# 1 Healing Scriptures~

#1 John 3:3

The beginning Scripture on the Road to Healing.

Sunrise~

"Jesus answered and said to him (Nicodemus) most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

This scripture is the first step to healing. Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus but He was talking to everyone in human race at the same time. Jesus wants us all to come to Him, not just in Church on Sunday morning, but every day of our lives. He want us to partner with Him.

Unless you are Born Again

Being "Born Again" is much more than a term Christians use, it is the beginning of a life full of God. When I was "Born Again" in the Methodist Church in Glenwood Iowa in 1977. It was like my whole life changed in a matter of hours. I was a poker playing, grocery store clerk with a couple of great kids, a wife and trying to figure out what life was all about.  One March weekend in 1977 my whole life changed. I was "Born Again".

I remember after the weekend was over - I was so full of God. It was like I had climbed the high diving board at a swimming pool and jumped in!  I was totally immersed in God's love.

Most Christians I know say they are born again and they are, but they want to try it first. I went to the high diving board.  Some want to enter the pool at zero entry level, then move on to the one foot, then three feet, and do quite well until they get to the five foot level.  By then a few trials may have come their way and they start to back off.   Not Kay and I, we were totally immersed in God's love and we never have turned back since we were "Born Again". It was the beginning of a life and a very exciting journey we have led for over 40 years.

You cannot see the Kingdom of God

When you become "Born Again" - it is the beginning of the story, an epic of your life. You don't know what or where you are going.  It is your first step of "Faith".  I was standing outside the Methodist Church, with the long set of weekend meetings over.  Our wonderful guests had left and I was all alone in front of the church. I asked myself, "O.K. God, what now?"  The big hole in my chest was filled with God's love & I knew what to do.

God began to show me a whole new way of living.  Desires I had that were not good, began to leave my life.  All I wanted to do was find more of God.  I began to study God's Hand Book.  A book of instructions (called the Bible) which was full of adventure.  The church started bible studies which were the beginning of finding the Kingdom of God.  I began to catch a glimpse of the Kingdom of God.  It was very exciting to Kay and I during this period of our lives.  The rest of the year we began to renew our minds, to the Kingdom of God, versus the kingdom of the world.

Introduction to Healing Scriptures~

After 40 years of ministry all over the world. I've seen many instant healings in our ministry, I've also seen many sick people. Prayed for people who were healed instantly and prayed for people who never recovered.

There are three elements in the healing process, the one who is praying, the one who needs healing and God the one who made us all. He put the parts together and knows us better than we know ourselves.

God wants us healed more than we want a healing. The people praying sometimes are not aware of what they possess in the area of healing because of a lack of knowledge. The one being prayed for doesn't know he is already healed. There can be several reasons why people are not healed but I'm sure of one thing. God isn't the problem. When people tell me God is trying to teach them something through a sickness or affliction it saddens my heart.

The root of all sickness can be found in the scripture John 10:10. "The thief only comes to steal, kill and destroy. God has come that you may have life and have it more abundantly." God seems to have gotten a bad rap because a lack of knowledge.

I remember on the Georgia, Florida boarder when God asked us to come back to Glenwood, Iowa, the place where we were born again. I struggled with that decision for many miles before I told Kay, "I believe God wants us to move back to Glenwood." I didn't know why, Glenwood was a great place to visit on Homecoming weekend, but we didn't think we would ever come back to finish our work in our ministry.

It has taken a few years to see the purpose of coming home. Much like a Hallmark movie, (Kay loves them) the characters struggle with coming back home. They go home, find people like them, there’s a crisis, and then the happy ending.

It was much like this for me. Kay loved being back home, but I struggled. It seemed a prophet in his own home town is without honor. We had traveled the world with our hair on fire, working in many different countries & setting up bible schools all over the world. Returning to Glenwood was like my world had stopped.

Then we started the Gathering Place, a small coffee shop and I started to watch Glenwood pass by and listened to what people were saying. We became reacquainted with many of our old friends and a bunch of new ones. The Gathering Place was not an instant hit, but God always pulled us through during the lean times. Now, after seven years we are seeing the purpose of why we started the Gathering Place. Many people think it is a coffee shop, but if you look at it a little closer you might see the bigger picture. It is a ministry but people don't see the ministry they see the great food we serve here. I have a saying you have to feed them first in the flesh, then you can feed their spirit man.

It has been like a spiritual awakening for many in the community. We have met some very key people who have helped us at the Gathering Place. They see it as Kay and I do- as a ministry not a coffee shop. Clarence was the first to recognize what the Gathering Place was, then Peggy, then the girls of Kay's Friday Morning Bible Study. It has been exciting to see a customer come in with a cane and walk out totally healed.

When Butch and Connie wandered in one October day, we built our relationship over lunches. They had just moved from WA state & bought a house in Glenwood, over the internet, sight unseen. They didn’t know anyone & were remodeling their kitchen, so we ate a lot of meals with them over the next few months. 

Linus & Butch  "Pete & re-Pete"

Butch can fix anything, Connie was a horsewoman and we began to help each other. Kay and I downsized and Butch fixed everything that needed fixing.  Both in the house we sold & in our new home. Connie's horse needed a fence, Kay & I helped with the fence. We enjoy helping each other with different projects.

Connie had a blog and I really liked how it looked. I had written about our adventures, but nothing had been published. I asked Connie to build & manage a blog for us. She had many ideas and now is doing a great job of managing the Blog.

Connie sent her horse back to Washington. She was having some health issues and then Butch started having Gall Bladder attacks. The big crisis in their life now, is their Grandson Mason, who had always had some health issues. Now, he has a new health challenge & will be in & out of the hospital over the next weeks. Butch asked me to write some scripture that would be helpful to Mason and his parents.

I began writing to Mason and his family Healing Scriptures. Several other friends were dealing with fights for their health. Then God spoke to me about writing a blog about Healing Scriptures, to teach people not about Healing but how to learn how to walk the road to Divine Health. God wants you healthy. It's not about what you eat physically, this is about what you eat spiritually, to learn the promises God has already given you. All you must do is accept what He has already done for you. It is called God's Grace, a free gift given to you when Jesus died on the cross for you.

HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR JOURNEY TO DIVINE HEALTH!!

Buffalo Springs Safari Park - A Day I will never Forget!

Up early and ready by 4:00 A.M. February 23, 2018

After early coffee and armed with a thermos of coffee, (The roads are so rough, you can only drink a quarter of a cup at a time.) we began our four-wheel adventure of 40-miles, to the Safari Park.  Charles, our professional guide, said that he would find a lion for us!

We got to the park about 8 a.m. & put the top up, so we could take pictures without getting out of the van.  That started the most incredible 10-hours of taking pictures of things and animals I could not imagine.

Our guide Charles & Pastor Kent

The above picture is of Kent and Charles laughing at something that happened on the trip. Charles is a professional guide for the Safari Park in Buffalo Springs Safari Park, Kenya. Charles used to be a mailman, now retired to be a guide for us.
Charles was so much like me. The first thing Charles did was get off the main road, there was a sign that said, "Stay on the main road".  I've found out in the guiding business you have to get OFF THE MAIN ROAD!

I was watching Charles drive and the scripture came to mine about the Ethiopian in Acts who Phillip ran down and asked him, "Do you know what you are reading in the scripture?" Acts 8:21-31

He replied, "How can I unless I have a guide?" We had a reenactment of this scripture today with Charles, Kent and I. Kent and I had no clue to where we were or what we were going to see today but Charles, our guide knew exactly where he was going.

Like everyone else our #1 goal on our list, was to see a lion. Every time we wanted to see something we just asked and in a short time we would see what we asked for.  As the day went on we still didn't see the lion.

 I started to realize a guide loves doing what he is doing - a lot more than the people he is guiding. When I guide students who are hungry for the Word, the guide always gets more than the people he is guiding.  It's even better when the people you guide get the best picture or catch the biggest fish, or  go out and do what you have instructed them to do and are successful!  You are so proud of them.

Charles, our guide

Charles was the same way, as my camera was getting full, battery was getting low, and we still had not seen a Lion. I was down to five pictures on the memory card in my camera.  The battery light was about to turn red. Charles, just kept driving. I could tell he had taken us to all his favorite spots - but still no Lion.

4 P.M.

After being in the park all day & seeing everything we asked for - we found the Lion! Charles put us within ten-feet of a full grown female Lion. I took my last five pictures just ten-feet from the most ferocious hunter on the Kenya plains. My memory card was full and my battery was flashing red.  Not another picture could be taken - we were finished. Charles turned to us and said, "Can we go home now?" He had finished his quest for the day a happy man.  You can see it on his face in the picture.

Lion with a blue eye!

Some scriptures come to mind, well done good and faithful servant.  Another - through faith and patience we inherit the promises. As a servant of God and a guide to my students in Kenya I'm so proud when they tell me; "You told me something ten-years ago, and it set me on a course that changed my life forever."

Bull Elephant~

Thanks for reading this post.  It was a fun write for me & I hope you get something out of it.  The trip was awesome, the friends were awesome but the look on the guide's face when he found the Lion was priceless!