Have you heard that line, “If you want to teach a dog or a kid, you’ve got to say it over and over.” I just made that up. But it’s true. Whatever it is you want ’em to learn; if you say it enough, if you demonstrate it enough, it will finally soak in. You create those neural links in their heads and their bodies. You can bet on it. I think God had that same policy in mind when He dictated the Bible to the writers. One subject I’ve noticed lately (over and over) is about HEARING AND DOING. I don’t know how many times my momma said it, but I finally got it, “YOU’VE GOT TO DO WHAT I SAY!” (whether you like it or not; if you want to live long and do good.)
Jesus said it almost that loud and that strong in Matthew 7:24-26, when He said, “If you hear My words and do what I say, I’ll think you’re a wise man . . . but if you hear My words and you don’t do them, you’re a fool. . .” (my paraphrase). And in James 1:22, God says, through James, “Be a DOER of the Word, and not just a hearer; deceiving yourselves.” If we don’t do what Jesus says, we’re fools, and we’re lying to ourselves. In Luke 11:27-28, a woman said, “Blessed is the woman who gave birth to you . . .” and Jesus said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep (guard, defend) it.”
And it’s not just about “don’t do this and don’t do that”. It’s about what you DO as a positive act, an act of your will. It’s like in John 5:24, He says, “If you pay attention (heed, do) what I say, and trust Him who sent Me, you have eternal life.” Trusting in God is not easy; but it’s the only thing that works in this life. You have to DO IT as an act of your will. Over and over, until it starts to feel easy (or at least easier.) That’s the only way you’re ever going to have the peace that passes understanding is when you trust Jesus as an act of your will.
That’s what He’s talking about when He says, “If you follow God’s commands, you will live!” See Luke 10:28.
The question for today is: Can a believer in Jesus trust God for the healing (inside or outside) of another person? The answer (or at least one answer) is found in Mark 2:1-12, where it tells the story of four men who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus to be healed. When they got to His house, they couldn’t even get in the door, so they went up on the roof, cut a hole, and lowered the guy down into the room, right beside Jesus. Then verse 5 says, “Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ ” When the Pharisees condemned Him for forgiving sins, denying His authority, He said, “I’ll prove that I have the authority to forgive sins.” He turned to the man and said, “Stand up, get your mat and go home.” Miraculous healing.
In John 8:3-9 is this story: “Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught[b] in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” . . . He said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” . . . Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. . . . ” He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
Discipline is one of the ‘fruits of the Spirit’, as in Galatians 5:22-23. But there it’s called ‘self-control.’ Discipline (as in self-control) is extolled as a virtue, almost without equal. If you can be self-disciplined, then you can achieve almost any goal known to man. Wars are won by armies who have the most self-disciplined soldiers, from top to bottom. Their officers not only give good orders, but their troops respond well to orders, and they always fulfill their orders. Of such are great men and great events made.
Isaiah 40:31 says, “They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength . . .” I call it the “Old People’s Prayer’. A verse or two before it says, “even the young men will grow weary and fall, but those that wait on the Lord . . .” (the old people like me).
Romans 12:1 says, “I beg you, brothers and sisters, to present you bodies as a living sacrifice ….”
In Luke 4:14-21; Luke says, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ [Isaiah 61:1-2] Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’ ”
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