The Suffering of Lies

The Suffering of Lies

“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, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”  Luke 4:18, 19

In our present day, more people have been diagnosed with depressive disorders, major mental collapses, and all kinds of conditions needing treatment of some kind.

When I was growing up, I remember a song that meant much to me.  A couple of lines are:

“There’s not a Friend like the lowly Jesus – no not One, no not One.  None else can heal all our soul’s diseases, no not One, no not One…”

Jesus Christ has not changed.  He is still healing broken hearts, setting captives free, and opening eyes to His glorious Self (for He is the Gospel!).

There is a misunderstanding among some that when we come to Christ we don’t have some “soul infirmities” that need His touch.  I’m sure there have been divisions over this.  What then, are we supposed to do?  Pretend we don’t hurt?  Our sufferings are real.  

AND the suffering of lies are real as well.

Actually, I have come to believe and understand it’s the WHO and the HOW we deal with those things that bring real healing.

In my pilgrimage, I know I had some infirmities of my own soul, for sure.  Christ came to live in us forever – He’s not going anywhere.  And He is interested in the genuine renewal of my soul.   Oppressions of mind are varied in each individual.  However, God’s TRUTH is the same for all.

Whatever truly happened to people in their lives cannot be changed.  BUT is this the source of the pain anyway?  Is the true source of my pain merely my belief system which includes what I believe about all that happened to me which produced this pain and continues to produce present suffering?

The sufferings of my life were real and are real.  There were a number of things NOT changed about some of these circumstances.  But I was transformed regarding what I believe about them.  God used my sufferings that I might know Him, and with my heart, “see” this risen, glorious Savior AND TRUST HIM!   There’s so much to “hear” and “know” from our Lord!

And… many of our sufferings were and are self-inflicted due to our NOT knowing Jesus Christ, not following Him and His way.  Yet the sufferings of Christ are different and we can have joy for those things – because He convinces us that the sufferings of THIS WORLD are not WORTHY to be compared with His glory that is coming!

Hebrews says that when we came to Christ our consciences are purged by His blood to serve the living God – in a new and living way.

What does this mean?  It means that our consciences are now BLESSED – experiencing a true washing with His blood, His Truth, His Love, His all. 

What else does this means?  It means I CAN experience a BRAND NEW MIND – A BRAND NEW THINKING and not be driven by lies which produce soul infirmities or emotions that are WHACKED!                           WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST!

Renewal of our minds is nothing more than exchanging all lies for ALL TRUTH and allowing our Lord to give us whatever we need to APPREHEND THE TRUTH.  I am of the persuasion that if one is indeed, “crippled” by emotional hang-ups or distressing mental issues, they can walk with Jesus Christ through those things and come out with His Divine Truth and Touch.   

To put it simply and purely – our Lord can and does change our entire belief system.  He is very personal, intimate.  He is TRUTH.  He is the living Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord!

He has NOT changed.  His heart is to provide for every need – and grant a true answer to all that is going on in our lives and even those things that happened in the past causing us present distress. 

We are called to live and walk by faith (trust) in the Living Lord and by His Word of Life alone.

Paul, the Apostle, had a past – he states it in Phil. 3.  He consented to Stephen’s death – remember?  But then he said this now was all “rubbish” compared to knowing Christ Jesus, His Lord.

Then later in another epistle he describes himself as having a pure conscience.  Now how did that happen?   

Here is his answer to how this pure conscience came to be: He believed God.  And he knew and was coming to know               Jesus Christ! 

May we ask our Lord today to purge our consciences of ALL false beliefs!

Sue Gaither