No one skates through life without some emotional hurts. Living in a fallen world among sinful broken people allows for a lot of opportunities to be rejected and ridiculed. These hurts often stick with people throughout their lives, having a tremendous impact on how they relate with other people and even with God. God wants to heal these hurts in our lives and today we will talk about His healing grace.

Psalms 147:3 (NIV)
3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

How does God heal our broken hearts and bin up our wounds. He does it by changing the way we see ourselves. By allowing us to see ourselves the way that He sees us. By helping us to think differently about who we are in Him.

Romans 12:2 (NIV)
2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

What you think about yourself and how you see yourself has a huge impact on the way you move through life. If you see yourself as a victim, you get victimized. If you see yourself as not being creative you won’t be. Often times we are told things by people in authority in our lives when we are younger that stick with us. But God sees and thinks about us differently and He wants us to do the same.

Today we are going to look at five things that God sees and thinks about you because of His grace.

1. (Your Name Here) is Acceptable

You are acceptable. We spend so much energy trying to feel accepted. To belong to this group or that group. This desire to be accepted will impact the way you dress, what you drive, how you act. It will cause you to compromise what you believe in and to do things that you would otherwise not do. With kids we call it peer pressure, but most people are influenced by this same pressure throughout their lives.

Romans 15:7 (NIV)
7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Christ has accepted you. You are acceptable. You belong.

2. (Your Name Here) is Valuable

You have tremendous value. How do we determine the value of something? Who owns it is one factor. Used golf shoes owned by Tiger Woods are worth more than my used golf shoes. Another factor that determines value is what someone is willing to pay. Check out these verses:

1 John 4:4 (TLB)
4 Dear young friends, you belong to God and have already won your fight with those who are against Christ because there is someone in your hearts who is stronger than any evil teacher in this wicked world.

1 Corinthians 7:23 (TLB)
23 You have been bought and paid for by Christ, so you belong to him–be free now from all these earthly prides and fears.

3. (Your Name Here) is Lovable

There are times in life when we have been rejected or hurt where maybe it feels like no one loves us or really cares about us. God does!

Isaiah 54:10 (NIV)
10 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

4. (Your Name Here) is Forgivable

This is good to know because I make a lot of mistakes. And yet God forgives me.

Isaiah 43:25 (TEV)
25 And yet, I am the God who forgives your sins, and I do this because of who I am. I will not hold your sins against you.

Ephesians 1:4 (TEV)
4 Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before him.

5. (Your Name Here) is Capable

It doesn’t matter if other people say, “You’ll never amount to anything,” the Bible says with Christ I am capable. And that’s the truth!

Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Everything means everything….

Come back often to see the latest sermons or bible studies on your Online Pastor site. We are blessed to be your Pastor Online!

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Dear Online Pastor,

Great to be part of it . By his stripes we are healed , is that spiritual or physical, i know we see a lot of both but does it mean Christ defeated physical sickness on the cross so the believer has a right to never being sick which is teached a lot or the spiritual of the things that last forever and never fade away. 2nd prosperity teaching has taken off ,mega churches the result, ive listened to many sermons which sound great only to go to my bible (nt) to find the exact opposite. am i missing something here? should not our emphasis be on storing treasure in heaven rather than the Lillis of the field which soon will be no more. many thanks.

Signed 2 Questions,

Dear 2 Questions,

I believe that the answer to both your questions is found in the idea that the Kingdom of God is here but not fully here. When Jesus came the first time He inaugurated the Kingdom. When He comes back the second time He will complete the Kingdom. We live in between times. So the Kingdom is here but not fully here. We are to live expecting the kingdom to breakthrough at all times, while realizing that it doesn’t always happen the way we want because the Kingdom is not yet fully here. So we are healed, we are being healed, we will be healed, all apply at the same time. Now and Not Yet. I have done an 8 week series on this idea of the Kingdom of God and a 14 week series on the idea of healing as it relates to the Kingdom of God which you can find for free at Christina Cell Groups on the Christian Cell Group Online page if you are interested.

Prosperity teaching is interesting because it all hinges on how you define what it means to be prosperous. I have met a lot of people who are prosperous in the Kingdom of God who don’t have much money or stuff. One of the problems with the prosperity message is that it sometimes seems to benefit the people who preach it more than anyone else. I have done a lot of mission work in extremely poor countries, and the believers there are some of the most prosperous I have ever met, but they have to depend on God for their next meal.

Hope that helps!

Internet Pastor

(Internet Pastor Online Ministry is provided for education and entertainment purposes. This site is in no way a substitute for a relationship with a local church/pastor or with a licensed counselor when necessary.)

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In this Bible Study series on Internet Pastor we will be studying through the New Testament verse by verse. You can watch or listen to the study by going to the Online Church page.

Matthew 9:1-38 (NKJV)
1 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. 2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” 3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”–then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 7 And he arose and departed to his house. 8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men. 9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. 10 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” 14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. 17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” 18 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” 19 So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples. 20 And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. 21 For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” 22 But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour. 23 When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, 24 He said to them, “Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. 25 But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 And the report of this went out into all that land. 27 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” 28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.” 31 But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country. 32 As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. 33 And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!” 34 But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.” 35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Chapter 9
Jesus continues to demonstrate that the Kingdom of God is here with dynamic supernatural encounters. Throughout the chapter there are awesome displays of faith and hope because of the message that Jesus has presented. He is now demonstrating the Words with the Works.

Matthew 9:1-8 Jesus heals a paralytic

These encounters are all so amazing. Not only is the fact the Kingdom of God is here being displayed, it is setting off all sorts of other situations. Notice in verse 2 that it is the faith of the friends that Jesus mentions. Sometimes we are led to believe that if we ask God for something and it doesn’t happen then it must either be a lack of faith or we have some sin in our life that is keeping it from happen. Neither conclusion is correct. First off, if the condition for answered prayer is that we are sin free, none of us will ever have a prayer answered. In this instance, it the healing wasn’t about the faith of the paralytic but the faith of his friends. (We must remember that the Kingdom is here but not fully here. This allows for the sovereignty of God) Jesus also gets the religious leaders stirred up when He says your sins are forgiven. This is significant because only God can forgive sins. Jesus is making a bold claim here and that is what stirs up the religious leaders.

Matthew 9:9-13

In these verses Matthew is called to follow Jesus and then he invites his friends over to meet Jesus. This is also not well received by the religious leaders of the day. They have spent years building themselves up by excluding the very people God wants to include. We have to be very careful that our own brand of religiosity doesn’t keep us from becoming just like the scribes and Pharisees. For example, one of the best ways to share the Gospel with people is to hang out with the friends of new Christians. Over time, our circle of friends begins to change and more and more our friends tend to be Christians. However, when someone new comes in, they might still have a lot of friends who aren’t believers. If we can connect with them in non-religious ways we have an opportunity to share the Gospel. However, we have to be will to meet them on their terms. People who are not believers have an entirely different way of processing life. If we aren’t able to love people where they are then we will not be effective in this approach. This is demonstrated in the way people respond to Jesus and the way they respond to the Pharisees.

Matthew 9:14-17

This interaction with John’s disciples is interesting. They also didn’t understand why Jesus and His disciples would attend a feast like the one at Matthews house while they were fasting. When they asked Jesus about it He told them that the Kingdom is like a great feast in this case a wedding banquet. At a wedding people are happy and eating, not fasting and mourning. Jesus the Bridegroom (King) was present and so there was no need to fast. When the people reject Him (when the bridegroom is taken away) then they will fast. Jesus then makes a comparison between the ministry of John the Baptist and His own ministry. John’s ministry was that of a reformer. He was trying to bring about repentance in people who were trapped in the traditions and rituals of the Pharisees. In effect, he was trying to patch up an old system (like sewing an unshrunk cloth on an old garment which would tear or pouring new wine into old wineskins which would burst). Jesus had come to do something new. He had come to lead a group out of the old ways and into the Kingdom of God based on Him and His righteousness!

Matthew 9:18-34

Jairus come to Jesus and worships and says to Jesus my daughter has died but if you will lay your hand on her she will live. The woman with the issue of blood knows that if she can just touch his garment she will be healed. Two blind men cry out for mercy and they receive sight. A demon possessed mute man is delivered and healed. The people are seeing the nature of God as light is breaking into the darkness they have lived in for so long. The reaction of the Pharisees is typical, this man casts out demons by the ruler of demons. What they are saying in effect that the mute demon possessed man is better than Jesus who they are saying is demon possessed and blaspheming.

Matthew 9:35-38

Jesus continues His ministry and trains His disciples. As He ministers His disciples are watching and learning. Jesus is preparing them to go and do the same things He was doing. The workers are few, the harvest is ripe. If you remember the teaching we did on the Feasts you know that we are in between the fourth feast (Pentecost), and the fifth feast (Trumpets), which signifies the end of the harvest. Jesus is filled with compassion for the condition of the people who have lived in such darkness. He is going to send out an army (which includes us) to bring the light of the Gospel into a fallen and broken planet. It is His story, and it is awesome.

Come back often to see the latest sermons or bible studies on your Online Pastor site. We are blessed to be your Pastor Online!

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