Beloved

There is a saying that confession is good for the soul. Surely that comes from James 5:16. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” Confession is good for the soul because it releases the spiritual burden of sin to Christ. It also releases the emotional and mental burden of sin to the person to whom you confess. Paul wrote, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17). When such a hard burden of guilt is released, then there is spiritual openness, and freedom makes healing possible. Righteousness is the gift of the Lord, and prayer does accomplish much. It accomplishes miracles in the name of God.

III John 2 reads, “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.” I am special to Jesus Christ. He calls me, “Beloved!” He died for me so I might discover wholeness for my body, mind, and spirit. He wishes me to prosper and to be in good health. He does not wish me to suffer, and have illness. His loved me enough to give His life for so that I might be healed. He sacrificed his life so that I might receive continually through faith. There is no greater love––that someone who had no sin in His life would willingly take mine, and give His life unselfishly for me.

What does such a great love wish for me to receive? His love and truth, and its reality alive and well in my life. To receive continually through faith, I must grow spiritually. “Faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (Romans 10:17). As I prosper spiritually, studying His Word and applying the lesson, might faith for the healing of body, mind, and spirit be easier? Might the truth of the message be more real because I have put down a foundation in Him?

My mind, body, and spirit all answer “YES”! My heart rejoices because I realize that I have learned another lesson in this walk with the Lord. He trains me in the way that I should go so that when I am finished on that last day, I will be refined as gold (Job 23:10). His sanctifying refinement liberates me to believe in what human eyes say is not true. His report is always good. I will always seek Him and find the lesson, realizing that God can turn a sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15) into a time of spiritual, physical, and emotional victory. Even though the battle might still rage, it still has been won through faith. I am more than an over-comer in Christ. I am His “Beloved”.