Sunday 4th March Morning - Healing of the soul

Barry Littleford Jesus Heals Our Soul Page 1 Today we start looking at how Jesus heals. We have tackled that God wants too heal and how much faith is needed for his healing to take place, now we look at in what ways Jesus wants to go about it. I have drawn the next 3 weeks from Jesus words and from the prophecy about him in Isaiah. 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” So we are looking at healing the broken heart and freedom from the oppressed which is what I call healing of our soul, next week it is liberty for the captives that I have called healing our spirit and lastly recovery of sight to the blind which I called healing the body. It’s important to know that God is interested in not just healing one part of us but all of us because all of them affect each other. The soul or emotions can influence the body, the body can influence the emotions and the spirit can affect either of Barry Littleford Jesus Heals Our Soul Page 2 them. There is a synergy that happens and when one is out of kilter the others are not far behind. So today we are looking at healing of the soul or emotions or our heart. To help us we are going to explore probably the most famous healing story. Luke 5:17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” 21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. .26 Everyone was amazed and Barry Littleford Jesus Heals Our Soul Page 3 gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.” In the seat of the heart is much room for corruption from evil and sin. In fact, I would be bold enough to say that all healing that needs to happen in the soul or spirit comes because of the work of the evil one and It is the work of the evil one that entraps us and oppresses us to the point where we need God to set us free. The healing of our souls comes only from the truth that comes for God and believing that truth. In this story the truth is that he needs forgiveness because his soul has been so weighed down with guilt that he is unable to walk. It is his sin and the guilt from his sin that spills over into his body. His freedom and healing then comes from the declaration of Jesus that he is forgiven and his legs begin to work and as the scripture puts it went home with his heart praising God. Sin weighed him down, forgiveness set him free. When our hearts are weighed down with our own sin or the sin of what someone else has done to us, it can affect our bodies just as much as it can affect our relationships. The sin of bitterness, or anger, or jealousy, or selfishness, our hate, our shame, our envy and our evil thoughts all decay us on the inside and the outside. Barry Littleford Jesus Heals Our Soul Page 4 Like someone who is addicted it does something inside but you can see it on the outside no matter how much they try and hide it. It eats away at the person they are until the decay on the inside breaks out and becomes visible on the outside. This is the importance of the Gospel, you can’t live without the life giving nature of God inside you and stay healthy. Sooner or later it will show on the outside. You might be 80 when it comes but it will come. Healing comes as we let go of the lies we have about ourselves, God and the world and start seeing things through Gods eyes. Jesus calls the man a sinner, that is the truth, that is what is keeping him from being healed and some of us need to acknowledge this reality. But we all have a lie that is keeping us from the health that God intended. It may be that we have forgiven others when really we know that we haven’t, it may be that we believe that we need to make a special line to be accepted by God, it maybe that God couldn’t love us because of what we have done or it could be about God has more important things to do than to deal with us. Whatever it is there is a lie that keeps us bound and it will sooner or later affect our health if we let it grow within us. It may be our physical health or our mental health but sooner or later it will happen. I have seen what happens to people when they don’t forgive, when they don’t accept God’s forgiveness, when they let Barry Littleford Jesus Heals Our Soul Page 5 bitterness poison their lives, it is like a cancer within you, it grows and festers. Here is the good news: Jesus doesn’t want this for anyone. He wants us to be free of it, to be healed from it so you can celebrate and give him praise. He wants you to be free so you can get up and dance. But you need to be willing to let go of the lies and let him renew your heart and your mind. So how do you know if your need healing within your soul? You will know what it is by the self-talk you have going on towards yourself and others. – what you think shows what your attitudes are, even if you are wiser than me and keep it to yourself, it is the first place. 80% of us know when we are thinking unhelpful thoughts. Sometimes we need revelation about what it is. About 20% of us need God or someone else to show us why we are so bitter or judgemental or why we are sick. My journey to health All of us need friends who will carry us and dig holes in roofs for us and help us come to Jesus and walk again. When we pray for people for healing it is not a bad idea to ask if there is unforgiveness, or something. Hear this though, if you are unwell, confess your sin it could be the issue of your health. Barry Littleford Jesus Heals Our Soul Page 6 James 5:14 - Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. So if most of us know if our soul is unhealthy, you have a choice to do something about it now and let Jesus healing happen in your life.