heaven's tree book club

Commission Restored
I've been wrestling with minor foot discomfort for the past couple of days. It was worse when I wore shoes at the wedding for about four hours. It started a couple of days on the kidney cleanse and so that might be the possible cause. When I was at church this morning., for the full three hours my foot felt normal but back home, the discomfort is back. I desire to see God's divine intervention in our lives. A church sister, has had pain in her wrist for four months now and there isn't anything anyone can do about it. We pray for healing and see no change in her arm. Pain and abnormalities are not part of the original design. We've been going through Genesis. We went through the fall today and what has happened since. God meant for this world to be good. Our guest pastor preached on the broken relationship between man and God and the forgiveness we have in confessing Jesus. Yet, the physical abnormalities of the fall are all around us. I continue to pray to experience God's divine intervention in my life and pray that August is the breakthrough month. I woke up this morning with no healing and yet still cling on to the hope that God still can and has healed me in the spiritual dimension. The author, (Johnson, 2003) opens with a rather controversial statement:

"Jesus could not heal the sick. Neither could He deliver the tormented from demons or raise the dead. To believe otherwise is to ignore what He said about Himself, and more importantly, to miss the purpose of His self-imposed restriction to live as a man.
Jesus Christ said of Himself, "The Son can do nothing."2 In the Greek language that word nothing has a unique meaning—it means NOTHING, just like it does in English! He had NO supernatural capabilities whatsoever! While He is 100 percent God, He chose to live with the same limitations that man would face once He was redeemed. He made that point over and over again. Jesus became the model for all who would embrace the invitation to invade the impossible in His name. He performed miracles, wonders, and signs, as a man in right relationship to God...not as God. If He performed miracles because He was God, then they would be unattainable for us. But if He did them as a man, I am responsible to pursue His lifestyle Recapturing this simple truth changes everything.. .and makes possible a full restoration of the ministry of Jesus in His Church."
The author believes that Jesus left us a pattern for us to bring healing and restoration of human beings. As a man, the author believes, Jesus could do nothing. It was the Holy Spirit and the Father who provided the power to heal. As such, having the access to the Father and Holy Spirit, the author believes that we can continue the ministry of Jesus. I do not doubt God can heal today and many evangelists have performed healings in the name of Jesus. What is controversial is to say that Jesus could do nothing. I think of the healing of the woman with a blood condition. She touched Jesus and was instantly healed. I think of the many times Jesus spoke and a blind man received sight. I believe Jesus was 100 percent man but also 100 percent God. I see the point the author is trying to make, but I just do not think as a man, Jesus could do nothing.
"The backbone of Kingdom authority and power is found in the commission Discovering God's original commission and purpose for mankind can help to fortify our resolve to a life of history changing significance. To find that truth we must go back to the beginning.
Man was created in the image of God and placed into the Father's ultimate expression of beauty and peace: the Garden of Eden. Outside of that garden r was a different story. It was without the order and blessing contained withir and was in great need of the touch of God's delegated one—Adam.
Adam and Eve were placed in the garden with a mission. God said, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it."3 It was God's intention tha as they bore more children, who also lived under God's rule, they would h extending the boundaries of His garden (His government) through the simplicity of their devotion to Him. The greater the number of people in righ relationship to God, the greater the impact of their leadership. This process wa to continue until the entire earth was covered with the glorious rule of Goi through man.
 But in Genesis chapter 1 we discover it's not a perfect universe. Satan ha- rebelled and had been cast out of heaven, and with him a portion of the fall en angels took dominion of the earth. It's obvious why the rest of the plant' needed to be subdued—it was under the influence of darkness.' God coul have destroyed the devil and his host with a word, but instead He chose t defeat darkness through His delegated authority—those made in His iiruy-i who were lovers of God by choice."
"In redeeming man, Jesus retrieved what man had given away. From d to f throne of triumph He declared, "All authority has been given to Me in heai C1P' en and on earth. Go therefore....'"" In other words: I got it all back. Now go u an" it and reclaim mankind. In this passage Jesus fulfills the promise He made to ttnot disciples when He said, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. 'nc The original plan was never aborted; it was fully realized once and for all: the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.We were then to be completely restort to His plan of ruling as a people made in His image. And as such we wou learn how to enforce the victory obtained at Calvary: "The God of peace xv u c a c '  ••- ' nib soon crush Satan under your feet.   i chc We were born to rule—rule over creation, over darkness—to plunder h. and establish the rule of Jesus wherever we go by preaching the gospel of t( , Kingdom. Kingdom means: King's domain. In the original purpose of Ge   . mankind ruled over creation. Now that sin has entered the world, creation 1 been infected by darkness, namely: disease, sickness, afflicting spirits, power natural disasters, demonic influence, etc. Our rule is still over creation, but in' it is focused on exposing and undoing the works of the devil. We are to U1 what we have received to reach that end."
We see today the effects of sin and the sadness and evil it leaves behind. We were originally called to rule over the earth that is to populate the world with worshipers and human beings in harmony with God and one another. We lost our rule when we gave it over to the enemy. Jesus Christ regained the authority and has given us the mission of going forth and being devoted to Kingdom mission. It makes sense. The author goes on to say that salvation does not merely mean the spiritual salvation but it is a physical salvation.
"The gospel of salvation is to touch the whole man: spirit, soul, and body, n G. Lake called this a  Triune Salvation. A study on the word evil confirms intended reach of His redemption. That word is found in Matthew 6:13 V), "Deliver us from evil." The word evil represents the entire curse of sin >n man. Poneros, the Greek word for evil, came from the word pouos, mean- pain. And that word came from the root word penes, meaning poor. Look t: evil-sin, pain-sickness, and poor-poverty. Jesus destroyed the power of sin, mess, and poverty through His redemptive work on the cross. In Adam and :'s commission to subdue the earth, they xx-ere without sickness, poverty, and Now that we are restored to His original purpose, should we expect anylg less? After all, this is called the better covenant!"

The idea to undo poverty and sickness and save the whole man is a wonderful idea on paper. I want to believe in God's power to save the whole man but all around us we see poverty and sickness and the rise of degenerative diseases is rising. One in three Americans has a digestive issue. Over 70 million have some form of arthritis. One in three, myself included has some kind of sleep problems. We are living in a world of ill health. Every night I get no more than four hours total of sleep. It is so fragmented that I feel fatigue all day. Surely God did not intend for us to feel tired and unhealthy all the time. I wonder, really wonder how and when God can reverse the curse. I want so much to believe God for His power and authority to heal.

 "Vision starts with identity and purpose. Through a revolution, our identity, we can think with divine purpose. Such a change begins with revelation of Him.
One of the tragedies of a weakened identity is how it affects our approve to Scripture. Many, if not most theologians, make the mistake of taking all tt good stuff contained in the prophets and sweeping it under that mysterious rt called, the Millennium. It is not my desire to debate that subject right now, Bi I do want to deal with our propensity to put oft those things that requi: courage, faith, and action to another period of time. The mistaken idea is tlu if it is good, it can't be for now.
A cornerstone in this theology is that the condition of the Church w; always be getting worse and worse; therefore, tragedy in the Church is ]t another sign of these being the last days. In a perverted sense, the weakness; the Church confirms to many that they are on the right course. The worser ing condition of the world and the Church becomes a sign to them that all well. I have many problems with that kind of thinking, but only one I'll mei tion now—it requires no faith!
We are so entrenched in unbelief that anything contrary to this worldxic is thought to be of the devil. So it is with the idea of the Church having a don mating impact before Jesus returns. It's almost as though we want to defend rl right to be small in number and make it by the skin of our teeth. Embracing belief system that requires no faith is dangerous. It is contrary to the nature God and all that the Scriptures declare. Since He plans to do above all vc cot1 ask or think, according to Ephesians 3:20, His promises by nature challenge -1 intellect and expectations. "[Jerusalem] did not consider her destiny; theretc her collapse was awesome." * The result of forgetting His promises is not o: we can afford."
Prayer:
Father, the church today is tragically weak. Every Sunday I sit in an almost empty church waiting for our extinction. It is a sad, very sad sight. During service, we are asked to pray and join hands in a cirlce, many of the people do not pray. If some do pray, it is a very short and shallow prayer. This is a church that has weak faith and it needs a shot of the Spirit's power. It is few in number and the average age is like 75. I never thought I could be in a church that seem like the end is near. I want to believe You for the impossible. We go about our lives with a safe faith and shallow walk. God, I desire so much more. I want to believe Your Word, all of it, especially the stories that tell of Your power and mass influence on the earth.. Those seem like centuries ago and I long to see Your power and influence in Your church in America. May we be people known to change this nation for Your glory and Kingdom. The church can but has not changed the culture. Rather it is changing the church. I want to believe Ephesians 3:20 that You are able to do beyond what we can ask or imagine. I pray that August is the breakthrough month for my life, for health, employment, and singleness. I want to believe you for the impossible. Father, I want to believe the truth of this verse. I want to believe that You can and will heal me possibly tomorrow.
“Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” Ephesians 3:20