Tag: healing

Seeing is believing: how Thomas’ challenge shaped his faith

Beth - blogger, coach, consultantLeave a comment

Today’s lectionary reading brings us the story of Thomas after Jesus’ crucifiction and burial (John 20: 19-31). For most of us, it’s a well-known story. 

Jesus comes to the disciples who are meeting and praying together in hiding, but Thomas is absent this day. When he returns, they tell him that Jesus has risen and visited, but he doubts. 

“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25)

And yet, when Jesus returns to visit a week later, Thomas is there and witnesses for himself that Jesus has indeed risen. 

“Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” (John 20: 27)

So, what would it take for your faith to be challenged and strengthened? 

What personal experience could you have that would confirm to you that God’s power in your life is real? 

Peter stumbled and fell into faith

Perhaps an easier example for us to relate to is Peter, the rock on which Jesus said the church would be built. We see many instances where Peter shows a great understanding of Christ, only to overshadow it with his doubting, hesitance, and failure of faith.

Peter was possibly the only one to see Jesus walking on water, yet this same Peter was hot-tempered and rebuked the children that wanted to come to Jesus. 

He’s passionate and impetuous: Peter was the first to say that he would accompany Jesus in prison and death, but at the moment of truth, denied that he even knew him.

This very same Peter was told off three times for falling asleep while accompanying Jesus in the garden for prayer. 

From euphoria to failure

Peter gets swept up in the euphoria of Jesus’s power and miracles.

I want that!

But he crumbles under persecution. 

He got it – Jesus was the messiah.

And he lost it – I’m too scared to follow this road of faith. 

Many of us, like Peter, have denied that we knew Jesus: with our words, or with our actions, or our priorities.

Perhaps you’ve lost faith, because of fear – just like Peter.

Nonetheless, Peter still becomes the pillar of the early church, an example for others to follow. 

Peter is the first to run to the empty tomb. He is also the first to jump out of the boat and swim to the shore to see Jesus after the resurrection.

In order to counter Peter’s denial of Christ three times before the crucifixion, we see Jesus ask Peter three times “Do you love me?”. Having failed three times, it’s important for Peter to confirm three times that he has overcome this failure in faith and believes. 

But his journey was plagued by missteps and mistakes.

Do your actions speak of faith or doubt? 

Thomas doubts strengthen his faith

It’s easy to see how Peter’s mistakes turn into strength. 

But Thomas has a different road of challenges before him. They are more subtle, but equally strong.

And these are the mental doubts and stumbling blocks we face.

When we lose a loved one, or don’t get that dream job, it’s easy to fall into the mental loop of doubt and asking “Why?”

People around us are quick to give us empty platitudes:

  • “Everything happens for a reason…”
  • “God won’t give you more than you can handle…”
  • “God has a wonderful plan for your life…”

And for Thomas, that challenge was seeing the man and friend that he believed in killed to satisfy the bloodthirst of the mobs and political powerplays.

The monkey mind: making you second-guess yourself

I’m sure he had millions of thoughts running through his head:

  • We did so much for the sick, the needy and the masses, but they turned their backs on Jesus.
  • Everyone listened to Jesus’ teachings, but is this the end of our journey?
  • Jesus promised us the kingdom of heaven, but now all we have is death and despair. 

And when the disciples tell him that they’ve seen a resurrected Jesus, Thomas doesn’t jump with joy and faith. 

He’s cynical. He’s rational and thoughtful, not easily swayed by a cheerful friend.

He no doubt has a million thoughts running through his head as he tries to make sense of his experiences of the past three years. 

Show me the money

Most of us have heard someone say “Show me the money.”

I don’t want any of your stories: I want to see the evidence. Don’t talk about the value you bring to the table, show me the value and benefits. 

And for Thomas, it wasn’t enough that others had experienced seeing Jesus. He needed to experience this for himself. 

When Jesus shows up, he doesn’t lecture Thomas. We might judge Thomas and read judgment into Jesus’ words to him, but does Jesus actually judge him?

Instead, Jesus says:

“Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Do not doubt but believe.” (v. 27)

Thomas said: “Show me the money!” and Jesus’ response is “Here’s the cold, hard cash.” Stop doubting. Here you go. 

His evidence is the wounds and scars, yet he overcame this. 

The challenge to overcome

For most of us, we find it easier to trust someone that has the battle scars than someone finely dressed, that hasn’t experienced life’s hard knocks. 

Want to know why Dr. Joe Dispenza is so popular? It’s not just what he’s teaching, but rather that he first had to get himself out of his semi-paralysed state and back on his feet again! Six of his vertebrae has compound fractures. He risked being a quadriplegic. But he overcame this challenge. 

We trust his scars and his journey. He walked the talk. Those scars tell a story of faith and healing. 

Similarly, people are willing to follow the teachings of Louise Hay who healed herself from cervical cancer through forgiveness and letting go.

Because, for many of us, seeing is believing.

We need to see the scars and wounds of others to believe that it’s possible for us to heal and get back on our feet. M

Much like Thomas, we say when I see the nail marks in his hands and the wound in his side, then I’ll believe that healing is possible.

We need these live examples to open our eyes to the possibilities of what could be. 

What challenge are you facing?

So today, I ask:

What challenge are you facing and what example do you need to strengthen your faith? 

Perhaps you’ve lost your business and are struggling with financial difficulties: 

  • Job had everything – the richest man, a wonderful family with children and grandchildren, and a fantastic reputation – only to have it all disappear in a moment. Can you find inspiration in Job for seeing is believing?
  • David is another great example – reduced to living in caves, running and hiding despite having been anointed to be the new king.

If you’re looking for modern examples, there are many like J.K. Rowling who went from a broke mother to becoming a billionaire through her creative efforts in writing.  Even Richard Branson, the owner of Virgin, had a rought start to life.

For others, it’s getting through betrayal.

Wasn’t Jesus betrayed? And David, by his son Absalom? Or Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers. 

Perhaps the challenge to your faith is sickness.

And we have many examples of healing:

  • Natural healing – you break a bone, the doctor sets it back in place and immobilises it, and your body takes care of the rest! The doctor only has to make sure it’s aligned, so that when healing takes place, it’s all in the right place. 
  • Sometimes, the miracle we need comes in the form of a doctor and medicine! But isn’t that still healing. The knowledge and how to help the body to overcome sickness and injury pave the road to recovery.
  • Most of us, of course, just want the miracle healing. The instant, no rational explanation, kind of healing. Of course there are examples of this – in life and in the Bible. But this isn’t the most common type.
  • We also have examples of miraculous healing over time – like Dr. Joe Dispenza and Louise Hay that weren’t healed in a day, but rather healed little by little. How many of us are willing to hold our faith, day by day, for this healing?
  • And sometimes, the healing that happens is in the heart – with acceptance for what is, forgiveness and letting go of resentment. Perhaps there is no physical manifestation, but what gets healed is relationships and we let go of bitterness.  Isn’t this also a miracle? 

What scars and wounds do you need to see, like Thomas, in order to restore your faith?

Do not doubt, but believe.

John 20: 27
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Just a carpenter

Beth - blogger, coach, consultant2 Comments

How many of you today have felt that you have just received a huge new learning, something that has truly transformed your life, and you share it at home — and no one is listening?

Or maybe you have started a new diet and it is really working for you… you are excited about it, and share it with those who know you best… and they just don’t get how important this discovery is for you?Read More »

For God so loved the world…

Beth - blogger, coach, consultantLeave a comment

Readings:

  • John 3: 16-21
  • Ephesians 2: 4-10

For God so loved the world… that over two thousand years ago, Jesus came to this earth in human form to show us what this love truly means. Through his life, his teachings and his example, we find a new way, a better way. He gave what we may consider to be the ultimate sacrifice, his earthly body, in a painful and excruciating death, so that we might receive the gift of Oneness of our spiritual bodies with God, no longer separated but as Children of God. Through this, we might fully understand the meaning of eternal life, as spiritual beings living continually in the presence of God.  Not waiting for our earthly death for eternity to start, but recognising that we are already living eternity.

Jesus came and taught us humility, as he lived as a refugee in Egypt as a child, much like Syrian refugees live today in Jordan and Lebanon. Do we treat our refugees any better than we have treated Jesus?  How do we treat the refugees from Venezuela? The refugees from Haiti, from Africa? If we imagine that each of these refugees was Jesus, how are we doing?

‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ (Matthew 25: 40)

In Matthew 18: 1 we find the disciples discussing “Who really is the greatest in the Kingdom of the heavens?” He calls a child, stands the child in the midst of the disciples and tells them:

“Unless you turn around and become as young children, you will by no means enter into the Kingdom of the heavens. Therefore, whoever will humble himself like this young child is the one who is the greatest in the Kingdom of the heavens; and whoever receives one such young child on the basis of my name receives me also.”​—Matthew 18:3-5.

As we consider how we are treating the sojourners and refugees among us, then we known how great we are in the Kingdom! Before the last supper, we find Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.

Because God so loved us… Jesus showed us the importance of reading the Word, as a twelve year old when he read and discussed in the temple the scriptures. Luke 2: 47 says that “all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.” At twelve years old. He not only was willing to read the Bible allowed in the temple, but to answer questions and explain it. And yet, we seem to struggle each week for participants to read the scriptures aloud in church each Sunday.

Jesus showed us dedication and patience, as he worked as a carpenter, under his father’s tutelage. And yet we reject the authority of our parents, failing to honor our mother and father as we are called to do.  We push our way forward for honor and rewards, seeking the limelight, rather than being willing to work in the background.

Because God so loved you… Jesus showed us how to handle the temptations that arise in our day to day lives. Through his temptations of hunger (lust of the body), egoism (misuse of our power) and materialism (kingdoms and wealth) we see what is means to be a child of God, holding fast to that identity, and still standing strong in the knowledge of what that really means. In these temptations, we see the challenge to Jesus: “If you are the Son of God” – are you really a child of God? Prove it.

Through these temptations, we see how the ego wants to use our spiritual power and gifts to satisfy human cravings. This is attempting to turn stones into bread, the attempt to find gratification in using spiritual power to satisfy human, personal desires.And yet, Jesus shows us the better and higher way. Are you fully secure in your identity as a child of God? Can you, like Jesus, respond: “It is written”?  Our human nature wants to demonstrate prosperity and success or healing and “prove” that it works. We think some outer achievement will make us happy and successful. But Jesus teaches us a higher way: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God.”

Most importantly, Jesus showed us what it really means to have a relationship with God, to have the indwelling of the Spirit. Jesus showed us, in his every day living and loving, what it means to truly be One with God the Father.

John 14: 4-7 promise us:

4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
…7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

We are reminded of this again in John 17: 21-23

As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 …  so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

For God so loved the World that he sent us Jesus… who taught us what it means to be a child of God (as each one of us has already been called to be). Paul says in Colossians 2:9 “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.” The Message says “Everything of God gets expressed in him, so that you can see and hear God clearly”.”  Are you living out your life as a son or daughter of God?  Is every quality of God fully expressed in your life and living and loving?

Psalm 82: 6 says in a stunning way:

You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High.

The same calling to greatness and Oneness with God that Jesus had, each of us has.  To be the Son of God is to be of the same nature as God. The Son of God is “of God.” We were created by God, in God’s image, to do God’s will on this earth.  And God so loved each one of us, as sons and daughters, that God sent us Jesus to show us the way home.

Jesus reminds us of this in John 10: 33-38:

33 The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.”
34 Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35 If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’—and the scripture cannot be annulled— 36 can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. 38 … know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

Like the Prodigal son, we have lived our lives without authority, power, belonging and sharing at the table of the feast: but God loved us. And so today we are reminded of this rich mercy, of the great love with which we are loved. We are made alive in Christ, seated with him, shown the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us! If we are living in separation from God, then we are throwing away the gift of love that was given to us.

And because of this great love that we have been shown, we are all challenged today to love each other! The test of how well we have overcome that which separates us from God is how well we love our brothers and sisters:

John 13: 35

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”