On Sunday my pastor took on a very difficult topic that is rarely addressed to a congregation on a Sunday morning. Pastor Hector provided specifics and talked about the reality of why people are broken, how they find healing and how the determine if they need more healing.

It was so good.

I thought I would share some of my notes with all of you.

First the most important truth every person needs to know is this: Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted. 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke 4:18-19

So let's first discuss what is broken? Well the Hebrew word broken is Shabar. It means to shatter. Like a glass dropped upon a tile floor. A heart can be shattered in so many ways. But what is crucial is knowing what happens is that we actually have a breaking of our soul. The soul realm of an individual is their emotions, their will, their mind and this is the realm that the demonic can occupy. 

This is why I preach so much about taking thoughts captive. It's our thought-life that the demonic works to influence. It's int he soul that the enemy preaches lies that corrupt our identity and God's identity. The lies keep us in bondage and in broken pain. 

The demonic gains legal rights and will continually reenforce the core lies and erroneous belief systems we hold. The keeps us in pain and unhealed. These wounds can then carry forward to the next generation. Eventually becoming generational curses.

BUT, Jesu came to see the captives free. He came to heal the Shabar and to set us from the pain of our past. However, we also have a significant part to play in this process. And in future posts we will talk about some of the steps of healing.

Today, let's look at three signs we are moving toward healing. 

1. Awareness
2. Prayer
3. Wise counsel

If you have become aware of brokenness, issues and have prayed and asked for healing, that's the first steps of healing. And for some, this is all a person may require. But if you are like 99% of the human race, you need more. And we will discuss this in future posts.

Next week we will look at seven signs you need more healing. 

So, where do you see yourself in your healing journey? How can I pray for you? See you in the comments. 

You are deeply loved, Lynn Donovan

*Pastor Hector Gutierrez

Don't watch this until you are in a place to listen intently. I'll share about the crucifixion, things you will never hear from the pulpit. But if you want to connect to your salvation and your savior in a way like never before. Walk through the crucifixion with Jesus. 

This will change you. JESUS LIVES!!!!!  Lynn

I strongly sense Yahweh asking us to do this...

Listen in. (short video)

Hi everyone, Jeanne here.  God’s blessings of peace and joy from sunny, chilly Minnesota, where the leaves are a riot of color in the golden light, but you can see your breath if you’re out before sunrise.  October 2021 might go down in my memory as the month where God started to take me up a notch.  I’ll try to explain, but it will take a bit of context. 

We’ve all heard, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Some may even recall that these were Jesus’ words to Peter, James, and John in the garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus was sweating blood and the disciples were… sleeping.  Apart from the Biblical meaning, the expression is used to describe good intentions thwarted by a lack of self-discipline. But lately, I’m seeing this phrase from another angle.

A few weeks ago in my prayer time, I heard, “Stop talking about healing and start doing it.” Don’t laugh, but my first reaction was, “God? Is that you?” He immediately reminded of the time several years ago when he told me to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. So yes, this was clearly from God, and furthermore it wasn’t the first time he’d said it to me.  It was around this same time that I got my new perspective on this phrase.  Please bear with me as I share my thought process.

Jesus described the Spirit as rivers of living water flowing from believers. Water takes the path of least resistance, so if I want the Spirit to flow through me (for instance, in order to bring healing to someone) I need to get the obstacles out of the way.  Ideally, I would simply be the empty vessel through which Holy Spirit flows to encounter those around me. I realized that the Holy Spirit is willing to work through me, but my flesh, my unrepentant self, is weak.  

For me, one obvious hindrance to the flow of the Spirit is pride.  When I’m being led to get outside my comfort zone, I immediately wonder: What will someone think of me?  Even as this becomes less of a problem for me, there are many, many more ways that I’m not fully yielded.  When I asked the Lord to show me how I was blocking the flow of life-giving water, he pointed to John 14:15 where Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”  It didn’t take me long to find a whole mess of Jesus’ commandments that I struggle to obey.

• Turn the other cheek
• Take up your cross and follow me
• Love one another as I have loved you
• Bless those who curse you
• Forgive as you have been forgiven
• Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength
• Let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no
• Love your enemies
• Give to the one who asks you
• Be perfect as your Father is perfect
• Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
• Watch and pray
• Do not judge
• Do not worry about tomorrow
• Do not be afraid

I could go on and on, but you get the point.  Don’t get the wrong idea; there was no condemnation in this revelation of how incredibly short I fall.  Jesus isn’t beating me up; he’s just answering my question.   I don’t have to be perfect for the Spirit to use me.  Coming to grips with the true weakness of my flesh is a good thing!

 My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Knowing how weak I am in my flesh helps me to both appreciate and to rely on the grace God has deposited in my spirit.  I don’t have to summon up the courage to reach out. I don’t need to manufacture the power to heal. It’s not even my job to fashion the right words to pray for someone.  I believe Holy Spirit will work powerfully as I yield, and he is able to do far more than I could even imagine.  I’ve always loved the Dwight L. Moody quote, “The world has yet to see what God can do with someone who is fully consecrated to him.”  To that I reply, “The flesh is weak, but the Spirit is willing!”

Somehow this process of re-learning what is my responsibility and what is God’s has brought me great hope for the coming season.  I’m not sure I’ve conveyed it well, but I’ll pray that the Spirit fills in the gaps I’ve left.  Please, share your thoughts in the comments.

               Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.  (John 7:37-39)