Titus 2 Men And Women

"... Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?"
By Sharon Merhalski

"...thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; to the end that my glory may sing praise unto thee and not be silent.  o Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever."  Psalm 30:11b-12

Who put off my sackcloth and surrounded me with gladness?  Who turned my years of physical and emotional abuse into praise unto God that keeps me from being silent?  Who causes me to give thanks unto Him forever....for pain, and hurt, and scars that remain? No, THANKFUL for His goodness to me and to those He comforts because of my scars... for His glory only.

The following is going to be a Bible Study that will show God’s provision for the healing  needed in our lives.  I have tried to bring scriptural truths together that God used to bring healing to my life---truths I have had the privilege of teaching,  and counseling for many years. I hope each of you will meditate on the following, asking God to teach you and lead you into the truth of His Word.

"When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."

Matthew 8:16-17

With His Word Jesus cast out the demons and healed all that were sick.

The following word definitions are from the Strong’s Concordance:

• The word healed means: To heal, cure, restore to health
• The word sick means: To be diseased OR miserable, AMISS

From Webster’s Dictionary the word amiss means: in a wrong way; wrong, faultily, astray

• The word infirmities means: infirmity , weakness , disease , sickness , want of strength, weakness, infirmity frailty; feebleness of health or sickness; of the soul;  want of strength; to bear trials and troubles

So Jesus also took on himself our want of strength, frailty and so much more.

This list is very comprehensive: Jesus not only came to heal physical sickness, but these verses tell us that He came to heal those amiss (in a wrong way, astray) and in feebleness of soul  in bearing their trials and troubles.

 "... to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified."
Isaiah 61:3

In the Strong’s Concordance"

• Ashes==worthlessness
• Heaviness==dark, dim, dull, colorless, faint   (depression?)

God---Jehovah-Rapha heals all!  And Jesus and His Father are one. Jesus was sent to heal from ALL...with His Word.  (And in physical illness, as with Paul, sometimes God chooses to sustain us until He perfectly heals us in Heaven.)

In the Bible God gives us many scriptures that tell us the power of the names of God...and what we can trust them for...because His name and His character are synonymous.

"The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they who know thy name will put their trust in Thee"  Psalms 9:9-10

"Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth."  Psalms 124:8

"The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe."  Proverbs 18:10

"Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God."  Psalms 20:7

JEHOVAH---The Self-Existent One

YHWH---The LORD thy God....I AM THAT I AM

In His name Jehovah God says to us,  "I AM everything and anything that you will ever need and it doesn’t matter who you are---it only matters WHO is with you and WHO will do the job through you. I always was, I am, I always will be and this is my name FOREVER! I am your ALL-SUFFICIENT GOD. I am the ALPHA AND OMEGA---the beginning and the end---the same yesterday, today, and forever

Each of the names of God compounded with Jehovah---shows us that the essence of His being is to love and to give...to reach outside of Himself to His children.

JEHOVAH-RAPHA==The God Who Heals

Is Jesus Jehovah-Rapha?......

John 5:19 says that Jesus is one with the Father.

The first mention of God’s name Jehovah-Rapha is found in Exodus 15:2 "The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him."

LORD in this verse is God’s name Jehovah.

God in this verse is His name Rapha.

So verse 2 tells us: ".....he is my God/Healer and my father’s God/Healer, and I WILL exalt him"

Read verses 22-26 of that chapter please.

Verse 23-the water was bitter. The first mention of Jehovah-Rapha is in connection with bitterness. Bitterness comes when anger is left unchecked and stewing. Bitterness is like an acid that eats the container from the inside out.

"Looking diligently, lest any man fall in the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled."
Hebrews 12:15

During the last several years I have noted in my Bible the following truths about bitterness. These truths came from pulpit sermons and a medical doctor.

• Bitterness can be defined as profound grief accompanied by suppressed hostility towards unbearable circumstances.
• Bitterness is a form or anger and when anger is unresolved it takes root In the personality and gradually turns in to bitterness. Like a cancer it silently spreads throughout the personality leading to emotional disease and spiritual damage. Failure to weed out the root of bitterness ensures torment.
• Bitterness grieves the Holy Spirit. "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness...be put away from you..." Ephesians 4: 30-31
• Bitterness and anger come forth because people do not believe that God cares.

Let’s look again at Exodus chapter 15 and verse 24-25a

"And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?" (We need something to satisfy our thirst!) Moses wanted to satisfy his people-"And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: ..."

"The tree which healed the waters should remind the Christian that the cross of Christ can take ALL of the bitterness out of ALL such experiences." Dr. Scolfield

Is there something you are thirsting for? Peace, rest, satisfaction, healing of some kind....all of which God is waiting to give to all of His children. Like Moses, the people around you want to help...they want to help you get well from whatever illness that you have; spiritual, physical, or emotional. Their help may bring some immediate relief but Jehovah-Rapha is the only one Who can ultimately meet and satisfy our thirst...our need.

Let’s go back to Exodus 15 and verses 25-27....Blessing follows trials and obedience.

Verse 26 "....If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes , I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have put on the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee."

And in verse 27 God brought then to Elim where there were twelve wells of water and 70 palm trees for shade.

The children of Israel were very thirsty and God touched His tree/His cross to the bitter waters and made them sweet to drink. And when they hearkened to his voice and listened to their God and kept his commandments.....God brought them to a place that had 12 wells and 70 trees for shade---which they never asked for. God blessed them above and beyond all they asked!!!

What is God waiting to give to us for our healing? One well that He has made sweet...one well given without stipulation...one well to drink from so we will not perish from thirst?  Oh no,  God tells us in this passage that with our obedience to His voice, commandments, and statutes, He is waiting to bless us above all that we ask or think...12 wells of water and 70 palm trees for shade.

When I was 12 years old several of my cousins and myself were playing in a split level house under construction. The "leader" of the pack decided to run our  "follow the leader" game down the stairs through the family room and out the sliding glass doors in to the back yard. I had stepped on something and lagged behind a bit and when I got to the sliding glass patio doors the person in front of me had slid them shut. There is nothing quite as memorable as the sound of that much broken glass.

I had over 200 stitches in my legs...the doctors said it was a miracle that I was not decapitated. God saved me from that by having me slip on a piece of newspaper which put me through the doors feet first. The long wounds on my shins did not heal quickly. There is very little blood flow in that part of the leg and I battled infection after infection in those wounds all summer long. Bandage after bandage.....cleansing after cleansing...oozing infected wounds. I remember cartons of antibiotic ointment and cartons of bandages. And eventually the wounds did heal....but the scars left were prominent and remain still...though now more obscure. I will get back to the meaning of this word picture in a moment.

Jehovah-Rapha is His name forever! Jesus took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses that "BY his stripes" the Bible says we can be healed.

Luke 4:18 ....Jesus said, "The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering the sight to the blind, TO SET AT LIBERTY THEM THAT ARE BRUISED"

In the Strong’s Concordance I looked up each of the problems Jesus was sent  to heal us from.

• Poor==beggarly; destitute of learning or culture
• Brokenhearted==break in pieces, bruise, to tear one’s own body, shatter one’s strength
• Blind==physically blind; ignorance to spiritual things
• Liberty==release from bondage or imprisonment
  (Release means forgiveness or pardon of sins and the penalty)
• Bruised==break, shatter, smite through

All of the above tell us that Jesus came to provide:

Spiritual, Emotional, and Physical  HEALING !!!

For many years I wondered, and so many once abused people I have talked to have wondered...does God tell us to minister specifically to once abused people?  The aforementioned verses certainly tell us that Jesus was sent to heal our infirmities. Does God address them specifically in scripture?  Yes, God does address our needs very specifically.

In the Old Testament:

"She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth  forth her hands to the needy."
Proverbs 31:20

I will define two of the words from this verse from the Strong’s Concordance:

POOR means afflicted, lowly, needy

NEEDY means in want, subject to oppression and abuse; needing deliverance from trouble by God.

I cannot think of someone less fortunate than one who is locked in a world of fear due to a life of oppression and/or abuse that was inflicted on them by someone else.

In The New Testament:

2 Timothy 2:24 "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,"

2 Timothy 2:25 "In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;"

2 Timothy 2:26 "And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."

I will define some of the words in these verses from the Strong’s Concordance:

OPPOSE means to set oneself opposite; Be Disputatious.

[Disputatious in the Webster’s Dictionary means to act against.

Synonyms are: combat, withstand, resist, contradict, deny, obstruct]

I cannot think of any clearer definition of a person who is emotionally damaged. 

(Words in parenthesis are definitions from the Strong’s Concordance.)

We are to instruct these hurting people so God may give them repentance (a change of mind) to the acknowledging (correct knowledge) of the truth (What is true in any matter under consideration.)

And God tells us to instruct these people with gentleness so that they may recover themselves (we cannot do it for these people who oppose themselves) out of the snare (trap, noose---implies unexpectedly; caught unawares) of the devil.  God also tells us that these people who oppose themselves are taken captive by the devil at his will. These scriptures and definitions describes me many years ago.

The Bible tells us that Jesus suffered on the cross all that we can or will ever suffer here on earth.  His Father, God, to make a way for man to be forgiven of his sins...to be His child and live forever in Heaven, had to reject His only begotten Son.  Jesus was stripped of His clothes, beaten, and abused by men and rejected by His Father.  Jesus suffered the pain of the abused...He perfectly understands and does acknowledge us in these two passages of Scripture and many, many others.

God Heals...

Jeremiah 8:22....The children of Israel had a problem...just like many of us. (I have had this problem with habits I have tried to let God change.) They just couldn’t break the cycle...they were in fellowship with God for awhile...then they sinned...God called this routine a perpetual backsliding in verse 5. In their sinful state God would punish them and then they would repent and call upon the name of their God and walk with Him again....until they sinned again....and round and round and round they went on this cycle of behavior.

In verse 19 Jeremiah asks, "Is not the LORD in Zion? Is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?"

And in verse 22..."Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?"

In the Strong’s Concordance health means healing or restoration.

IS THERE NO BALM IN GILEAD? NO HEALING?

Gilead was a real city---a neutral city. It was a city of refuge where fugitives could go and find refuge/safety. The city was famous for producing a balm---an ointment for medicinal and cosmetic purposes. This ointment was sought after by every country and every person in the world.

WHAT IS THE BALM OF GILEAD?

Psalm 107: 1-20 This is the account of the Children of Israel going round and round with God. When they were in sin the Bible says, "Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses."

Verse 20 tells us what the balm of Gilead is: "He sent His WORD and healed them and delivered them from their destructions."

The healing ointment for every part of our lives is the Balm of Gilead. The Word of God heals us from all of our diseases. When the sin-sick soul applies the balm of Gilead there is both healing and beauty that comes forth from a healed life.

Does the Word of God heal?  Yes, and it makes beautiful what was bitter.

Several years ago a young woman sat in my living room trying to get victory over the plague in her soul caused by a childhood of sexual and ritual abuse. When God opened her heart with His Word the transformation was overwhelming---both spiritually and physically. My husband came home from work about an hour later and could not believe he was looking at the same young woman that he had seen a few days before. But God...unlocked her heart and made her very beautiful...where before she had a very sad and comely appearance.

This woman had deep and infected unseen wounds and scars...where mine, after I slid through that patio door, were very seen. However, the treatment was the same for both of us:  Mine was taken care of by me (I wouldn’t let anyone else cleanse, apply ointment and bandage my wounds twice a day.), and hers were attended to by the only perfect physician---the specialist in every field of medicine---the only physician who never makes a mistake---never gets accused of malpractice...by Jehovah-Rapha and His Word! God gently cleansed her deep, deep wounds....wounds that had gotten infected by Satan’s lies because of her years of never checking them and cleansing them and applying liberally the Balm of Gilead...the Word of God.

Jehovah-Rapha bound/bandaged this young woman’s oozing wounds and repeated the process many times a day.....just like I had to do with literal soap, water, ointment and bandages to get my wounds to heal. And as God did for that young woman He is  waiting to do for every one of His children. However the problem is far too many of His children do as I did at twelve years old....far too many Christians try to do it their own way....thinking they can do it better.

My mother was too glad to let me take care of myself. Her lack of interest put me in the position of taking care of myself from the time I was six years old. I often wonder if my wounds stayed infected and healed slowly because I did not take care of them properly. This thought can be translated to every wound in every area of our lives. We try to do it our way and do not know enough about cleansing and binding/bandaging and applying the Balm of Gilead---the Word of God  for our healing. Did I know enough at twelve years old to understand about washing my hands until they were free of germs? Did I understand enough about thoroughly cleansing the wounds before applying all of that ointment? Did I know enough to keep the bandages very clean and sterile? Later in my life I found myself in the same situation-- with gaping emotional wounds from a childhood of abuse: I didn’t wash my heart thoroughly until it was free from the germs/sin (anger, bitterness, believing lies, hating myself, lack of trust) so when I tried to apply the Balm of Gilead ---God’s Word-- those residual germs would multiply and keep the wounds infected.  I tried for fourteen years to take care of them my way before I turned to Jehovah-Rapha and His Word to take care of them for me.

With Psalms 107 I learned that it takes a surrendered life to turn to the LORD and allow Jehovah-Rapha to touch the tree/His cross to the bitter waters of our lives. When I allowed Him to do so, He enabled me to let the bitterness out of my life so that the sweet water that remained could be assimilated for my healing and growth in the Lord. Step by step God took His Word---the Balm of Gilead---and made right those areas of my life that were laced with gaping infected wounds that could not heal. And so many times in my life God has likewise applied His balm and has healed me from many physical illnesses....even death...because He is Jehovah-rapha....healing is His name!

WHAT IS GOD’S WILL FOR ALL OF THE ILLNESSES IN OUR LIVES---EMOTIONAL, SPIRITUAL, MENTAL AND PHYSICAL ILLNESSES?

God’s will is for total healing...which may mean sustenance in sickness and illness until there is ultimate healing in Heaven.

• God healed many people completely and instantly and even healed them from death by resurrecting them after they died,
• God also sustained people as He did the apostle Paul in

II Corinthians 12:7-9...and in that sustaining God can be glorified. He answered Paul’s prayer for healing WHEN HE TOOK PAUL TO HEAVEN.

• God also heals by blessing us with Heaven’s Glory. I have seen Christians get angry with their God for not answering prayers for physical healing---mad at God for allowing their loved ones to die.

In Revelation 14:13 God says, "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."

SOMETIMES GOD’S BIGGEST BLESSING IN ILLNESS IS A GRADUATION TO HEAVEN...A PERFECT HEALING IN A PERFECT PLACE---WHERE THERE IS NO MORE PAIN AND SICKNESS OR SUFFERING!

JEHOVAH-RAPHA does heal ALL of His children...in His time...in His time...and for His glory only. God is waiting to give unto each of His children Beauty for ashes..........that He might be glorified"

"WILT THOU BE MADE WHOLE?"

"After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."  John 5:1-8

Jesus left it up to the man who was not whole and it is also our choice whether or not we will allow God to heal us.

In the Strong’s Concordance the word whole means:

• come to pass, be made, be done, become, to come into existence, begin to be, receive being, finished

The question Jesus asks us is "do you want to WILL to receive being--the identity of who you are...do you want to WILL to begin to be?" Do you want to BE MADE FINISHED? You must WILT/WILL to be made finished...TO BE PERFORMED/WROUGHT....TO BE MADE WHOLE.

Right now Jesus is asking you, "Wilt thou be made whole?" What is your answer? It is a free gift just like salvation. Healing is His name...which is His character....He is Jehovah-Rapha---the God Who heals.  Jesus us asking you right now, wherever you are, regardless of what you are doing, "Wilt thou be made whole?"

I came to a crossroad where I was not sure what path I could take, God’s way or the world’s way. I could no longer pretend to be trusting God and serving Him out of my servanthood.  I was serving and being busy to hide from myself.. I was hiding from dealing with Sharon. I came to that crossroad no longer able or wanting to hide. I came there desiring with everything in me to TRUST MY GOD WITH ALL OF MY HEART. I sat by myself...with my Bible while my family slept...and I heard God's voice in my heart, "Wilt thou be made whole?" It was my choice to exercise my WILL. It  was NOT something I had to learn, it was NOT something I had to grow in to. God had saved me from an eternal burning Hell.....He had more than earned trust by that alone.  I had nothing more to learn. It was MY VERY STUBBORN WILL that I had to surrender/give up. My rebellion for the will of God --to surrender my will ....to recognize my problem with my yesterdays was MY PROBLEM......Because it was MY WILL that prevented MY HEALING.

The LORD Jesus Christ has given us a question to ponder and then make a choice about, "Wilt thou be made whole?" Jesus is asking each person each and every day, "Wilt thou be made whole?" finished...completed....done....fulfilled....come into existence.  Are you ready to answer God's plea and WILL to be set free from the sickness of your past? And once we do allow Him to set us free in our surrender it is a complicated and absolutely marvelous journey to wholeness---a journey that is well worth the effort.

The Balm is still in Gilead

When your heart is bruised and broken,
And your dreams in ashes lay,
The Balm is still at Gilead,
He healeth yet today;
When bent you stoop to kneel in tears,
Your prayers go not unheard,
The Balm is still in Gilead,
His heart can yet be stirred;
You do not need to prove your self,
Or strive or push or wrestle,
The Balm is still in Gilead,
Prove Him, trust on and nestle.
He wants to pour His ointment sweet
On life's deep hurting sores;
For the Balm is still in Gilead
The wounds He bore were yours
When toiling on with heavy breast
You labor not alone,
The Balm still speaks from Gilead
In sympathetic tone
When your work is spoiled and ruin'd
Your motive cast in doubt,
The balm is still in Gilead,
His name will bring you out
You do not need to prove your self
Or strain or pull or sigh
The Balm is still in Gilead,
He'll save if you but die.
He wants to pour His ointment sweet
On life's deep hurting sores;
For the Balm is still in Gilead
The wounds He bore were yours.
--David M. Atkinson

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