Work Out From the Bible

I was speaking with a family member today. An ongoing struggle with health has invaded the household. It has at times been life threatening. I, for one, do not take health issues lightly. Satan is a formidable foe, defeated to be sure, but certainly formidable. I thought I might share at-large what I said to this family member.

Remember to work out from the Bible. Jesus said, "It is finished." (John 19:30) And Peter says in his epistle, "By His stripes we were healed." (1 Pet. 2:24) Paul tells the Romans, "Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." (Rom. 12:2) Combining all these thoughts into one, I said, "Work out from the Bible." Too often we try to work into the Bible, and we find it quite hard to reconcile what we feel, how we hurt, to what the Bible says. That is not transforming ourselves, but trying to transform God and his Word to how we feel now.

We can't say, "I believe I will be healed." Or some such. That puts the issue into the future, and the future never comes. It is always today, never tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes. But if we reach back to what has been said, what has been done, then we can move forward from that position. God says I am healed, then I am healed. Good starting position for transformation.

The Bible says, "By his stripes we were healed." If I was, then I am. If God's word is stronger than anything else, then we are proceeding from the strong, making the weak to bow down. My body may take awhile transforming to God's word, but the promise is that it will eventually.

Psychiatry believes this. It tell us we are a result of our past experiences. For instance, you constantly hear, "You'll never amount to anything." Eventually, you start believing it, and you suffer from that past designation. Well, a past experience is that Jesus bore our sins and sicknesses on the cross, and we are healed (see Isaiah 53). OK, then we begin to say what we have heard, we act out what we have heard. Guess what? Slowly, but surely, it begins to happen.

Now, you may not believe this. That is fine. But before you say it isn't true, you need to know that twice I have been healed from a life situation that the doctors insisted would result in my death. To their surprise, I have now lived more than 20 years longer from their diagnosis of the first disease, more than 15 years longer than their second diagnosis.

If you are willing to do it God's way, it will work. Don't grow weary in well-doing! God is always true to his Word.

"Thanks be unto God who always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus!" (2 Cor. 2:14)

A great, thriller of a book: Rare Earth

Here's another new book by my favorite author Davis Bunn. Rare Earth is a great book. Read my review below, then answer one of the questions that follows for a chance to win your own copy of the book. Answer both questions for two chances to win.


And NOW my review:

Davis Bunn is a master storyteller. But the story is not the same every time. He manages to create new plots and new progressive story lines with every book. That is why I keep coming back to his novels. It is folly to think you know how a book will go just because it is a Davis Bunn book. On the contrary, he delights in change and newness. Refreshing! Rare Earth will not disappoint the reader. The second book in his Marc Royce Series, Rare Earth is a stand-alone book. Only the main character, Marc Royce, is the same. Everything else changes­—everything! Drop all pre-conceived ideas and notions about this book, and prepare for a fast-paced, hair-raising, all-consuming novel.

Once again, on short notice, Marc Royce is thrown into an impossible situation that will affect whole people groups, nations and individual lives. Kenya is about to be changed from an idyllic, peace-loving country with unimaginably beautiful vistas to polluted water supplies and money-grabbing fortune seekers. Marc enters the country not knowing his enemies from his friends, and his enemies are the deadliest foes one can imagine. He has to make his friends one by one. In less than five days, he totally changes a starving, dying refugee camp into an orderly operation full of hope. But in the process, he accrues great wrath and uncovers a sinister plot to destroy all of Kenya in the name of wealth. Marc is a man of quick understanding, powerful ideas, and great physical, mental, and spiritual strength; and he needs it all to survive and to stop a heinous crime from taking place. Of course, he succeeds. But not anything like you would imagine. More twists and turns than a mountain road, this book will hold you spellbound till the very last word. Enjoy Rare Earth!

I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from Bethany House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Now answer one question for a chance to win your own copy of the book, answer two for two chances. (Be sure to include your email address to be notified, if you win):

1.  If you could serve as a missionary in another country, where would you go?

2.  If you were a secret agent, what two things would you keep on your person at all times?

To view a book trailer of Rare Earth: www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_WbtTeaubI

To read the first three chapters free: http://www.scribd.com/doc/92010687/Rare-Earth-by-Davis-Bunn-Sample-Chapters-1-3