I've got...Spiritual Healing: Sunday School, March 2

Ephesians 4:17-24 (The Message Translation)
17 -19And so I insist—and God backs me up on this—that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They've refused for so long to deal with God that they've lost touch not only with God but with reality itself. They can't think straight anymore. Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of perversion. 20 -24But that's no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It's rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.

From this we get a few things:
1. We can't go along with the crowd at all. We have to turn to God. Head his way.
2. Often times, we don't even feel how sick we really are. "They feel no pain."
3. If we KNOW Christ, we can't use the excuse of ignorance. (If you don't know Him, get to know Him. That's what we're talking about. Build a relationship with Him.)
4. Take on an entirely new, healthy way of life. A life RENEWED. Do you want to be well except for a runny nose, or well except you're coughing? No. That's almost even more annoying.

So last week we talked about quality relationships. We talked about how it's important to have people who validate you, who build you up, and who help you strengthen the most important relationship we have, and that's with God.

But sometimes having a relationship with God is hard. You can't see Him, sometimes you can't feel Him, you can't actually talk to Him or hear Him. It's kind of like having an imaginary friend. You know he's there, and you still have a relationship with Him, but whenever your relationship with Him is made public, it can be really embarrassing, because most people don't understand that.

So instead of just standing up for yourself, I think sometimes we just take the easy route and give in to the world. We let the world tell us that following God is weird, or different, and so then we try to go on doing both things. We're like "I'll just keep my relationship with God private, and that way I can still keep my friends and do what I want to do." And I'm not saying that you have to completely abandon all of your friends to follow God, but this morning I want to talk more about how we're drifting away from God and more and more into the ways of the world. And by the world, for some of you that means your families, or your friends, or your teachers, coaches, teammates…I could go on and on. I know what that means for me right now. But I can't tell you what that means for you.

This week, the title of our series, "A Heart of a Champion" is "Heart for Spiritual Change." I want to talk about making decisions that are going to lead to developing this segment of your heart where you can grow spiritually. Spiritual growth just means growing closer to God. Not closer to church. Not closer to better attendance. Not closer to religion. But closer to God.

Head your life God's way

Talk about being sick.
• How does getting sick really work? You have it for a while, but you may not feel it. Like last Saturday. "I think I'm getting sick, or I feel like I am getting sick."
• Eventually, you get sick, and it sucks.
• Then, you start evaluating your symptoms to see how the best way to cure it is. You say what hurts, feels weird, is bothering you, etc. Some things are very generic, others are weird.
• You take medicine according to what your problems are. You go to the store and you buy medicine to match your symptoms. You don't buy Could and Cough medicine for when you're throwing up. You get the right stuff. And the best stuff, even if it requires a little sacrifice (money).
• You rest and wait to be healed. Most of the time, you remove yourself from the world, because being out there could make you sicker, and you could spread what you have to those you care about.
• The ones who truly care about you come and bring you soup and spend time with you. For some reason, it always makes you feel better.
• You start to see a glimpse of what being well feels like, and it is glorious. It's like Friday night and Saturday. I wasn't well yet, but it was so amazing to be feeling better that I was ecstatic.
• Your body is sore and tired from healing itself. Your body has to work in overtime to help you get better, and so you are going to feel the effects of this.
• Then you get better, and you talk about how much it sucked being sick, and how much you hate it, and how glad you are that you are better.

Relate being sick to Spiritual Change
• How does getting sick really work? You have it, but you may not feel it.
• Eventually, you get sick, and it sucks.
• Then, you start evaluating your symptoms to see how the best way to cure it is.
• You take medicine according to what your problems are.
• You rest and wait to be healed.
• The ones who care about you come and bring you soup and spend time with you.
• You start to see a glimpse of what being well feels like, and it is glorious.
• Your body is sore and tired from healing itself.
• Then you get better, and you talk about how much it sucked being sick, and how much you hate it, and how glad you are that you are better.

2 Corinthians 5:17
"If anyone is in Christ he or she is a new creation. The old is passed away. Behold the new has come."

Absorb God's Way

Ephesians 6:13
"Use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil so that after the battle you'll be standing firm."
• What medicine are you going to use to get well? RICE: Rest, Isolation, Compression, Elevation.

Proverbs 17:22
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength. ?

Psalm 141: 3-5
Take control of what I say, O Lord,? and guard my lips.? 4 Don't let me drift toward evil? or take part in acts of wickedness. Don't let me share in the delicacies of those who do wrong. 5 Let the godly strike me! It will be a kindness! If they correct me, it is soothing medicine. Don't let me refuse it.

That verse says that the Godly may strike you! That's intense! Remember that when you're getting better, you often get sore or tired. No one said that healing would be easy. They just said that when you are healed, your life will be a thousand times better than it is now or when you were sick.

Reflect God's Way

Finally, what happens once you are healed? You reflect Jesus. Two weeks ago, in week 1 of our series, Tova talked about being Spiritually, Emotionally, and Physically well so that you can be someone's Jesus. Well, here you are. How are you going to get there?

When I learn your righteous laws, I will thank you by living as I should! (Psalm 119:7).

If you know me, then you may have noticed that within the past couple of months I have experienced some pretty drastic spiritual changes. I have changed things, quit things, added things, and I have been very focused on God and what He needs me to do. Even the decision to work here again was a decision that was based on my spiritual growth. Unfortunately, though, the more I follow God the harder it gets. I have lost friends, sensed some major resistance with my family, and it can be pretty rough. I love my life now, but there are tough times. In the last couple of weeks, I have really been in a race towards God, and I feel like He has really been working in me. But, again, it is so hard. About a week ago, I was just in a "funk," because I was just worn out. I was tired and frustrated that I was feeling so beat down by the world. Then, on Wednesday, I was praying with Pitch, Molly, and Bagwell before LOOP and Bagwell gave me the best words of encouragement. She said, "Hill, I don't know what's changed in the past few weeks, but I like it. It's good. I see Jesus in you now."

I'm telling you this, not because I want to build myself up. Honestly, I don't think this has anything to do with me at all. I think it has absolutely everything to do with God and what He is doing with me.

So that's my words of encouragement for you. This process of spiritual growth, healing, change can be daunting and overwhelming, but it will bring you closer to God, and others will see it.