Healing in the Kingdom Book Report

These are book reports I have written as a first year student at the International Healing Rooms School of Transformation

Healing in the Kingdom Summary 

Briefly write what the whole book is about and why the author has written it.

This book is more about changing the mindset of the body of Christ at large than it is a treatise on how to get healed or even how to heal others. Its more about how we change the ideas that are rooted in religion rather than revelation. How do we move forward not just to heal the sick but to transform cities. We have to move from a Rapture mentality to a Harvest mentality. We have to move from a three fold ministry structure to a five fold ministry structure and return to the foundations set in place by Jesus for the early Church. 

(Imagine the author will read this and would say, “Yes, this is the main point(s) of my book.)  

Apostolic and Prophetic folks are generally seeing and learning to walk in things long before the body of Christ catches up to those revelations.  In this book written 10 years ago, Cal explores larger issues than simply healing for the individual but the healing and renewing of our minds, that is so needed in the Church at large. Little by little folks are laying down the trappings of dead powerless religion and embracing not just healing but the Healer. At the time this book was printed  there were 700 healing rooms in 40 nations. Presently there are over 3000 Healing Rooms world wide. Cal has focused on creating a net work through which this message can be spread to the whole world. Where change regarding health and healing to this point has been like pushing a snow ball up a hill with a lot of patience and effort. I believe  we are now seeing that snow ball crest the hill and begin its downward decent becoming bigger and bigger with amazing speed. In actuality it is not one snow ball now 3000 snowballs. 

Briefly outline 4 major points of the book as the author presents them including page numbers.  

“It is our mindset that determines how we filter the God’s word. “ pg 21

Cal talks about the difference between a Greek and a Hebrew mind set. The Greek mindset causes us to filter things through  our natural senses and react to what we experience. The Hebrew mindset looks to the unseen realm and bases ones decision not on circumstance but on a Heavenly prospective. I had a dream a number of years ago now during a time that church I was attending was moving through a church split. In the dream the congregation had gathered and was having Greek food and talking about taking trips to Greece. In the dream I believed this to be moving the church in the wrong direction. As I was not able to truly embrace the direction that either side of the split was heading we asked for God to re-assign us and he did it is where we still serving. At the time I had to really search out what God was trying to tell me through that dream. My pastor there says no one comes to the Bible from a neutral position. We all filter it though our particular mind sets. We need the mind to be renewed to begin to filter the word thorough a kingdom/harvest mindset.  I thought the chart on page 22 showing the polarizing positions between the two mindsets one can easily see why healing is difficult for one and not the other.  Page 30-31 there is another quote on this subject speaking of Ephesians 4:17. “That futility of their mind is the Greek mindset, which would have us live according to what we experience with the natural senses rather than live by what we believe in the supernatural realm. “

Only when we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that something exists in the supernatural realm can we then establish it in the natural realm. pg 37 When we begin to realize that Jesus paid for more than us to be saved and wait around for him to return and wisk us out of here do we begin to live a SOZO kind of life and begin to walk in the supernatural. “Christ is our Healer and the work of healing is already done. The work of healing that He provided two millennia ago is as real and active today as it was then, because Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13: 8) nor will He void His Word to appease any denomination, tradition or unbelief that might try to deny its power.” We have been dealing with “Church” that has opted for religion rather than revelation, to truly see people saved, healed and delivered we must begin to change how we think about healing. We have to realize that it exists for today and that we can all as believers walk in it. We spend a lot of time in the Healing rooms praying for the same folks over and over, most of them are believers but they are hobbled by their own unbelief and mindset and live in bondage to a Greek mindset. 

Understanding God’s Word means embracing it, believing it and acting on it. For God’s Word to be understood, it must be fruitful. For it to be fruitful, it must become active. For it to become active, it must move from heaven to Earth and become evident in our daily lives. Pg 105  Soon after this particular quote Cal talks about the Roadblocks to healing and they all seem to in my opinion stem from a lack of understanding of God’s word. On page 112 Cal lists 8 Roadblocks to Healing as 1. Lack of forgiveness, 2. Lack of knowledge, 3. Sin in our lives, 4. Lack of faith, 5. Improper understanding and use of Communion, 6. Unbelief,  7. Being problem-centered, 8 Justifying our condition rather than claiming our position. 

The Body of Christ must become a Body that goes to church on Sunday looking to establish healing in the Body so that the Body can then establish healing in cities. pg 222

The final chapters of the book talk about Authority, ours as individual believers and the need to restore the five fold ministry. The church at large has embraced the work of Pastors, Teachers and Evangelists which have been able to function to some degree even with in the Religious Greek mindset. When we add back in the Apostle and Prophet which really only function with in a Hebrew, Revelation of the Spiritual Heavenly Realm type of mindset. They got erased because they need the power and revelation of God to operate the other three can limp along in the natural. All five areas of the governmental structure of the Church need to be healed and restored to their proper position and purpose for the “Church” to be truly healed and for her to begin to be the victorious, warrior bride that Jesus desires. 

Thoughtfully explain one main strength (or point of agreement) with the author. 

I found this quote written by Cal over ten years ago.  It say “ If you only teach on healing, it will keep you where you are, dealing with sickness. But if you bring the message of divine health, it will deliver you out of sickness into the miraculous.” page 175  I guess I am surprised and comforted at the same time by the fact that God was talking to Cal about divine health all that time ago and that we are only now seeing it begin to manifest and become a reality in the Healing Rooms Ministry. I guess I am comforted that even for visionary Apostolic leaders like Cal Pierce it can take time to get others to walk in the reality of what God has shown them. Change takes time. It requires us to re-educate and renew how we have understood and looked at the Word of God. I am thankful and privileged to see the unfolding and transformation of this ministry and to know and see Cal and Michele as real people who struggle and overcome just like the rest of us and yet take big bold steps of faith that have and continue to move all of us forward to transform our lives, our churches, our cities and our world. We are all ordinary people, who through partnership with Jesus are enabled to  extraordinary things through the power of the Holy Spirit and the blood and testimony of Jesus.  

Write down some of your favorite sentences in the book.  “We are wallowing in our “problemness” - our negative circumstances - and crying out “oh God,  come and deliver me! But just maybe, God might be saying” I’m not coming into that mess you’ve created! If you want to get delivered, maybe you need to leave the influence of the enemy, come to where I am and get out of all that junk. Deliverance requires us to move out of where we are and into where God is.” pg 167

When we have a vision for a city, we begin to move into our destiny - a destiny of seeing lives transformed. pg 229

The unity effort (particularly in America) has begun to unravel because people don’t want to offend each other, and they tiptoe around theological topics that they need to join together in discussing and seeking out common ground. pg 220

The things of God are in the realm of God, the supernatural realm, to which, by the Holy Spirit in us, we have direct access. pg. 197

We know that God listed the fruits of the Holy Spirit in the order that they are in for a purpose. Love is first. Why? Because you can’t have the next fruit  (joy) without having love first. And you can’t have peace (the third fruit) until you have joy. It’s progressive. pg 148

We have resurrection power to demonstrate to the world who Jesus is , who the father is and what His will is. It must be demonstrated because it’s a truth that requires visualization in order to bring it into the seen realm. pg 107

Remember, the existence of what you don’t see is greater than the existence of what you do see. A miracle is simply a physical encounter with the creative will of God, brougth forth by our unshakable faith in God. pg 99

In what way did this book impact your life as one who transforms cities? How will you be different? It has encouraged in having read the book and gotten to watch Cal in real life to know that he truly lives what he writes. I also was encouraged that it takes time for even kingdom people to get on board and move with the new things God is releasing through the five fold ministry. 

 What challenges(s) have you been given by the Lord to implement some of the strategies in this book?  I have a wellness center that is in me and it feels a long way off at this moment but I have seen God move in amazing ways in the past. So I am asking and looking for the steps of faith that I can take at this point. One after the next and eventually you arrive at your destination. Cal was hearing from God about the idea of teaching a message of divine health 10 years ago and he has stuck with it and it is becoming something the rest of us can begin to see understand and walk in. 

 My Concluding Thoughts

I enjoyed this book and know that I will refer to it often. This report only scratches the surface of the many topics covered. 

Receive Your Healing & Reclaim Your Health Book Report

These are book reports that I have done as a first year student at The International Healing Rooms School of Transformation. 

Receive Your Healing & Reclaim Your Health  

Briefly write what the whole book is about and why the author has written it.

This book was about becoming a partner with Holy Spirit to change how we think about healing and health. We have wanted quick fixes and patches when God has wanted to do a complete re-model. Cal shares his own personal journey of realizing that his “eat what ever “ mind set was not benefiting him and was potentially separating him from the ability of accomplishing his destiny.  “Your belief system will be formed according to where you focus your mind. If you focus on the circumstances around you, the condition of your family and friends, you will have difficulty believing the truth of God’s Word, that it is possible to walk in health. The truth is, the Word of God is not determined by the condition of man; the condition of man is changed by the power of God’s Word”. pg 50

(Imagine the author will read this and would say, “Yes, this is the main point(s) of my book.)  I think Cal’s main point was to help us understand that walking in Health is a partnership with the Holy Spirit. We have relegated God to the sidelines to deal only with spiritual things in church but not our health or the way we live our lives. God sent Jesus to save, heal and deliver us, we have to often only allowed him to spiritually save us assuming other benefits would come when we got to heaven.  Our bodies and soul also need His transformation. I think our bodies are effected by the food choices we make and our soul is effected by how we deal with interpersonal relationships with others. 

Briefly outline 4 major points of the book as the author presents them including page numbers.  

• Healing and Wellness are part of our benefit package as believers. However not an automatic blessing because we have an enemy who would like to steal those benefits and our flesh needs to be submitted to our spirit  

“But God gave us free will, just as we have to choose to accept Christ as Savior, we also  have to choose to steward our bodies into health. Health is not an automatic blessing to a believer because we have an enemy who wants to steal our health. And our fleshly desires often go against the requirements of good health.” pg 54

• We must partner with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will bring us into all truth not just Spiritual truth. We fail to make that connection and limit what we allow the Holy Spirit to do in our lives.                                                                                                                “ I did not realize that he power to overcome the flesh in any area, including health is achieved by setting my mind on the Spirit and watching and praying. I had only applied this biblical truth to my spiritual growth, not my healthy growth.”  pg 22

“As I partnered with the Holy Spirit to pursue my health, I began to think according to heaven’s perspective instead of earth’s. With the early perspective, I could only look up to heaven with a rapture mind-set, waiting for the Second Coming to let me escape the troubles of this earth. With my new heavenly perspective, I began to have a kingdom mind-set, expecting to see His kingdom come on earth.” pg 68

• Knowing our Kingdom authority is more than being just called to attend church. 

“You cannot do this with a rapture mentality, focusing your attention on Christ’s return and simply waiting to escape this life. You will have a hard time bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth if you believe you are part of the failing church, waiting to be bailed out of a world where the enemy is defeating it.” pg 139

“Amazingly, the will of God is done on the earth through men and women to whom God has given authority. We have authority because the Spirit of God,who is all authority, dwells in us”. pg 147

• Realizing that God has a destiny for you to fulfill. 

“Too many people are not receiving breakthrough because they have not addressed the calling go of God on their life. Many get born again and then began a religious struggle to figure everything out. They attend church and sit in a pew as thought that is what their destiny is to be. After a while they find themselves going to church simply because they have become personally needy”. pg 215

“God has not just called us to become Christians and then wait around for Jesus to return so that we can receive our future inheritance after the Rapture, as I have discussed. We are called to be part of His army now. We are ordained to walk in the steps ordered and arranged for our lives by God Himself. We are called to be warriors who wear the armor of God and walk in truth to destroy the work of the enemy. Why do we destroy the works of the enemy? We do it to bring the kingdom of heaven on earth as it is in heaven.” pg218  

Thoughtfully explain one main strength (or point of agreement) with the author

I Corinthians 3:16-17 “ If anyone ruins the temple of God, God will ruin him. I wondered if we ruin ourselves, then why would God need to ruin us? I believe what God is saying is that t if we make the decision to ruin His temple, our body, with unhealthy lifestyle choices. He will agree with our decisions. He may not agree with what we are doing, but because he gave us free will that allows us to choose, He cannot break that covenant and override our choices. When we make a decision outside of the will of God, God honors our decisions though His will cannot be fulfilled in us as a result of our poor choices.” pg 52 

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants. Deut 30:19 

I thought the quote above was perhaps the most powerful thought in the entire book. I even wrote Yikes in the margin. It is even true of Salvation, God offers it to everyone but he will agree with that choice as well. If you chose not God, eventually you will get all that is not God and none of what is God. Most Christians would agree, we do not serve an angry vengeful God who sends some people to hell. He just agrees with our choices. I hand not made the leap between this truth and how it impacts our health. God offers us life and health we are given choices. Will we do things his way and live or go our own way and die in our choices. I think too often we come to God with our desperate illness and we want God to fix it. He needs to fix how we think and talk and the choices we make. I have seen people who wanted to be healed die and I think it is because they realized too late what it was that they needed to change. It may be bitterness, un-forgiveness, lack of repentance, anger, rejection, or it may be food and lifestyle choices. We want that instant answer, that quick fix pill type prayer to make it all better.  God in his mercy does often  give a miracle of healing.  Sadly unless a person changes the things that made them sick in the first place they will likely get sick again.  I think sometimes it is a matter of a race against what has already been set in motion. Can one’s faith, belief system and lifestyle be transformed in time to beat the effects of the sickness or disease that is already in motion? 

Write down some of your favorite 

sentences in the book.  

“Our life does not determine our lifestyle; our lifestyle determines our life.” pg 6

“The original Hebrew word for griefs means sickness, and the word for sorrows means pain, physical or mental.” pg 14

“The way we can prove the will of God for our health is to think within ourselves that we can become healthy. Our transformed thinking will empower us to obtain the goal.” pg 19

“The triune God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - wants to impact a triune man - spirit, mind and body” pg 23

“We must choose to receive the grace that God gives us to live without sin and sickness. When we make that choice, god gives us His authority, His power in us that allows us to walk in victory.” pg 47

“I do not have to bear this sickness because Jesus bore it for me, as 1 Peter 2:24 states. I among set free rom the law of sin and death because I have been redeemed from it.” pg 47

“If the postman comes to your front door with a special delivery package with your name on it, and you hear a bunch of hissing and rattling inside it, are you going to accept the package? No. Return it to sender. In that same way, spiritually you do not have to accept any sin or sickness form which you have been redeemed, even if it seems to find your address.”pg 48

“For as he thinks within himself, so he is. We become what we think. And what we think, we usually say.”

The key to living the abundant life in Christ is to be fully occupied with god so that He is glorified in your body, mind and spirit. This “occupied” man of woman will reflect the light of God i wholeness and health. “ pg 75

“God wants His will done on earth as it is in heaven ( Matt. 6:10) When we become new creatures in Christ, He occupies us with His Spirit. The Spirit of god dwelling in us provides the power within to cause the will of God to become creative in our lives. Our faith becomes the vehicle for the unseen things of god to be seen on the earth. This is simply the way God works in u . When  my will and His will agree, faith is activated so that the Holy Spirit can release His power to cause the seed (His Word) to produce a harvest.” pg 85

“As Christ represents the Father, we are to represent Him in the earth. As redeemed Christians, we are not just to live in the kingdom of God pursing our own goals and waiting of the Rapture to take us to heaven. we are to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth as it is in heaven; that is our assignment as ambassadors of Christ.” pg 141 

“When a believer lives in fear, their words become creative in the enemy’s camp. Their confession will line up with his will, not God’s  For example, when people say things like: “I am sick.” “I am broke.” My marriage is bad. “ “I do not like that person.” “My life is a mess; I am in turmoil” In each of these statements the person takes possession of something that is not the will of God. It is all right to recognize where the problem is but why take possession of it as though it belongs to us? “  pg 223

In what way did this book impact your life as one who transforms cities? How will you be different?        

(For as he thinks within himself, so he is. Proverbs 23:7) 

I have had the benefit of having read a number of Cal’s booklets as well as the benefit of getting to see the real man in action as he speaks and encourages the team and staff each week. He is a person I greatly admire he is the genuine article who lives by what he teaches and preaches. A lot of the information presented in this book was not new to me and that was perhaps why I had a hard time staying focused to read this book. Because of these benefits I believe part of my calling is to help share these ideas with others. I believe there is a lot of work to be done changing people’s mind-sets in the church from a Rapture mentality to a Kingdom mentality. I think many people don’t even realize there is another biblical option.

I have silently disagreed with the Rapture mentality for much of the past 20 years. I am now seeing the wide spread damaging effects of that mind-set. I believe the time is coming to begin praying, speaking, writing and creating resources to help change this mind-set and our mind-set regarding healing. It is not just individuals that need a mind set shift but the church as a collective whole. It seems to me a task of enormous proportions.  I suppose if it was a simple thing to accomplish we might go about it in our own strength, rather than realizing that it will take the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish through myself and many others.

 When I first came to the healing rooms and heard Cal and others talk about the Kingdom mindset it was like a breath of fresh air to me. Finally I had found others who saw something other than just struggling through life, holding on by our fingernails to faith till Jesus arrives to set things right. 

How will I be different because of this book? I used the following quote before in an earlier question, because it spoke very loudly to me and challenges me to make sure I am agreeing with God in all aspects of who I am and in this life. 

I Corinthians 3:16-17 “ If anyone ruins the temple of God, God will ruin him. I wondered if we ruin ourselves, then why would God need to ruin us? I believe what God is saying is that t if we make the decision to ruin His temple, our body, with unhealthy lifestyle choices. He will agree with our decisions. He may not agree with what we are doing, but because he gave us free will that allows us to choose, He cannot break that covenant and override our choices. When we make a decision outside of the will of God, God honors our decisions though His will cannot be fulfilled in us as a result of our poor choices.” pg 52 

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants. Deut 30:19.

What challenges(s) have you been given by the Lord to implement some of the strategies in this book?  I lay hands on and pray for many people each week at the Healing Rooms, in my massage practice and in my church. Most are believers and are struggling with sickness, poverty, depression, relationship or other problems. I feel like there is so much “Just get by till the rapture mentality and a great disparity in the hand full of refrigerator verses that people may know how to quote but not understand how to stand on them or how to apply them. I realize that there is a lot of re-educating and mind renewing that is needed. We have learned how to wield our butter knife but not the Sword of the Spirit. How can I take the information from this book and create bite sized nuggets that people can begin to chew on, digest and put into practice. I am thinking how this could possibly be the deep well from which many ideas will come for a future prayer loft and resources to help people. 

My Concluding Thoughts:  This book was so rich that I would have liked this book as more of a devotional or a work book using Catchy Quote from Cal followed by 1- 3 pages of explanations or stories and some practical application ideas. I would change the title to Sixty or Ninety days to Receive your Healing and Reclaim Your Health.   Even though this book was packed with wonderful information - I got bogged down trying to read it in this format and had to set it down often to allow time to process the information presented.  

More than we Think or Imagine

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, 

for ever and ever! Amen. 

Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV

So this post is going to be really short. I burned my finger this afternoon. I will be fine - but it still hurts and I have about 20 seconds that I can take it off the ice pack before it starts to throb. I am thankful that I did not burn more than one finger. You would not think a burn smaller than a dime would be so painful. 

I'm at my moms this week and we have been having a lot of fun cooking. 

 Everything is low carb with no white flours or sugar. I burned my finger on the waffle type iron that makes the shells for these stuffed Cannoli on the left, a wonderful Italian treat. The cake below is made with coconut flour. My kids said it was good enough to serve company.

Anyway, I am going to quit trying to do this in 20 second bursts or with one hand. 

My son Cai and I went bike riding yesterday down a gravel road and saw these tepee's. There was no one there and it was in the middle of a lot wild land. It almost felt like we were transported back in time. I have a pretty vivid imagination.  We road about 3 miles down a gravel road. We saw deer bounding over the tall grasses when we spooked them. It was a beautiful ride. I'm thankful for my bike and how well it rides on paved streets and gravel. 

Actually this is pretty cool, I have not been able to take my finger off the ice pack for 3 or 4 hours and I started working on this post and it hurt at first and I'd put my finger back on the ice and wait a minute and then type some more  and got to this point and it just stopped hurting. I kind of expected it might hurt for a day or so. At this point the big blister has dried up and I can put pressure on it with out it hurting. So this was immeasurably more than what I imagined. I would tend to say that when we move forward to do the things that God has called us to do even when we face obstacles, that God sees our faith and obedience and meets us at the point of our need.  I needed my finger to stop throbbing so I could type. When I started this post it was painful and not ok and at this point it feels pretty darn good. I will chalk it up to yet another little miracle of grace.  

So I would end this at this point but I feel like there is someone who's reading that is allowing the obstacles that are before you, to keeping you from moving forward with something God has put on your heart to do.  Start moving in God's direction and watch those obstacles fade away to very small things that you will wonder why you ever even worried about them. 

There were 12 spies sent to check out the promised land. Ten came back with amazing reports of what they had seen but looked at the giants and saw them to be a problem that God could not handle. Two guys came back and tried to encourage the people to trust God. Sadly Israel allowed the fear of the giants to be greater than their trust in God. In the end all the folks from that generation died off in the desert wandering over the next 40 years. Only two of that original bunch crossed over into the promised land and they were the 2 guys who trusted God in spite of the obstacles.    

Numbers 13:33

We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

I trust that God is at work in your life, doing immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. 

Maybe some of you will post in the comments and share how God is working in your life. 

Blessings, Margot 

In The Wake of Destruction

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

Joel 2:12-14

“Even now,” declares the LORD,
   “return to me with all your heart,
   with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 

 Rend your heart and not your garments.
Return to the LORD your God,
   for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
   and he relents from sending calamity.
 Who knows? He may turn and have pity
   and leave behind a blessing—

Today I have been reading the book of Joel. In that book the writer describes an invasion of locust on the agricultural community of his day. He say that nothing has ever happened like this before in his life or in the memory of his forefathers.  In one resource that I was reading this morning as I thought about these passages it described it not as a one time event but a cycle over a year or more in length. The locust came in waves they would lay eggs and before long another wave would come. One after another the harvests would ripen and be destroyed. In one passage he speaks to the drunkards and drinkers of wine and tells them to wail because the new wine has been snatched from your lips. In another passage that seems poignant it says "The seeds are shriveled beneath the clods."   In another "How the cattle moan! The herds mill about because they have no pasture, even the flocks of sheep are suffering.  It paints some vivid pictures and brings to mind for me in our times tusnami, hurricanes and earthquakes and the devastation left in their wake. We witness through the window of our tv's the end of life as they knew it for other people. If they survive their life will never be the same as it was. Yes the survivors will pick up the pieces. You hear stories of people who have endured flood or fire and how in the light of those losses they realize the value of the people they love. Those who's loved ones are not lost, rejoice and re-examine their priorities. Home becomes not a place to hang your hat but the people who are dearest to you.

Joel who says of what he writes: "The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel". This is not just some historic account but in and through it God is speaking. In more than one place in the bible locusts are seen as the judgement of God. Ex 10:12; Joel 1:4; Rev 9:3. What do we do with the judgement of God in our 'Jesus is my buddy and pal' kind of mentality of the church of our day. While that familiarity is wonderful and I encourage people to a personal relationship with Jesus. I wonder that we sometimes loose sight of his awesome might and power. My point is that sometimes in that familiarity we forget the wonder and power the holiness of God. Do you tremble in His presence?
Jeremiah 5:12 Should you not fear me?" declares the LORD. "Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it.

Who do we blame for devastation?  Is it the judgement of God upon people who's hearts were hard. Is it just the natural effects of how we have cared for the planet that we live or simply part of a natural cycle of earth changes.  We want to draw black and white conclusion and often the lines are fuzzy.
We want to know where was God when this bad thing happened? Who is to blame for this we demand. As if knowing will some how justify or bring back that which was lost.

In this book this devastation is said to be from the Lord upon a people who have repeatedly turned from him. Joel cries out them to not just follow the convention of grieving of that day to rip their garments and go about in rags. He tells them rend your hearts. Does your heart break over the things that breaks the heart of God?  God is not looking for ritualistic outward change from us. He wants our hearts to change. I am convinced that our hearts do not change with out being found in his presence regularly. I don't understand the actions and motivations of a stranger. How can I understand God if I do not spend time with him in the pages of his Word or time with him in Worship or in Prayer.

Some of you are facing devastation of life as you know it. Perhaps its the loss of a loved one, a divorce, mental illness, financial ruin, personal illness, perhaps a fire, or a car wreck or any number of things. In this moment you know that your life as you have known it has changed. 

I do know that we serve a God who is just. He does not just turn his head and ignore sin and its effects. He can't simply excuse some and punish others - to do so would negate justice. Justice must be served and we all have sinned and fallen short of his glory.  It is not only that 'Jesus loves me this I know for the bible tells me so'. He does, in that love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Jesus leaves heaven and comes to earth and takes the place in the judgement that we each deserve. He makes a way that we might return to a right relationship with God. It is through his sacrifice. He forces it on no one, we are at liberty to choose to accept what he has provided or not. It is not that he comes to condem us, we stand condemned already. (John 3:18).  The poison of sin in our lives is working and it is only a matter of time before it finally leads to death. A loving God sends us an antidote. We have to decide if we will use it or not.

I am not here to say if the things you are facing are necessarily Gods judgement. They may simply be the out come of your choices and decisions or the decisions of others. We live in a fallen world and we feel the effects of sin upon it. What you are facing may be a demonic attack. I can't draw that line in the sand for you. I can encourage you to turn to God - hear what He would say to you.  Most often change is brought about in a violent sort of way. In a sense we come to the end of our self sufficiency, when everything we know to do has come up empty - we turn to God in our desperation.
 We have in that moment the opportunity to go down in dispare and accept the verdict or the diagnosis or we can turn to God and receive his instruction.  I have over many years watched how people respond to destruction. They will allow it to propel them further in God as they overcome,  or they will shake their fist and blame God for their troubles and be consumed by them.

How about you will you identify with the verdict before you, that you are done for, your life is over, and hopeless beyond repair? Or will you reach out to God who loves you and who is bigger than all your problems. Will you come to that place of realizing your desperate need for Him in every part of our life. Yes he could perhaps have kept the bad things from happening in the first place but over and over I see him receive glory in taking what is devastated and bringing restoration. It is often a long journey as we learn to see our selves through his eyes and in the light of his purposes.
What does God say about you? What is his verdit? Who's report will you believe?
We can't always say why things happen but we can choose how we will respond.

Today what ever you are facing big or small turn to God and allow him to come in and give you His direction. 

Prayer:
Dear Lord,
You know the circumstances and the things readers are facing today. Life can at times becomes overwhelming and out of control. There are those moments in life when we realize that everything we knew or thought we knew has changed. There is no going back and the choice before us is to go down in defeat or to turn to you in the midst of the crisis. Help us Lord to not just tear our garments in some religious display of piety or false humility but to truly turn to you and accept you as our Lord and Savior who loves us. Help us to realize that if we allow you, you will come in to the middle of what ever we are facing and show us your plan, your purpose and your direction. We invite you Lord to come in to our life and its circumstances. Help us to see where we need to change. Help us to walk out those changes, decision by decision, one step at time. Help us to become not to identify with what we are in this moment but to begin to see all that you would have us to become.

Safe People

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

We are all un finished works

“But I will sing of Your power; 
Yes, I will sing aloud 
of Your mercy in the morning;
And refuge in the day of my trouble.”Psalm 59:16 

 This morning I seem to be struggling to find what I want to write about. The verse above it the verse of the day at Bible Gateway and seemed as good as any. I'm still kind of tired this morning and can't at this point seem to find a thread of inspiration to write about. There are some thoughts that may become things I write about but those are things that I am still processing.  Processing - Perhaps that is a topic in it self. I was thinking this morning how it is very hard for me to get to memories from the past. Things I did not know how to deal with or did not want to feel the emotions of got locked away and with them the things that would trigger those memories.  In my mind I needed to be the strong one, and encourage and support everyone else and my stuff could wait till later. There were things that needed to be done and I just kept moving forward and would sort it all out later.  So I have done that for a very long time and in some ways later has come and I am now having to sort through that stuff and try to reconcile it in someway. Given that I have not created mental pathways in my brain to those memories it is very hard for me to find them now. There are some memory paths, and from those I can sometimes get to others. A friend told me recently that it was the mercy of God that I can't remember the past clearly. Perhaps it is - but I seem to be a the mercy of God because he brings up things and then I find that I must feel them and now deal with them in some right way. In some cases I must grieve the loss of people who were dear to me, or feel the pain of the hurt caused by the choices of others. In that I must forgive. In some I see the hurt and pain my choices have caused to others - in those I must try and understand the pain I caused and I must repent. 

I was talking to my friend Mark Kenney yesterday, who is forever posting on face book little nuggets of wisdom that he some how profoundly spins out. Here's a couple just from yesterday.

Fear's job is to limit and stop you. Thus, your choice to move ahead and take action is how you resist fear's effects.

 A Religious Spirit always double accuse you of not being what you could be and the instant you start to become that it accuses you of pride. ~ Shatter it off your life by humbling yourself enough to accept 100% of the divine elevation that God has truly called you to.

The resistance is in your mind... Take personal dominion and press THRU it.. don't park and do not make choices based on it... go THRU it

Your value is not in what you look like... but the perceived value that others usually judge you by is. ~ You get one chance to make a good first impression. Those who know you well don't need that but those who don't know you yet do.

When the devil can't destroy a person or ministry, he will always fall to plan B which is to attach a word of controversy knowing most of the body walks by sight and not by Faith.

So the one that got me yesterday was...."Transparency is the seed for Intimacy ~ Some of life's greatest pleasures and rewards are based on mutual transparency. Your refusal to open up is only stopping you from God's very best. ~ Find someone and pour yourself out!"

So anyway at that time I got a chat message from Mark Kenney about some information that he had said he would get to me about one of his business endeavors.  I guess what he had just posted was still pretty fresh on both our minds so the chat drifted that way towards the topic of mutual transparency.   Let me say I've known Mark for 20 years and he's like a younger brother to me, and we have seen each other go through a lot of stuff in 20 years of walking with the Lord.  So the question was can you be open about the things from your past that you keep secret.  So Mark started our conversation with I bet you did'nt know....  and then I had to decide if I was brave enough to share. My first response was to turn the conversation to something safer. He would have been none the wiser. But then there was a pause and I had time to see my own defensive action and made a choice to share the thing I was currently struggling through.  While I am not ready broadcast that conversation, let me tell you that there were a few things I needed to talk through. Things that had just in the past day or two come to the surface for me and God was offering me a safe friend at the right moment. Would I take that opportunity or let it pass by with empty chatter. 

There is something to be said for mutual transparency in that both parties have shared a hurt, or a vulnerable thing and there is a balance of safety in knowing that what was shared is safe and that the other will not use that information in a way that will hurt the other. There is also in "safe" people a knowledge that they will not feel the need to pass along or gossip about what has been shared.  The other thing I have found to be in "safe" people is that - they don't have to have the answer, they do need to listen, they do need to not condem or judge and to try to understand, they do need to be someone who will pray and point you to Jesus. Sometimes they need to be the voice through which God speaks and impart His understanding, love, mercy, compassion, healing and grace.

For me it is very hard to trust people - and I have to really work at being open.  I have levels of trust that has grown over time with various people. Some people I trust them but they have enough of their own burdens to not need to have to shoulder mine.  Most stuff I just work out with the Lord in my quiet time but there is sometimes a need to confess a thing to break the power of it in your life. The gossip thing is a major thing that rules out this kind of sharing with most people.  I watch what people do with information and decide their level of safety. There is also a safety in friends that are far away in that they are not in the middle of your life and can't meddle or try and fix things and so they are powerless to do more than encourage and pray.  All that to say there is a powerful thing that happens when we confess our sins, our pain, our broken places to one another.  I will end with James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  

I want my heart to heal and to be strong and healthy and I imagine that you do as well so I encourage you to find the safe people in your life, and to work on being a safe person.  I think we reap what we sow. If you sow seeds of being a safe person for others God will provide safe people for you when you need them.  Let me say lastly that God will bring the right person at the right time for the things God is having you deal with - trust him.  He wants you to be healed and to walk in greater freedom. Much freedom comes from confessing - push past the fear -it is bigger in your mind than you will find it to really be, once you have confessed it. 

Prayer: Dear Lord, help each of us to find those safe people in our life. Those people who exhibit Christian character and maturity. Help us to find the courage to confess the things that we have carried as burdens, shame, as twisted ideas and beliefs. Help us to get free. Even more so I pray that we would each become safe people, ministers of the good news of Jesus, who can rightly divide Gods word and know how to apply it to various things we and people around us are facing.  I pray Lord that you will lead us to greater freedom and wholeness and health in you.

 

 

 

 

Do You Have a Chip on Your Shoulder?

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

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Matthew 26:46-49

Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
 ⁴⁷ While he was still speaking, 
Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. 
With him was a large crowd armed 
with swords and clubs, sent from the 
chief priests and the elders of the people.  
⁴⁸ Now the betrayer had arranged a signal 
with them: “The one I kiss 
is the man; arrest him.” ⁴⁹ 
Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, 
“Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.


I was going through a little study this morning and the topic was about "Having a Chip on Your Shoulder". You know the pent-up anger or moodyness that can show up at unexpected or at in-appropriate times and generally has nothing to do with the present situation. It is from some wounded place and the scars that have been left. Some of those scars can become so hard that they are like bone chips that work thier way to the surface. As a teenager I had a massive chip on my shoulder regarding my parents divorce. I was angry and dissapointed with them both and at the same time loved them both. I could not understand how if I could love them both, why they could no longer love each other.  That chip spilled over into many of my relationships. I could desperatly want emotional intimacy and at the same time not let anyone really know me much beyond the surface. Some relationships helped me take down some of the walls only to later build them back up higher and wider.

For a long time my mental image of myself was of a princess trapped in a tower, just waiting for the prince to come and free me. Sadly most of the princes that I've met are trapped in thier own mythic prisons. I've realized through the years that if I want out of my tower I need to start removing the bricks and stones that I have used to create it. Really the only prince who truly has the power to help me change is Jesus. He does indeed ride into the final battle astride a white horse. He does indeed come to set the captives free. So for every prince trapped in a dungon or princess trapped in a tower there is hope. The journey to freedom sometimes seems very long but I have learned to keep my eyes and heart focused on the Lord. Others will dissapoint me but He will never leave or forsake me.

For me trusting the Lord is pretty easy. I just look back and remember all the time that He has helped me in the past and I know he will help me in the present and in the future. The hard one for me has been to trust people. I have had to make an effort to let people in. I've come to accept that they will likely disappoint me at some point. I conversely am likely to disappoint the people in my life at various points. We can choose to live lives in lonely isolation or we can forgive when we are hurt, ask the Lord to heal us and decide that deep friendships and emotional intimacy out weighs the inevitable risks of being hurt by those same people. Jesus after all was betrayed by a kiss.

I have a guitar student, a little 10 year old boy. He loves all the old 80's musicians like James Taylor, The Beatles, and Simon and Garfunkel. I try very hard when picking music to choose age approprate music. I really like Simon and Garfunkel but some of the stuff they sing about with a great beat and a catchy tune in my mind is kind of questionable for 10 year olds. One example would be the song Cecillia Your Breaking My Heart. I have moved to allowing my students find and choose their own music. So one of the songs that we have done recently is I Am A Rock by Simon and Garfunkel.
I found myself smiling as this delightful child sang his heart out and had no clue about what the song meant. So I started asking him questions. What is one word that you could use to discribe the person in this song? Lonely he finally answered.  Does this person sound like they might have been hurt by someone important to them? Yes he answered. Do you think he is choosing to deal with that hurt in the best way? He has chosen to be locked up in his room with his books and poetry where no one can touch or hurt him again?  The discussion led on to me asking if he knew the word forgiveness. I got to in that moment plant a seed of  biblical truth in the heart of a child. Forgiveness is the better way to respond when someone hurts you. It does not mean that what they did to you was right. You however keeping them caged up in your heart and memeory really only torment yourself.

So today in thinking about the subject of chips on the shoulder. I find myself wondering what other scar tissue might the Lord want me to deal with in the near future. I know I have plenty to choose from. I've learned to let some things rest until the Lord brings them to my attention. I have found that he does not always fix things in the order that I think he should. Quite often there are deeper wounds that he goes after and he leaves the one that seems urgent and on the surface to me, and goes after the deeper things. I have learned to trust Him as the Great Physician. He who formed my inmost parts and knew me in my mothers womb also knows how to deal with the damage I have sustained and sometimes brought upon myself by not doing things His way.

I have learned through the years that there is indeed an enemy of my soul and he does not shoot at us with nurf bullets and he also will manipulate and use well meaning people but misguided people to be his hands and feet to inflict pain and damage. To help reinforce wrong behavior and ways of dealing with our pain. Our society has created a self centered, look out for number one, mentality that is contrary to how Jesus does things in His kingdom. The last will be first, and seek first the kingdom, give and it shall be given unto you, are just a few examples of how backwards God ways are to those of the culture we live in. Every day we must choose to pick up our cross, to crucify our flesh and carnal nature and put on Christ. I want to be his hands and feet, an ambassador of a far better kingdom and way of living.

So I look at the scars and the broken places that the Lord has healed and I am often thankful for them because he pours his Spirit through them so often when I am praying or encouraging others around me. It is through my brokenness that God seems to minister the most strongly to others in need. I am surprised how many people are taken aback that I understand the pain they are feeling. It seems that most of my scars have turned into compassion and understanding for others. I have had to choose to live in the real world rather than the safe virtual world of the tv- watching reality shows. When I have had a choice of paths to take, I have chosen in most cases the more difficult one. Why you might ask? are you a glutton for punishment? No, but I have discovered that on the more difficult path I get to see Gods wonder working power in an astounding way. I have had the privilege of walking side by side with Jesus. It is an adventure of being led by His Spirit through my days that I would not trade.
My reason for getting out of bed in the morning is that I get to spend all day with Jesus. Some of the things we walk through together are hard and difficult but He is the best guide. He knows how much danger and excitement I can stand. Its generally more than I realize. In the process He has helped me to see my weakness and to find my inner strength in Him.

Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Thank you for walking with each of us on our particular journey. I pray that you will allow us to experience life to the full today. That we will choose to trust you to help us take down walls and remove the chips from our shoulders and heal the wounds of our heat. Make those scarred places areas of our life that are rich with compassion and mercy for others. Allow us to be your hands and feet and your ambassador to the broken and hurting world today. Help us get our eyes off our own problems and to be instead your instrument of blessing to bring living water and hope to others.
 

Bridges of Growth

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

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1 Corinthians 12:4-6  

There are different kinds of gifts, 
but the same Spirit.  
⁵ There are different kinds of service, 
but the same Lord. 
⁶ There are different kinds of working, 
but the same God works 
all of them in all men. 

I was given a lovely inspirational book on Courage and Inner Strength by a friend for my birthday. I have been enjoying reading through the collection of quotes and poems.  One spoke of the times when we feel lost and like the world is collapsing all around us, as being like bridges of growth. In those times we have no idea how we will make it from moment to moment. Yet somehow we do make it through that day and the next day and the next and before we know it we are looking back and we realize that we have grown.

I find that more and more I am thankful for the challenges that come my way. Not that I go out looking for them and I do my best not to manufacture problems. I do sometimes feel like I live in the land of missfit toys. So many of the people around me are struggling with mental illness, or the effects of brain injuries, or emotional trauma, or poverty of some sort. I seem to have swallowed a magnet that draws people who are broken and hurting and needing someone to believe in them. I must have at some point traded up to a bigger magnet because for many years people said I had swallowed a kid magnet and was always ministering to kids and teens. I'm not sure when it changed but I look around and I know that it has changed. I think many of the things I have been through have been bridges for growth that have given me greater compassion.

A wise man once said, "whatever came to me, I looked on as God's gift for some special purpose. If it was a difficulty, I knew He gave it to me to struggle with, to strengthen my mind and my faith." That idea has sweetened and helped me all of my life. ~ Anonymous 

The kid magnet thing I spoke of earlier. During that season of my life I was barren and it seemed that having children was not in God's play book for me. For a while I thought it was God punishing me for the promiscuity of my youth. I finally got over that and was able to receive God's forgiveness. It was still 15 years before God would give me children of my own. In those years my life was very rich with children.  Isaiah 54:1 Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.  In that season I sang and sang and I got to minister to hundreds of children. The season has changed and I think it started with a prayer that went something like this. I was reading the book of Acts and my prayer began to be I want to live a life like the believers in the book of acts. I want to see God do mighty miracles in peoples lives. I don't just want normal American church where folks go to be entertained. I want to be in the middle of people who are desperate for God. Who know they can't make it with out Him. I want to be in the middle of people who like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who would say in the face of death "¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”  I want to be around people who believe that God can and will deliver them. Who even if he does not will serve and worship him to their final breath.
I suppose one should be careful what they ask God for, I am however privileged to walk daily among such a people. God has answered that prayer and made me ambassador in the land of missfit and broken people. I suppose I fit right in because God has patched me back together so many times that I have lost count. In that land I am inspired by people of tremendous faith and courage. These folks are overcoming things that are not for the faint of heart. I have found that in our brokenness that we need each other more than people do who are not so broken. We become living stones in a spiritual house. 
A bit more from the passage in 1 Corinthians 12  ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 

I guess my point of this devotional is that the things you are facing can be bridges of growth in you life and you don't have to travel alone.  When you are broken you quickly realize that you need others and surprisingly others need you and I think that God is pleased when we begin to work together to accomplish His purposes. We each come to the table with something to offer and much to gain.

Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Help us to walk across the bridges of growth that you have placed in our lives. Lord help us to reach out to the people around us. Help us to not look upon our own brokenness in despair thinking we are of no value. Help us to realize that God is pleased when we bear with one another in our weakness. When we are weak He is strong. We are your hands and feet so help us realize that I may be the hands and while another may be the feet and until we learn work and walk together we sit like the lame man at the healing pool in John 5 waitng for our healing. When perhaps our healing is found in learning to depend on each other.

Healing Is In Your Hands

Healing Is In Your Hands

 A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

Matthew 4:23 

Jesus went throughout Galilee, 

teaching in their synagogues, 

preaching the good news of the kingdom, 

and healing every disease 

and sickness among the people.

 

Some of you who are following this devotional blog have let me know that you enjoy my simple recordings. While I was on vacation I did a simple cover video recording of Healing is In your Hands. It is a beautiful song by Christy Nockels that has touched my heart.  I have several friends who are in need of God's healing touch. It is my hope that this song will minister to them and to others who are trusting God to heal be it through the hands of doctors or simply a healing touch directly from the Lord.  However God choses to work is fine with me. I do want to encourage you to trust and to not loose hope. I have found great strength and hope by remembering the many promises of healing found in the Word.  Please leave a comment if you are in need of healing and would like our growing devotional family of readers to stand with you in prayer.

Here are some of my favorite verses about healing:

1 Peter 2:24 

"Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, 

that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-- 

by whose stripes you were healed."

Isaiah 40:31 

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; 

they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, 

and they shall walk and not faint."

Psalm 34:19 

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous, 

but the LORD delivers him out of them all."

Jeremiah 30:17 

"For I will restore health unto you, 

and I will heal you of your wounds, saith the Lord."

Psalm 103:2-3 

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: 

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who heals all thy diseases"

3 John 2 

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper 

and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."

Isaiah 58:8 

"Thy light shall break forth as the morning, 

and thy health shall spring forth speedily; 

and thy righteousness shall go before thee: 

the glory of the Lord shall be thy rear guard."

Prayer:

Dear Lord, I thank you that you have already paid the price for our healing. Help us to trust in your great love as we stand on your word for our own healing or for the healing of people we know and care about. You know the hearts of each person reading today come now and meet each one at the point of thier need.