Healing Rays of Righteousness

Having Confidence in God

Many persons have memorized Psalm 23 and love to quote its beautiful and comforting words in times of serious illness, loss, and grief.  To me these verses mean much more.  They are a declaration of my Christian faith and confidence in God.   And I pray that all who love the beauty and comfort of these verses would, like me, also love to quote them as a declaration of their Christian faith and confidence in God.

The last verse declares, “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”  The word “surely” is a strong word of confidence, faith, trust, conviction and certainty.

In every sphere of life, confidence is a primary factor that can make the difference between victory and defeat.   That’s why the Hebrew writer, after giving us reason to persevere in faith, urges us with strong admonition, “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.” (Hebrews 10:35).

A few verses later he explains how our hope and faith are closely related; “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”  (Hebrews 11:1).

More than any other people, Christians should go through life with confidence.  This does not mean a life without trials.  In fact, victory is the consequence of a battle.  Every trial or battle that we have in life is an opportunity for victory, but only those with confidence in God’s presence, power, and love will see them as such.

Confidence is also key to perceiving the purpose and victory that God has for us.  King David declared, “You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.  With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.” (Psalm 18:28-29).

This bold statement of confidence by King David came after his troops charged and took Jerusalem from the boastful Jebusites who had dared him to try to scale their walls.

David’s victory was no surprise to him.  He had established confidence in his God-given abilities during the years he was a shepherd.  And so, when facing Goliath, he told King Saul; “Don’t worry about a thing; I’ll take care of this Philistine.”  “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:37).

To his older brothers, David sounded cocky.  But this was not arrogance.  David was speaking out of a strong inner conviction that grew out of his previous experiences and relationship with God, when he spoke those fearless words.

Unquestionably, there is a difference between biblical confidence and human arrogance.  Confidence is not based in who we are, but is based on who Christ is in us.  Confidence grows out of an intimate, trusting, loving, serving relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Cocky arrogance is very shallow and shackled with one of the most repulsive character flaws, that is, self-centeredness.  Biblical confidence is full of grace and truth and also has one of the most appealing character traits, that is, the true humility that grows out of Christ-centeredness.

We must go beyond the desire for a good community image, or even a legitimate desire for success, and focus on doing the will of God.  If that is our focus, the Holy Spirit will indeed enable us to accomplish it.

I firmly believe that it is the will of God that we be filled with the sure confidence that enables us to leap over every obstacle and send the enemies of God fleeing in disarray and defeat.

Some years ago, I had a desk calendar with these words on it: “In the presence of trouble, some people grow wings; others buy crutches.”  Those words remind me of God’s promise through the prophet Isaiah in 40:31, “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

I understand this promise to be based on having confidence in God’ presence, power, and love at all times and particularly when the going get difficult and wearisome.  I urge you to read Psalm 23 again as your declaration of Christian faith and confidence in God.

 I covet this kind of unwavering confidence for all of you, my readers, and I wish for all of us, WINGS!

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – September 25, 2019

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Prayer’s Link to Power

The story of George and Sarah Clarke continues to challenge and inspire me every time I read it.  In 1880, this Christian couple purchased the lease for the Pacific Beer Garden.  Promptly dropping the word Beer, the couple added the word Mission, and launched a ministry to homeless alcoholics and downtrodden men and women.  Thus was born the Pacific Garden Mission of Chicago – the second oldest rescue mission in the United States.

Colonial and Mrs. Clarke bore the cost of the mission themselves, but as expenses grew and the ministry expanded, their funds ran low.  Eventually the day came when they could not pay the rent.  Attempts to secure the needed funds failed, and Colonel Clarke was told he had only 24 hours to make the payment.  Otherwise, he would lose his lease, and the Pacific Garden Mission would be closed.

Throughout the night, Colonel and Mrs. Clarke prayed, asking God to guide and to provide in his own way and time.  They reminded the Lord of the souls being saved each night, of the men and women whose lives were being salvaged.  They asked him why they should find themselves in such straits while trying to do his work.  But, determining to trust and not question, they remained before the throne of grace in simple faith and in earnest pleading until the breaking of dawn.

When they emerged from their Morgan Park house that morning, they gasped.  What had happened to their front yard?  It was covered with something white, something that instantly reminded them of the manna of the Old Testament.  Looking closer, they discovered their lawn was filled with mushrooms of the very best quality, which was quite mysterious because it wasn’t the season for mushrooms.

Gathering the crop, the Clarkes carted the mushrooms down the street and sold them to the chefs at the Palmer House, the famed hotel just off of Michigan Avenue, for a large price.  The money they received was enough to pay the rent, with enough left over to meet other ministry expenses.  So the Pacific Garden Mission carried on with its ministry undeterred.

There are those who choose to discredit such stories of answered prayer, but I choose to believe them because I hear and am challenged by Apostle Paul’s prayer for us in Ephesians 1:18-19. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”

Paul knew that knowledge of God is something more than simply knowledge of the facts about God.  So Paul prayed that “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation” would provide that intimate, relational knowing which is ours only as the Spirit of Christ becomes a living presence in us – a knowing of God that we long for and desperately need.

He speaks of this “knowing” that comes by the Spirit even more graphically in verses 19-21.  “That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”

I’m with Paul in believing that prayer is God’s gift to us – a gift of privilege – a gift of power – a gift of tremendous value in today’s demanding world.  To be privileged to come into the presence of the Almighty God as his children and to speak with him as “Our Father” is a privilege of amazing grace and of unimaginable worth.

Our praying opens the gates for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Our praying brings God into our life and work, and makes us more conscious of his awesome presence and power.  Our praying connects us to the power-filled energy and will of God, to redeem our sins, energize our wills, renew our spirits, reconcile our relationships, heal the sick, drive out demons, and bring peace.

Life in today’s world is very draining.  Demands for our time and talents seem to come from every direction.  Where are you going for replenishment of strength and courage?  Where are you looking for wisdom and discernment?  Where are you finding healing and hope?

The call here is to bring the working power of God from out of the past and into the present.  To be sure, we are to celebrate “the mighty acts of God in history,” but that should make us even more aware and eager to be linked with Jesus Christ as present power.  Amen!

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – September 18, 2019

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Responding With Compassion

The story recorded in Mark 1:40-45 is a story of Jesus being faced with an ethical dilemma.  He had to decide between two competing values – doing what was “the right way” or doing what was “the acceptable way” – in responding to the health care needs of a man suffering with leprosy.

“A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, ‘If you are willing, you can make me clean.’  Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.  Mark leaves no doubt about Jesus’ response.  “Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said.  ‘Be clean!’  Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.”

Jesus responds with the deepest of human feelings – compassion.  The word “compassion” comes from the same Greek word as “viscera, bowels, intestines” or, as in our vernacular, “guts.”  Mark uses this word to communicate how deeply Jesus feels into the sufferings of the leper.  It is as if Jesus himself takes on the suffering of the leper as his own.

Mark does not use a word for “pity” – that would be too condescending, or a word for “sympathy” – that would be too superficial.  But rather he uses a word that informs the reader that “flesh for flesh, gut for gut’ Jesus feels his way into the leper’s needs.

Also note that it is not enough for Jesus to simply feel with compassion.  He reaches out his hand and touches the leper.  Violating every medical warning and risking every social taboo, Jesus makes physical contact with the leper, thus confirming his compassionate concern for the leper and his needs.

In this story, Jesus had an ethical choice to make.  Responding to the leper’s suffering would risk limiting his ministry by prematurely provoking the opposition of the established church.  But Jesus chose to do what was right as defined by God’s command to love, and not by what was expedient, socially acceptable, and/or cost effective.  And as a result of his choice, Jesus had to get out of town (v.45).

I am convinced that in order to make right ethical decisions in response to the sufferings of others we must first enter into and empathically feel the pain of those seeking our caring assistance.

Paul Brand, a noted physician and author, writes, “In the human body, when an area loses sensory contact with the rest of the body, even when its nourishment system remains intact, that part begins to wither and atrophy.  The body poorly protects what it does not feel.  So much of the sorrow in the world is due to the selfishness of one living organism that simply does not care when another suffers.”

I think we can and should expand Dr. Brand’s statement to include all bodies, whether they be the church, the organization, the community, or the government.  There is substantial evidence confirming that none of these social bodies will appropriately respond to pain they do not feel.  Until the pain of those suffering is deeply felt and entered into, these bodies cannot and will not respond in appropriate healing ways to meets the real needs of suffering people.

And so, the challenge of Mark 1:40-45 is individually focused to every decision-maker in any and all social groupings, who have the power to make a difference in the life of suffering persons.  Indeed, the challenge is for every human being to compassionately feel their neighbor’s pain and respond with unselfish acts of caring, healing love.  This is God’s character and command to all of us.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – September 11, 2019

            www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Becoming A Wounded Healer

“Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands.  Reach out your hand and put it into my side.  Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20:27 NIV).  The New Living Translation reads, “Put your hand into the wound in my side.  Don’t be faithless any longer.  Believe!”

Many readers understand this story as revealing Jesus’ gentle way of building trust and confidence in Thomas who had expressed doubt regarding Jesus’ resurrection from the grave.  Even though I agree with this understanding, I sense an even deeper significance in the story.

I am challenged and encouraged by the thought that the wounds of Jesus are not only to be seen, but also to be touched and entered into.  From related scriptures and my own experience, I believe God intends for us to understand that there is an intimate power and emotional connectedness made as we, with Thomas, respond to Jesus’ invitation to figuratively place our hand within his wounds, which leads directly to the heart of God.

My own grief experiences have taught me that it is not enough for us to merely know of a God who sympathizes.  It is not even enough to know of a God who heals.  We need to know and be trustfully connected to the God who experiences with us and for us, each grief and each wound that we suffer.  All grievous experiences, whatever their source, urgently and compassionately  invite us to be bonded with God, through Jesus, who has had nails pierce his hands and a sharp spear thrust into his heart.

Being in relationship with God by placing our hand into the wounded side of Jesus, assures us that the grievous wounds we carry will not become infected wounds, but rather healed wounds, as the apostle Peter wrote, “by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24).

And then, in turn, when we touch and relate with another wounded person, the healing love, compassion, and comfort of Jesus Christ encompasses us both, and his healing is transmitted to the other, making us God’s “wounded healers” even while our own healing is happening.

“Reach out your hand and put it into my side.”  As I reflect on these words of Jesus, I truly understand it as an invitation to a warm, healing, human connectedness with the risen, glorious healer of all wounds, a relationship I can fully trust.

With our hand placed into the wounded heart of the suffering, crucified, resurrected Jesus, a reassuring and strong identity of being created and loved by God will unfold in us; and we will learn to speak the truth of who we are in Christ, that is, God’s wounded healers, rather than feeling sorry for ourselves as wounded victims of circumstance.

Furthermore, we will learn to recognize our own true cross, which is the free choice we make to enter into, and help lift and ease the burden of pain from another wounded person.  It is a choice we make, and the only choice that will bring meaning and purpose to our own wounds, as well as healing to another’s wounds.

Paul’s own life of many pain-filled experiences and his trust-filled connectedness to God confirmed the truth of God’s compassion, and so he encourages all who experience pain with this testimony; “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (2 Cor. 1:3-4).

And so, I encourage you to hear the invitation of Jesus, “Put your hand into the wound in my side.  Don’t be faithless any longer.  Believe!”   Find purpose in your pain by leaning into becoming a “wounded healer.”

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – September 4, 2019

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley