Beauty for ashes: receiving emotional healing (21 page)

Finally, the Lord made Himself clear enough for me to understand that He was just warning me not to let our relationship get out of balance. He taught me that we could have a close relationship, enjoy years of faithful, loyal service, and produce a lot of good fruit for His kingdom. But I was being specifically warned not to put a trust in them that belongs only to Him. He let me know that He had brought that couple into my life, and He could certainly take them away, which He would do if I put my eyes on them as my source of help instead of keeping my trust in Him.

Even intimacy in a good friendship is scriptural, but it must not get out of balance. Think of David and Jonathan. The Bible says, "The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own life" (1 Samuel 18:1). They

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helped each other and enjoyed covenant relationship. Good friendship is very important, but so is balance.I stress the importance of balance because the apostle Peter says, "Be well balanced . . . for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize uponanddevour" (1 Peter 5:8). Stay in balance, and the devil will not be able to devour you or your relationship with others.

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Ask and ReceiveThe bible says in James 4:2, "You do not have, because you do not ask." I remember when that was a great revelation in my life because I was trying to make things happen in the energy of my own flesh, according to my own plan, and as the result of my own works. I was trying to change myself, trying to change my husband, trying to change my circumstances, trying to rid myself of all the things from my past that were hurting me. But I was not asking God for help.

When God revealed to me that I was lacking good things because I was not asking of Him, I began to ask Him for everything I desired and needed.

The Word says, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desiresandsecret petitions of your heart" (Psalm 37:4). God began doing more for me as a result of my asking, proving to me that He wanted to take care of me. He showed me that if I would ask Him, just come to Him like a little child and ask Him, then He would do for me, He would take care of me, He would meet my needs.

I believe that you may be reading this book because you

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hope to get a breakthrough of healing from your wounded past. You may need for God to heal your broken heart. You may be tired of being all messed up and frustrated inside, as I was. You may need to ask God for help. If so, simply pray:Lord, heal me.Iam asking You for a breakthrough. Give me ananswer. Show me thedirectionIneed to go. Help me, Lord.

Ask in Jesus' Name

I believe that there may be an issue that must be settled in your heart before you can believe that God will meet your needs. An important key concerning your breakthrough is found in John 16:24. Jesus was talking to His disciples just before His crucifixion when He said, "Up to this time you have not asked a [single] thing in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]; but now askandkeep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be fullandcomplete."

The Amplified Bibletells us what it means to ask in the name of Jesus. If you can grasp what it means to ask in Jesus' name, it will give you a breakthrough to the miracle you need.

To ask in Jesus' name means to present to the Father all that Jesus is. Therefore, when we go before the throne, we are not presenting who we are, but the authority Jesus has because of His covenant relationship with the Father.

We are not presenting our own record of good works. We have no perfection to present. But we go before the Father and say, "Lord, I come in the name of Jesus." When we say that, we are really saying to the Father, "I am presenting to You what Jesus is."

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When you go somewhere in somebody's name, you go with that person's authority. For example, I am very close to our pastor in St. Louis. I consider him to be a good friend of ours. I could go to his office and say to his staff, "It is important that I see the pastor right away." His staff know me and trust me well enough to let me in right away.But if I could not go myself, I might send someone who was not known at the pastor's office. If that person said simply, "I need to see the pastornow,"the pastor's staff probably would not let him in right away. But if he said, "Joyce Meyer sent me," the staff would receive him in my name because of the relationshipIhave with the pastor.

That is a picture of what it means to pray in Jesus' name; that is why you can expect to have your needs met when you go to God the Father in the name of His Son-not because you deserve it. If there is anything I am trying to teach you in these few pages, it is that we do notdeserveanything from God, except maybe to die and be punished eternally. But He has made a new covenant with us to give us what Jesus deserves. That undeserved covenant blessing is the glory of the message of grace.

We do not deserve anything, but we get what Jesus earned and deserved. And it is free!Freeis an exciting word. We do not have to try to earn blessings with our good works or good behavior. In John 16:24 (paraphrased) Jesus said, "Up until now you have not asked a single thingin My name(that is, presenting all that I am)." In that same verse, He gave us a new instruction. "But now," He said, "ask, and you willreceive, sothat your joy may be full." Jesus gave two instructions here: "Do not just ask, but askand receive,so that your joy may be full."

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Receive God's BlessingsMany people simply do not know how to receive from God. For example, they spend half of their life begging God to forgive them for some sin, but they neverreceiveHis forgiveness. They just stay in the begging mode. I asked for forgiveness for years, every night, in fact.

When Dave and I were first married, I did not know much of the Word of God. We were going to church; I loved God; I was born again; but I certainly did not know who I was in Christ, and I still had a broken heart. I believe one of the things that refers to being brokenhearted is to be broken in personality.

Our personalities get shattered and broken, and then we do not function the way God intends for us to function. Every person is to be a whole and balanced individual. But the devil wants to work us over to the point that we are all broken in personality. When that happens, we may try to relate to each other, but our relationships just do not work.

As mentioned earlier, I used to kneel at my bedside every night and beg, "Oh, God, forgive me. God, forgive me. God, forgive me." Every night, I repeated that prayer: "God, forgive me. Oh, God, forgive me." I was still talking about that load of guilt I had been carrying since my teenage and young adult years.

This went on and on for a couple of years, until the day I heard the Lord say to me, "Joyce, I forgave you the first time you asked Me. Now you need to forgive yourself." Hearing God's voice was not a common occurrence for me in those days, but I understood that He was telling me that I needed toreceiveHis forgiveness.

If you ask someone for a drink of water, and that person gives it to you, but you refuse to swallow it, what can that individual do about it? It would be senseless to say, "I am thirsty; somebody bring me some water because I am so

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thirsty," and then just hold the glass of water you are given. If you would not swallow it, your thirst would not be quenched.You may have been given the Word about forgiveness, but you may not have decided yet to believe it. You may be waiting tofeelforgiven first. But you will neverfeelforgiven until you decide that youareforgiven. You have to say in faith, "I am forgiven." And you may have to say it for weeks or months before your feelings catch up with your faith.

Throughout the Bible we are instructed toreceivefrom God. But it seems that Christians are always trying togetsomething. Paul did not ask the disciples at Corinth, "Did yougetthe Holy Spirit?" He asked them, "Did youreceivethe Holy Spirit when you believed [on Jesus as the Christ]?" (Acts 19:2).

The Bible does not say, "To as many asgetJesus, they get the power to become sons of God." It says, "But as many asreceivedhim, to themgave hepower to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" (John 1:12 kjv, emphasis mine).

Jesus is like a River of Life that is pouring out life-giving water, and we are invited to receive, receive, and receive. Jesus said:

He who believes in Me [who cleaves toandtrusts inandrelies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springsandrivers of living water. But He was speaking here of the Spirit, Whom those who believed (trusted, had faith) in Him were afterward toreceive.For the [Holy] Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (raised to honor). (John 7:38-39)

I have taught extensively on this subject of receiving from God, becauseIam so convinced that people are not receiving the blessings that God wants to impart to them. I am eager to

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see everyone in the body of Christ become mature and say, "Yes, that promise of God is for me, and I receive it so that I do not have to live under guilt and condemnation anymore."God Loves You Perfectly

I can talk about the love of God throughout an entire weekend conference, I can demonstrate all the different ways that God has proven His love for us, but I cannot force anyone to receive His love. It is a personal choice that each person has to make. Even when we make mistakes and know that we do not deserve the love of God, we must stillreceiveHis love in order to enjoy the fullness of what He wants us to have.

I encourage you to practice on a daily basis opening your mouth and praying:

God, I know that You love me, and I receive that love;Iam going to walk in it today. I am going to bask in Your love, because I know that You love me even though I do not deserve it. And God, that makes everything better.

The love of God is one of the most relevant messages needed in the body of Christ today. God's love is the greatest issue in which people need to have a revelation. People do not need a teaching about the love of God as much as they need to personally experience and understand how much God loves them as an individual.

The love of God will carry you through to victory when all of the powers and principalities of hell seem to be against you. The love of God will carry you through the storms of life and into a place of calm peace. But you will never be more than a

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conqueror (see Romans 8:37) if you do not have a revelation of how much you are loved by God.We have to know that God loves us even during the times when we make mistakes and fail. His love is not restricted to the days when we think we have performed well. We need to be confident of His love especially when we have trials, and when the devil is mocking us with accusations, such as, "Well, you must have done something wrong."

When the accuser comes, we must know that God lovesus.

Even if we did do something wrong, even if we did open a door for the devil to enter in, even if we did act in ignorance, God still loves us. God is on our side (see Romans 8:28), and He is going to show us what we need to do to get out of the mess we got ourselves into. But Satan wants to cut us off from the love of God, so that we never find the way back to God's grace in order to live as His RIGHTEOUS sons and daughters.

Jesus Sends His Word

When we are in trouble, the Lord promises in His Word to deliver us. It is written in Psalm 107:20, "He sends forth His word and heals them and rescues them from the pitanddestruction." Jesus sent His Holy Spirit to teach us what we need to know. He said to His disciples:

I have still many things to say to you, but you are not able to bear themorto take them upon youorto grasp them now.I

But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever Hehears [from the

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father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announceanddeclare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].He will honorandglorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.

Everything that the Father has is Mine. That is what I meant when I said that He [the Spirit] will take the things that are Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you. (John 16:12-15)

I am so glad Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit willguideus-not push andshoveus, but guide us-to truth. The devil wants to pressure us and manipulate us, but the Holy Spirit wants to gently lead us. That is one of the ways that we can recognize whether we are hearing from God or from the enemy.

If you feel pressed, confused, controlled, or stressed about something, then it is not of God; that is not how He works. Instead, the Holy Spirit will gently "reveal, (declare, disclose and transmit)" the truth to you.

But, revelation will not benefit you if you do not receive it. We have transmissions through television, but we have to turn our set on in order toreceivethe messages sent to us. Likewise, we must receive the truth that God is speaking to us through His Word.

Jesus won everything that we would ever need to live victorious, overcoming, power-packed lives. When Jesus ascended on High, the Holy Spirit took what Jesus had earned and in essence said, "Now, I will go to the believers and work with them, ministering to them everything that Jesus has earned and provided for them. I will lead and guide them into all the truth."