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E. L. Ministries
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The Lord Is My Shepherd, I shall not want....
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Greetings!
E.L. Ministries "Thank You For Blessing Our Open House"
We Honestly Appreciate Your Support and We believe, without question, that our supporters and prayer partners are among the most innovative and noteworthy assets of our ministry. We now would like to shine the spotlight on you and applaud the significant contributions that you continue to make, and support you lift up for this ministry. We thank you for the privilege of ministering, praying and working with you to empower this ministry to achieve its God- given purposes, and look forward to meaningful ongoing partnerships as we embark on this new level of stewardship and servitude. Here in In America, it is the custom to express appreciation to people who help you in any way. . Sometimes the absence of a "thank you" is misunderstood to mean the effort to help was not appreciated or was not wanted. Our "Thank You" does not come as a result of expectations or traditions, but rather because we are truly grateful for all you do, all you have done, and all you have pledged to do. Because of your kind support and commited prayers, our vision of "Launching Out Into The Deep" has become a reality.
Revs. W. D. & Joyce R. Scott, Founders - E. L. Ministries
"Illumine our hearts with your love that empowers us."
E.L. Ministries (ELM)
522 S. Independence Blvd. Suite 100 Virginia Beach, VA 23452
757-456-9777 · revscott@elmdirect.org · http://www.elmdirect.org
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Special Edition: Healing - Yours For The Asking! (Part 1)
Seeking Your Healing May 2004
in this issue
Now, What Does "Healed" Mean?
Can God Really Heal Us?
Healing: 101 - Didn't Jesus heal people?
Yes, Jesus certainly heals according to the Word! But, remember,the primary purpose of miracles in the Bible was that of authenticating the messenger and the message. Casting out demons and healing people was Christ's way of showing who He was. While He had great compassion on the people and certainly healed them out of His compassion and love, that was not the primary purpose of the miracles nor the primary purpose of His ministry. Christ came as man that He might die for our sins and bring spiritual healing to bring us back to God (see 1 Pet. 2:24-25). Note that the focus in this passage in 1 Peter is that we might die to sin (its reign) and be made alive to righteousness. The healing Peter is talking about is spiritual and is specifically stated in connection with spiritual growth and change and being returned to the Shepherd and guardian of our souls. A good illustration of this point is found in Mark 1:32-39. Yes, Jesus healed many and cast out demons but these were few in comparison to those He did not heal, Even though many were seeking healing from him, he journeyed on to other locations in order to preach the gospel because healing was not the primary reason He was here. The miracles authenticated and showed he had power over disease and demons and was thereby the only one who could truly save men from their sins. The idea that all disease is the product of demonic activity is false and not supported in Scripture. We live in a fallen world where many things contribute to disease. In many ways this is the product of Satan's activity and man's sin, but often not directly. The healing Jesus and the apostles did was always distinguished from casting out demons and those diseases caused by Satan or demonic activity. They are not always one and the same. We too often want to blame everything on Satan when often the Lord wants us to realize the problem is us, or simply a trial He wants to use as a tool of growth or to demonstrate His strength through the trial. Mature Christians know better than to attempt to treat God like he is a Genie that we can rub to get our wish and make life as we want it. It takes more faith to trust God through such trials (sicknesses, pain, suffering) than to simply experience immediate relief or the removal of the pain.
Reverends W.D. & Joyce R. Scott
Greetings!
Healing, even today with all our scientific methods, remains somewhat a mystery. Particularly healing that is transforming remains hidden, not seen by our finite vision. We find, that the Biblical community treasures stories of healing that have no explanation except that they have come by the power and mercy of God. We, as the church treasure these stories, not because we must understand everything about them, but because they are a witness to God's love and power, and we trust that witness! However, there are numerous verses in Scripture which reveal that our physical bodies are continuously running down and suffering various ailments (good LORD, don't we all know something about that). Our present bodies are said to be perishable and weak (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). Paul said "our outer man is decaying" (2 Corinthians 4:16). Death and disease will be a part of the human condition until that time when we receive resurrection bodies that are immune to such frailties (1 Corinthians 15:51-55). Am I saying we shouldn't pray for healing? No, not at all. I'm just saying that after we've asked for healing, we need to submit to God's sovereign will. He may have a purpose in allowing our illness. What does it mean to be "healed"? What is healing? Whenever I hear people speak of "healing" I immediately think of Healing as a gift of "divine intervention" that moves a person towards... wholeness (resourcefulness & empowerment) flow (spontaneity, aliveness) balance & centeredness , towards a more intimate spiritual connection & harmony with God's purposes and direction: (godly focus, godly purpose, godly meaning, and God's greater truths)
Now, What Does "Healed" Mean?
Know your target audience. Who are your most important customers, clients or prospects, and why? Know what is important to them and address their needs in your newsletter each month. Include a photo to make your newsletter even more appealing.
"...whatever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." Matt. 21:22
Can God Really Heal Us?
Let's review some academic applications of the term: Can God heal us? Of course He can! Certainly, and we should pray for that healing, according to His will, but we must also seek His wisdom in finding other solutions (diet, medical help, etc.) and have the faith to rest in what He wants to do in and through us in the process. Above all, we know Its never a matter of God's power but it is always a matter of His purpose. God wants "intimacy" with us, and He wants to mature us spiritually regardless of whether He suddenly or gradually heals us or not. Our need is to seek help, pray for wisdom, removal if it's His will, but above all to rest in His fatherly grace and plan. You may be "going thru" only for God to birth a new level of "intimacy" or ministry in your life. Your ministry could well be born out of the pain of suffering (and this is not limited to simply the physical suffering that accompanies our trials) But, God and His Word will be a divine prescription for you. Because, He is our "healer"! Guess what! We are not only healed, but we are also sealed! We are sealed by the Holy Spirit of God by receiving His stamp upon our souls when we accept Him as Lord and Savior in our lives, thus being made partakers of the divine nature and "qualified" ... to share in the inheritance of the saints (access to healing is a part of that inheritance) (Col. 1:12). This is, indeed, the purposeful design of His dwelling in us, to heal our disordered souls from the attacks of the enemy (both physical, and spiritual), and to restore His image upon our nature, which is so battered and defaced by the effects of sin's corruptions. The Bible indicates that God is willing to heal those who seek Him for healing, but that God is not obligated to heal. Why God will heal some persons and not others is often a mystery, but, we are confident that His will is accomplished either way. Yes, we should seek God for our healing, but if that healing is delayed (or even denied), we should seek God for the thing He would teach us through the circumstances of our sickness and trials." In Exodus, chapter fifteen and verse twenty six, the Lord says, 'I am the Lord that healeth thee.' We call God 'Jehovah Rophi' because He is the God of healing. In Psalm One Hundred and Three, verse three, we read again the truth that the 'Lord forgiveth all thine iniquities' and He it is 'who healed all thy diseases.'" "In the New Testament we read of Jesus Christ who cleansed the lepers, made the lame to walk, opened the ears of the deaf and the eyes of the blind. This same Jesus raised the dead and is Himself alive today!" You have access to God the Father through Jesus Christ, and you can petition Him for your healing today!, then WAIT on HIM! Ask God to help you to have purpose while you wait; to fill the long hours with fervent prayers that otherwise, may well have been neglected, if your health had been fine(we can get so busy, that we forget our business of praising God). Seek God to help you use this time as a tool, and then offer up what God has tasked you to do. God will help you to recognize that He considers you capable of accepting this challenge of "healing", as well as growing with it, or He would never have permitted it to be brought into your life. And the last time I checked....our lives are a "TESTIMONY". .
Reverends W.D. & Joyce R. Scott - In His Service
:: revscott@elmdirect.org
:: http://www.elmdirect.org
:: 757-456-9777
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Part 2: E.L. Ministries' Special Edition on "Healing"
The Power of Prayer & Healing May 2004
in this issue
Plead the Promises of God
"In Him all the promises of God are yes." (2 Corinthians 1:20, Berkeley)
Does Prayer Help?
Yes, definitely! We should pray to God for at least two important reasons. First of all, God has instructed us to pray. Secondly, prayer petitions and God and that causes things to happen. Another way of looking at this is "prayer always gets results, or cause and effect." It has been my experience that God answers our prayers in at least 3 ways. He answers: Yes........No......or Wait! Prayer provides a way for us to communicate with God. We can pray to God by using the boldness and simplicity of the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:8-13) or we can merely speak to God. God is constantly aware of what we do and what we say. He is omnipotent. Yet, we must be both willing and ready to exercise our faith by acknowledging God. We must continue to strive to do "everything by prayer and supplications with thanksgiving" and learn to "live by every Word of God". Philippians 4:6,7; Luke 4:4).
Isaiah 55:11 My word that goes out from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Greetings!
Welcome to Part 2 of our Series on Healing! We raised some interesting questions on "healing" during our previous newsletter. What does being "healed" mean. Does God Heal? What about Jesus's healing ministry? Did you know that back in August, 2003, ABC conducted a study regarding the effects of prayer in relation to "healing" or "remote healing" as the scientist stated. Halfway around the world, American Sufi Muslims joined in. Fundamentalist Christians added their prayers, as do Orthodox Jews at Jersualem's Western Wall. "Jimmy P," a heart patient at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, is part of a global scientific experiment trying to find out: Does prayer heal? The experiment was launched by Dr. Mitch Krucoff, a cardiologist at Duke University Medical Center. Scientists continue to "put faith to the test" in their research to find "if God is real". Here is how that experment was described: "Scientists are taking a look at the 191 studies that have already been done on what they call "remote healing." One such study was conducted at the Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo. At first, Dr. William Harris had a hard time persuading a fellow cardiologist, Dr. James O'Keefe, to participate in the prayer experiment on heart patients. "From a purely scientific standpoint, I thought it was illogical," says O'Keefe. "I don't really think of spirituality normally as playing a role in scientific, rigorous, double-blind placebo-controlled scientific studies. It's two different realms." A previous study by some other scientists had gotten positive results, and Harris wanted to study remote healing for himself. But he, too, was skeptical. "We were even doubtful that the phenomena itself was real," he says, "that prayer could do anything." How difficult it must be in this contemporary day to "expect a miracle of healing" in the midst of so many who doubt that God is able! Look at what Jesus did in the Father's name. And remember He promised us "greater works"! Year One 1) Officials' dying son Year Two 2) Madman in the synagogue 3) Peter's mother-in-law's fever 4) Jesus continues healing 5) The leper 6) Paralysed man 7) Invalid at the Pool of Bethesda 8) Man with the shrivelled hand 9) Jesus continues healing many 10) Roman centurion's servant 11) The widow of Nain's dead son 12) Dumb (and blind) man 13) Madman and the Gadarene pigs 14) Woman with the haemorrhage; 14) raising of Jairus' daughter 15) Two blind men and the dumb man Year Three 16) Jesus heals the sick at Gennesaret 17) Daughter of Syrophoenician woman 18) Deaf and dumb man in Decapolis 19) Blind man of Bethsaida 20) Epileptic boy 21) Ten lepers 22) The man born blind Last Months 23) Crippled woman 24) Man with dropsy 25) Lazarus raised from the dead 26) Blind man (or men) near Jericho Last Week in Jerusalem 27) Ear of the High Priest¹s servant
Plead the Promises of God
DID YOU KNOW THAT PROMISES PREDICT THE ANSWERS! They are the molds into which we pour our prayers. They foretell what to expect. They shape our praying. They motivate, direct, and determine our supplications.
What Are some of those promises? Read these!! Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. (Jeremiah 33:3); All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. (Matthew 21:22); If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. (John 14:14). In Luke 18:1 Jesus told his disciples that they "should always pray and not give up." and then Jesus asked "...will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?" Pray to God from your heart for healing. Don't stop. Don't give up. God wants us to ask him for help. He loves us. Don't Give Up On God, Because He Has Not Given Up On You!
"Tarry at a promise (God's), and God will meet you there." (D.L. Moody)
"In Him all the promises of God are yes." (2 Corinthians 1:20, Berkeley)
The Bible actually gives us some directions on how to pray for healing. For example, in James 5:14-15 we are told: Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him 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 him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. and in James 5:16 we are asked to "confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." and then told that "The prayer of a righteous man availeth much (is powerful and effective)." In Mark 11:23-25 Jesus further instructs to forgive when we pray "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, `Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24) Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25) And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." Only someone facing or sharing a serious sickness, pain or tragedy knows how hard it is. They know how hard it is to cope with the fear and uncertainty. They know how absurd it sounds when someone first tells them to "keep a positive attitude". They know how terrifying it is when the doubt comes. They know how hard it is to throw a mountain into the sea. But remember what Jesus told us in Matthew 17:19-20 when he said "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, `Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Faith as small as a mustard seed sounds a little like hope to me, and that's a great place to be! Hebrews 11:1 - Now Faith Is The Substance Of Things Hoped For, The Evidence Of Things Not Seen!
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:: revscott@elmdirect.org
:: http://www.elmdirect.org
:: 757-456-9777
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