Tag Archives: God is healer heals

Have you ever had something terrible happen to you and through it all, you felt Someone, the Spirit of Counsel. had gone ahead of you and was with you, helping you all along the journey to get through it? That just happened to me.

We came back home from a beautiful wedding. I splurged with some foods I had not been used to eating, then topped it off with a snack of peanuts. Immediately, BOOM, intense gastrointestinal pain hit me hard.

Our son called and while he was on the phone with my husband, I asked him if he had any advice for me. Having a naturopath doctor himself, he told me exactly what to do. I ordered the products he advised.

Meanwhile, a friend sent me an invitation to a meeting where a lady would be ministering to pray for healing. It was still almost a week away!

The night before the meeting, my husband asked me, “Ann, have you ever had your appendix removed?” I had been holding my right side.

“No! If that was it, I would have been dead by now.”

Inside, I knew that surgery was where I was headed, because fever was starting to come upon me, and tenderness over the appendix had been there for a while.

The next morning, I knew I had two choices: go to the meeting, or to the Emergency Room.

I went to the house meeting. When it came time for Joanna Coe Herndon to pray, she looked at me and said, “When you came in, I knew you needed a miracle TODAY!” I nodded yes.

She laid hands on me and prayed. I got up and bent over. The pain was gone. When I got up the next morning, I felt new inside, I could walk normal and put on real clothes.

But I knew I had to learn what the underlying problem had been. Before this happened, we had ordered a book for no special reason, Time Bomb: A Genocide of Deadly Processed Foods by Joe Horn and Allie Anderson. What happened to me had happened to him time and time again until he lost 16 inches of his intestines—which was not necessary. I told Jim, “Give me that book!”

The products I ordered came in and they helped me heal fully and feel even better. I learned how to change my diet and what foods and chemicals to avoid; how to read labels, etc. Throughout the whole ordeal, I felt the Holy Spirit with me, and He taught me more about Himself.

In this fourth of the Seven Spirits of God series we will discuss what is the Spirit of Counsel from Isaiah 11:2: The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him (Jesus), the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord (NKJV).

The Spirit of Counsel is not a ‘what’ or ‘it.’ He is a ‘who’ – a Person with a capital P, a personal Helper, not merely an energy force that brings a person to a state of consciousness of ones’ own divinity and ‘oneness’ with all things.

Who Is The Spirit of Counsel—the Helper?

The Seven Spirits of God are one: The Spirit of the Lord. Yet, each of the seven are one aspect of His wonderful and mighty, eternal Being. Just too wonderful, deep and incomprehensible! But let us try to comprehend.

John 14:26 NKJV tells us the Counselor is the “Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” He is our Helper. Other translations, for the word Helper, say Advocate, Intercessor, Comforter, Strengthener and Standby.

At Jesus’ birth, it was prophesied he would be called Emmanuel, meaning God with Us. How much more can God be with us than to be a 24/7 Helper and Comforter? The interesting thing is, though, that Jesus could not even be all this to his disciples when He was on earth. They found themselves fearful many times when Jesus was not right there with them.

Only after Jesus’ death and resurrection, was He able to send the Holy Spirit who would indwell their hearts to truly be with them 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Thus, the words of Jeremiah were fulfilled: “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people . . . For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more (Jer. 31:33-34 NIV).

What the Spirit of Counsel is NOT?

Sadly, western society has embraced the notion that we can be our own god; in other words, we don’t need to surrender our heart and deepest self to a higher Being outside our body.

Caryl Matrisciana reveals the truth about New Age enlightenment and writes her story in her book Out of India. She was born in India and lived there for 19 years, witnessing the effects of Hinduism and Yoga that kept India in bondage. It frightened her as a child.

Her family moved back to London, England, after India gained its independence. In London, she was introduced to “A New Spiritual Gospel,” the “New Age Movement,” and discovered its roots were in the religion she thought she’d left behind.

This discovery was during the production of HAIR and the song, Age of Aquarius. The new way of thinking was to travel into their bodies and into inner worlds, led through guided imagery, visualization, rhythmic music, and enthusiastic energy – to merge with the universe.

Through powerful suggestion, colors meshed, and individuals joined together in one cosmic force – a force she eventually learned to call “God.” From there, the worshipers were invoked to chant, ‘Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna.”

Did these people know they were actually praying to an Indian deity? She thought. Why were Westerners so enthralled with a religious activity that didn’t incite much enthusiasm even among its own people in India?

Just as Hare Krishna was glorified, so was Yoga! And its association with drugs, reincarnation and a new spiritual experience. The Yoga Caryl remembered in India was a serious, intense, arduous discipline. Its disciples were taught by avowed spiritual masters to be prepared for death.

Caryl had many misgivings about it all, but at age 20, she yearned to find the ‘light’ promised in this new way of thinking. She was being conditioned in the 60s by a powerful religious and political structure: globalism as the goal, and peace as the promise.

This spiritual enlightenment can be encapsulated in these four points of the New Age:

1. God is seen more as a flowing energy or creative force that exists in all things rather than as a personal God who is distinct from man and creation.

2. Man is seen as divine, essentially a part of God. [Is this not humanism?]

3. Salvation for the soul is something attained when one becomes an awakened soul by understanding one’s divinity and ‘oneness’ with all. This awakening comes about through the use of various rituals and mystical practices that help remove one’s attachment to the world.

4. The gap between good and evil is eradicated. In other words, there is no evil – all is divine. It casts the more serious charge that the ‘old ways’ only serve to impede the progress of a society bent on an upward evolution to a higher consciousness – the new power.

“Christian Yoga” – in reality, there can be no such thing. The positions and movements have meaning for the Hindu. The West is deceived into thinking they can divorce yogic practice from its spiritual aspects simply by ignoring or redefining them. Eastern meditation in general has been given a new ‘look.’

For example, Thomas Keating in his book, Open Mind, Open Heart, renames Eastern meditation techniques as “centering,” “contemplative prayer,” and “transformed into Christ.” Pastors and doctors are teaching Yoga. The YMCA has adopted it.

At the Hindu University of America in Orlando, Florida, a professor of Yoga philosophy and meditation states, “Yoga is Hinduism.” And its purpose is to bring a god-consciousness and death [stopping body functions and breathing] through reincarnation in order to postpone having to face the true reality – the real Creator God. Their supreme being is Brahma, the infinite, all-embracing ever blissful consciousness. Everything is part of this deity – cows, monkeys, and idols of half man, half animals.

This worship’s goal, also, is to invoke the Kundalini serpent power, to open pathways in the spine for the flow of Kundalini energy. This opens the third eye. When this is released, body movements become serpent-like. Drugs and Yoga both shut down life’s reality. However, Yoga is endorsed as a beneficial mind-body exercise.

During a casual conversation with a spirit-filled pastor, he said, “In a prayer line, a lady came up to me and started manifesting like a snake.” He nor I did not know the origin of this evil at the time. Now I know, and so do you. We can cast it out in the name of Jesus, and share the Truth.

Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God. –Leviticus 19:31 NKJV).

How Does the Holy Spirit Counsel?

During the morning before the prayer/healing meeting I opened my Passion Translation bible and read Psalm 139: 4-5. I didn’t know at that time how much comfort it would bring.

3–4 You are so intimately aware of me, Lord.
You read my heart like an open book
and you know all the words I’m about to speak
before I even start a sentence!
You know every step I will take before my journey even begins.
5 You’ve gone into my future to prepare the way,
and in kindness you follow behind me
to spare me from the harm of my past.[a]
You have laid your hand on me!

This is a perfect example of what Psalm 119:24 means, “Your testimonies also are my delight; They are my counselors.” God’s word is His Word to us. Simple, but Oh! So comforting to the soul and to our hearts when they come at just the right time.

The Holy Spirit Counsels Through Godly People

Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king in Judah. “And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a loyal heart (2 Chronicles 25:2 NKJV).

When he was to make war against Edom, he hired 100,000 men from Israel to help him fight. But a man of God came to him advising him not to let these men go with him. He listened to this advice and released the men from war.

However, ‘after Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought the gods of his enemies, set them up to be his gods, and bowed down before them and burned incense to them.

“Therefore, the anger of the Lord was aroused against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people, which could not rescue their own people from your hand?” (2 Chron. 25: 14-15).

Amaziah’s heart revealed his lack of surrender to the One and Only Lord God, and he worshipped gods that could not even rescue his enemy. He listened to one godly man, but not the prophet.

He said to the prophet, “Have we made you the king’s counselor? Cease! Why should you be killed?” Then the prophet ceased, and said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice.”

In the process of time, a conspiracy was made against Amaziah, and he was killed by his enemies. Nowhere in the Scripture does it say he sought the Lord’s counsel and God’s heart about any decision he needed to make. In contrast, the Psalms are full of King David’s conversations with the Lord and God’s counsel to him.

What Does the Christian Believe to Be Able to Know the True Spirit of Counsel?

1) The Lord himself exalts above all things His name and His word, the holy Bible. For any person who comes along beside Him to do the same, He will bring signs following (Psalm 138:2; Mark 16:19).

2) There is only one God, the Creator and Triune God, eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father’s name is Yahweh (Hebrew); Jesus’ name is Yeshua (Hebrew), and He is God.

3) Jesus, the Christ and Messiah, was born of the Virgin Mary, incarnate without human father––through the power of Holy Spirit. Jesus led a sinless life, took on himself our sin on the cross, was brutally crucified, suffered and died, and went to hell so we don’t have to go there. He paid the price for our sin, but LIFE eternal is only for those who believe and accept this free gift of grace.

4) Jesus rose from the dead and is alive today, sits at the right hand of the Father, and through the Holy Spirit empowers people on earth, who believe, accept and receive Him by faith.

5) We are accountable to God to live a life separated from sin and to seek love to be the highest aim. It is our responsibility to contribute by word and deed to the spread of this Gospel of Jesus, the Christ – the Messiah.

6) We believe that Jesus died and rose again and will return again. According to the Lord’s own word . . . “we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive, and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words” (1Thessalonians 4: 14-18 NIV).

We Can Bring Comfort of Peace and Joy to Others

These words from Psalm 139: 5:

You know every step I will take before my journey even begins.
5 You’ve gone into my future to prepare the way,
and in kindness you follow behind me

in the New King James Version of the Bible say, “You have hedged me behind and before.” Meaning, the Christian is in God’s grasp, and nothing or nothing can take him/her out of His hand.

In addition, by having accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. we have the Spirit of Counsel in our hearts. We then also become counselors of peace and joy (Prov. 12:20). Thereby, we will comfort those with which we have been comforted by God.

All praises belong to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he is the Father of tender mercy and the God of endless comfort. He always comes alongside us to comfort us in every suffering so that we can come alongside those who are in any painful trial. We can bring them this same comfort that God has poured out upon us. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 TPT

What trial have you come through with the Spirit of Counsel’s help with which you can comfort others? This points to your purpose in life.

# # #

You may find this chapter from my e-course helpful: How to Hear God’s Voice in Making Decisions – Line up the 3 Harbor Lights: God’s Word 80%; Godly Counselors 10%; Circumstances 10%

More Scriptures of Spirit of Counsel and Comfort

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has informed Him? Isaiah 40:13

Wow to the rebellious children, says the Lord, who take counsel, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin. Isaiah 30:1

Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established. Proverbs 15:22

For by wise counsel you will wage your own war, and in a multitude of counselors there is safety. Proverbs 24:6

FREE Booklet with Blog Sign Up

FREE E COURSE - LEARN MORE

Crossing Jordan River

M8F Forgive Because God is Jehovah Rapha

10/12/2017 Ann Miesner Leave a comment

JESUS CAME TO PROCLAIM FREEDOM FOR THE PRISONERS – FORGIVE

Greg Anderson, author of Cancer and the Lord’s Prayer, found that sin was at the root of his problem. In 1984, a nagging cough revealed lung cancer. His left lung was removed. Four months later, he was in the hospital again to have a lump removed from the base of his neck. The surgeon closed him up because the cancer had spread too far. Greg was given thirty days to live . . . until he learned to forgive.

In his youth, Greg was part of a family who prayed at meals, before bed and on Sundays. His church prayed for him; yet all he knew to pray was, “Our Father, which art in heaven.” End of prayer. With the help of his wife, Linda, Greg found people who had been healed of cancer. He wanted to know their secret. Time and again, they pointed to the “Lord’s Prayer” as their answer. He was instructed to pray it slowly and deliberately. He could not get past the part, “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt. 6:12).

Greg hated his father, and he now realized hate had put him in prison. “At one of the lowest points in my cancer journey, Linda helped me begin to understand how blaming both my earthly father and my heavenly Father, one for abuse and one for perceived abandonment, simply added to the suffering I was experiencing.”[1] Greg made a list of those he needed to forgive, with his dad and his verbal abuse at the top. In addition, he had to face one classmate in person, to bless him, before he was free.

Greg discovered that as he forgave he was forgiven. When he forgave is father, Greg felt he let go of toxic emotions and his attitude changed. Understanding his dad’s limited relationship abilities, he could now honestly bless his dad. Today, Greg is founder of Cancer Recovery Foundation. His message of hope and healing, through history’s greatest prayer, reaches more than five million patients and family members worldwide each year.

Greg learned there is no such thing as general forgiveness. God wants us to be specific— very specific. That means facing where we have come from.

Forgiveness, even specifically, seems out of the question for many individuals who have been sexually or mentally abused. They say, “I cannot forgive that person.” What they say is true. They cannot. Only God can and has already done that through the blood of Jesus Christ, His only Son who died for that person’s sin.

Joan Hunter, with a healing ministry, has led the way for thousands to be able to separate the sin from the sinner. She deals with issues of the heart, instructing to “put that person’s SIN on the cross and then forgive”; that Jesus is the only One who can forgive sin. This brings healing and freedom.

Denise’s decision to forgive brings healing

Denise’s healing arrived when she faced her abusive past, a past she did not know she had. Before her healing and feeling up to adopting a baby, she battled severe stomach problems. She had trouble breathing because of acid, reflux-type problems. All she wanted was for the “doctors to fix me!” Every time she visited one, she was placed on a new drug that led to anxiety attacks and other problems. She was hypersensitive to everything; on steroids for a year-and-a-half that caused emotional oversensitivity; so then she cried all the time and was given an antidepressant. It made her feel like she was climbing out of her skin. She finally realized drugs were only making things worse.

“Okay Lord, I will obey you and look to You alone,” Denise committed to quit looking at her circumstances, which only led to being a hypochondriac and obsessed with what was going on inside her body.

She began by reading books about spiritual warfare and spiritual healing. She realized how the television shows and bad movies she and Joe were watching opened themselves up to spiritual attack—disturbing their peace. Joe did not know what to do with her in this state, so every night after work she went to her room to read. At bedtime, she slept in her chair—still feeling like acid was in the top of her head.

One book led to another until Freeing Your Mind from Memories that Bind, by Fred and Florence Littauer, and Lord, I Want to be Whole, by Stormie Omartian, gave more answers— answers the Lord alone gave her. An incident of unauthorized touching, which happened at a friend’s house, gave her flash backs of sexual molestation when she was a child. Men had always been predators to her, but after facing this past event, healing came quickly, if not immediately.

This flash back led to another—a head injury. She wondered, are there other lies I believe? She called her brother Tom to find out, “Hello Tom, do you remember our being in a car accident and in an ambulance?”

“I thought you’d never remember that. I was nine years old and you were four. Mother and our step-dad were in the car, drunk. He was accusing her of cheating on him. He said, ‘I’m going to kill your baby.’ He sped up, driving crazy, hit a semi head-on. Denise, you were the only one really hurt. You went through the windshield and spent two days in the hospital. There were other accidents, but this was the worse.”

“I’ve had a flash back of a large knot in the middle of my forehead, that’s all.”

“A lady at the hospital was very mad at mom because she was drunk. She told her this had better not happen again!”

Forgive and be free

Before this, Denise grieved for her mother all the time—captive to her rose-colored memory. From the time she was sixteen, she knew her mother was not everything she should have been, but now she was free. She was free to break that generational curse and determined not to make the same mistakes her mother made. She would never shove things under the rug to never deal with them and move on like nothing happened—like her mother did. She would raise her children to know God and teach them His ways; she would forgive.

During this time of seeking God, Denise was given three dreams revealing different stages of her healing. Two angels showed her a mirror that reflected her back. It held three ulcerated sores on it. They turned her around and waved their hands on her back, turned her around again so she could view it, and said, “See, you are all healed.”

Later, Denise had another dream, more like a nightmare. A mask was being pulled from her face, and then it was forced back on, bringing shackles with it. She said, “No, I will not go there again!” She knew then, that she truly was healed, and the things that had blocked her from relationships, especially with her husband, were all gone.

The only thing that upsets Denise now is when she is agonizing over someone else who does not know God’s amazing grace, “I’ve been freed from a lot of baggage, things I didn’t even know I had. People are living like they are asleep, living life unaware. God doesn’t want us to live life asleep, just going through the motions. He says we are to be alert and aware. The enemy is prowling like a lion seeking whom he may devour. If we are carrying all this baggage, we are blind. How then can we be aware?”

# # #

If you enjoyed this excerpt from my book, GOD Who Are You? AND Who Am I? Knowing and Experiencing God by His Hebrew Names, I invite you to sign up for my FREE eCourse bonus to the book at the link below, or LEARN MORE

[1] Greg Anderson, Cancer and the Lord’s Prayer: Hope and Healing through History’s Greatest Prayer, (Des Moines, Iowa: Meredith Books, 2006) p. 55. For more information, visit his Website at www.CancerRecovery.org

FREE E COURSE - LEARN MORE

Get the Book(s)

Crossing Jordan River

M8C Story of Job & Jehovah Rapha

10/12/2017 Ann Miesner Leave a comment

“Why God, Why Me?”

Job lived in the land of Uz with his wife, seven sons and three daughters. He was a righteous man, who was blameless, honored God and shunned evil. He was blessed by God with material wealth: seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and a large number of servants.

One day when the angels came to report to God, Satan, who was the Designated Accuser, came along with them. God singled out Satan and said, “What have you been up to?”

Satan answered God, “Going here and there, checking things out on earth.”

God said to Satan, “Have you noticed my friend Job? There’s no one quite like him—honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil.”

Satan retorted, “So do you think Job does all that out of the sheer goodness of his heart? Why, no one ever had it so good! You pamper him like a pet, make sure nothing bad ever happens to him and his family or his possessions, bless everything he does— he can’t lose!

“But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away everything that is his? He’d curse you right to your face, that’s what.”

God replied, “We’ll see. Go ahead—do what you want with all that is his. Just don’t hurt him.” Then Satan left the presence of God.—Job 1:6-12 The Message

Sometime later, Job’s livestock were attacked and stolen; his ten children died in a tornado, all in the same day. “Then he fell to the ground in worship and said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.’ In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (Job 1:20-22).

Job was tested a second time

On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

So Satan went from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”

He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.—Job 2:1-10 NIV

Job had three ‘friends’ who heard about all his calamities:

Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar went to visit Job to console him. When they saw him they could hardly believe what they saw and cried, ripped their robes, and dumped dirt on their heads as a sign of their grief. They sat with Job for seven days and nights without saying a word—speechless at viewing his suffering. Things would have been great if they had just wept with Job and told him how much they loved him, prayed with him and left. Instead, they each, in two rounds, and for most of the forty-two chapters in Job, spouted their eloquent wisdom from their own experiences, what they believed to be true of how and why God was dealing with him.

Eliphaz was sure Job had to have sinned for all this to have happened, “Think! Has a truly innocent person ever ended up on the scrap heap?” (Job 4:7 Msg). Sin had to be the blame.

Bildad was sure Job’s children had sinned. “It’s plain that your children sinned against him—otherwise, why would God have punished them? . . . There’s no way that God will reject a good person, and there’s no way he’ll help a bad one” (Job 8:4, 20 Msg). He told Job what to do: to get down on his knees before Almighty God before it was too late so God would come running. “Even though you’re not much right now, you’ll end up better than ever” (Job 8:18 Msg).

Zophar agreed with Eliphaz—Job had sinned. “You claim, ‘My doctrine is sound and my conduct impeccable.’ How I wish God would give you a piece of his mind, tell you what’s what! I wish he’d show you how wisdom looks from the inside, for true wisdom is mostly ‘inside.’ But you can be sure of this, you haven’t gotten half of what you deserve” (Job 11:4-6 Msg).

Job’s Divine Revelation

Among Job’s well-meaning friends’ ascertains, Job stands by his innocence, and with divine revelation of the coming resurrection of the body and soul from hell, he says, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another” (Job 19:25-26).

Before this revelation, Job had become so completely worn out with his friends’ visit that he cursed the day he was born. “So why did you have me born? I wish no one had ever laid eyes on me! I wish I’d never lived—a stillborn, buried without ever having breathed” (Job 10:18 Msg).

Possibly, Job’s friends served their purpose, for Job made a desperate and wise decision, “I’m taking my case straight to God Almighty, I’ve had it with you—I’m going directly to God. You graffiti my life with lies. You’re a bunch of pompous quacks! I wish you’d shut your mouths—silence is your only claim to wisdom” (Job 13:3-5 Msg). Job went before God with a lengthy complaint, starting with:

“Please God, I have two requests;

Grant them so I’ll know I count with you:

First, lay off the afflictions;

The terror is too much for me.

Second, address me directly so I can answer you, Or let me speak and then you answer me.

How many sins have been charged against me?

Show me the list—how bad is it?

Why do you stay hidden and silent?

Why treat me like I’m your enemy?

Why kick me around like an old tin can?

Why beat a dead horse?”—Job 13:20-25 The Message

God answered Job out of the eye of a storm:

“Do you presume to tell me what I’m doing wrong?

Are you calling me a sinner so you can be a saint?” (40:8 Msg emphasis added).

God then gave Job a lengthy accounting of all his creations in the sky above and the earth beneath, asking Job if he could stand up to them. He said, “I’ll gladly step aside and hand things over to you—you can surely save yourself with no help from me!” (40:14 Msg). He addressed Job’s cursing the day he was born by saying, “Look at the land beast, Behemoth. I created him as well as you” (40:15 Msg).

When the Lord finished speaking, Job replied, “I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans. You asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water, ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’ I admit. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head” (42:1-3 Msg).

The purpose of all suffering

The Lord had asked Job to listen and give Him the answers. Listen closely to Job’s reply, for this is the purpose of all suffering: “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). Job went directly to the Lord, whereas before, his worship had been merely in the sacrificing of animals. He asked, he listened, and he heard. God answered, and spoke directly to Job’s need, at the point of his obedience—through repentance.

Job found that God did not have a list of offenses against him, but his only offense was his complaints against God during the suffering. He knew God had to have had a purpose, and now he knew what it was: “I admit I once lived by rumors of you, now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears!” (Job 42:5 Msg).

Next, God spoke His displeasure to Job’s friends, “You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has” (Job 42:8). God told them He wanted Job to pray for them. Do you think God was trying to make a point with Job’s friends—that they should have prayed, leaving the situation in His hands?

Job is restored double

God blessed Job again by restoring double what he had before. He was healed in all four areas—physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. With the same wife, who hopefully had a change of heart, he had seven more sons and three more daughters.

This time, the daughters’ names are recorded, saying they were the most beautiful in all the land, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers. Spiritually speaking, this is huge: Job was granted the heart of God by seeing his daughters through God’s eyes, as equal in the kingdom, with the same spiritual inheritance. Job lived another hundred and forty years, seeing his children to the fourth generation.

The Bible does not clearly say when God healed Job. When God first began speaking with him, He said, “Now gird up your loins like a man” (Job 38:3). The Message says, “Pull yourself together, Job! Up on your feet! Stand tall!” Possibly Job was healed in response to God’s Word; maybe after he prayed for his friends. Whenever it happened, Job experienced the healing power of Jehovah-Rapha.

Job experienced the crossing of the Jordan in a spiritual sense. The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, defines the Hebrew word for Jordan as yarden (yar-dane), meaning “a descender.” Its primitive root word is yarad (yaw-rad), which literally means “to go downwards”—[also: to bring down; to cast down; to go down; going down; to take down, etc.] Crossing the Jordan means stepping down. It means humility—putting self on the altar so God can work.

Crossing the Jordan also means getting to the other side, to overcome—healing in all four areas of our lives. Job overcame from the inside-out, whereas Janice experienced healing from the outside-in: Job, an obedient believer; Janice (from previous post), not knowing what she believed. The result for both was the same—first-hand, experiential knowledge of God.

Are We Willing to Suffer in Order to Overcome?

Job may have never known the behind-the-scenes scenario of satan’s requests before God, but we have no excuse to be ignorant. We have the rest of the story and must take heed. It was Job’s obedience that caught satan’s attention, as well as God’s. God even initiated the conversation with satan about Job’s righteousness saying, “There is no one on earth like him” (Job 1:8). We must ask ourselves if we are willing to suffer in overcoming, or to be humiliated for the Lord’s sake.

If we are to experience God as Jehovah-Rapha, the Healer, we need to be willing to pay the price of discipleship in order to know Him. We must expect to be tested with bitter waters for a season, trusting they will be made sweet, with this assurance in our heart:

“If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing; whoever attacks you will surrender to you. See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc; no weapon forged against you will prevail” (Isa. 54:15-17).