I've been made whole

There is a difference between healing and being made whole.

Before I begin let me tell you a little bit about what led me to needing healing and ultimately being made whole.

I was raised by my parents till I was about 9 years old. My parents were both heroine addicts and sadly my mom contracted HIV through the heroine needles she shared. Shortly after that my sister and I were removed from our home and placed in foster care.

My family all got together and decided they couldn't keep us and this was best for us. As a 9 year old little girl you could imagine there was no consolation or even emotional stamina to handle that news and there was no type of explaining you could tell me to make me feel better.

I felt unwanted and unloved and I thought my life was over. I had no idea what was waiting for me

A few months after our mom was battling full blown AIDS and lost that battle at the young age of 32.

My sister was 12 and I was 9 at the time. From that day forward our lives were forever changed.

And so I grew up in the foster care system which brought its challenges and also very dark moments that I honestly never thought I would come out of.

I lived in 5 different foster homes and 2 shelters. I experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse and emotional abuse.rejection

tell story of 8th grade graduation.

I came to Christ at the age of 18 through a young man I was in a relationship with at the time, a very unhealthy relationship.

In the foster care sustem you are out at the age of 18 and they pretty pushe dme out.

I didn’t have any resources or help so I did what most girls would do I clinged to a boy.

He loved me so why not. Soon God separated us which was very hard for me but nether the less today I am sooo grateful he did that.

So while Coming to Christ was liberating to me it was also challenging and difficult at times.

For many years I experienced a great deal of pain and hurt.

I grew up so accustomed to carrying the weight of my past that I wasn’t even sure I wanted healing at one point.

What I have found is that many are healed but few are made whole

Because if I got rid of it I couldn’t imagine being anybody else. I wouldn’t even know who I was so I just settled for carrying it with me.

After carrying a whole lot of baggage, ugliness, hurt and pain

I have found that many are healed but few are made whole

Why because many of us look at healing as just a one time event.

What I have found is many are healed but few are made whole

If we’ve seen Jesus heel someone we see it as a miraculous one time thing and overnight there isn’t any more issues. That may be true of our physical healing often

But in many cases that is not true of our emotional and spiritual healing.

Healing is a process that is initiated by the savior and worked out by the believer.

Which is why I believe there is a difference between healing and being made whole.

The savior initiates your healing but the believer works out their healing in a process with the savior to be made whole.

For this reason I could not have written Redemption’s reach if I only stayed in the initiated stage of my healing thinking that I was whole.

When in fact I would have forfeited the purpose behind my pain and healing which brought the impact that God had purposed for this book.

Somebody tell your neighbor There is a difference between healing and being made whole.

Wholeness is the manifested purpose of your healing! Which is the believer benefitting from God’s grace.

The recovery process, the healing process like any wound takes it part in stages. Which is why we say healing is a process. The recovery process...

Recovery, the determination that you are going to make to make it! And so Jesus initiates your healing and determination that you are going to make it.

But you must go through the recovery process..to be made whole

Recovery, the determination that you are going to make to make it! Tell an example (ER)

And so Jesus initiates your healing and determines that you are going to make it.

The recovery process, the healing process like any wound takes its part in stages. Which is why we say healing is a process.

Which is why I believe there is a difference between healing and being made whole.

We first see the wound as open and fresh. The traumatic event took place and because of this traumatic experience that you have had.

Sometimes we are stricken by the adrenaline and dramatic impact that we don’t necessarily feel the painful impact the wound had on us.

And then we put a bandage on it to cover the ugliness on the inside so as to hope that it will just go away. Thinking a scar wont be so bad...

When the dust settles in our lives like that of a wound we begin to feels the effect and the pain begins to creep up on us and hits us hard. Often times debilitating us.

When the dust settles in our lives like that of a wound we have now put a bandage on it to cover the ugliness on the inside so as to hope that it will just go away and we will be left with a scar.

And so we are left with a scar.

I have personally realized through my painful experiences that as I began to recover, the healing process can be more painful than the initial injury

and so we see ourselves forfeiting the process because we thought he was the healer and we weren't told there was a painful process. Sometimes more painful than the initial jinjury.

This is why we see many people with the wow is me outlook, how come I’m still going through this again, when will I ever get out of this vicious cycle.

I did this for so many years. I put a band aide on all my traumatic experiences but the reality was, that on the outside the effect the painful affects began to show themselves and not only did I feel the pain from the wounds but I began to wear the wounds on my sleeve..

The problem with throwing a bandage on a wound that hasn't fully recovered is often times the wound must be opened back up again to allow the recovery intended to take place which will be more painful than the initial injury.

And so how do we move from healing to wholeness. How do I endure my process and step into wholeness. How do I not allow myself to forfeit the process and its purpose so I can experience the manifested purpose of my healing , wholeness!

Lets ready in Luke chapter 17:11-17

The New International Version Chapter 17

Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy

11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy h met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary 2. Healing a Leper (5:12–16)

It was against the law for a leper to come into the city

If we were to see ourselves as this leper

1. Draw Closer

It was against the law for a leper to come into the city

It was against the law for a leper to come into the city

Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’

As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.

Lepers were compelled by law to keep their distance and these did.

But they came as near as they dared and shouted an appeal for help. They did not ask specifically for healing, but simply for mercy.

These men in particular knew they were to keep their distance simply because of their sickness and disease yet they dared to have tenacity to draw close anyway.

Many of us are

This tells me that they recognized their need for healing.

Which was signified by verse 13…and they called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

The leper wasn’t asking the Lord for a financial miracle. He sought the Lord as His Healer. He actually CRIED OUT to Him.

God hears your cries every time you call out to Him. When you’re alone at night, He hears you. When you’re sitting at your desk fighting off depression, He hears you. When you’re driving to work in the morning holding back the tears, He hears you.

You know sometimes your inability to draw close to God results from not recognizing your need for healing.

What I mean here, is that sometimes your inability to draw close to God results from not recognizing your need for healing.

After I got saved, I would think well Im saved Im good I’m healed I don’t have a need to be healed. Ive bene carrying this my whole life. I just have to keep my distance...

When we recognize our need for healing , When we dare to draw close despite the fact that our disease, our issues, our trauma, our pain, our rejection has pushed us outside the camp,

despite the fact that we look broken an battered, despite the fact that we've grown accustomed to shouting our very own unclean story’s

you know the ones where you only talk about what you’ve been through but you don’t talk about your break through

When we have the tenacity to draw close to him,

that will get the attention of the father, the one that initiates your healing. When he sees you’ve recognized your need for healing and you draw close despite of

that will get the attention of the father, the one that initiates your healing. When he sees you’ve recognized your need for healing and you draw close despite of

If we saw ourselves like the leper

Daring to draw close when our disease, our issues, our trama, our pain, our rejection has pushed us ourside the camp yet we recognize our need for healing and the one to initiate it today is inside the camp.

If we saw ourselves like the leper

If you would just see yourself as this leper

Think about it this way: who are your biblical role models?

Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’

Most might choose John, or Paul, even Peter. But they choose these characters in their redeemed state

As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.

Lepers were compelled by law to keep their distance and these did.

But they came as near as they dared and shouted an appeal for help. They did not ask specifically for healing, but simply for mercy.

It’s far better to relate to their weakness and need, not just to their triumph.

The New International Version Chapter 13

45 “Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.

you can possibly see yourself as Mary Magdalene. She had seven demons and may have even been a prostitute, but became extraordinarily close to Jesus.

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary Q. The Ten Lepers (17:11–19)

Luke does not tell us where this miracle took place, other than that it was at the entrance to a village. Lepers were compelled by law to keep their distance (see on 5:12) and these did. But they came as near as they dared and shouted an appeal for help. They did not ask specifically for healing, but simply for mercy. However, in the circumstances, there could be little doubt as to what they hoped mercy would bring about.

When you have identified with their struggle that dawning realization brings you closer to Jesus.

That’s being made whole.

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary Q. The Ten Lepers (17:11–19)

. The cure immediately awoke a chord of gratitude in one of the ten. He did not wait to be certified fit to rejoin the community, but returned to Jesus when he saw that he was cured. His praising of God shows that he saw the hand of God in the cure and that he was ready to let everybody know about it. When he came to Jesus he acted with humility, prostrating himself as he thanked the Master. Luke now adds the information that he was a Samaritan. Normally Jews and Samaritans had little to do with one another and it is a mark of the horror of leprosy that those suffering from this disease had lived together, ignoring distinctions they would otherwise have seen as compelling. It might have been expected that this Samaritan would have been the last to give thanks to a Jewish healer, but he was the first, and evidently the only one. If people do not give thanks quickly, they usually do not do so at all.

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary Q. The Ten Lepers (17:11–19)

Apparently Jesus did not see them at first, but when he did he responded. He did not come to them or touch them. He did not even say, ‘You are cured!’ He told them, leprous as they were, to go and show themselves to the priests, the normal procedure when a leper was cured. The priest acted as a kind of health inspector to certify that the cure had in fact taken place (Lev. 14:2ff.). Jesus was putting their faith to the test by asking these men to act as though they had been cured. And as they obeyed so it happened: as they went they were cleansed (Fitzmyer has ‘they happened to be made clean’ but this is misleading; there was purpose not chance in what Jesus did).

If we see ourselves in Mary, or in the prodigal, or even Paul with his thorn, the sooner we realize a basic need for grace, the closer we move to wholeness.

Trust me, God loves that attitude. That is why Jesus “ate with sinners” and why they felt so comfortable around Him.

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary Q. The Ten Lepers (17:11–19)

If people do not give thanks quickly, they usually do not do so at all.

1. See yourself as a leper

Mary’s tender gratitude brought her so close to Jesus that she was the last one at the cross, the first one to the tomb, the first to see Him raised, the first to proclaim the resurrection.

It all started with a healing (seven demons exorcised) and quickly moved toward wholeness

if we would see ourselves as this leper we could learn that #2 we need to worship through our process

These

2. Worship

after they draw close and call upon the master it reads in verse 14

When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

I though it was interesting that he only responds to them by He did not come to them or touch them.

He did not even say, ‘You are cured!’ He told them, leprous as they were, to go and show themselves to the priests

which was the normal procedure when a leper was cured. The priest acted as a kind of health inspector to certify that the cure had in fact taken place

Jesus was putting their faith to the test by asking these men to act as though they had been cured. And as they obeyed so it happened: as they went they were cleansed

verse 15

[1] Morris, L. (1988). Luke: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 3, p. 275). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.

He bowed down and worshiped BEFORE he gave proof to the presits.

When we bow down and surrender all of our hurts to God while we’re still hurting, we are showing our faith in God to heal us.

When we bow down and surrender all of our hurts to God while we’re still hurting, we are showing our faith in God to heal us.

The leper was being obedient and went to show himself to the priest but because he saw past his healing and saw there was more

He seen The master as more than just a healer.

He seen him as the fullness of God

He then turned back in worship to bow down

Bowing down is a true sign of total and complete dependency on God alone. It means you’re serious. It means you’re tired of being the way you are. It means you want to be healed!

I remember so many times just laying at the alter in worship, crying out to the father putting my trust and faith in him knowing and believing he would make me whole

its your worship that pushed you to your wholeness

its your worship that allows you to endure your healing process

its your worship that you need for your recovery!

If we would see ourselves as the leper we can learn from him to 1.draw close to God, 2. worship and lastly

3. heart of gratitude

3. heart of gratitude

The leper did not wait to be certified fit to rejoin the community, but returned to Jesus when he saw that he was cured.

His praising of God shows that he saw the hand of God in the cure and that he was ready to let everybody know about it.

If we would see ourselves

When he came to Jesus he acted with humility, prostrating himself as he thanked the Master

The cure immediately awoke a chord of gratitude in one of the ten. He did not wait to be certified fit to rejoin the community, but returned to Jesus when he saw that he was cured. His praising of God shows that he saw the hand of God in the cure and that he was ready to let everybody know about it. When he came to Jesus he acted with humility, prostrating himself as he thanked the Master. Luke now adds the information that he was a Samaritan. Normally Jews and Samaritans had little to do with one another and it is a mark of the horror of leprosy that those suffering from this disease had lived together, ignoring distinctions they would otherwise have seen as compelling. It might have been expected that this Samaritan would have been the last to give thanks to a Jewish healer, but he was the first, and evidently the only one. If people do not give thanks quickly, they usually do not do so at all.

Next Jesus expresses disappointment in the nine.

All were cleansed and had an equal motive for gratitude.

Yet only one did.

They rest chose to stay in the initiated stage of their healing while this one decided to push past Jesus as just a healer and see the fullness of God the one that could make him whole

But apparently the nine were so absorbed in their new happiness that they could not spare a thought for its source.

Hi attitude of gratitude was what made the difference from the rest

We have to approach every moment in gratitude to the father

19. Jesus encouraged the man who came back; he told him to get up and go on his way and he assured him that his faith had made him well.

What does being made whole mean?

Morris, L. (1988). Luke: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 3, pp. 275–276). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. as the leper we can learn from him that if we draw close to God, if we worship and if we have a hearty of gratitude it alters your outcome from healing to wholeness

What does being made whole mean?

What does being made whole mean?

story of reviews ( Gods restoration)

What does being made whole mean?

What does being made whole mean?

You can get to a place in your life where there are NO SIGNS you were ever sick before. NO SIGNS of emotional abuse! NO SIGNS of sexual abuse. NO SIGNS of physical abuse. NO SIGNS of insecurities. NO SIGNS of depression! NO SIGNS of rejection!

If we could see ourselves as the leper, if we could relate to his weakness then we can rejoice together in our triumph.

We don’t have to stay at a distance anymore, we don’t have to just talk about our been through but we can also talk about our breakthrough,

Thats the differrnce between being healed and made whole.

When we draw near, when we worship and when our hearts are grateful then we will hear him say “Go your faith has made you whole”

Wholeness is the manifested purpose of your healing. What he does with that had purpose and what I have found to be true is that

The broken become masters at mending.