Hi all,
If you could keep me in your prayers the 24th as they will be looking at my heart to see if that small blood clot I mentioned last month has dissolved – I appreciate it. Part of the test is to put me to sleep briefly and then slide an ultra sound probe down my throat and look sideways and back at my heart…once we know the results they’ll advise if there is a next step. Also involved is a CT, blood work, etc. Thanks for your prayers!
Kenya water well
We’ve sent some of the money donated to Kenya for the start of construction of the tower, and it should be done within a week or so. Once complete the digging and pouring of the foundation for the tower is next, then erecting the tower. A 5,000 liter water tank is being suggested (1320 US gallons), and a source has been located for that at a good price. The solar panels to power the pump will go on the tower as well as the tank…but first things first. It’s so good to see this progress being made!
Dutch conference 10-13th of May
This year we’ll been in our own (newly constructed) wing of the retreat center, have a different cook and menu, and will have a greater variety of subjects – enabled by the addition of the Thursday start.
If flying in from the Americas you can leave on Wednesday the 9th and return Wednesday the 16th and meet people from several nations, gain new friends, and see some of The Netherlands all in that week! If coming from the EU or elsewhere the distances are shorter and can be done as a long weekend! Email cwowi@solcon.nl for information or email me at cwowi@aol.com.
Spiritually and emotionally healthy
With the turn of the new year we see advertising aimed at people wanting to start the year out right, which for some may be weight loss, others maybe breaking a habit, for others an exercise regime, or maybe bettering oneself through education. Advertising focused on improving one’s life is everywhere
However I don’t see any advertising for people to become spiritually healthy. We are created as a trinity, spirit, soul, and body, and to most towards spiritual health means allowing the Life in our spirit to flow outward to our soul and from there to our actions in our body.
You’ll notice the DVD offered above about how the Lord heals emotions. I start out stating that in the gospels we have many examples of Jesus healing various diseases and conditions ranging from blindness and deafness, to leprosy and raising people from the dead. But can you turn to a chapter and verse that says Jesus healed a person emotionally? No, you have to dig a little and understand some of the interactions between the Lord and people to see how He positioned them for emotional healing, which is what that DVD is about.
My point isn’t to bring up the DVD, but rather that emotional and spiritual health is more subtle, more difficult to see, and so it gets ignored. A person can put a smile on their face and go to work or lunch with friends while inwardly they may be depressed and hopeless, or still hurting from emotional injury inflicted years earlier. They need to be around emotionally and spiritually healthy people and in relationship with healthy people. Being around healthy people is a key place to start.
One of the things the Lord spoke to me about in 2018 was Him moving in these areas, to work spiritual and emotional healthiness in His body. But He reminded me of the way He moves in this area, that it isn’t like how He moves in the area of physical healing.
Is it God, the devil, or me?
When Peter suggested Jesus not go to the cross Jesus recognized that suggestion as being from Satan, saying to Peter’s face: “Get behind me Satan, for you don’t value the things of God, but rather the things of men.” Matthew 16:23 This is a strange and sudden turn of events for Peter, who was praised by the Lord just 6 verses earlier for receiving revelation from the Father that He is the Son of God, and then suddenly rebuked for suggesting Jesus not go to the cross.
The conflict that follows revelation is normal – there is a purpose in it. Peter received revelation from the Father that Jesus is His Son, and that revelation stirred devil-inspired thoughts in him to rise to the surface, which created conflict in the relationship. It was Peter’s spiritual unhealthiness deep within that rose to the surface due to the higher revelation from the Father. The same type of thing happens with us, in the Lord’s private efforts to cause ungodly and unhealthy things to rise so they may be dealt with.
After Jesus returned ‘in the power of the Spirit’ to begin His ministry, Luke 4 records in His very first ministry message which was spoken in His home town, He revealed a passage had been fulfilled that very day, and the conflict that followed in the minds of those who heard Him caused them to attempt to throw Him off the cliff to His death.
Revelation, then conflict
I could go on and on about this pattern. Consider the greatness of the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, followed by Peter and John and the apostles being arrested and called before the Jewish leaders. Consider the revelation of David anointed as king in I Samuel 16:13, followed immediately by the confrontation with Goliath. First comes revelation and then comes conflict in one form or another.
Why is this? Because God is at work. Revelation is not intended to remain hidden in the heart, but rather to be acted upon, to be proven in one’s life, and light dispels darkness. So if you have a little more light in you today than you did yesterday, that light will shine on some ‘darkness’ in you so you may see it, deal with it, and be done with it.
This year Jesus will effect spiritual and emotional healing to those who will recognize God is using past hurts to bring healing.
Often He will bring up old and painful memories that He may work healing. I remember the first time of praying for someone for emotional healing and the woman commented she was suddenly seeing flashes of painful events pass before her when her eyes were closed, scene after scene appearing just long enough for her to recall it, but not long enough to dwell on.
I was prompted to tell her that with each memory the Lord is bringing up, just to say ‘I forgive’ – and she did that – scene after scene and all I heard was her barely audible ‘I forgive, I forgive, I forgive, I forgive’ as each seen materialized and then disappeared in her memory’s eye. Suddenly she was overcome with peace and joy as she reported not knowing what to do next, ‘That’s it. There aren’t any more.’ And she smiled broadly, that sort of smile one smiles that doesn’t go away quickly…she was at peace.
There was a season the Lord has allowed His people to dabble in the unbalanced, the things unprofitable even things hurtful, but that time is over in the Spirit. He is working wholeness in the body of Christ for those who want it. These will be the people not soon shaken when their world is shaken, for they walk in all things from a position of strength and the certainty they’ve already won – that is wholeness.
Surround yourself with spiritually and emotionally healthy people. House church should be healthy in terms of the meeting itself, that the hurting people who attend may receive revelation, and the support to make right decisions that revelation requires. Human nature is such we often think revelation is just something to bless us, rather than thinking the Father has a higher purpose of wholeness in mind. Making the decision to be healthy spiritually and emotionally this year is right in step with the move of the Spirit this year – work with Him to allow healing to rise from within.
There are many other things to go on this year, but I always look first and ask Him first and foremost what He is doing. This one caught me off guard I must admit. I understand it because I see He is coming back for a bride without spot or wrinkle, so He is getting our robes of righteousness ‘cleaned up’ so to speak, but it is a very private and internal move of the Spirit. Cooperate with Him, move toward healthiness, at your core level surround yourself with healthy people that you may have strength to ministry to those in need of healing.
I’ll write more in an upcoming Weekly Thoughts series. For now, thank you for your prayers, support, and friendship!
Blessings,
John Fenn
