9/2/13 – “WALKING IN DIVINE HEALTH”

3 John 2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

There is no doubt in the Word of God that it is His desire for us to be healed in body. All through the scriptures we have proof that healing is a part of what Jesus died and paid for. But there is a difference between being healed, and walking in divine health. It is not only God’s desire to heal us, but He clearly desires for us to experience a healthy life. So this week I want to share from the Word of God what scripture reveals is the key to walking in divine health.

To start with when you look at our foundation verse from 3 John 2 you clearly see that it is God’s desire as expressed through the apostle John to be in health, not just healed. This happens as John also reveals based on how healthy our soul is. Today you can find all kinds of evidence from doctors that reveal the significance that our soul plays in the health of our body. They will tell you that stress is probably the number one reason for the majority of sickness and disease that people are dealing with everyday. Stress is the result of an unhealthy soul. The world’s only way of dealing with this is to try and do things in the natural to reduce stress, but God has given us the keys to a healthy soul.

Prov. 4:20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.
Prov. 4:21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart;
Prov. 4:22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.
Prov. 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
Prov. 4:24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you.
Prov. 4:25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you.
Prov. 4:26 Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established.
Prov. 4:27 Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.

In these verses we will see nine key truths that will help us to have a healthy soul, and in turn a healthy body. You can see this by first looking at verse 22 above. You will notice in the preceding verses that the Word of God is the focus of these verses. In verse 22 you will find that the Word of God is health to all our flesh. The word health is defined in the Hebrew as medicine. God’s Word is a medicine to all our flesh. Now with that understood lets begin in verse 20 and look at what scripture teaches on how we can live a healthy life.

1. Attend to God’s Word.
This would seem to be very self-explanatory but is a vital point that must be recognized to live a healthy life. To give attention to God’s Word means to attend to it. It is like having a garden in which you are trying to grow fruits or vegetables. You must attend to your garden if you are going to grow anything. If you want God’s Word to help you have a healthy soul, you are going to have to attend to the Word of God. Read it, study it, meditate on it, or as I have heard it said you must consume God’s Word until the Word consumes you. God and His Word are one. When the Word begins to consume you, all that God is and all that God has begins to impact your life. You must attend to the Word of God if you want to experience divine health.

2. Change your beliefs to line up with God’s Word.
As it states in verse 20 you must incline your ear to His sayings. This is more than just casual reading of scripture. It refers to leaning in closer to clearly hear what someone is saying. To incline your ear to what God’s Word says you are doing so to change your belief systems. If you do not change your beliefs to line up with the Word of God, then you are going to continue to live under the belief systems of the world. These beliefs are what bring about worry, fear, unbelief, doubt, and so on. Changing your beliefs to line up with God is crucial because how you live in life is based on what you believe.

3. Get a vision of yourself based on God’s Word.
This comes from the phrase in verse 21 where we are told not to let God’s Word depart from our eyes. This is a reference to vision. We must get a vision of ourselves based on God’s Word. For example, we need to see ourselves already healed before we are going to walk healed. This is what faith is all about. It is getting an inner vision of what we have become in Christ, which will change how we view ourselves, and how we view life as well. If you see yourself in light of the Word, you begin to realize that the greater one lives in you, and that you are victorious through what Christ has already done for you. So this inner vision happens as we begin to meditate on the Word of God and that Word becomes a part of our inner conscience.

4. Guard against things contrary to God’s Word.
As verse 21 states we must keep God’s Word in our hearts. In other words it is not just important to get this new vision and change of belief within, we must guard it once we do. There is a thief at work through so many different avenues in this life that are designed to rob us of the Word of God. Scripture clearly reveals that satan comes immediately to steal the Word out of our heart. He knows the power that the Word of God has in our life, more so than many believers. Through all types of media (television, movies, music, internet), and through other people around us satan is doing everything he can to rob us of the Word.

The word keep in verse 21 means to set a guard. So picture for example a city that you want to protect from its enemies. You want to protect this city from being infiltrated. To do so you are going to post guards at the gates to help keep your enemy out. We must post guards over the doorways to our heart. This has to do with what we see and what we hear. The average believer does not realize in a day’s time how many things they are hearing and seeing that are designed to simply rob you by getting you to doubt and question the Word of God. We must be aware of the things that are often accepted as a part of our “modern day” culture that are simple elements at work to get us out of faith and filled with fear, stress, worry, etc.

5. Stop saying things that are not true. This confuses the soul.
In verses 22 and 23 we see more emphasis put on guarding the heart, as this is where the very source of life comes from, for faith is of the heart. Then in verse 24 we are told to put a deceitful mouth far from us. This simply means don’t say things that are not true. You have surely heard the phrase, “If you hear a lie long enough, you will begin to believe it”. You see if you are saying things that are not true you confuse your spirit man when you then turn around and start declaring what God’s Word says which is truth.

I know that most would say I am not a liar. I don’t believe most Christians are intentionally lying, but I think to some degree people as a whole if they listen carefully to what they say may be surprised when we in fact say things that are not true with the intent of protecting others, or trying to protect ourselves, or even avoid confrontation. So it is very important that we need to do all we can to make sure no matter what the circumstances we speak the truth.

6. Stop saying things contrary to the Word of God.
Putting perverse lips far from you means to stop saying things contrary to the Word. If you say you believe you receive your healing and then turn around and start complaining about the pain in your body you are speaking contrary to the Word. This also creates mixed signals to our soul (mind, will, and emotions). To keep from doing so we must also watch saying things that are critical of others and negative all the time. Those who do so are filling their hearts with negativity and don’t realize the adverse effect this his having on their soul.

7. Do not entertain any vision of yourself contrary to the Word of God.
This is what verse 25 is referring to. Simply put in the words of James we must resist the devil. Satan works continually to try and get us to entertain thoughts that are leading us to lack faith in God. So do not allow the enemy to get you to see yourself any less than God sees you.

8. In all your way acknowledge God’s will for your life.
As verse 26 tells us we need to ponder the path of our feet, and make sure our ways are established in line with God. When we choose God’s will over our own the end result will always lead to a soul filled with peace that will guard your heart and your mind.

9. Resist the devil steadfast in the faith.
Don’t turn to the right or the left as verse 27 states. Don’t allow the devil to get you yielding to the flesh. If you walk in the Spirit then you will not yield to the flesh. Yielding to the flesh produces fleshly thinking and thus an unhealthy soul.

The more healthy your soul, the more healthy your body will be. God’s Word is the primary tool that helps us to maintain a healthy soul. When we have a healthy soul we won’t get stressed and filled with fear. So take God’s Word and develop a healthy mind, will, and emotions for in doing so you will experience the health God desires for you to walk in.

See You Again Next Week For More “Weekly Wisdom”

May God’s Best Be Yours!

Pastor Darryl Baker