.tv/THW70 

Note the course is available at www.Jenkins.tv/THW 

Some people believe that if you don’t have enough faith, the miracle won’t— it can’t— come. They teach that, if you think about it, faith is the strongest force in the universe— even mightier than God Himself.

“That’s why you’re not healed,” they proclaim (often with an annoying degree of confidence)— “you don’t have enough faith.”

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Here are two problems with that line of thinking…

👉 First, it places an emotional and spiritual burden on the person NEEDING the healing that Jesus never put on them.

👉Second, when we look in the Bible we see that not only was faith NOT a requirement for healing, sometimes people didn’t have any faith at all… and, other times, they “borrowed” a friend’s faith they didn’t even know they were drafting upon… and, there are times when Jesus just showed up and healed people who didn’t even know how He was.

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Needing a miracle but think you struck out because of your low faith quotient…?

Listen in…

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Links for this talk

Take the free mini-course on healing = www.Jenkins.tv/FGH 

Claim your book = just $7 = www.Jenkins.tv/THW70 

Note the course is available at www.Jenkins.tv/THW 

Many times we don’t know why we’re sick, injured, or ill…

… and it’s easy to blame God.

When we do, we actually place things on Him that we don’t see attributable to Him from the Bible.

It makes sense that we do this— on one hand. Quite simply, when we’re facing something difficult we want (we NEED) answers.

But…

If God causes people to be sick… then why go to the doctor to change it?

Or if he brings illness to “teach us a lesson,” then why not just endure the lesson?

Or if it’s His will for us to be sick, why pray against it?

A better way…

… not easier, but maybe better…

… is to just lean in and see what the Scripture actually says about it… and then start building a mental framework from there.

As we move into a new (short) series of talks on physical healing, that’s where we begin— getting our thinking right about whether or not God caused this calamity in the first place.

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Links for this talk

Take the free mini-course on healing = www.Jenkins.tv/FGH 

Claim your book = just $7 = www.Jenkins.tv/THW70 

Note the course is available at www.Jenkins.tv/THW 

Somebody asked me a few weeks ago, “Why do you teach natural health?”

And, “Why teach practical stuff alongside the spiritual…?”

🤷‍♂️

By that, they meant something like this: “You teach grace and healing… why do we need natural health if we have supernatural power available to us?”

It’s a great question. 

The sarcastic reply would be, “Why do you need doctors and Western medicine if we have supernatural power available? Whereas ‘church people’ seem hesitant to venture into the natural health waters for fear that they’ll contract ‘new age’ demons, few of them give a second thought about rushing to the doc in the box, big pharma, or invasive surgeries…”

Why do you need THAT if you have supernatural power?

The honest reply, though, the sincere one that penetrates the heart… and loves deeply… and is THE RIGHT answer (I believe) is multifaceted:

👉 First, we have far more control over our health than we’ve been taught. We’re not victims of the genome- as if some of us got a good shake at the DNA-lottery and others of us didn’t. Science is showing, more and more, that we have far more power than we thought.

👉 Second, Jesus taught- and empowered His disciples- with natural health info. In other words, natural health isn’t a new idea; it’s been around a long, long time. 

👉 Third, according to the New Testament, natural health is as much a part of what Jesus came to do as supernatural healing.

I know. That last one sounds odd. And I’ll have to back it up…

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You see, every day we have the power to “choose life.” With our words. In our finances. In our relationships. In how we respond to various situations. And in our health… 

We see two different words for healing in the New Testament, predominantly…

Understanding why different are words used is important as we begin a healing ministry- or even as we seek healing.

👉 Iaomai- means “miraculous” and “instantaneous” healing. This is how we most often envision Jesus healing, though this word only appears 30 times in the New Testament. (See examples in Matthew 8:13, Mark 5:29, Luke 8:47, John 12:40.)

👉 Therapeuo- means “to serve, to attend to, or to wait upon menially” and “to heal gradually over time with care.” This word appears 40 times in the Bible- a bit more than the instant cures we usually associate with miracles. (Matthew 4:23-24, Mark 1:34, Mark 6:13, Luke 5:15, Acts 5:16, Acts 8:7, Revelation 22:2.)

And…

… these work for emotional wholeness as well as physical health.

Listen in…

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Important links

💜 The “best of” Soul Wholeness audio course = FREE at www.Jenkins.tv/best 

💜 The free PTSD self-check = www.Jenkins.tv/PTSD 

💜 Free Soul Wholeness paperback = http://www.Jenkins.tv/FSW 

💜 The Soul Wholeness video course = www.Jenkins.tv/SWV