DIG for Saturday the 22nd of July…..do you want all what Jesus has provided for you…..John 5 v 6

Jesus provided so much more for us through His finished work than just a ticket into Heaven.

But for so many people that is all their salvation is, an assurance of life after death.

Well, Jesus came to provide life, and abundant life, for us before death.

Jesus has provided healing, wholeness, acceptance and prosperity among other things.

When Jesus met the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda He asked him what I used to think was a silly question; He asked him if he wanted to be healed (John 5 v 6).

But this was of course a valid question, either the man did not want to be healed or did not know healing was available.

Jesus of course had the power to heal but the man had to want it for himself.

There is a similar issue in the church today.

People either do not want to be healed (I have seen this!) or do not know that healing is available, that healing has been provided.

Jesus is still asking today, through His Holy Spirit and through His disciples (those who do believe in healing), do you want to be healed?

Do you want to be healed today?

He is asking you now if you want all those things that He provided at the cross; He is offering them to you right now.

All you need to do is believe and accept; and of course then thank Him!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the finished work of Jesus and thank you for the healing that this has provided for me”.

John 5 v 6…..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?

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DIG for Monday the 17th of July…..healing equals salvation…..Matthew 9 v 21 and 22

I read a wonderful piece last night about healing, reinforcing a truth that I already knew.

Do you know that what you think about salvation can be superimposed upon healing?

For example we know that it is God’s will for all men to be saved.

We know that men can do nothing to earn their salvation; there are no good works or religious observance required that a man could do to be saved.

We know that salvation comes as a gift of grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus.

So my friend, we can remove the word salvation from these statements and replace it with healing.

The base Greek word associated with salvation is sozo, and this Greek word (among other things) also means to be healed, and it is this base Greek word that is sometimes used for healing (14 times).

So healing is associated with salvation, indeed they are linked together; if you have been saved you have had healing provided.

Salvation and healing are both provided through the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

You do not have to work for healing, do good works to be healed and you do not need to ask, beg or plead with God to heal you.

As you trusted in Jesus for salvation you can trust in Jesus for healing.

The lady with the issue of blood trusted in Jesus and was healed, or made whole (Matthew 9 v 21 and 22).

This was obviously a physical healing and the Greek word used was based on sozo.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you that that through the finished work of Jesus you provided healing as well as salvation”.

Matthew 9 v 21 and 22…..For she said within herself, If I may but touch the hem of his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; they faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour

DIG for Wednesday the 17th of May…..put on that healing and put on that prosperity…..Ephesians 4 v 24

At the bible school last night I had a really encouraging picture as I was listening to the teaching.

The lecturer was speaking about Ephesians 4 v 22 to 24, and was focussing on the fact that we have to renew our minds to see the provision that the Lord has already given us in the spiritual be made manifest in our flesh.

For example we have already been healed, but we will see our bodies healed after we renew our mind to this truth.

I saw a wardrobe with various jackets hanging up in there.

There was a jacket of healing, a jacket of prosperity, a jacket of peace; in fact there was a jacket for every aspect of our salvation or ‘sozo package’.

I saw someone looking into this wardrobe and taking out jackets and putting them on.

As they put on each jacket it dissolved into their bodies and became part of them.

This spoke to me of us renewing our minds and then “putting on” the different aspects of our salvation.

As we understand more and more about the finished work of Jesus (as we renew our minds to the truth) we will see more and more ‘aspects’ of salvation becoming manifest in our lives.

As we learn and understand about prosperity for example, we can “put on” the jacket of prosperity and see it come to pass in our lives.

I encourage you this afternoon to start renew your minds to the truths in God’s Word about healing and prosperity, indeed about all the truths held within the ‘sozo package’ that Jesus provided for you at the cross.

Get yourself prepared to put on that jacket of healing and put on that jacket of prosperity some time soon!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you have already provided me with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus”.

Ephesians 4 v 24…..And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness

DIG for Saturday the 13th of May…..as you began so you must carry on…..Colossians 2 v 6

We all know that we came to salvation as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus.

We know that there was nothing we could do in our own strength to be saved.

Yet, many in the church now think that in order to move in other parts of salvation (such as healing and prosperity) we have to work for it.

All parts of salvation (our ticket into Heaven and our peace, joy, acceptance, healing and prosperity for example) are gifts and are never rewards.

We did not work for our initial salvation so we do not nee to work for our on-going salvation.

As you first received, so walk ye in Him is what the Bible says (Colossians 2 v 6).

This means that if you require healing you receive it by faith.

This means that if you require prosperity you receive it by faith.

You do not need to fast, pray and ask for healing and prosperity, just as you did not need to fast, pray and ask for your initial salvation.

Healing and prosperity (among other things) are part of what I call the ‘sozo package’.

If you are saved (got your ticket into heaven) then you are also healed and prosperous; you just may not see this manifest in your life at the moment.

Faith is what is required to walk into your on-going salvation, into what Jesus died to bring you.

Faith, not works, is the key to moving into the abundant life that Jesus promised (John 10 v 10).

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I can move into my healing and my prosperity through faith in the finished work of Jesus”.

Colossians 2 v 6…..As ye therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him

DIG for Friday the 12th of May…..salvation is only found in one ’place’…..Acts 4 v 12

As I wrote yesterday the account of Noah and the ark is a wonderful piece of typology about Jesus Christ.

There was only one place to be during the flood that guaranteed absolute safety, and that was in the ark.

If you were not in the ark you would perish, the ark was the only place where salvation could be found.

This is of course a picture or shadow of Jesus.

He is the only ‘place’ where salvation can be found.

If you are in Christ you are saved, if you are not in Christ you are lost.

It is that simple!

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; no one can come to the Father (and salvation) except through Him (John 14 v 6).

There is no other way to salvation; there is no name that you can call upon to be saved (Acts 4 v 12).

But the great truth is that anyone and everyone can call upon the name of Jesus, no one is excluded!

Jesus died for the sins of all men for all time (1 John 2 v 2).

Salvation is available to all though Him, however every man has to exercise faith to receive this free gift.

Jesus is our ark; He is where we find our safety, security and salvation.

Jesus is the way to salvation and He is the only way.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for Jesus and thank you that He is our only way to salvation”.

Acts 4 v 12…..Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved

DIG for Thursday the 11th of May…..safety is in Christ…..Genesis 6 v 18

I’ve written before about the account of Noah and the ark being a picture of salvation and safety we have in Christ.

I read a book this morning that brought a new revelation to me about this wonderful piece of typology.

When the ark was built there were no windows lower down in the walls of the ark.

The window was near the top of the ark.

So when the floodwaters devastated the earth the inhabitants in the ark would not have seen the turmoil going on around them.

I tried to picture what would have been going on outside the ark as the waters rose and rose.

People would have been struggling, screaming, drowning; scrambling maybe to try and get into the ark.

It would have been a terrible and fearful sight.

But Noah and his family would only have been able to look upwards towards the sky.

This is telling us that when we are in Christ we should still be looking upwards, looking to God and the things of God.

Even Jesus at times turned his eyes upwards, telling us He too looked to God the Father.

In Jesus we have safety and salvation, He is the only place where this can be found.

But even in this state we need to keep looking to the Lord for His guidance, advice and council.

Look upwards today and see what the Lord has for you!

Speak this out…..”Thank you Lord for the safety and salvation we have in Christ”.

Genesis 6 v 18…..But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee

DIG for Tuesday the 10th of January…..all there, but we need to choose it for ourselves…..Ephesians 1 v 4

Yesterday my DIG was based upon Ephesians 1 v 3; well, I carried on reading the rest of this awesome passage described what we have through the finished work of Jesus.

Verse 3 says we have all spiritual blessings, and the verses following described these blessings.

Before the world began we were chosen to be in Him and with Him.

Now, this may sound like a Calvinistic doctrine, saying certain people are chosen for heaven and others for hell; it sounds like what is known as ‘predestination’.

This is not what this verse is talking about however.

God has chosen all mankind to be with Him; all sins for all men were forgiven at the cross and Jesus came to bring reconciliation to all men (Hebrews 10 v 12 and 14).

It is God’s will that all men are saved (2 Peter 3 v 9).

Men however need to choose to benefit from this forgiveness and reconciliation through faith in Jesus and His finished work.

God wants all men to be made ‘holy and without blame’, but not all men will receive this.

That is why verse 4 uses the word “should”.

We should be saved if we choose to be saved.

We should benefit from reconciliation and forgiveness if we choose to benefit.

We should be holy and without blame however we need to choose Jesus for this to happen.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you want all men to be saved and you have provided this for every man to choose for himself”.

Ephesians 1 v 4…..”According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love

DIG for Thursday the 24th of November…..up close and personal for all eternity…..Revelation 21 v 4

I was asked to speak at a funeral the other day, using a reading from The Revelation of St John as my text.

I chose to read from Revelation 21 and was struck by the intimacy that I saw when reading about what eternity would be like.

We are of course going to spend eternity with God, however the closeness and intimacy described in this passage is wonderful.

In Revelation 21 v 3 God tells us that He will be with us in the new heaven.

In the next verse He tells us that He will wipe away all tears from our eyes.

A distant and impersonal God cannot do this wiping away.

This implies our God will be close to us, involved with us in such a way that He will stroke our cheeks to remove tears.

That is a picture of intimacy that is likely to bring tears if I think any longer on it!

Further on in verse 7 we see that once in heaven we will be treating like sons.

This is just a wonderful picture of what eternity will be like with the Lord.

And the good news is that God excludes no one from this, all are invited and He wants all to come.

We choose how we spend our eternity; we have free will.

God wants all men to come to repentance and therefore salvation (2 Peter 3 v 9).

He wants all men with him in heaven, but we have to make that choice.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I have decided to follow Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, and thank you that my eternity is safe with You”.

Revelation 21 v 4…..And God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away

DIG for Friday the 14th of October…..salvation and righteousness, one and the same…..Romans 10 v 10

The end of Romans 9 and start of Romans 10 is a wonderful description of righteousness by faith.

We see quite clearly (in fact very clearly) that the way to righteousness is through faith in Christ and Christ alone.

No works or deeds of the law are required for a man to become righteous, in other words to have complete and unconditional acceptance and approval from God (Romans 3 v 28)

Faith in Christ ends any requirements for works or deeds of the law to be right with God (Romans 10 v 4).

Further on in Romans 10 the emphasis seems to change and Paul tells us how a person comes to salvation (Romans 10 v 9 and 10).

But this is not a change; it is a continuation of his discussion about righteousness.

You see a man is made righteous the instant he is saved!

Being made righteous is not a process.

You cannot move toward righteousness or become more or less righteous.

Becoming righteousness is an event.

You are either righteous or you are not and it all depends upon whether you are saved or lost.

Being saved is the same as being righteous as you are made righteous when you are in Christ or come to salvation (2 Corinthians 5 v 17 and 21).

What an awesome truth, and what a simple truth!

Speak this out today….”Thank you Lord that I am saved and thank you that I have been made righteous”.

Romans 10 v 10…..For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation

DIG for Friday the 30th of September…..He wants you with Him for eternity…..2 Peter 3 v 9

There are times when a book, verse or song just hits me and turns me into a ‘blubbering heap’.

This happened yesterday when I discovered a ‘new’ worship song.

“You didn’t want Heaven without us, so Jesus you brought Heaven down”.

This truth brought me to my knees in adoration for a God who loved me and loves me so very much.

I realised in the instant of hearing these words that Jesus came personally for me; and that realisation is making me cry as I wrote this!

He died for me.

He came from Heaven because of me.

He came for me.

He became flesh, bringing the Kingdom so that I could spend eternity in Heaven.

The big revelation though was that Jesus wanted to spend eternity with me.

Yes, read that again, Jesus wants to spend eternity with me!

And the same is true for you; Jesus wants to spend eternity with you.

The Lord wants all men to come to repentance and be saved so that He can spend the rest of eternity with them (2 Peter 3 v 9).

That truth should make you feel glad to be alive this afternoon!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you loved me enough to send Jesus for me”.

2 Peter 3 v 9…..The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance