Healing of Namaan, Inside and Outside 10-2-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I wait before You in the first moments of a new day, speak to my heart and lead my mind. ... "Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy.... So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, 'Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean' " (2 Kings 5:1-10). You can be the best at what you do and still need healing. You can be a great man, a mighty warrior in the battles of this world, full of favor and fame, and still have the sickness and sin of a broken, fallen world eating away at you -- whether on the inside or the outside. But it's hard to ask for help; it's hard to slay our pride. It's hard to admit we need it, even if it's so obvious to everyone around us. We often prefer to suffer in silence rather than admit we can't heal ourselves. We often give in to the lie that "time heals all wounds," when only the power of the blood of Jesus heals all wounds (1 Peter 2:24). And even when we come to the place of admitting our need and that we are powerless in ourselves to do anything about it, with any lasting value, out of our own self will and self help, it's still hard to humble our pride before God and Your timing and ways. When Naaman heard Your plans for his healing, he "became angry and went away.... He turned and went away in a rage" (2 Kings 5:11-12). He literally wanted someone who knew God better than he did to simply "wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy" (v. 5:11). It's true that sometimes, in Your sovereign mercy and grace, You stretch out Your mighty right hand through the hands of Your disciples to release Your power for an instantaneous miracle though "signs and wonders" (Acts 4:30). And it seems You are increasing Your miracles throughout the earth in our day. But at the same time, healing is more than the miraculous. Healing is wholeness. It's Your process of restoration, bringing all things back into alignment with Your will for our lives through the redemption of Christ. We're created by God to long for the "restoration of all things" -- in our own lives and in all creation (Acts 3:21, NKJV). This is Your will, revealed by Your Word, made available through the sacrifice and sufferings of Christ for each of us: "Surely He was borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted Him stricken, struck down by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the punishment that made us whole, and by His bruises we are healed" (Isaiah 53:4-5, fulfilled in Christ, Matthew 8:17). Naaman's disease in his body was only a manifestation of a disease in his soul -- the sickness of self-centered, self-sufficient pride. And though You were compassionate to heal his body, You were passionate to heal his soul. So You spoke to him again, even as he turned away in rage from the word, the will, and the ways of God, through the voice of those who cared about him (2 Kings 5:13). Through their words of encouragement and compassion, You gave him the grace he needed to be able to repent, to turn back to You and Your will for his healing. He humbled himself in the sight of the Lord. He allowed himself to be washed in Your living waters. And he rose up out of those waters a new man -- healed of his pride and his shame, healed of his sickness both on the inside and the outside (v. 5:14). Namaan came to know the one, true God that day, that there was "no God in all the earth" but You (v 5:15). The day of Naaman's humility was the day of his healing and salvation, the day of redemption and restoration for his "spirit and soul and body" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). It was the day of fulfillment of Your Word to him and to us all: "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up" (James 4:10, NKJV). Lord, let it be so in my heart and in the hearts of all Your people in all the earth. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please keep us in prayer at Aldersgate Renewal Ministries' Day Apart for Healing tomorrow and the community healing service I'll lead tonight at their "ARC" (Aldersgate Renewal Center) in Goodlettsville, TN near Nashville (www.aldersgaterenewal.org). I have two ministry trips abroad coming up (Estonia in October and Pakistan in December), where I'll be sharing my teaching and my heart for prayer and healing. If you'd like to join our intercessory prayer team, connected by email, please let me know. Since this will be my first ministry engagement sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and ministering the healing love of God in a Muslim nation, I'm sensing the need for an especially strong and committed covering of prayer: TommyHays@aol.com I would be thrilled for you to order my new book for yourself or someone who may enjoy it with my perspective on healing and God's heart for restoration in the process of the journey, with mighty breakthroughs along the way: Free to Be Like Jesus -- Transforming Power of Healing & Deliverance: http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ or at http://www.amazon.com/ Proceeds go to support the vision and calling of the Lord through Messiah Ministries. Subscribe Free by email to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502