The news continues to be great on my health. The 21 pounds of fluid that moved off has not returned. I am eating anything I want and even did a very high sodium meal a month ago at an Asian restaurant. It's been two months since we returned the oxygen machine. I have built back most of my weight and muscle and my endurance is improved so much I get to shouting and dancing around when I'm out walking on nature trails.
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| © Donna L. Watkins - Laughing Boy and Goat Attilio Piccirilli (1866-1945), Lead, 1936 Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, SC Click for Enlarged Image |
Adjusting to the gradual healing rather than the instant is getting easier since I do see continual improvement. Being an only child I quite often got my own way and I guess I expect that in some way somebody's going to make it happen NOW for me ... and yet I know it's all on me as to when it happens. Jesus often said " If ye have faith, and doubt not" and that makes it my ballgame.
To begin at the beginning of my healing journey, read The Heart of the Matter.
I certainly have faith as we all do because we were given the measure of faith and with Christ in us, we have His faith. BUT! It's the doubt that is the problem. And with long-term diseases, it often takes some time to renew our minds because the diseases become part of who we see ourselves as being. Sadly, most Christians give up if they don't see instantaneous healing. I've certainly considered it many times.
I'm so grateful for energy and that the inflammation from the rheumatoid arthritis has been gone for months now. It's still hard to believe, after 25 years of daily progression of the destruction, that the pain, swelling and inflammation are now gone. I still feel as though I need to hold my breath when I speak of it ... an obvious sign that I had some doubts. I can easily see how the disease becomes part of you. I find myself doing things that I haven't wanted to do for a long time. More kitchen work, cleaning and just changing clothes. When every joint and muscle hurts, you weigh the benefits of whether you're really hot enough to change your shirt, how thoroughly you want to wash your hair, whether you really want that meal that will require using a knife, and on and on and on it goes.
Fortunately when faith outshines the doubt, we bring what's already taken place in the spiritual realm ("by His stripes we WERE healed" - I Peter 2:24) into the physical realm. The mystical part of it is what makes it difficult for most folks since we tend to believe only what we process through our five senses. But God is spirit and relates to us in the spirit realm.
Since I had a friend coming over at 11:15 one day this past week, I had my list of household things to get done before she arrived so we could have our tea party and play a couple of games. Tuesday and Thursdays are my days for household chores, but I like to throw in a bit of play also. It's a great balance for living. I got up at 5:30 and by 10:15 realized I had not sat down or stopped moving since I got up.
I even drank my breakfast smoothie while rebounding. I cleaned the kitchen, did two large loads of laundry, made muffins and tapioca pudding (not with mixes), did almost an hour of gardening, cleaned off the deck and outside furniture, etc. etc. I am continually amazed at what is going on in my body. People here keep telling me it's a miracle, but it's not. It's available to everybody!
Jesus paid the price for our salvation and the word used in Greek is "sozo" meaning making one whole and complete - spiritually, mentally and physically. Look how this word was used in a few New Testament Scriptures:
Salvation
“That if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you shall be saved (sozo).” Romans 10:9
Healing
“But Jesus turning and seeing her said ‘Daughter take courage your faith has made you well (sozo) and at once the woman was made well (sozo).” Matthew 9:22
Deliverance
“And those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well (sozo).” Luke 8:36
So the implication is made that when you are saved, it means you are not only healed "spiritually," but salvation means you are given freedom from the curse of sickness. In the Old Testament sickness and disease were listed always as a curse, never a blessing. And Jesus redeemed us from the curse.
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| © Donna L. Watkins - Timber Wolf Family William Henry Turner (b. 1935), Bronze, 1990 Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, SC Click for Enlarged View |
I found throughout my life that with every new health problem, I would work hard at adapting and "keeping my chin up" and basically allowing the devil to dump disease on me, not having the knowledge of all that Christ had done for me to "live life abundantly." Because so much of the battle is in the mind with our thoughts about ourselves and circumstances, we have to know what God's Word says about things and renew our minds to believe it. Not just with our head ... it needs to be believed at the very center of our hearts.
Anything that is contrary to the Word is an enemy. We must take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). It takes awhile to even realize what we're thinking, but one sure way to notice is to listen to every word you speak, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).
Keeping our minds stayed on God's Word is an obtainable goal. We have to cast out anything that tries to exalt itself above the Word of God (2 Corinthians 10:5). One sure killer for us physically is having a negative attitude and continually feeding ourselves and those around us with negative words. Even if you're a positive-speaking person, you can't allow all the negative, gloom and doom stuff from the media into your mind. You can feed your spirit with an hour of Word a day and negate it all with doubt, fear and unbelief just by listening to hours of news or bad reports.
We must focus on the good in our life each day and there is tons of it if we desire to be grateful for what we have. Recognizing the greatness of God in the sunrise, sunset, a glorious tree, a bird's melodious song, etc. will remind us that we are loved.
If we magnify the Lord, we make Him bigger than our problems. Isaiah 40:12 says, "God has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand." How much ocean can you hold in your palm? God by contrast, can hold all the water in all the oceans. Psalm 147:4 says, "He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them." How detailed is the God that created heaven and earth. How He cares for His Creation. Matthew 10:30 says He knows the very number of hairs on each of our heads.
That's a big God and one who loves us so much He became flesh to take on all of our sin and disease and shame so we could have eternal life. And in case you still believe that eternal life just means you'll live forever in heaven ... that's not what the Bible says. John 17:3 tells us "this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." God wants us to know Him by His wondrous deeds. He's not the Old Testament God. We have a New Covenant. Read The True Nature of God.
Whether it's disease, poverty, depression, grief or anything else that is less than an abundance of life, when we get to know God's true nature, what is true in the spirit realm will manifest in the physical realm. But you have to stand up for the battle. The devil has no power. It was taken from him when Jesus died on the Cross. The only power he now has is what we give to him. In Luke 10:19 Jesus tells us "Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you."
Stand up with righteous indignation and tell the devil who's already won the war. Regain the inheritance you've been given. Come to know Papa God (Abba Father) as He wants to be known.
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