Hope, Healing & Freedom Podcast : Ep 02
TRANSCRIPT
Have you ever looked at something online or in a brochure and it looked amazing. Then when you saw the real thing, it was disappointing. We saw a house online recently that looked wonderful in the pictures, but when we saw it in person it was nothing like what it looked like online. It was way too close to the road, and the backyard was on such a steep hill that you could not even put a swing set in the yard. With the help of slick photography these ads over advertise and underdeliver.
Our relationship with Jesus is just the opposite. Jesus under advertises and over delivers. Before I get in trouble with some of you, let me explain. He says in John 10:10, “I came that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.” As wonderful as that statement is, it under advertises on just how wonderful the life is that Jesus gives. The Greek word for salvation in the Bible is SOZO which means to heal, restore, deliver, and make whole. This word means so much more than simply to be forgiven of our sins, as incredible as that is.
In this weeks podcast we are going to talk about each one of these words more in-depth. Healing is available through our relationship with Jesus. Healing of our physical bodies and of our souls. But what does healing look like and how can we get more?
Restoration is part of salvation. Restoration carries the meaning of returning something to an unimpaired condition. What are those things that are impairing us from living life to its fullest? And how do we overcome those impairments?
Deliver means to set free or release from the oppression of the enemy. We often hear statements like this from people who have gotten delivered from the oppression of the enemy; I did not know how much oppression I was under until it was gone. The oppression has been normal for us all of our lives, and it is affecting most of the people we know in some way. What does freedom really look like?
To make whole is also part of our salvation. I don’t know about you, but I came into my relationship with Christ a very broken person. Life had dealt me some hard knocks and I had made many bad decisions along the way. Jesus is the only one who can heal, restore, deliver, and make me whole.
Restoring the Foundations has the privilege of leading people to find true Hope, Healing and Freedom in their lives.
Luke 4:18 is a picture of the work that Jesus does in our lives when we allow Him to. God revealed to Chester and Betsy Kylstra that everyone on earth has four problem areas that must be dealt with at the same time. All four areas are found in this verse.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;”
— Luke 14:18
Each part of this verse describes what goes on in RTF ministry that brings Hope Healing and freedom into your life.
The first thing we see in this verse is that the Spirit of the Lord has got to be part of setting captives free. The Holy Spirit has to be in charge of this ministry in order for people to get their freedom. There is a misconception that permeates even many Christians that if I can understand a problem then I can overcome it. So, people look to non-Spirit lead people to help them find the understanding they hope will overcome the problem. The Holy Spirit knows what you need in order to get to the root of the problem. The RTF ministers use a My Story application to give them needed background information, but they don’t stop at human reason and understanding. They take that information to the Holy Spirit for Him to give the strategy for ministry. Only the Holy Spirit can show the minister the strategy needed for the person sitting in front of them.
The next thing this verse says is, “Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor;”. This phrase talks about the things we inherit from our ancestors. Oftentimes physical poverty is passed down from generation to generation. But poverty of soul is also passed down the generational line. There is no doubt from a Biblical perspective that there is pressure to sin in your bloodline that you inherited from your ancestors. Exodus 20:5 says, “you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.” This iniquity is passed down from generation to generation putting pressure on the following generations to walk in the same sins. Repenting of your own sinful behavior does not cut off this generational pressure to sin. The sin in your bloodline must be renounced on behalf of yourself and your ancestors. The freedom from the sin in our bloodline is also available to us through our salvation.
Next Luke 4:18 says, “He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted”. What an amazing God we have. He sent Jesus to not only save us from our sins and make us a home with Him forever in Heaven. But Father God knew that in this life we would have our hearts broken so He sent Jesus to heal our broken hearts. I love that. God knew we were going to get hurt by things in this life. He does not make those bad things happen that cause us hurt but He knew that living life on this sin filled planet would cause hurt. So He sent His Son to bring healing to our hurts and wounds. And because Jesus knows each one of us individually and intimately, He will bring His unique healing into each of our hearts in an intimate and personal way. When we minister to someone and watch Jesus heal their broken hearts, one phrase comes to mind over and over again. “You can’t make this stuff up”. You can’t predict or make up how Jesus is going to touch someone’s broken hearts. He knows what they need, and He meets them in an individual and intimate way.
Next this verse says, “To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind.” What causes people to be held captive? What causes people to be blind? Could both be that they can’t see the truth. We are held captive by the lies we believe. We are blinded by those same lies and cannot see the truth. One of the most life changing parts of RTF ministry is helping someone change lies into God’s truth. When someone breaks out of believing a lie and starts believing the truth, their life changes almost immediately. Sometimes people have to walk out that new truth over time, but the truth at work in their life does begin to set them free. This is one part of the RTF ministry that becomes a lifestyle. When you open yourself up to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to show you the lies you are believing, He is faithful to bring those lies to your attention so you can do self-ministry. And the scripture is clear, “You will know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free.”
Some of the most powerful lies that people believe are about their identity. The enemy attacks a believer’s identity to keep them from knowing who they are as a child of God. Satan knows that a believer in Jesus who knows their true identity as a child of God and the authority they have as God’s warriors here on this earth are a threat to the gates of Hell. These attacks against our identity come in the form of “I am” statements. Things like I am stupid, I am defective, I am unworthy, I am inferior. These lies are based on shame which says something is wrong with me that will never go away. Remember, all of these are lies intended to steal your God given identity. What God says about you will change your life.
The last part of verse 18 says, “To set at liberty those who are oppressed;” Who is being oppressed by the enemy? Everyone who lives on this planet. The brilliance of RTF ministry is that when you minister to all four of these areas at the same time in an integrated way, the hope, healing and freedom that comes is amazing. The first three areas we looked at provide landing strips for the enemy to have access to our lives to oppress us. Once those landing strips are taken away, removing oppression from our lives becomes much easier. In fact, once the enemies legal rights are taken away, He has to leave because he has no more legal right to stay.
Jesus came to do much more than just save you from your sins and provide you a home in heaven. He came to give you a life far above your expectations here on this earth. Please don’t settle for anything less. Come and join us each week as we continue to look at how you can experience Hope, Healing and Freedom in your life.
