Divine Healing and Holy Communion

1. 1 Corinthians 11: 29:

“For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgement to himself not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you and many sleep.”

While most times, the danger of partaking of the communion unworthily is emphasized and Christians are urged to examine themselves before communion to avoid what the verse talks about which is sickness, weakness and death, can we take a moment to go back to that scripture and see what is written there that is not literal?

If partaking of communion unworthily can cause weakness, sickness and death, then it means that taking communion worthily also brings strength, health and life. Therefore, I am going to paraphrase that scripture thus:

“For he who eats and drinks in a worthy manner eats and drinks reward to himself discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are strong, health and alive.”

Are you therefore faced with weakness, pain or sickness?  Then you need to take communion and declare the word.

2. Why do we break the bread?

1 Corinthians 11: 24 “And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take eat, this is my body broken for you, do this in remembrance of Me.”

Isaiah 53:5 “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes (wounds), we are healed."

Sickness was done away with by virtue of the full price He paid for our healing on His body. The bruised, battered, and wounds ensured our total victory over sickness and disease. Therefore, whenever we break bread, we show forth the Lord’s death. We remember His body broken for us and it is therefore an assurance that since His body can never be broken again, my body can never be broken ever.

The breaking of Jesus body through the stripes He bore on our behalf was not for the redemption for the soul of Man. In the reign of the Roman era, a man is either scourged or crucified. If Jesus was crucified, the salvation of our soul would have been accomplished. 

So what was the essence of Him going through the ordeal of being whipped and then dying on the cross?  The above verse in Isaiah summarizes it. His battered, bruised, bloody body was for the accomplishment of the healing of our bodies. That is why we break the bread during communion.

3. John 3: 14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted  up, that  WHOEVER believes in Him should not perish….”

Let’s go back to Numbers 21:8 which states thus:

“…then the Lord said to Moses, make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it shall live.”

From this passage, it is clear to all and sundry that after Moses complied with God’s instruction, anyone who further died of the serpent’s bite are those who refused to look up. For the word was that “everyone who is bitten who decides to look up shall live." Whether old, young, tall, short, fair, dark, fat, slim or whatever category can live if he or she decides to look up. 

The bible further makes us understand that the bronze serpent was a typology of the cross and Jesus hanging on it, paying the full penalty for sickness, sin, pain, oppression, poverty and every form of negativity. Therefore, anyone who looks at the cross today will live. And in the context of healing, anyone who is down with sickness and looks at the cross is assured of living. 

The pertinent question then is “How do we look at the cross?” 1 Corinthians 11: 26 provides the answer thus:

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”

Communion can therefore be likened to “looking up “because when we break bread, we are remembering the Lord’s death, we are seeing Him on the cross and remembering all what he accomplished on our behalf and furthermore announcing to the devil and his cohorts that Jesus had paid the price. Dare to live, dare to “look at the cross today”.

4. Luke 24:30-31 “Now it happened as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were open and they knew Him…."

This is a familiar story of the two men on the way to Emmaus. They journeyed with Jesus, spoke with Him but could not discern Him because the eyes of their understanding was darkened. It took Jesus breaking bread for them to be able to know Him. 

When we break bread and partake of the communion, our eyes are opened to spiritual truths and depths in the Word. Remember that Jesus is the Word and the Word was present with them physically yet they did not know. Not to talk about this time that we don’t have Him physically present with us. 

Communion therefore opens our eyes to the Word (Jesus) and immediately, we begin to draw from the Word truths that we never knew existed. It is not enough for our hearts to burn within us while reading the Word as was the case of the two disciples, we rather need our eyes and heart to be lightened and illuminated

Do you have kids that you feel are dull and lack understanding, break bread in your house and command their brains and intelligence to work to the highest capacity ever.

5. So many of us do not understand the value, power, essence and worth of the blood of Jesus. In the natural realm, the blood of a man dictates the life he lives. Leviticus 17:11 states that “The life of the flesh is in the blood…..”vs 14 further said "for it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life….” 

A man’s health life is gauged and measured by the type and kind of blood he has. What is the first question you ask a person who is frequently ill, pale, weak and crisis prone? You ask, “are you a sickler?” or you hear doctors say stuff like this “those with O blood group are prone to having so and so medical conditions” etc.

The Israelites were asked not to eat blood because God made them understand that the life of the flesh is in the blood. The implication being that if they eat blood, it is as good as eating the life of whichever animal or people blood that was eaten. 

Every time we partake of the communion wine which symbolizes the blood of Jesus, we are partaking of the life that He has in Him. We are saying that we have the life (blood) of Jesus in our veins and that life (blood) determines how our life is. This is a life superior to pain, sickness and all the wiles of the enemy.

That is why the bible in Ephesians 5:20 states that “we are members of His body, His flesh and His bone and in 1 Corinthians 6: 17 thus “He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him”. 

Furthermore 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 states:

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.  For by one Spirit we were baptised into one body whether Jews or Greeks whether slaves or free and have all been made to drink into one Spirit."

Ever wondered why members of secret societies drink blood? And why this is usually the last form of initiation which makes a person a full fledged member of that cult? It is because the blood signifies that the life and essence of the cult resides in the being of that person. The blood signifies a seal of that membership.

I pray your faith in the power of Communion will increase in Jesus name.

Enjoy your week!

- Daughter of Zion

Photo credit: jennymountchurch.co.uk, www.jesus-story.net and churchbytheriver.org.uk.

Grow Up!! Be Like Christ

God is telling you that if you allow jealousy, unforgiveness, pride, hatred to be in your heart, when you segregate other believers because you think you are the best, when you constantly fight and argue, when you have temper tantrums, amongst others. God is telling you that you are babies and you need to grow up in Christ. (This resonated with me as it is making me to question how I am seen by God, am I a baby that is being fed with milk or solid? It's time for you also to assess yourself).

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 NIRV says: 

"Brothers and sisters, I couldn't speak to you as if you were guided by the Holy Spirit. I had to speak to you as if you were following the ways of the world. You aren't growing as Christ wants you to. You are still like babies. The words I spoke to you were like milk, not like solid food. You weren't ready for solid food yet. And you still aren't ready for it. You are still following the ways of the world. Some of you are jealous. Some of you argue. So aren't you following the ways of the world? Aren't you acting like ordinary human beings?”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, take away everything that is hindering me from being like you in Jesus name. May I be a true ambassador of Christ in my lifestyle and in my thought in Jesus name.

Spiritually Mature Christians I The Spirit of Compassion

Happy Monday to my lovely Readers & Followers,

The below post was written by one of my friends. Have you ever thought of what Jesus prayed about? If you look at the account in the Bible, Jesus and several prophets (Ezra, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, etc.) had a great burden and compassion for God's people. Also, Paul laboured in prayers for God's people not just for himself.

Are you selfish in the place of prayer? When we know that we lack this, it would help us seek God and He would gladly birth in us the hunger and compassion we desire.

To be spiritually mature includes interceding for others in the place of prayer.

Below is my friend's write-up:

Casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you - 1 Peter 5:7. This verse of scripture is so soul lifting, so peace giving, so relieving to know that we can actually cast all our care upon our Father and have no care in the world. It promises a burden free, worry free life devoid of stress and anxiety. However, I was praying about something last week when the Lord just spoke to me and told me that this verse of scripture is for kids, for the young, for the babes in Christ. What!!! I was alarmed; I could not believe what I heard till I heard all of it. This is what I’m now sharing in this devotion.

When we grow and mature in the things of God, we do not only cast our cares upon the Lord, we also take of His cares and His burdens. For example, Obele Onyi has cast all her care upon her parents. This she would do for a long time. At present, she does not care whether the purse of her parents is full or lean at the moment, her demands remains the same. Her full confidence is in her parents and she trusts them solely for her food, comfort, protection. She does not think for a second how her demands are met. She isn’t concerned with the emotional feelings of her parents and the word management does not exist in her dictionary. Her mum cannot begin to share her concerns and burdens with her. She just can’t get it. However, as she grows and matures, she gets to the stage where she can look at her mum’s face and say “mum, what’s wrong”?, she can adjust her list for school to meet with the financial situation of her parents at the moment. 

My dad told us the story of how he started eating fufu. He used to hate cassava so much and was a fan of yam. One year, he saw his widowed mother crying profusely. He asked her what the matter was and she told him that harvest of yam was very bad and she is crying because she did not know what Osy would eat. He looked at her and told her “mum, I will eat cassava from today” and that’s how he became a great fan of fufu till date. What happened? He had gotten to the level of taking up the burden of his mother. Where her concern became his, where what causes her sleepless nights, kept him awake too.

Same applies to God. It’s only Babes in Christ that cast all their concerns on Him without taking that of His. God requires a level of intimacy where in fellowship; we get to the stage where He shares His deep concerns with us. Where we place our ears on His chest and we listen to His heartbeat. Where He speaks to us about someone in China and we begin to pray and intercede earnestly for a person we have never met or may never meet. Where we ask Him “Father, what’s on Your heart this morning” and He communicates deeply the issues of His heart. He needs us. He needs the agency of man to carry out some of His plans and purposes. Where intercession is not just a requirement but something we carry out based on love and compassion. Where you hear of the sufferings of another and it does not merely invoke an “eh yah, what a pity” sigh from us but we rather feel the same way Jesus feels about that situation. That’s the only way we can spend all night in prayer not praying about our own needs.

This is what it means to be co-labourers with Christ. 1 Corithians 3: 9 “For we are labourers together with God….”, 2 Corithians 3: 1 “We then, as workers together with him…”. This is what it means to be in partnership with Him. This is the true meaning of being an Ambassador of Christ. An Ambassador seeks not his interest but the interest of the country he represents. That is his foremost and topmost priority while his personal interests run secondary. 

This is why the bible admonishes us to seek first the kingdom and then others will follow. An ambassador’s needs are also met as he seeks the interest of his country and not the host community or his. However, you cannot be God’s representative on earth if you do not have His interests, we cannot have His interests if we do not know them. We cannot know them if we are not intimate with Him. This is more than the generic prayers for the lost, unsaved, sick etc that we mutter to satisfy our conscience. However, the spirit of compassion must be birthed in us before we get to this level with God. 

Jesus was a man filled with compassion and it drove Him to His knees. The topmost reason why Christians don’t intercede is lack of compassion according to Richard Foster in his book “Celebration of Discipline”. Until compassion drives you to act, what you experience is merely a fleeting emotion. Compassion ensures that you stay in the place of prayer, fasting etc until the answer comes. Eg is the story of Daniel praying for his people. It is compassion that will drive a young lady to lead her friends every Saturday in prayers for the Nation and families even when that Saturday falls on Christmas and  new year day with all the festive activities.

What is then the greatest barrier to the spirit of compassion? It is self. It is “me, me, me….”. this self must die and this must be done daily according to Paul. God is telling us today to come up hither, to be touched with the feelings of others infirmities. Cry out to God today to birth in you the spirit of compassion. Strive for intimacy with Him till you are one with Him in truth and reality.

Prayer: Lord, I have placed my ears on Your chest, help me to hear your heartbeat. Let what hurts You hurt me, let your concerns become mine, cause the spirit of intercession to be birthed in me.

Action plan: Prayerfully ask God to lead you to pray for the needs of someone. Pray according to Joshua 1:13-15. Stay on it till the manifestation occurs. He has led me to mine. Who will join me?

- Daughter of Zion

Photo credit: http://lastharvestfellowship.com

How To Control Your Sexual Urges In Christian Courtship

Hello Readers & Followers,

How was your weekend?  Hope it was beautiful. Happy Monday!

One of the most commonly asked questions on the blog is how to be sexually pure in Christian courtship. This week's post is about how you as a Christian single can control your sexual urges.

Sexual urges are feelings resulting from the urge to gratify sexual impulses. This is an emotion that you can control, as children of God are not ruled by their emotions but by the Word of God.

During your single time, God expects you to practise self-control and to surrender your desires to Him.  You are to view the challenge of managing your sexual desires as an opportunity to develop habits that please God, good habits that you can teach the people around you and an opportunity for you to develop godly character that show your love and commitment to God.

Some of you have asked why God cannot remove the sexual desires and bring the desires back when you are married. Unfortunately, God won't take it away as there's an appropriate time and place for sexual desires - 'marriage.'

We have been warned severally by God in the book of Songs of Solomon (2:7, 3:5, 8:4) which state "I charge you, please do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires." In other words, God is telling you not to excite love, not stir it up, until the time is ripe and you're ready.  For Christian singles, the time is only ripe after you have been joined as husband and wife to your spouse in marriage.

For the purpose of this write-up: Beloved means boyfriend, girlfriend, fiancé and fiancée.  

Tips that may help you to control your sexual urges: 

1) Ensure that your relationship is centred on Christ's principles.

2)  Remember the Word of God that was repeated in Songs of Solomon that says that "Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires." It should be awaken after you are married.

3) Have a discussion with your beloved about what arouses both of you and discuss ways to avoid them and ways to flee. 

4) Ensure you avoid engaging in the things that trigger your sexual urges.

5) Learn to push your sexual urges thought away. Immediately remind yourself of the consequences of practising your sexual urges and remind yourself of what the Word of God says.

6) Avoid sleep overs at your beloved's house.

7) If you have been sexually active and you have chosen to stay celibate, you may initially struggle to control your sexual urges. However, determine within your heart that you want to stay pure. Ensure your beloved share the same principles with you and regularly remind yourself of what it means to show love in a Christian way and learn how you can show love to your beloved in a pure way.

8) Do not masturbate neither should you start watching pornography. Your body is a temple of the Lord, therefore, glorify God with your body and soul. God also expects you to think on things that are pure.

9) Avoid engaging in sexual discussions with your beloved and avoid watching or reading sexual explicit information.

10) Ask God to help you not to fall into sexual sins. God said that you can do all things through Christ which strengthens you. Believe in your heart that you can stay pure.

11) Seek counsel from a Christian friend or a Christian leader or your mentor.  You must ensure that the advice is based on the Word of God.

12) Have an accountability friend that would always remind and teach you the true word of God.

13) If you are engaged, and you believe you are ready for marriage, consider getting married (1 Corinthians 7:9).

Recommended book for singles: Say Hello to Courtship by Joshua Harris. This book can be purchased from Amazon.

If you have any questions, feel free to comment below or send an email to trulymakingadifference@gmail.com

Enjoy your week! 

- Myss Lafunky 

As a Christian, Can I Collaborate In Sin?

Hi Readers & Followers,

How are you doing? How is your new week going? I would like to remind you to always give thanks to God for life because it's a gift of immeasurable value from Him.

Do you know that some Christians believe that it is okay to collaborate in sin (wrongdoings against God's Word) especially if they were instructed by someone who appears to be matured in faith than them, or perhaps their Christian leader or their spouse?

Collaboration is action of working with someone to produce something.

God has been generous with us by not withholding information about what would happen if we collaborate in sin. In the case of Ananias and Sapphira in the Bible, with his wife's full knowledge, Ananias kept back part of the money for himself but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet and when he was asked by the apostle if the money that he gave was a true reflection of the money he had, Ananais lied and he immediately died. His wife was not present when her husband was asked so when she was also asked by the apostle, she lied and she immediately died.

I know some of you may be thinking that God's judgement towards Ananais and Sapphira was harsh but God used Ananias and Sapphira to set an example for us to know how He detests sin as well as collaborating in sins. 

You may have collaborated in sins and not have immediately died, praise God for His mercy! BUT God wants you to completely refrain from this behaviour.

Things to consider

1. Always purpose in your heart to please God in all your ways.
2. Check out what the Word of God says about the action that you are about to collaborate in.
3. Identify temptations to which you are vulnerable and which might cause you to collaborate in sin. Start thinking of ways not to fall into it and ask God to help you.
4. Think of the consequences of the sin and the impacts it would have on you.
5. Remember that there are no justifiable excuses for collaborating in sin irrespective of who the person is or what the task is.
6. Collaborate in the things that are pure, good, lawful and in line with the Word of God (Bible).

Always purpose in your heart to please God and ask God for the wisdom to deal with others.

Have a lovely week. 

- Myss Lafunky 

Do You Know What's on the Inside?

Hello Readers and Followers,

How are you all doing? I would like to thank the person that has nominated herself to write a response to the post: "What Men Really Want". Her post is going to be about what Christian single women want from single men. I can't wait to share the post with you all. If you have any topic that you would like us to discuss or you need clarity about anything, please feel free to send an email to trulymakingadifference@gmail.com  

I think I've been experiencing a writer's block syndrome. I have been struggling to share a post and I wasn't sure what post to share with you all. I have finally decided, Praise Jesus with me. It is to be noted that all the posts on Myss Lafunky's Blog usually link back to the vision of the 3 R's for the ministry. A reminder of what the 3 R's are (Relationship with God, Relationship with People, Relationship with your Spouse (or Spouse to be)). I write as I am led by the Holy Spirit.  

Today's post is about appearance.

1 Samuel 16:17 states that: "The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." How great would it be if we all look at the heart and not the outward appearance of others. Unfortunately, we do not have the power and ability to look at someone else's heart.

In the Bible (1Sam 16), Samuel was sent to the house of Jesse to find a new king. When he arrived, Samuel saw Eliab, one of Jesse's sons, and thought that he must have been the one God had chosen to be the next King. Evidently, like the previous King Saul, Eliab was tall, handsome and striking. Guess what? Despite Eliab's physical appearance that exuded being a King, he was not the one God had in mind.

God instructed Samuel not to assess people by their physical appearance! He told Samuel that He doesn't look at the outside but looks at the inside. In this generation where a large number of people are quick to judge others dressing due to social status, personal beliefs, personal style, culture, etc, I very much believe people would also have instantly chosen Eliab as the next King. Or perhaps, the person's education qualifications, age and marital status would have been considered before the individual had listened to God's views.

Back to the story, each of Jesse's sons passed before Samuel but God did not indicate that any of them was the man He had sent him to find. Finally, David, the youngest son, came in from the fields and the Lord spoke to Samuel, telling him this was the right one.

To all my male and female single readers, please do not be distracted by someone's physical appearance, qualifications and age when choosing your life partner, let God lead you like He led Samuel. Despite Samuel being a Prophet, he thought he was knowledgable and wise enough to know who the King should be, nevertheless, he eventually waited to be instructed and directed by God. Are you also waiting to be directed by God? Are you communicating with God regularly so that He can direct you in respects to your choices? 

When we look at someone's outward appearance, we often fail to see what God sees. Like Samuel, we tend to make judgements based on what people look like. However, God doesn't use looks as His criteria. He evaluates people by what's in their hearts. He sees their character, their faithfulness, their future, and their commitment to Him now and in the future.

To my Christian single readers, do not be charmed by someone's good looks, flattery or attentiveness to you, all of that can be fleeting. Do not be charmed by their titles or their backgrounds, where they work, how much they earn, the church they attend; trust God to direct you as He knows all things, He doesn't make mistakes and He is ready to lead you right and give you the best, if only you'd trust in Him. Remember to be patient with God and always cross check everything with the Word of God.

To those that are married, perhaps as your marriage ages, your spouse's outward appearance has started to diminish, your wife does not have a flat tummy anymore, your husband now has gray hair and he is losing his hair, or perhaps what physically attracted you to your spouse is beginning to wane, this is the time to remember what God said to Samuel about focusing on what's in the heart rather than what's physically noticeable.

Support this ministry by sharing this post with your friends. Sharing is caring.

- Myss Lafunky

Photo Credit: http://www.theexaminer.com/