Preparing the Bride of Christ For His Return By Janet Van Hierdan
A Tale of Two Brides is now available on Amazon.com:
Friday, November 8, 2013
Aphiémi Healing, Part 3
November 8, 2013
Good Morning! The miracles of healing continue throughout each week as we watch what God is doing in the lives of folks who call in to our healing conference calls. High blood pressure, stomach problems, arthritis, hip and leg issues, cancers of multiple varieties, vision problems, hearing issues, psoriasis -- you name it -- folks are being healed and delivered of these things, and a whole lot more.
As I've shared on numerous occasions, many diseases have their origins in one of the three families of fear: the Fear of Evil, or the Fear of Man, or the Fear of Death. Each of these families of fear bring on diseases unique to each type of fear. Perhaps I will do a set of Coffee Breaks dealing with the diseases outlined in Scripture that relate to each family of fear.
That said, we've been seeing folks receive deliverance from fear, and with that deliverance, healing for multiple afflictions in their bodies. Once again I remind you that these calls take place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:00 PM Eastern. The call-in information is at the end of this Coffee Break. If you are in need, please join us and let us minister to you.
Let's continue with our discussion from Mark 9:41-50 from the Amplified Version:
"For I tell you truly, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to and bear the name of Christ will by no means fail to get his reward. And whoever causes one of these little ones (these believers) who acknowledge and cleave to Me to stumble and sin, it would be better (more profitable and wholesome) for him if a [huge] millstone were hung about his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
"And if your hand puts a stumbling block before you and causes you to sin, cut it off! It is more profitable and wholesome for you to go into life [that is really worthwhile] maimed than with two hands to go to hell (Gehenna), into the fire that cannot be put out.
"And if your foot is a cause of stumbling and sin to you, cut it off! It is more profitable and wholesome for you to enter into life [that is really worthwhile] crippled than, having two feet, to be cast into hell (Gehenna).
"And if your eye causes you to stumble and sin, pluck it out! It is more profitable and wholesome for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell (Gehenna),
"Where their worm [which preys on the inhabitants and is a symbol of the wounds inflicted on the man himself by his sins] does not die, and the fire is not put out. For everyone shall be salted with fire. Salt is good (beneficial), but if salt has lost its saltness, how will you restore [the saltness to] it? Have salt within yourselves, and be at peace and live in harmony with one another."
We talked about the issue of the hand, and how it relates to disease and sickness in the last Coffee Break. This week let's take up the next area that Jesus addresses from Mark 9:45 -- the issue of one's foot causing you to stumble, and how this specifically relates to one's health and/or healing.
"And if your foot is a cause of stumbling and sin to you, cut it off! It is more profitable and wholesome for you to enter into life [that is really worthwhile] crippled than, having two feet, to be cast into hell (Gehenna)."
In the same way the previous statement concerning the hand was revelatory, this is likewise. The reference to one's foot is a common Hebrew metaphor for that which supports you, your stability, the path of life you choose and walk in. The Hebrew text in the Old Testament uses the word, regel, and the Greek text of the New Testament uses the word, pous. Once again, the translation from either the Hebrew or the Greek represents endurance, strength, stability, reputation, character; it is a unique measure of time (from the standpoint of how long you walk in a certain way, how long you support yourself and endure in something); and finally, it is a picture of direction -- which path you choose to walk in.
Let's take a look at some references throughout the Word which clearly illustrate these descriptions.
Our first illustration comes from Deuteronomy 28:15, 33-35, and while this statement certainly figured under the Law of Moses, there is a spiritual principle I'd like to deal with which is revealed quite clearly.
"But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:.........A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually. So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see. The Lord will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils which cannot be healed, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head."
Three manifestations of disobedience to the Word of the Lord -- sin, if you will -- appear in this short passage: (1) poverty, continual lack, having the work of your hands destroyed time after time after time; (2) blindness or vision problems; and (3) skin problems and blood issues. The picture of the foot in this instance is that the disease becomes so great you cannot stand or walk -- hence, you have chosen a path of disobedience to what God has instructed you.
Are you seeing the picture? Bear with me, folks! I know there are a lot of folks who will say, "Well, that's just Old Testament. We live under Grace and not under the Law." Sorry, people, but it doesn't work that way! Grace is not an excuse to disobey the Word of the Lord. The Spirit of Grace and Supplications (Zechariah 12:10) -- the fifth of the Seven Spirits of God -- is not just Grace as a standalone part of God's nature: this spirit includes Supplications -- intercession and prayer support -- which enable you to be obedient to the Word of the Lord. Think, for example, of Jesus as our intercessor (see Hebrews 7:25).
My father walked and lived this before our family continually and he used to say to me, "Son, what God orders He pays for." It was a rather simplistic way of saying, "If God directs you to do something, He will enable you to do it whether you think you can or not." I don't know who came up with this cliché, but it is accurate: God doesn't necessarily call those who are able or capable; He enables those whom He calls.
Make sense? What has God instructed you to do? What path or direction has Holy Spirit continually pricked your spirit with? Have you paid attention to His voice or have you chosen not to obey because "that doesn't make sense, and besides there's no way I could possibly do that!" Are you suffering eyesight issues because you ignored the Word of the Lord to you? What about skin or blood disorders?
Let's move on with our examples from the Word.
Consider Proverbs 1:10-16: "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood."
This illustration is about as obvious as anything can be. It is a description of one's foot participating in wicked activities, taking advantage of other folks, using conniving, manipulation and trickery to steal or cheat them out of their money or goods (legally, of course -- Riiiiggghhhttt!) in order to get rich.
But there is one more aspect of this that many Christians miss entirely, and this one will take many well-meaning folks by surprise. It is one of the reasons why so many folks are poverty stricken today, and why so many people live sub-standard lives, health-wise.
Look at the warning that comes from the Lord in this statement: 'Let us all have one purse." Do you understand the significance of this? This is the personification of wealth distribution -- taking from those who have the most and (in theory) distributing it so that everyone has an equal share. When you read it in the Hebrew text it becomes even more clear.
The phrase, "one purse" comes from two Hebrew words, "'echad" (meaning: to unite, to collectively make as one) and "kiys" (meaning a pot, a cup, a bag, a purse -- a place to gather one's funds together). Thus, you have one person who in fact is a thief gathering from everyone into a single collection. The thief profits from the fact that the funds are at his disposal, because of the "fees" he takes for himself as the administrator of the fund, while he distributes the remainder as he sees fit in a supposedly equitable fashion to "everyone." In case you hadn't already figured it out, the Lord is warning us against the evils of socialism and collectivism.
The end result is that while the thief lives in his abundance, the rest is supposedly distributed in a way that no one really has quite enough. The warning that the Lord gives us is, "Refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood."
Right! As Jesus put it, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal (everything you've got), and to kill (and cause you to die prematurely), and to destroy (your health and your livelihood): I am come that they might have (and enjoy) life, and that they might have it (in so much) more (abundance that it overflows and overflows) abundantly." (John 10:10 with my additions)
By now, you're getting a pretty graphic picture. People who subscribe to the socialist philosophy believe the lie of Satan, and their health and welfare ultimately suffer as a consequence.
Let's take a different approach and see what happens with those whose foot is secure in God. Consider a portion of Psalm 91:
"Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation."
Here is the picture of someone whose foot is securely planted in the ways, the plans, the destiny that God has chosen for them. The promise prophesied in this instance is that (1) no plague of any kind will come near you or your family. (2) Angels will be your protection. (3) If there is a danger that you will make a misstep and get off the path you are walking in, or if the Enemy places a stone of stumbling in your path, the angels will pick you up and keep you from stumbling or injuring yourself.
(4) You will have the ability to walk over (and take on) lions [a metaphor for those who roar against you], (5) and adders [a metaphor for those who twist your words against you], as well as (6) trampling underfoot the young lions [a metaphor for walled communities who set themselves against you] and (7) dragons [this is a fascinating metaphor for kings or governors or leaders who set themselves up with laws, rules, commands or legislation which targets you as part of the household of God].
Like it so far? Thought so! But Wait! He's not done with His promises!
(8) Whenever you are in danger, the Lord will not only take you out of harm's way and He will place you above your enemies' reach where they can't touch you. (9) You'll be able to address Him directly with your prayers and requests, knowing that you will have immediate audience with Him and the answers to your requests. (10) As always, all believers and particularly those who walk in an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ will suffer persecution, affliction, trials and adversity, but His promise is that He will arm and equip you with everything you'll need to strip your enemies of their power and their power base. (11) Even in the midst of the ongoing warfare and adversity, God will honor you and display His Glory in you in such a way that your enemies will know that He loves you and covers you!
Here's the last one of His promises in Psalm 91 to those whose foot is firmly established in the ways, the plans and purposes and destiny God has chosen: (12) He will give you prolonged, satisfying and rewarding life -- never mind what the doctors say, never mind what science says, never mind the traditions of men, never mind what you've seen and heard in the past -- AND He will visibly demonstrate to you His deliverance, His protection, His health, His prosperity (try that one on for size!), His salvation and His assistance in every situation!
Let's go back to Mark 9:42 (with my amplifications):
"And whoever causes one of these little ones (these believers) who acknowledge and cleave to Me to stumble and sin (by the way in which you allow your foot -- the path you choose in opposition to God's specific direction), it would be better (more profitable and wholesome) for him if a [huge] millstone were hung about his neck, and he were thrown into the sea."
Is this picture from Mark 9 becoming more and more clear to you?
I said it before and I'll say it again. Jesus is referring to offenses -- offenses that we bring toward others, as well as seizing the opportunities to do even the littlest thing for someone, something as tiny as just bringing a cup of water to someone who thirsts and bringing it in the name, the character, the life, the makeup of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ, and as ambassadors and representatives of the Kingdom of God, every action and every reaction we have or take is a reflection on Him. Even drawing from Psalm 91, He promises to reward every individual who performs even the littlest task when it is done in, by and through Him. Believe me, when He says He will reward you, that's exactly what He will do!
I really have only touched the surface of this part of the discussion. We're still talking about aphiémi -- the forgiveness, eradication and permanent elimination of offenses -- and I haven't even gotten to that aspect of this word in this discussion about the foot offending. That's where we will pick this up next week.
I'll try to get next week's Coffee Break out a day earlier. Rich Warren and I have a men's retreat where we are leading worship, and that will take us away all next weekend.
A reminder: If you are in need of healing please join our prayer conference calls on either Monday, Wednesday or Friday of each week at 7:00 PM Eastern. Once again, the number to call is (805) 399-1000. Then enter the access code: 124763#.
Blessings on you!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org
A Tale of Two Brides is now available on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Brides-Relationship-ebook/dp/B00BSV6HZC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1363139096&sr=8-8&keywords=A+Tale+of+Two+Brides#_
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted –provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are available at http://www.RegnersMorningCoffee.com. Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit: http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Aphiémi Healing, Part 2
November 1, 2013
As you all know, we've been doing these world-wide healing conference calls on Mondays, Wednesday's and Fridays. On one of these Coffee Breaks a few weeks ago I mentioned how the Lord had healed George Robinson's shoulder and -- from what we can see -- literally gave him a new shoulder out of the "parts room" in Heaven. It has happened again, and this time with George's heart.
We have mentioned on a few occasions that George needed healing for his heart and that he has (in times past) suffered several heart attacks, two or three of which resulted in his flat-lining. On each occasion the Lord has raised George back to life. The problem has been, however, that his heart was still in need of being replaced with a new one.
Early this week, George called us and he was in serious trouble again with his heart. We went to prayer over the issue, and this time we called for a new heart for George out of the parts room in Heaven. He called me a couple of days ago and said he woke up feeling really energized. He decided to go to the health club and do a work out. After a couple hours or so of weight lifting, running on the treadmill and doing a number of other exercises, he went home and began cleaning out the pond in his back yard. Besides cleaning out dead leaves, he had to pull grass and weeds from the pond (and of course, that takes some effort).
The catch here is that the pond is down a hill in his back yard. In times past, every time he had climbed that hill back up to the house, he suffered shortness of breath and even chest pains on occasion. This time George climbed the hill without a single symptom of breathing issues and was still full of energy when he got back up to the house. He called me and his reaction was, "It's so cool!" Riiiiggghhhhttt! See what God does? What He did for George, and what He's done for me, He will most certainly do for you. Join us on our healing calls. (See the number below.)
Let's continue where we left off last week and begin with Mark 9:41-50 from the Amplified Version:
"For I tell you truly, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to and bear the name of Christ will by no means fail to get his reward. And whoever causes one of these little ones (these believers) who acknowledge and cleave to Me to stumble and sin, it would be better (more profitable and wholesome) for him if a [huge] millstone were hung about his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
"And if your hand puts a stumbling block before you and causes you to sin, cut it off! It is more profitable and wholesome for you to go into life [that is really worthwhile] maimed than with two hands to go to hell (Gehenna), into the fire that cannot be put out.
"And if your foot is a cause of stumbling and sin to you, cut it off! It is more profitable and wholesome for you to enter into life [that is really worthwhile] crippled than, having two feet, to be cast into hell (Gehenna).
"And if your eye causes you to stumble and sin, pluck it out! It is more profitable and wholesome for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell (Gehenna),
"Where their worm [which preys on the inhabitants and is a symbol of the wounds inflicted on the man himself by his sins] does not die, and the fire is not put out. For everyone shall be salted with fire. Salt is good (beneficial), but if salt has lost its saltness, how will you restore [the saltness to] it? Have salt within yourselves, and be at peace and live in harmony with one another."
Jesus is getting at something here that many Christians seem to miss out on. So many folks suffer from chronic diseases and ailments. They ask for prayer for healing, they read the promises in the Word relating to healing and often quote those scriptures to themselves. Many of these same people understand the concept of speaking the Word and having a proper confession, and yet complete healing seems to be just beyond their grasp.
Sadly, lots of folks give up when they don't receive their healing after repeated prayers and "proper confessions," and many fall prey to the lie of Satan which says, "Well, it just must not be God's will for you to be healed. You just need to bear your cross (spoken, of course, in a whiny, religious voice). After all, let's not forget Paul's thorn in the flesh."
Whewww!!! What a pile of religious horse puckey!
Jesus most certainly did not suffer all those stripes -- stripes I might add that left him looking like nothing more than a mass of bloody and ripped flesh and almost unrecognizable as a human being -- because he wanted some folks to continue on in their sicknesses, diseases and infirmity! He paid for all of it, PERIOD!! There's no such thing as it being necessary for some folks to be sick and some folks to be healed. What a lie!
Well, let's begin breaking down these statements that Jesus made and show you the relationship between each of these comments and our ability to receive and retain our healing for the long term. I'm going to move back and forth between these verses of scripture, but let me begin with the statements in Verse 43.
"And if your hand puts a stumbling block before you and causes you to sin, cut it off! It is more profitable and wholesome for you to go into life [that is really worthwhile] maimed than with two hands to go to hell (Gehenna), into the fire that cannot be put out."
This is a revelatory statement. The reference to one's hand is a reference to the way one conducts business. The Hebrew text in the Old Testament uses the word, yamiyn, and the Greek text of the New Testament uses the word, cheir. In both instances, the translation from Hebrew and Greek is a representation of power; it represents an instrument or a means of conducting business, and it is a representation of one's strength.
Scripture is full of examples of the use of the hand, and especially the right hand. Take a quick look at some statements David makes in the Psalms.
Psalm 20:6: Now know I that the Lord saveth His anointed; He will hear him from His holy Heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.
Psalm 21:8: Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.
Then we have this contrasting illustration.
Psalm 26:9-10: Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men: in whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.
Now take a look at some references in which the hand is an example of business endeavor.
Psalm 78:54: And He brought them to the border of His sanctuary, even to this mountain which His right hand had purchased.
Psalm 80:15-17: And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself. It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.
This is a tiny fraction of several hundred such illustrations scattered throughout the Word. Are you beginning to see the picture? Do you understand what Jesus is saying when he makes reference to one's hand putting a stumbling block before them and causing them to sin?
Let's go back to Mark 9:41-42:
"For I tell you truly, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to and bear the name of Christ will by no means fail to get his reward. And whoever causes one of these little ones (these believers) who acknowledge and cleave to Me to stumble and sin, it would be better (more profitable and wholesome) for him if a [huge] millstone were hung about his neck, and he were thrown into the sea."
Jesus is referring to offenses -- offenses that we bring toward others, as well as seizing the opportunities to do even the littlest thing for someone, something as tiny as just bringing a cup of water to someone who thirsts and bringing it in the name, the character, the life, the makeup of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ, and as ambassadors and representatives of the Kingdom of God, every action and every reaction we have or take is a reflection on Him. He promises to reward every individual who performs even the littlest task when it is done in, by and through Him. Believe me, when He says He will reward you, that's exactly what He will do!
There is a corollary to this, however, and it is the opposite side of this equation. If anyone who represents the Lord Jesus Christ causes a "little one" -- a relatively new believer -- to stumble and/or give up in their spiritual walk, there are huge consequences. As Jesus puts it, it would be more profitable for the Kingdom of God that the one who offends or causes someone else -- whether that "someone" is a friend, an acquaintance, a stranger, or even a member of their own family -- to stumble and fall in their walk with the Lord, that person is better off having a millstone hung about their neck so that they are weighted down, cast into the sea and drowned.
Pretty strong, isn't it? But we live under Grace, don't we? True, but Grace is not an excuse or justification, or some reason why we should escape the consequences of our offenses.
Let me take this illustration the next step. Pay attention to something that Paul writes to the Ekklesia in Corinth. He says this within the context of eating and drinking at the Table of the Lord. (See I Corinthians 11:28-30 with my additions)
"But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily (carelessly), eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning (not recognizing those among you who are a part of) the Lord’s body (the body of Christ). For this cause many are weak (suffer from infirmities) and sickly (with diseases) among you, and many sleep (die prematurely)."
Let's try this one more time but fully amplified from the Greek text: "But let a man place himself for examination in the crucible by eating of that bread and drinking of that cup, because he that eats and drinks treating the bread and the cup as commonplace, incapable and unfit to accomplish in him [that for which Christ died on the Cross] eats and drinks judgment to himself, not separating or discriminating between that which is ordinary and the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak, sickly, infirm, diseased and poverty-stricken, and many die prematurely."
Now do you get the picture? Good! Then let's get to the offense of the hand and re-do Jesus' statement, clarifying it by (greatly) amplifying the Hebrew metaphor.
"And if the way you conduct business, if the way you exercise your influence and power on a personal level causes you to err or depart from a walk or a way of life that is obedient and responsive to the Lord Jesus Christ, cut off that business; cease in the way you exercise your influence or authority. It is far more profitable for you as a member of the body of Christ to go through life without being in that business or living your life in a manner that draws attention to your power and authority and position, and to live a life that is productive in Christ through your place of weakness rather than live an unproductive life spiritually and lose everything you've got in God heading into the fires of destruction, and suffering a burning that you cannot quench."
OK, I know that's a bit expansive, but it is important that you understand the significance of what Jesus is getting at.
We're talking about healing in this discussion, so let's get to the crux of why Jesus is focusing on your "hand" as the symbol of the way you conduct business, and the way you exercise power, authority or influence, and how this relates to chronic disease or infirmity.
"The burning that you cannot quench" is a picture of a disease that is like a fire inside you that consumes your flesh. The text of the Amplified Version we began this discussion with describes it as "the worm [which preys on the inhabitants and is a symbol of the wounds inflicted on the man himself by his sins] does not die, and the fire is not put out."
We are talking about infirmities and diseases that men and women bring upon themselves by their own sins. These are the sicknesses, the places of weakness, the diseases and chronic afflictions that people pray over, they declare over, they attempt to speak the word of faith, they agree that "by His stripes we are healed," and yet the diseases stay on and on and on without seeming remedy of any kind.
Is there a remedy? Is there healing and restoration from these chronic illnesses? Yes, there is! That healing begins with true repentance, and repentance is NOT saying to the Lord, "I'm sorry." Repentance is turning away from that which brought you to this place. Repentance is a turning back. The Greek term, metanoeo, means: to think differently, to change the way you have thought about things, to reconsider and do things differently.
The application of repentance in this instance is to cut off that area or type of business you've been involved in and with, or to begin to conduct business according to Kingdom principles. Remember the rich publican, Zacchaeus? The guy that had cheated folks in business? When Jesus saw him sitting in the tree, He said to him, "Zacchaeus, come on down. I'm coming over to your house today."
Naturally all the religious folks standing around began to criticize Jesus for associating with a guy whose business ethics were less than acceptable. Here's how Luke describes what happened next:
"And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:8-10)
THAT, folks was true repentance. And with that repentance came Jesus' aphiémi. Zacchaeus' past was eradicated. He was a different businessman from that day forward.
Well, we've only begun to scratch the surface on this. Next week we'll take up the picture of one's foot offending them and draw some pictures for you from the Word.
A reminder: If you are in need of healing please join our prayer conference calls on either Monday, Wednesday or Friday of each week at 7:00 PM Eastern. Once again, the number to call is (805) 399-1000. Then enter the access code: 124763#.
Blessings on you!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted –provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are available at http://www.RegnersMorningCoffee.com. Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit: http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.
Aphiémi Healing
October 25, 2013
During the past few weeks, we (George Robinson, Dwain McKenzie and I) have been hosting a world-wide conference call for the purpose of ministering healing to people. It has been a blessing to add to the mix folks like Jim Riley (with his prophetic ministry), Alicia Brickley (with dream interpretation) and a host of others with their gifts and anointings.
The blessing for all of us is seeing people with stage 4 cancer healed completely (and we have medical documentation to back it up) as well as healing from other life-threatening and terminal diseases. George has been really anointed for healing ministry to folks with stage 3 and stage 4 cancer, people who have been given days or weeks at most to live, and of course we are focusing on people who are either terminal or severely debilitated. That's not to say we won't or don't pray for folks in less critical condition, or people with severe pain issues -- we most certainly do, and we see results!
That said, if you are suffering from some disease or infirmity -- and especially if you are suffering with a terminal disease -- please join our conference calls on Mondays or Wednesdays or Fridays at 7:00 PM EST. The number to call is (805) 399-1000. Once you dial that number you will be asked to enter an access code. Enter 124763 followed by the # sign.
That said, let me dive right into our discussion today. The term, aphiémi, is a Greek word which appears throughout the original text of the New Testament, and is most often translated as "forgive" or else "to remit." This word is a contraction of two separate Greek words (apo -- which means "off") and (hiemi -- which means "to send") which could literally be translated: to send away or to dismiss. Whenever we see the Greek word, apo, used as a prefix, it usually denotes departure, cessation, reversal, etc.
In fact, more practically, the conjunctive, aphiémi, means to erase or to eradicate as though it never existed. Thus, in every instance where we see the phrase "to remit," and in most cases where the word "forgive" appears, the Greek word is aphiémi. It differentiates from the Greek word, apoluo, which means to pardon, to set at liberty, to let go of, or to let die.
Apoluo more closely relates to our modern understanding and usage of the word, forgive, in the sense that it does not eradicate from existence whatever offense occurred, but rather lets go of the penalty or the hold upon a person for that offense. This is not the word we see Jesus using.
How many times have you heard someone say, "Well, I can forgive that person, but I won't forget what they did." And in this instance, they may let go of the penalty for the offense, but they won't even let the offense die. And THAT, folks, is where we are going with today's Coffee Break!
Let's begin with Mark 11:22-26:
"And Jesus answering saith unto them, "Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
"Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."
For many folks, their disease (cancer, for example) is a mountain that needs to be moved and cast into the sea. They struggle with it and struggle with it and struggle with it, and hope that the doctors eventually come up with some kind of cure, or at least something that will delay it long enough that they can have some kind of life. In our modern society it seems that more and more people are being afflicted with cancer, and it certainly is prevalent in the body of Christ.
Let me express this to you in a way that may sound a bit strange and take you off guard a bit. Cancer is illegal! It's against the Law! Why do I put it that way? Consider something that the apostle Paul wrote to the Ekklesia in Rome.
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death."
Understand? Cancer is a part of the Law of Sin and Death. That law was nullified and made invalid by the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus! Jesus killed death (I know that's a strange way to put it) and with it, all sickness and disease, when He rose from the dead.
Let me put this another way. Diseases, infirmity in the body and sicknesses of every kind are a part of the process of dying. Diseases come into the body when cells die and do not replenish, and the immune system begins to break down. It's all a part of death.
Think about something that Paul wrote to the Hebrews (my translation and amplification from the Greek):
"And just as each person has an appointment with death (one time) and after that comes God's Tribunal and justice, so also Christ died, keeping that one appointment for us as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people."
Don't you get it? Jesus kept our appointment with death! Why do we accept the inevitability of death and with it, the diseases the precede death? Why do so many folks accept the idea that they "get to live" 70 or 80 years, and if they are fortunate, perhaps 90 years? Even if one as a believer in Jesus Christ accepts the curse that came upon the human race with Adam and Eve's sin in the Garden, why do they settle for something less than the 120 years God promised in Genesis 6:3?
By His death, Jesus "remitted" our sins (He forgave and erased from existence) -- the very same sins that bring about disease and death. They were eradicated, erased from existence, ONCE AND FOR ALL -- and here's the kicker -- for those who accept and acknowledge His sacrifice for us. Paul does not say that Jesus took away the sins of ALL people; rather he says "many people" -- the distinction being between those who accept and acknowledge His Lordship and sacrifice on behalf of our death, our disease, our sicknesses and, MOST OF ALL, the sins that create that death, diseases and sicknesses and those who reject Him.
Let me express it like this: Jesus aphiemied our sins. He forgave (in the truest sense of the word) us of our sins. He erased them from existence AND from His memory. But that erasure only applies to people who accept and receive it. If we continue to believe Satan's lie, we retain our sicknesses, our diseases and the whole dying process because of unbelief. Don't forget, it was Satan's lie that Eve believed in the Garden; and that led to her partaking of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and -- shortly thereafter -- Adam's partaking of that same fruit.
Unbelief is not simply a lack of believing the Word of the Lord. Unbelief is a very active believing of the exact opposite of what God says. There's nothing passive about it. If we do not accept wholeheartedly and believe God's Word, if we do not accept and believe that we have no sins left (and I know this is going to rub some folks wrong in putting it like this!) we still do have sin in our life, and with that sin the open door for Satan to afflict and torment us with sickness, disease and infirmity. We leave the door open for him to kill us.
How did Jesus put it? "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)." (John 10:10, Amp)
There is a really sick religious song I hear some gospel singers do. It goes something like this, "I'm just an old sinner, saved by grace." Baloney! You can't be both! You're either an old sinner, OR you are saved by grace. That song and the religious phraseology that goes with it promotes a lie and a religious doctrine that has contaminated God's people. The lie states unequivocally that we can't be totally free from sin, never mind the fact that Jesus commands it in Matthew 5:48, and John makes it clear again in his first general letter to the body of Christ (I John 3:9). [This is a discussion I'd really like to expand upon, but I won't try to do it in this Coffee Break.]
Taken to its logical extension, the lie essentially says that Jesus didn't finish His work on the Cross and that His blood wasn't quite enough to settle our debt and finish the curse hanging over us. If you take it one more step, you wind up believing that there is something you have to do to help God make it happen. It's idolatry, folks!
The point I'm trying to make is that if you continue to believe that you have unresolved sin in your life even though you have confessed your sin to the Lord and repented of it and turned away completely, you open the door to demonic spirits of disease, infirmity and sickness and you wind up suffering needlessly when your suffering has already been paid for.
Let's get back to something that John wrote to the body of Christ. "If we assent to what the Word says and what the blood accomplished, covenanting with the Lord to expunge our sins, He is faithful, trustworthy and fully capable of eradicating our sins -- our failures to meet the mark of His righteousness and holiness -- removing them in such a manner that they never existed, and to purify and wash us [with His blood] completely clean and free of all moral wrongfulness, iniquity, injustice and unrighteousness [or wrong standing with God]." (I John 1:9, my translation and amplification from the Greek text)
The word, "confess," as it occurs in the KJV translation and others comes from the Greek conjunctive term, homologeo. A literal translation of this word would be: to say the same thing as, to speak the same word(s). What many folks miss is that this word is also used in the framework of covenant. We agree to what Father God says, we say the same thing He says, and we covenant with Him in what He says, thus implementing and putting that covenant in force.
This is NOT a case of mental assent! There is nothing passive about it. In order to covenant with the Lord concerning the eradication (from existence and from memory) of our sins and iniquities (or character flaws which make us vulnerable to certain sins), we enter into a covenant with the Lord concerning this eradication, this remittance, this forgiveness. Once that covenant is in force, all factual existence (*more on this momentarily) all memory of the sin is expunged. It is no longer recorded in God's book of remembrances against us.
Therefore, the past cannot be used against us. It has ceased to exist. We are sin-free. [This is a bit of an aside, but we give testimony to this covenant act through water baptism. Where does that testimony make a difference? In the spirit realm. We are testifying before principalities and powers, before world-rulers of darkness, before wicked spirits sitting in high places. Our testimony is that the old person we used to be has died and has now been buried, and that the new person we have become has been raised back to life IN Christ Jesus! If we are in Him, then there is no factual place for Satan to attack and torment us.]
Now, let's apply this to our healing.
*Satan's primary goal is to resurrect the old dead flesh in us that used to walk or live in sin and to treat it as though it is factually true and present in our lives now. As long as he can succeed in making us sin-conscious and believing that the sins, the habit patterns of the past, the iniquities that shaped our past are still a part of our present existence. Satan treats the facts of the past as truth. They are not the truth! They are old facts. The person for whom those facts existed is dead. We are not that person anymore. Those may indeed be facts of the past but they are not present truth. The truth is that we are free from sin, free from disease, free from sickness and infirmity, free from the death sentence that used to hang over the old us.
Am I making this clear enough for you? Good! Let's take it the next step.
Now we come back to where we began with this Coffee Break discussion: forgiveness. We have been the free recipients of forgiveness. We are the recipients of aphiémi. We have entered into a covenant with the Lord in order to receive that aphiémi.
But that's only the first part. There IS a part two.
"Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."
Ooooops! See that second part? Our receiving answers to our prayers -- even if we believe that we will receive what we ask for -- is directly linked to our ability and obedience to forgive those who have offended or grieved or hurt us in any way. The word used in the KJV "ought" is a translation of an interesting but very tiny Greek word, tis. This word literally means anything, no matter how big it is, no matter how grievous it may be, no matter how insignificant or seemingly inconsequential it may be.
It can be a hurt that affects our lives, it can be something that costs us a lot. On the other hand it can be something so slight as to be a simple misunderstanding. It can be a place of friction between a parent and a child, or a child and a parent. It can even be a doctrinal disagreement with someone that just gets under your skin.
None of that matters. You were forgiven EVERYTHING! If you don't even have the ability to forgive someone their hurts or offenses towards you and wipe the slate clean, (and I don't care what those offenses are) then you have abrogated and nullified your covenant with the Lord. If that covenant is no longer in force, you are wide open to diseases, sicknesses and infirmities which come as a direct product of unforgiveness.
There are so many things that come upon people who harbor tiny little unforgivenesses against others -- and one of the most dominant areas where there are open doors comes in family relationships or breaches of those relationships. Chronic illnesses, chronic weakness, nerve disorders, hypertension and constant worry and fretting are all direct byproducts of unforgiveness, but cancer is aided and abetted by unforgiveness.
Please don't get the idea that I'm saying that all cancer is the result of unforgiveness. I'm not saying that at all. What I AM saying is that when a person has unresolved issues -- relationship issues -- where bitterness, unforgiveness (no matter how slight it may be) and tension exists, it bears directly on an individual's ability to receive the healing and restoration they need.
Let me wrap up today's part of this discussion with one final statement that Jesus makes.
"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." (Matthew 5:23-24)
See? It works both ways. Even if you don't have unforgiveness toward someone but you know that someone holds unforgiveness towards you because of some unresolved issue, you can't even bring your gift to the Lord and have Him acknowledge it until you go and resolve the issue with that person. THAT'S how important the Lord sees aphiémi.
A reminder: If you are in need of healing please join our prayer conference calls on either Monday, Wednesday or Friday of each week at 7:00 PM Eastern. Once again, the number to call is (805) 399-1000. Then enter the access code: 124763#.
Blessings on you!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org
A Tale of Two Brides is now available on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Brides-Relationship-ebook/dp/B00BSV6HZC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1363139096&sr=8-8&keywords=A+Tale+of+Two+Brides#_
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