Christian Fellowship Community Group
A safe place for Christians who Love Jesus Christ to meet and ask for prayer and share scriptures from the bible. We value the posting of Christian music, poems, stories and also personal testimonies. Please let us know your needs, concerns and have some fun getting to know each other. We treat each other with respect.
I would like to share with you the "Our Father" from Matthew chapter 6. When reading this keep in mind it is in pretense to the finished work of the cross.
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Now I would like to write this a little differently since the finished work of Jesus has been completed and fulfilled in us.
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom has come, Thy will is done in earth, as it is in heaven. Thank you for our daily bread. And we know you have forgiven us our debts, as we share the gospel of forgiveness in Christ to our debtors. And you have not led us into temptation, but you have delivered us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
I know that when I have read this passage in the past, I saw it as things to come in my future. We must understand that this is simply not the case because we are on the other side of the finished work of the resurrection of Jesus!. So the kingdom of God dwells within the sons and daughters of God. His will can be done in the Earth as it is in heaven, the same way Jesus demonstrated His will when He was in the Earth. Is there sickness and disease in heaven? Is there poverty, jealousy, depression or strife. We have our daily bread in Christ, and have been forgiven for God remembers our sin no more because He saw the penalty laid upon Jesus and it was enough! The love of God in it's fullest capacity is the quickening of a man's spirit from death to life, by which we establish fellowship with God through Christ and receive the inheritance given by our Father. For the sons and daughters of God these remain, faith, hope and love. Jesus demonstrated the love of God by doing the works of God, healing the sick and many other miracles that the unbeliever would see the love of God and receive the divine nature that we would receive once Christ was resurrected! HE HAS RISEN! There is still a great need for the children of God to walk in this love! Not just in word or tongue, but with a demonstration of God's spirit and power that abides in the children of God. Is this not what was preached in the beginning?
Irish
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Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light. John 12:36, NIV
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According to His riches in glory refers to a biblical promise found in Philippians 4:19, which states that God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. This verse emphasizes God's provision and generosity towards believers.
He thinks miracles and healing power still exist today. A few points he makes are
1. "I don’t believe that if we just have the right amount and kind of faith, or the right understanding of how miracles work, or something along those lines, we can do miracles every time.
2. Healing of the sick is one sign of the kingdom, a proclamation that it is breaking into this present age, and God does sovereignly intend in certain situations to heal people as such a proclamation. But not everyone is healed."
3. "We can only know whether our calling is to be channels of miraculous healing of the sick if we have previously cultivated the ability to hear God’s voice and discern God’s intentions on a day-to-day basis."
https://goodquestionblog.com/2014/06/17/should-we-try-to-heal-people-today-the-way-the-apostles-did/
[Author: Christopher R Smith
The Rev. Dr. Christopher R. Smith is an an ordained minister, a writer, and a biblical scholar. He was active in parish and student ministry for twenty-five years. He was a consulting editor to the International Bible Society (now Biblica) for The Books of the Bible, an edition of the New International Version (NIV) that presents the biblical books according to their natural literary outlines He has a B.A. from Harvard in English and American Literature and Language, a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Gordon-Conwell, and a Ph.D. in the History of Christian Life and Thought, with a minor concentration in Bible, from Boston College, in the joint program with Andover Newton Theological School].
I wouldn't mind being healed supernaturally from all my present illnesses but I don't know it will happen in my case, not that I don't think God can do it. I know my present stressful circumstances don't help and make things worse for me healthwise. I can't say whether miraculous healing could happen for me if I were to be in a legitimate "healing power" church's setting or if a small group of believers with the gift of healing lay hand on me because I never had a chance to be in those circumstances. It would not be a big surprise if I fall in the category of "not everyone is healed." I don't enjoy my health problems but look at them as natural tears and wears of my physical conditions.
I don't think this is the best place to discuss this subject. I will send you a private message to explain why. Hope you are doing well and have a nice weekend.
I think now, in our secular society, healing is not something that appeals to most people. You might think the opposite, but put it this way. Why did God sent Jesus? To save us from our sins. Jesus very name means he shall save his people!
"She will give birth to a son and you will name him[q] Jesus,[r] because he will save his people from their sins.”" Matt 1:21.
Too many people look at Isa, 53:5d and say it says "God heals us as part of our salvation!" No, it doesn't really say that. In fact, if you read the whole book of Isaiah, ,you will find that Isaiah is speaking to Israel about their sins. They are sin sick!
"Beware sinful nation,
the people weighed down by evil deeds.
They are offspring who do wrong,
children who do wicked things.
They have abandoned the Lord,
and rejected the Holy One of Israel.
They are alienated from him.
5 Why do you insist on being battered?
Why do you continue to rebel?
Your head has a massive wound,
your whole heart is sick.
6 From the soles of your feet to your head,
there is no spot that is unharmed.
There are only bruises, cuts,
and open wounds.
They have not been cleansed or bandaged,
nor have they been treated with olive oil.
7 Your land is devastated,
your cities burned with fire.
Right before your eyes your crops
are being destroyed by foreign invaders.
They leave behind devastation and destruction.
8 Daughter Zion is left isolated,
like a hut in a vineyard,
or a shelter in a cucumber field;
she is a besieged city.
9 If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not left us a few survivors,
we would have quickly been like Sodom,
we would have become like Gomorrah.
10 Listen to the Lord’s message,
you leaders of Sodom!
Pay attention to our God’s rebuke,
people of Gomorrah!" Isa. 1:4-10
This passage is from chapter 1 of Isaiah. He lays out what the book is about. It is about how sinful Israel is. There is mention of physical healing, but it is obviously metaphorical. "your whole heart is sick." Plus, the whole body is harmed! This is the result of sin, and what it does to our hearts and souls. It destroys us. So, later in the book, when Isaiah says, "By his stripes we are healed," he is talking about he paid the price for our sins. We are healed of sin sickness.
There simply is no guarantee of healing. The guarantee is for salvation or being healed of our sickness. This healing is only mentioned in Isa. 53, and really no where else in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, healing is only mentioned in terms of JESUS himself healing the people to fulfill the prophecies.
I am going to ask that people not post about healing of sickness anymore. It is very hurtful to those that have no been healed. I am personally very comfortable knowing God is not going to heal me of my many painful and debilitating illnesses. I am able to reach more people with the gospel because I can relate to their pain, than I would ever be able to reach if God had healed me.
When I first got sick with Rheumatoid Arthritis, I had two of Job's friends. They told me I didn't have enough faith to be healed. I had been a Christian for 20 years, and I was very close to God. So, did I get healed as a result of their condemnation? (See Romans 8:1) In fact, I was so hurt at that point, that I turned away from God for 2 years. I was hurt and angry. God did restore me totally, through reading the Psalms, And learning to trust him. I ended up in seminary, and got my MDiv, including Biblical languages, and I am now working on a PhD in theology. God has led me on this journey.
Do you know what happened to the 2 friends who discouraged me? One got breast cancer, named it and claimed healing. She refused treatment and died a year later. The other person got an enlarged prostate and almost died. A friend who didn't believe in healing stopped at his house, found him unconscious on the floor, and had an ambulance rush him to the hospital, where he was operated on. He now says, "God made doctors for us."
At any rate, I will be removing posts about healing. Too many people at DS are sick. They come here for help, and get healing shoved in their faces, which they may have believed God for healing, but like the majority, did not get healed.
I'm not sure where you're getting these thoughts. If they're just coming to you or if they're coming from someone else. But there are some things wrong with the paraphrase that you made.
You said: "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom has come, Thy will is done in earth, as it is in heaven. Thank you for our daily bread. And we know you have forgiven us our debts, as we share the gospel of forgiveness in Christ to our debtors. And you have not led us into temptation, but you have delivered us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."
However, God's will is not being done on Earth as it is in heaven. There are many things being done on Earth that if people were obedient to God would never be done.
And also, God does not forgive us as we share the gospel . God forgives us as we forgive others. There's a difference between those two things.
Please be careful when you decide to paraphrase the Bible to make sure that your paraphrase is true to the actual meaning.
Christ's work of salvation may have been finished on the cross, but many Christians are far from finished developing, additionally God is still waiting for some people who are going to repent to actually repent, so not everything is done yet.
(EDIT: To everyone,)
In case anyone is interested, there are many instances of physical healing in the Bible, in both old and new testaments, facilitated by a variety of people, but always by the power of God. If you look at the individual instances they usually fall into one of two categories. One would be expressions of compassion. Many times in the New Testament we are told that Jesus had compassion on the multitudes. Other times, like with Naâman and with the paralytic whose friends lowered him through the roof in front of Jesus we are told it was to show the power of God. Often both things are accomplished.
So, why does God heal some people and not others? I don't know. That's above my pay grade, so to speak. But we do know from the Bible that pain and suffering are not always the result of sin and that God does love all of us. One day perhaps we'll understand better. I don't want to go as far as saying that our health isn't important to God, because it is, but please remember in the Bible Jesus says that in this world we will have tribulation (trouble, trials). And, also remember that when Jesus healed the woman who had been to every doctor she could afford and 15 years later was still suffering, He did not rebuke her for seeing the doctors.
And yes, spiritual healing is far more important and free for the asking.
BUT: I didn't actually say that God's will is never done on earth. I hope you are not trying to create a "straw man" by misrepresenting my statement, but I thought I was clear and am fairly surprised that anyone would've misunderstood.
What I actually said was: " However, God's will is not being done on Earth as it is in heaven." The issue is not that God's will is never done on earth, the issue is that God's will is not done on earth the same way ( in the same manner, to the same degree) that it is done in heaven. There is no sin in heaven, so God's will is done there completely and without exception. And, that is NOT the way in which God's will is being done on Earth (what with all the sin and rebellion, God's will is only done sometimes on Earth. And then not always wholeheartedly.)
In response to your question about whether God rejoices when a person receives Christ, I'm sure He probably does (though the only Bible verse I remember about this right now has to do with angels rejoicing when a sinner repents) but God's will is still not done on earth "as it is in heaven".
I'm glad to hear that you've seen the power of God in your life and that your second daughter was healthy., Truly.. As far as the doctors go, my comments at that point were meant to be for everyone (I'll edit to make that clear) not specific to something you said, but other posters seemed to think healing was related somehow to what you'd posted when the Bible allows room for both.
I stand by my comments about your paraphrase. I wish you'd reconsider it. Paraphrasing can be a valuable aid to application, but if it takes you somewhere the original wouldn't have gone then that's not good.
Peace and blessings.