Oct 18, 2010
Yay God!
Oct 16, 2010
The Kingdom of God Revealed - A Dream
I had a rather profound dream about the kingdom of God last night. I wanted to share it with you.
Then I saw him enter the kingdom of God. He was dressed in a uniform, sitting on a stool at the opening in a wall. The wall separated a prison and the kingdom of God. The opening was a like a gate, without a door. It was about 4 feet wide. Pete was a guard. He got up and walked around in the kingdom which seemed like an endless expanse as far as I could see. He was exploring this new place. He looked for familiar things like what he experienced in the world but found nothing like those experience.
There was no crime or drugs and no police. Everywhere he went he experienced freedom. He could walk anywhere he wanted and there was no fear or guilt. He was never afraid of getting caught doing something wrong – nothing wrong ever happened in the kingdom. All his needs were met and he was filled with peace. He met the Father who had only good things to say about him. The Father provided everything he needed in the kingdom. Pete went back to the stool and sat at the gate. His new position was to tell anyone who asked how they could enter the kingdom. His life was profoundly changed by his experience. Although the daily problems of his life didn’t immediately disappear, Pete began living from the reality he experienced in the kingdom. The freedom and acceptance he found in the kingdom allowed him to live free in the world. He never lived in fear of anything again.
I was also in the dream. In the world I was looking for acceptance and to be understood by others. I sought popularity and wanted people to like me. That was until I entered the kingdom. In the kingdom, I found immediate acceptance. Everyone I met seemed to instantly understand me. Even more amazing was the fact that they all liked me. I had no enemies and there was nobody I didn't get along with. I never argued with anyone. I made friends everywhere I went. When I met the Father, I encountered absolute acceptance and love. He had an endless list of wonderful things to say about me. I was the apple of His eye. Everything I did was perfect in His sight. He could not be more proud of me. This experience profoundly changed how I lived in the world. I no longer went around seeking acceptance from others. I lived from the reality I had experienced in the kingdom and never again wondered if I was good enough.
Another person appeared in the dream. I don't recall who this person was, but they seemed to be another friend, who lived with the fear of never having enough money. Although they had a good job and invested their money wisely, they lived with a nagging fear of poverty. Thoughts about earning and saving money plagued them continually. This person also entered the kingdom of God.
In the kingdom, they traveled from place to place. Money was the last thing anyone worried about. In fact, there were no worries of any kind in the kingdom. Citizens of the kingdom had piles of cash. My friend found that they could easily get as much money as they wanted from any stranger on the street. Nobody hoarded money. No one cared how much they had or how much they gave away. There was abundance for everyone. This experience in the kingdom profoundly changed the way he lived from that time forward. Experiencing the provision of heaven and knowing that God’s economy never lacked resources, gave him a freedom with money he never thought possible. Their fear of poverty instantly vanished. He began living from the reality he experienced in the kingdom and began to give abundantly with gladness.
I hope you're encouraged by this dream. The kingdom of God is within and around you. I hope we will all live from the unseen reality of God's eternal kingdom.
Oct 13, 2010
Lou Gehrig's Disease Healed
Often we are asked whether we have ever seen certain very serious illnesses healed, such as Down’s Syndrome (we do know of one). One of the sicknesses we are asked about is ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Back in 1977 our team prayed in Toledo, Ohio, for a woman who has ALS and she was notably improved, although not totally healed, in the two days’ time our teams prayed with her, but, so far as we know, she was not totally healed. (If you wish to see what happened to her, her partial healing is captured on our video “The Healing Ministry in the Church.”)
Well, finally, I met a man who has been healed of ALS. His name is Don Jaeger (from Winter Park, FL), and he was kind enough to write out a description of his healing from which I take the following salient points. During the summer of 1992 he was diagnosed with ALS, which is ordinarily fatal and whose downward progress is steady and irretrievable. (Two of the top experts in central Florida, an EMG specialist and a neurologist, agreed upon the diagnosis.) Then Don went to hear Canon Jim Glennon (author of Your Healing is Within You) and came to believe in Jesus’ healing him of ALS. They prayed for him at his church and he had his first religious experience – a warmness and peace – that convinced him that he would be cured. He continued to seek medical counsel and physical therapy, as well as attending weekly healing services at his church.
During this time, he continued to believe that he was being healed, and, while waiting in a neurologist’s office, he received what he felt was an irrefutable sign that he was healed when he became very warm and a “total encompassing, utter peace came over my body.”
A month later, he asked for a sign that he had been cured and that time would prove it. He was at his physical therapy session, and they asked him to lift some weight with only his lower legs to establish a base-line for further exercises. With his lower leg weakened through muscular atrophy, and with absolutely “no strain, or hanging on the handles, I lifted the maximum weight of 220 pounds. This word flew all over the center.”
Later he went to the Cleveland Clinic, one of the best hospitals in the U.S. specializing in ALS. The doctors there put him through three hours of tests and one said, “The people in Florida may not believe me, but I see over 150 cases of ALS a year and you show no signs of ever having had ALS.” Don then threw away his brace and went snow skiing. “As a reminder of my illness, I still have a weakness and pain in my left leg and right hand.” After his healing he dealt with fear that the ALS would return but “through God’s help I no longer have that fear.” So, praise God, this is the first report I have ever received on the healing of ALS. (Don says he knows of another man who was also healed of ALS.)
Oct 11, 2010
Shoulder Healed Through Forgiveness
Oct 9, 2010
Healing For a Co-worker II
Dreams.
I shared a few of the crazy dreams I've had about healing people. One of the latest was a dream in which I transported someone from a car accident. My patient had severe crush injuries. Although, I'd never do it in real life, I didn't provide any medical care for this patient. By the time we got to the hospital, all his injuries were healed. I didn't even pray for him. It was the presence of God in the ambulance that healed him.
I know - crazy dream, huh?
The subject of healing dreams led to the subject of healing itself. I told her some of the stories I'd seen of people being healed. That prompted her to tell me about the car accident she was in a few years ago that left her with chronic pain between her shoulder blades, even after physical therapy.
And it was.
We talked the rest of the shift about healing and the things God has been doing in my life. I didn't preach at her or ask her to say the sinner's prayer. I didn't feel the Holy Spirit leading us in that direction. It was a low - key afternoon of simple conversations about everyday life. It just so happens that my everyday life is a little more supernatural than it once was. In getting her healed, I opened the door to the kingdom of God. It's her choice to decide if she's ready to go in. Perhaps she will. Maybe she won't. The Holy Spirit is more than able to guide her if she's ready.
My desire is to see more people healed on the job. That's one of the reasons for writing these stories. It's going to require more of us to leave the safety of the boat and walk out on the water. I hope you'll take a step of faith and heal someone today. If you do, send me an e-mail.
This week I ran into her and asked how she felt. It's been two months since she was healed and the pain has not returned.
Oct 7, 2010
Freeing The Prisoners
In the dream I was traveling to different locations. My job was to facilitate the closure of prisons. People in the areas I went to had voted to close certain prisons and to let the prisoners go free. My job was to make sure the prisons closed on time without any problems. I was a representative who had been given the authority to close the prisons. I went to many different prisons and helped in the process of of getting them closed.
Near the end of the dream, I went to one prison and asked if it was to be closed. I was told that I had no authority to close that one yet, because the people had not yet voted to close it. This was the end of the dream.
I asked God to help me understand the dream. Here's what I heard:
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
(Isaiah 61:1 - See also Luke 4:18)
God has been speaking with me lately about freedom; specifically about our choices and His decision not to overrule them. As an evangelical I was often taught about the sovereignty of God. I've leaned hard on this idea over the years, but I'm finding lately that the more I lean on it, the more it seems to be failing me.
The Old Testament often uses the title "Sovereign Lord." It was brought to my attention that this name was previously translated, "Lord Almighty". I hate long debates about theology, so I'll get to the point: I think many of us (myself included) have a faulty belief about the sovereignty of God. I've been under the impression that God always does whatever He wants, with little or no regard to what humans want. I think this belief is wrong.
I believe God is all powerful; that is to say He has the ability or power to do anything He wants. But I believe He honors the will of man much more than I've been comfortable with.
In my dream about closing prisons, a group of people had not yet voted to close a prison. Their decision was to keep it. And their decision had to be honored. Although God gave me authority as His representative to close some prisons and free the captives, that did not give me authority to overrule the free will of others. And this seems to be the main point God wants me to understand.
I've heard people teach that it's OK to cast demons out of people against their will. In studying the ministry of Jesus, I don't see that lived out. I'm often surprised at how low- key and unobtrusive the Lord was in ministering to people. He often simply asked, "What do you want from me?" In ministering to those oppressed by the enemy, Jesus first inquired, then gave according to what was asked for. He honored the desires and free will of others. Jesus didn't use His authority to violate the free will of those who were in bondage. He delivered those who wanted freedom.
In another recent dream, God spoke to me about having authority over all the power of the enemy. (Luke 10:19) We do without question, have a great deal of authority in Christ. Using it properly seems to be the thing we struggle with. Perhaps the most common problem is not knowing the authority we have or not walking in it. Less common, but still problematic is choosing to wield our authority at a time when restraint might be the better thing.
Thanks for your time.
(Feel free to leave comments)
Oct 6, 2010
Bill Johnson on Healing
Oct 4, 2010
An Apointment With Healing
Oct 2, 2010
Healing For a Co -Worker
Oct 1, 2010
Tom Fischer Healing (East Coast Style)
Sep 29, 2010
Who Will Be Healed Today?
Who will be healed today?
The choice is ours. If we don't lay hands on the sick, the answer is 'nobody'.