MOVING FROM SAVED, HEALED AND DELIVERED TO BEING MADE WHOLE
A few weeks ago the Holy Spirit brought to my mind the encounter Jesus had with the 10 lepers in Luke chapter 17. Jesus healed all ten of them but only one was made whole. As I meditated on this, it puzzled me that Jesus said to the one, “…your faith has made you whole.” (Luk 17:19) All of them had faith for healing. What was the difference between the one and the other nine?
"And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on [his] face at His feet, giving Him thanks…" (Luk 17:15-16).
I believe this is one of the keys to being made whole. All ten believed in Jesus as Master and had faith that He could heal them. The one who was made whole had faith in Him as the Messiah, God in the flesh; and glorifying God, fell at His feet in worship, thanking Him! This is a key to being made whole!
It’s interesting that the word “whole” in the Greek language is the word sozo and means saved, healed, delivered, and/or whole. You can be saved and not healed, you can be healed and not delivered, and you can be any combination of those but not whole. How can we move from being saved, healed, delivered to being made whole?
See Him as the Almighty One that He is, the sovereign Lord over all! In every place the enemy has wreaked havoc in your life - give it all to the Lord - the pain (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual), the questions; release all the bitterness and unforgiveness. Forgive others who harmed you (for they know not what they do). Jesus is our Redeemer and He is working out God’s great plan of redemption in your life through the power of the Holy Spirit. He redeems all those places of your past to bring restoration to God’s original plan and purpose. When you see Him as He is, worship Him, glorify God and thank Him, and the key is turned to bring you into wholeness. Glorify God and be thankful!
The Holy Spirit also reminded me of Romans chapter 1, verses 18-32, where the process of degeneration is revealed. It states that God has shown man Himself from the beginning of creation. Even the invisible things of God, His eternal power and divine nature, are made known to us. They are apprehended by our mind through the things that are made, and we are without excuse when we know God but don’t glorify [Him] as God, and aren’t thankful. Then we become foolish, our hearts are darkened, and we are given over to a debased mind, leading to every kind of evil. I encourage you to read it. It clearly shows the cycle of degeneracy and evil that begins by not glorifying God and giving Him thanks.
The prophet Jeremiah warned of this cycle:
"Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, [and] make [it] gross darkness." (Jer. 13:16)
Glorifying God and giving Him thanks will shift your circumstances! The story of Jonah is a powerful portrayal of this. When did God cause the fish to vomit Jonah out of its mouth?
"When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. ... But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay [that] that I have vowed. Salvation [is] of the LORD. And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry [land]." (Jonah 2:7, 9-10)
Giving thanks to God brings you onto the path of His will for your life! "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1 Thess. 5:18)
In every thing…how can you do that? He is with you, He will never leave you or forsake you; He is always working things together for your life to bring you into your destiny in Christ Jesus, to bless you with all that is available through Him. He is calling you, in your circumstances to look to Him, right now, and trust Him in the midst. You may have gotten way off course, but turning to God – glorifying Him and thanking Him - brings correction and redirection to the pathway of His purpose for your life and being made whole! Be blessed as glorify God and give Him thanks!
Alane Haynes
11/22/23