Category: Healing of the soul

Posted in #Doctrines of Demons, Healing of the soul, Tekoa Manning

Free Chapter on Sickness

Posted on by Tekoa

This is an excerpt from my book Doctrines of Demons Part One:

When I was severely sick with a neurological disease and fibromyalgia, I attended a small congregation with a kind pastor. I noticed the pastor often looked at me, my cane, and my wobbly legs strangely. On one occasion, he prayed for me. It was a loud, boisterous prayer. “Lord, get to the root of this sickness, the very root!” I felt as if the root he may have been referring to was my sin. He had suggested more than once to me that sickness can be a spiritual issue. I wondered if he thought the root was something evil in my life like pride, lust, or anger. I remembered the scripture in Timothy about laying hands on the sick and seeing them recover. It also said, “And if they have sinned it shall be forgiven them” (James 5:13-15 KJV).

Many well-known Evangelist and pastors had prayed over me, but I was still suffering horribly. I pondered this and went over a list of people I had forgiven and the prayers I had prayed for HaShem to search me and cleanse me. I cried out to my Father that I knew I had sinned and had things I needed to work on, like most of us do, but still felt awkward in the presence of this pastor. It seemed every time he prayed for me; it was suggested I was responsible for this disease. I felt like I was constantly surrounded by Job’s friends. Of course, I was no Job. My past had its colorful moments. But I had returned to the Father with all my heart, just like the prodigal son, and I knew the Father had run to meet me, kiss me, and clothe me with a new robe. I was now in covenant with my Father.

The following Thursday night Bible study was quite a shock for me. I waddled in on my cane, and there was the pastor with one shoe off. His right foot looked swollen, and he was using a cane. Gout had set in his foot. Had God allowed this to happen for a reason? I was not sure, but I felt quite relieved that a minister I deemed to be very holy could also go through pain. It was confirmation that perhaps it happens to the best of us. He spoke about how his gout had caused him to get still before the Father because he couldn’t go to work and how he had a wonderful time in prayer at home resting. Sickness can be an unusual friend at times.

This chapter will enlighten you about scriptures, and your eyes and mind will be opened to sickness in a manner you may have never been taught. Have you ever wondered who the first person to become sick was written about in the Bible? Job would be the first, and I believe the next person written about was Jacob. After Jacob wrestled with an angel all night, his hip was out of the socket, and he walked with a limp afterward. Indeed, he walked with a limp until the day his sons buried him. Hosea says this about Jacob, “Yea, he had power over the ANGEL and prevailed.” (Hosea 12:4 KJV) Perhaps you have never pondered Jacob’s hip being out of socket? The devil had nothing to do with maiming Jacob. It was an angel! We have been taught that angels only protect us. This one WRESTLED with Jacob and injured him.

Many times the children of Israel were sick or even died because of complaining and bitterness. Snakes sent from God bit them, and the quail they requested came up through their nostrils. The earth even swallowed some. “The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died” (Numbers 21:6 KJV).

Miriam spoke against Moses, and HaShem struck her with leprosy, and then Moses begged HaShem to restore her, and He did. Yes, over and over again, we see sickness caused by sin. Now we know this is not always the case. Look at Job and all his troubles, and there are others that I will illustrate to you shortly.

When Adam and Eve fell, many believe we were then cursed, and that is when sickness came into existence, but that is not what God’s word says, “cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt, thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth… (Genesis 3:17-18 KJV)

The Lord Adonai placed a curse upon the ground and the serpent. This curse on the soil is followed by Adam’s son Cain after he kills his brother: “The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you” (Genesis 4:10-12 NIV).

After the flood came and Noah came out of the ark and built an altar to the Lord, that curse on the ground and the earth was broken. “And the Lord smelled a sweet savor; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground anymore for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I smite any more everything living, as I have done” (Genesis 8:21 KJV). So, God knew that we had evil in us, even from our youth, yet He removed the curse on the ground.

Noah knew the curse was removed, and he planted a vineyard afterward. The land would once again be fruitful. Yahweh goes on to say this.  “I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Gen. 8:21-22, ESV). This is a loving God who goes on in chapter nine to say that not just the plants and vegetation would be for food but also for the animals.

“And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee” (Deut 7:15, KJV). Now, wait a minute, did you catch that? God is going to put sickness on people that hate His people. Wow! That doesn’t mean that every person who gets sick hates Israel. We know that is not the truth. This verse was more than likely speaking about the terrible plagues of boils and other ailments sent to Egypt during Pharaoh’s rebellion against Yahweh.

Sickness wasn’t something we hear Adam or Eve dying from, nor was it something Abraham or Isaac had, but Elisha, one of the mightiest men, died of a disease. “Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died” (II Kings 13:14, KJV). Elisha raised the dead, made an ax head float, cured Naaman of leprosy, and so forth, yet he died in his sickness. Several missionaries who were with Paul became sick, and Paul was not able to heal them but told the people these men had risked their life for the sake of the Gospel. You can read about Epaphroditus in Philippians, the second chapter, and a man named Trophimus in 2nd Timothy chapter four. “Erastus abode at Corinth; but Trophimus have i left at miletum sick” (II Timothy 4:20, KJV).

Both men were doing work for the Lord, and both men were with Paul. Now Paul was the apostle who could heal the sick with his apron. Why would Paul leave a man sick if he could heal him?  Why then were they not healed? I hear men and women proclaim, “Greater works shall we do,” but Paul left Trophimus sick. Sickness can be challenging to grasp. Paul told Timothy, “Be no longer a drinker of water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities” (1 Timothy 5:23, KJV). The water back then wasn’t fit to drink, and the wine helped kill the parasites and bacteria. So, we see wine as a medicine prescribed by the Apostle Paul. He doesn’t say, “Timothy, don’t speak your stomach troubles, don’t even claim them, life, and death are in the power of the tongue. tell the devil where to go.” No, that does not happen, nor will you find one of these great men of God ever prescribing that formula.

Now, I want you to think about medicine differently. 2nd Kings 20 tells a story about a king named Hezekiah. Adonai told him to get his house so that He was taking Hezekiah’s life. Now this man was Godly, he was not a sinner, and when he heard it, he began to weep and argue his case with God.  “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amos came to him, and said unto him, thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live” (II Kings 20:1, KJV). Wow, can you imagine being greeted with this type of Word from God? He was only around forty years old. We all like to hear a prophetic word from the Lord, but not one of such doom. Hezekiah begins to cry out to the Lord and bring before Him how he has served Him with a perfect heart. The Bible says, “He wept sore.”

Before Isaiah left the court of his kingdom, God tells him to go back and listen to the beautiful promise He gives him. “Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up into the house of the Lord” (II Kings 20:5, KJV).

“And Isaiah said, take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered” (II Kings 20:7 KJV). Yes, good ole herbs, figs, and plants can cure many diseases.

Adam lived to be nine hundred and thirty years old, now that’s a ripe old age. The Bible says Moses lived to be a hundred and twenty years old and that his eyes were not dim, and his natural force was unabated. He still had the strength of a young man. No sickness there.

Remember, Yeshua healed. However, He didn’t just do it for any reason; there was always a lesson to learn. I hear people say, “Yeshua healed all; however, He didn’t heal everyone entirely.  Yeshua has trouble in His hometown and says, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on A few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief.” (Mark 6:4-6, KJV). So we have unbelief. We also read about a man at the pool of Bethesda who was healed, but we don’t read anywhere in that story that the many others lying there were healed. Then we have an account after Jesus’ resurrection about a man who was laid at the temple gate for years. “Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts” (Acts 3:2, NIV). Now Peter and John walk past him and say, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk”(Acts 3:6 KJV). Now we know Yeshua walked into the temple many times He must have passed this man.

Each time we study healings in the Bible, the process amazes me. Even from the Old Testament, Elijah laid his body upon the Shunammite’s son, who died, and then the boy sneezed seven times and came back to life. You have Naaman, who had to dip seven times in some water far from clean to get his healing. Then you have the priest who would quarantine the sick for seven days before checking their ailments, but how did Yeshua do it? Most asked Him to heal them. The lepers said, “If you will, you can make us clean,” and so Yeshua did. Blind Barnabas cried out all the more for his healing. The people tried to quiet him, but he would not give in. One blind man was healed after Yeshua took some clay or mud and spat on it and placed it on his eyeball. Then the man had to wash his eye in a pool of water. All the way there, the man’s faith was brewing, and he was saying, after I wash, I will see.

The woman whose daughter was vexed with a demon would not relent but had faith. Yeshua never met her daughter, but the Bible says the demon left her the same hour. Yeshua wanted to hear them speak it. He wanted to know that they believed He truly was able to make them whole. Sometimes He told them their sins were forgiven after He healed them, and sometimes He just felt virtue go out of Him, as He did with the woman with the issue of blood. Other times Yeshua didn’t heal them; he waited until they were DEAD, and then He called them to come forth. Yes, He is amazing!

Sickness and disease are mentioned in full detail in the book of Deuteronomy. There is a list of blessings and a list of curses. Most ministers and sheep are very familiar with the scriptures that ring, ‘You will be the head and not the tail, above and not beneath,” but little is discussed the curses and why they come. The 28th chapter of Deuteronomy begins a shortlist of blessing, around twenty or so, and then it goes on to list the sickness and suffering of curses which far outweigh the blessings. These things would fall upon the nation and people who worship idols and do not keep God’s commandments and statutes.

“The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. The LORD will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it. The LORD will SMITE YOU with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with the sword and with blight and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish. The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth, which is under you, iron. The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed. The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt and with tumors, scabs and itch, sickness that cannot be healed” (Deuteronomy 28:20-24, 27).

The list is much too long to go over, but here are a few more. “The Lord will smite thee in the knees and in the legs with a sore botch that cannot be healed from the sole of your feet to the top of your head” (Deut. 28:35, KJV). So many forms of sickness and blindness are mentioned that it’s too much to list them all. Also, every sickness and every plague and all the diseases of Egypt He promised to bring until everyone is destroyed. These don’t come from Satan, but from Yahweh and on a people, who are sold out to idolatry.

I hear many people today talk about sickness. They make comments about a lack of faith, wrong confessions, and hidden sin, and they usually blame it on Satan. Most of the time, what I hear does not line up with the word of HaShem. How can we have a miracle—a healing—without sickness and suffering? Today, many ministers think sickness enters due to sin and the devil, but that cannot always be the case. “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind? “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him”(John 9:1-3).

Moses told the Lord that he was not eloquent or good at making speeches, but God answers him with this, “Who has made man’s mouth? or who makes the dumb or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?” (Exodus 4:11, KJV).

Many would call blindness, deafness, and paralysis a curse from Satan. But we just read God created it. When we read the New Testament, we find how they prayed for the sick. Today much has been distorted, especially in the Charismatic movement. Let us examine this again.

“As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up” (Acts 9:32-34).

Peter, did not ask God to get to the root of his sickness. He did not plead the blood over him or break generational curses. He did not bind anything. Peter did not say, “Aeneas, I’m sorry, but you just don’t have enough faith right now. Study Hebrews chapter eleven for a few more years, and I will be back to lay hands on you.”

King David said this about sickness and suffering, “Before I was afflicted, I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. Thou art good and doest good; teach me thy statutes” (Psalm 119: 67-6, KJV). He goes on in verse seventy-one to say, “It is GOOD for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.”

Job makes a statement in chapter twenty, one about what the wicked man’s life is like. He says, “Their houses are safe from fear. Neither is the rod of God upon them.” He talks about how they spend their days in wealth. King David speaks almost the same word in Psalm 73:3-5, “For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They (The Wicked) have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills.”

Job makes a comment to his wife after she tells him to curse God and die. He tells her she speaks as a foolish woman would speak. “What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God and not receive evil?” (Job 2:10, KJV).

Sometimes we give Satan too much credit. Occasionally, I think we spend too much time talking to Satan and about him. Many have been taught that every sickness comes from Satan or hidden sin. They never consider that this earth is getting old and that we have polluted it badly with factories, chemicals, landfills, oil spills, and water that is no longer fit to drink. Some believe we need more faith, and that medicine is not of our Father. I have seen countless people go off their medication and become severely sick, especially the mentally ill.

Sickness in a positive form is often mentioned in the Bible. If you read the parable of the great supper, you will find that the healthy, wealthy, and wise in their own eyes, did not have time to come to this great feast of the Lord. “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame” (Luke 14:21, NLT).

Yes, the wealthy, busy people of the world rejected his invitation but not the sick and the poor. Why were they so willing to come? Sickness and poverty can humble a person significantly and cause them to realize that they need a Savior.

A man named Paul was one of the greatest apostles of all time. Paul didn’t start out that way. In fact, he was one of the persecutors of the church. He was one of the main ones who helped stone the Christians and threw them into prison. And the Bible says that as he was on his way to Damascus, he saw a bright light shining down from heaven, and he heard a voice, and he fell down on the ground. “And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink” (Acts 9:6-9, KJV)

So we have just read how HaShem struck Saul (Paul) blind for three days. He got Saul’s attention. By striking him with blindness, he was able to humble Paul. We even read here how he fasted and prayed during those three days. We also hear the voice of the Lord say that he will show Paul how greatly he must suffer for His name’s sake. Now Paul went on to influence Christian thinking in a way no other apostle could. He wrote at least seven books in the New Testament, books on bringing praise and glory to God. Through his suffering and famine type circumstances, he became a humble Apostle. He also said he was given a thorn in his flesh, a messenger from Satan to buffet him. He asked God three times to take it away, but God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (II Corinthians 12:9).

Sickness may be something you pay more attention to in the scripture now. Our bodies are supposed to get old. Paul said, “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (II Corinthians 4:16).

“Remember, “Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died” (II Kings 13:14). Years later, a dead man was thrown into his tomb, landed on his bones, and was revived. He came back to life and stood upon his feet! He might have died of sickness and disease, but God’s word was still shut up in his bones, and his bones brought forth life.

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Posted in devotional, Healing of the soul, Tekoa Manning, TM

Beethoven and Kislev

Posted on by Tekoa

assorted-color Mozart statues

Beethoven was born on December 17th, 1770. Right away, I noticed the sevens and looked up the date on the calendar for that year. His date of birth fell on the 7th day of Chanukah (Hanukkah) in the Hebrew month of Kislev. (Although Hanukkah always begins on the 25th day of Kislev, that date can fall anywhere between late November and late December on the Gregorian calendar). Beethoven’s birth, name, and deafness all orchestrate a melody. And just like the celebration of Chanukah, Beethoven would shine his light in the darkness of deafness.

“The name Kislev derives from the Hebrew word kesel (כֶּסֶל), which means either “security,” or “trust.” There are two states of trust—one active and one passive—both of which manifest in the month of Kislev, which in the human body correspond to the right and left kidneys, respectively. In Hebrew, the word for kidney is also kesel (כֶּסֶל).” Gal Einai.

May we actively trust the Father!

Several of my readers may remember a blog I wrote entitled The Kidneys and the Ears. Hearing the most profound truth is attributed to the kidneys. If you slice a kidney in half, it looks just like our ears.

“You are near in their mouth but far from their kidneys” (Jeremiah 12:2 ISR). Our Bible translators have replaced the word kidney with rein or heart and often as inward parts, but kidneys were the original wording.

Beethoven’s autopsy report showed he had renal disease among a whole list of disparaging health issues. Some of his aliments were caused by roots and bark used as medicine back then.

Ludwig van Beethoven is a name most people all over the globe are familiar with. He wrote nine symphonies that took music to another galaxy. But it’s his personal life and calling that I want to zoom in on. This man suffered horribly, and yet, his heart-wrenching soul was able to strike keys, and soar violin bows into a place where melodies leave us mesmerized.

black grand piano

I often say, our pain is usually for another’s gain. Frequently the world sees the gift and not the person. We know Beethoven due to his masterpieces. I could listen to Fur Elise or Beethoven 9th Symphony – Movement IV – “Ode to Joy” daily, but what about the man who composed them?

Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the greatest musical geniuses of all time, had a horrible childhood, was often misunderstood, and later became deaf. His name from birth was prophetically chosen. “Van meaning (from)– Beethoven meaning gardens or fields (from the garden (paradise)). Ludwig–The first element is (h)lūt (“famed; loud”) (whence modern German laut), (whence also English loud), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear”). The second element is wīg (“battle, strife”)”

A man who would battle hearing loss with great strife would become loud and famous for his musical brilliance. Yes, his name has all those aspects embedded in it.

Beethoven had two younger brothers, Caspar (Keeper of the treasure) and Johann (God is merciful). His mother, Maria (sea of sorrow), experienced so much grief, I find no words to describe the magnitude. She married at the age of 16 and bore a son who died in infancy. Her first husband died after just two years of marriage.  By the age of 18, Maria was already a widow and mother. This did not appeal to Johann’s father, the Kapellmeister. Maria would marry Johann, and once again lose a son shortly after his birth. This happened multiple times.

“The British playwright Enid Bagnold once asked a feminist what advice she would give to a twenty-three-year-old housewife who, having lost four children, found herself pregnant again by an abusive, alcoholic husband.

“I would urge her to terminate the pregnancy,” the feminist replied.

 “Then,” said Ms. Bagnold, “you would have aborted Beethoven.” (Edmund Morris, Beethoven:The Universal Composer).

Kislev is the 9th month, the time of pregnancy in the womb, and all LIFE is precious. The truth is, Beethoven’s mother lost two sons before him, one of them being her first husband’s, but she did go on to lose even more children.

Besides Beethoven, Caspar, and Johann, she had three more children (one boy and two girls); all of them died very soon, respectively, at the age of four days, two years, and one year.  She is poetically described by Edmund Morris like this:

” Her final confinement left her depressed and frail, doomed to expire herself, at forty, of consumption. Slender, earnest-eyed, moralistic, genteel, she floats like a faded watercolor sketch in the van Beethoven family scrapbook, amid more robust images of men of high color and stocky build.”

person holding paint brush

Beethoven’s father, Johann, was a drunk and a mediocre court singer. He sang in the chapel of the Archbishop of Cologne in Bonn. However, Beethoven looked up to his grandfather, whom he was named after, Kapellmeister (Master) Ludwig van Beethoven, for he was Bonn’s most affluent and celebrated musician. His home was filled with silver and wealth, while Beethoven’s father’s home was filled with banknotes and poverty.

According to Biography, “Sometime between the births of his two younger brothers, Beethoven’s father began teaching him music with extraordinary rigor and brutality that affected him for the rest of his life. Neighbors provided accounts of the small boy weeping while he played the clavier, standing atop a footstool to reach the keys, his father beating him for each hesitation or mistake.”

The one area that brought Beethoven so much pain would also bring him fame and joy. Many times our gifting can cause us pain and joy.

Beethoven was deprived of sleep for extra hours of practice.  On a near daily basis, he was flogged and locked in the cellar by his father, but one can’t hide LIGHT in the darkness because a lamp will only shine brighter. Sadly, Beethoven received custody of his nephew and was often cruel like his father had been to him. He longed for him to be a musician, but the young man was not gifted in this area.

orange light bulb

“He studied the violin and clavier with his father as well as taking additional lessons from organists around town. Whether in spite of or because of his father’s draconian methods, Beethoven was a prodigiously talented musician from his earliest days.” Biography.

Some historians say, by the age of 13, Beethoven became Assistant Court Musician and placed on salary to support his family because his father’s alcoholism had reached the point that he could no longer provide for the family. In 1787 the court sent Beethoven to Vienna, where he longed to study with Mozart. “Tradition has it that, upon hearing Beethoven, Mozart said, “Keep your eyes on him; some day he will give the world something to talk about.”

When the Father sends people who want to learn or be mentored from us, we should have the heart of Mozart and not see the person as a threat, but instead, someone who will use their gifts to glorify the Father. All people are unique in their gifting. Although Beethoven had a cruel upbringing, he later composed much that was for the sole purpose of exalting the Father of LIGHTS.

Beethoven started becoming deaf at around the age of 26.  The intense buzzing in his ears caused irritability, and for many years, the people around him had no idea he was suffering so. I cannot imagine losing my eyesight. I never know what story will come forth from my fingers until I start typing, and that is the one course I failed–typing. So as I write books and blogs, my eyes are always on the keys. Beethoven’s ears were still on the keys, straining to hear a vibration.

black and silver point-and-shoot camera

While giving piano instructions to a Hungarian countess, Beethoven fell in love with her, but he was not allowed to marry her due to his social status. He later would dedicate his “Moonlight” Sonata No. 14 to her. He wrote, “No friend have I. I must live by myself alone, but I know well that God is nearer to me than others in my art, so I will walk fearlessly with Him.”

What a quote!

His ruddy complexion bore the scars of childhood smallpox. He unruly dark hair and bushy eyebrows stood out making his sorrowful eyes only more dramatized. His deafness was socially awkward for him. He was a short man and unprofessional in his behavior. I’m reminded of a passage that may have comforted Beethoven. “He had no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.” (Isaiah 53:2). The leprous Messiah.

One friend described Beethoven like this.

“His clumsy movements lacked all grace. He rarely picked up anything without dropping or breaking it… Everything was knocked over, soiled, or destroyed. How he ever managed to shave himself at all remains difficult to understand, even considering the frequent cuts on his cheeks. – He never learned to dance in time with the music.”

A man so highly gifted in one area, yet lacking in so many others.

Listen to Moon Light Sonata #14 and tell me if you picture a dyslexic, clumsy, awkward man with no rhythm? Many times, when a person is gifted in one area– and that area is sensitively magnified, they may be quite challenged in other areas.

Several close friends left a multitude of adjectives to describe this creative genius.

“Beethoven’s personality was also challenging:

“As a young man, Beethoven was frank to the point of rudeness. Headstrong and proud, he was never willing to conform in his behavior… As he grew older and deafness overtook him, the negative aspects of Beethoven’s personality came to the fore. He was increasingly given to bouts of despair, the difficulties of communication made him more reserved, and he became more suspicious and distrustful of others.” (read more, HERE).

Our ears and what we hear and how we hear it can affect our thoughts. If my heart sees your heart as FOR ME, and you speak something that sounds the opposite, I am going to ask you to elaborate. On the flip side, if we do not think the person in front of us has a good heart, we may take their words and misconstrue them. Hearing and seeing are vital in the spiritual sense.

Beethoven’s behavior and personality—utterly unpredictable. Domestic luxuries were unimportant to him, and he was a creature of disorderliness.

Baron de Tremont writes of a visit to Beethoven in 1809:

“Picture to yourself the dirtiest, most disorderly place imaginable – blotches of moisture covered the ceiling, an oldish grand piano, on which dust disputed the place with various pieces of engraved and manuscript music; under the piano (I do not exaggerate) an unemptied pot de nuit; (portable toilet)… the chairs, mostly cane-seated, were covered with plates bearing the remains of last night’s supper and with wearing apparel, etc.”

Count von Keglevics, the nephew of one of Beethoven’s students, wrote:

“he had a whim, one of many, since he lived across from her [his student], of coming to give her lessons clad in a dressing gown, slippers, and a peaked nightcap.”

Many times those gifted with extreme wealth in one area are labeled strange in another. Beethoven couldn’t spell very well or do simple math, but he could surely compose! Because Beethoven dropped out of traditional school at 10, he never learned the fundamentals.  Multiple historians believe he had learning disabilities and possibly dyslexia. From reading the few comments left by acquaintances, and knowledge of his upbringing, it’s easy to see the genius was still suffering from trauma, suspicions, and fearful of the world. He was most comfortable alone in his apartment wearing pajamas and writing music in his head from the memory of what each musical note held. Bathing was overrated, and cleaning up would take away from the very thing that had been beaten into him from childhood.

people watching orchestra

In his earlier days, Beethoven would leave Bonn and travel abroad, teaching students and being taught by the likes of Hayden and other greats. It has been said that this free spirited man, Beethoven, rewrote the rule book for Classical music.

“Beethoven bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated the Classical style, believing completely that its rules, rituals, and traditions were only useful up to the point that they served the expressive context. Beyond that, he reserved the right to do exactly what he pleased.”

In his later years, reaching total deafness, he depended on writing pads or notebooks to communicate. He stayed isolated in his apartment much of the time. Many of these conversations written on notepads have survived. Some of them are only one-sided, but they give the reader much to ponder.

“On one occasion, it seems Beethoven was discussing the Resurrection with his friend Karl Peters. We don’t know what question Beethoven asked, but Peters’ reply sums up the contemporary crisis of faith and the hope of overcoming it: “You will arise with me from the dead—because you must. Religion remains constant, and only Man is changeable.”

Taking advice from one physician, during his darkest days of depression, he took to nature.

– July 1814

“My miserable hearing does not trouble me here. In the country, it seems as if every tree said to me: ‘Holy! Holy!’ Who can give complete expression to the ecstasy of the woods! O, the sweet stillness of the woods!” (Ludwig van Beethoven).

In 1814, in a rehearsal for the Archduke Trio, it was said that Beethoven pounded on the keys until the strings jangled, and in piano, he played so softly that whole groups of notes were absent. His deafness had crippled his ability to discern this. How many of us have a beautiful melody inside but at times when we try to orchestrate the words, they come out harsh?

“When it came to the premiere of his massive Ninth Symphony, Beethoven insisted on conducting. The orchestra hired another conductor, Michael Umlauf, to stand alongside the composer. Umlauf told the performers to follow him and ignore Beethoven’s directions. The symphony received rapturous applause, which Beethoven could not hear. Legend has it that the young contralto Carolina Unger approached the maestro and turned him around to face the audience, to see the ovation.”

group on people inside building

Sometimes we just need help with the gift.

One day, we too pray that Yeshua will turn us toward the Father and we will hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” In the mean time, let’s become so swept up in HIM, that we do not even hear the accolades of men. Our gift is for the Father. We work with our hands to glorify Him.  In this week’s haftarah, we read of David. He is old, dying, and trying to stay warm, but his Psalm’s warm our very souls with glory, glory for the Father.

What is the Glory of Adonai? Dr. Skip Moen explains it this way in his blog titled Glory.

“Glory – Our western culture pushes God into categories governed by the Greek mind. We think of God in terms of logic and rationale. We end up with descriptions of God as omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. All true, but all sterile. David knows God in an entirely different way. David’s God is amazing in deeds, awesome in power, and wonderfully beautiful.” (Here)

Can we be so caught up in His Glory, that even our weaknesses become our strengths? Paul said, “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, THEN I AM STRONG.” (II Cor. 12:10). 

Who are we with stinky chamber pots, needing a change of garments or warmth, pounding on keys to make a melody for You that we often cannot even hear Your Voice, Oh, Great and Mighty, Father. And yet, You are mindful of us! May we run the race with horse blinders on, running to get the prize even with our imperfections and times of deafness. Not a prize given to men by men, but a prize that transcends time.

Surprisingly, it was in Beethoven’s late years, that he produced some of his most admired work, and he was utterly deaf then. When we have spiritual ears, we can still hear the melody of heaven. These outward bodies are perishing daily, but our spirit man grows stronger. I laughed at the last words recorded by Beethoven, “Pity, pity—too late!” as the dying composer was told of a gift of twelve bottles of wine from his publisher.

selective focus photography of bottles

Beethoven’s father wanted his son to become Mozart. As a piano virtuoso, Beethoven went on to surpass Mozart in measures unheard of. Every flower has its day in the sun when its colors burst forth, and people walk by and say, “Look at the beauty of those orchids, roses, and daffodils and smell their sweet aroma.” But once the colors fade and the petals drop, the stem bent and shrinking towards the earth, that season is over. Let us work while its still light and let us shine even in the darkest cellar.

Some sources have listed his last words as, “I shall hear in heaven.” And so shall we, friends, and even now as our Father’s Kingdom is burning in our kidneys like a flame. During the month of Kislev, the month of dreams, the month of light in the darkness–May we dream, and may we get to the very root of the riddle. May we hear and obey. May we take our precious gifts from Abba and use them as Beethoven did. Even with the loss of his natural hearing, he could still hear the music!! Even with our disfigurement, our frailties’, our lack of communication skills, our dyslexia’s, our past beatings, and cruelties,’ MAY WE SHINE.

Sources: http://www.toddtarantino.com/hum/beethovenhimself.html

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ludwig-van-Beethoven/Early-influences

https://www.biography.com/musician/ludwig-van-beethoven

https://www.crisismagazine.com/2016/beethoven-catholic-church

https://www.biography.com/musician/ludwig-van-beethoven

http://www.lvbeethoven.co.uk/page13.html

https://hbr.org/2009/03/in-a-crisis-what-would-beethov

Unsplash photos–

Posted in devotional, Healing of the soul, Inspirational, Tekoa Manning, TM

Friends who shine like the Son

Posted on by Tekoa

wade 4

I went to visit some dear friends a couple of weeks ago. I love these people. I love their hearts and how they have done missionary work in poverty-stricken countries. I love how they don’t have much money, but what extra they do have, they use to buy Bibles for orphans in Malawi or put a roof on a church that literally has an open heaven with rain coming inside.
Most of us wouldn’t even walk a mile to sit in a building in the rain with no roof. These people in Malawi are hungry in more ways than one.
My friend shared how she collected money and had a tin roof put on the church and how the people lined up when she got out of the car. They were in such awe and crying tears of gratitude. They were running to honor her! One woman gave her a royal gift–a chicken!

So as I was saying, I went to visit my dear friends, Cheri and Wade, and Wade was diagnosed with ALS. I made a meal to bring with us in the car because Wade can’t get out anymore.
We laughed and ate and talked and prayed. It was Shabbat, and as I watched my friend feed her husband his taco, I wondered what it was like for her to hand feed her spouse. The movies usually depict a sexy couple feeding each other seductively with chocolate covered strawberries, but what is it like to look into the eyes of the one you are one with and realize that each moment is sacred. Each smile. Each wipe of a cheek.
Her shoulders are pillars, and her legs are firmly planted. She is like a strong tree–a woman of valor.
Cheri is exhausted, but you would never know it.
After a bit of visiting and eating, I went to sit with my friend on his enclosed patio. He rode in his chair, and I followed. I plopped down on a cushioned seat and admired the beach theme, and petted his dog, Tutt. After a moment, my friend said, “I like to sit out here in the mornings and look outside. The sun cascades through the window and shines on my legs and my face.”

Wade hasn’t been able to leave his home for months. As he spoke, I remembered a time, shortly after my release of Walter the Homeless Man, when I had been to Mayo clinic and was very ill. There had been much stress and family issues that seemed to take me over the edge. I had to stay in bed upstairs at our old house, and my hubby had to make sure I had water, medication, and snacks– everything I would need because I couldn’t get up and down the steps while he was at work. I was much too weak. A few weeks later and a few rounds of IV steroids, I was able to take a car ride to a restaurant called The Overlook–Walter’s Pub. Floor length Glass windows on a hillside overlooking the water. It was fall, and all the leaves had changed from green to a beautiful golden orange that lit up the sky. I was weak, but, oh, so thankful to be out of bed. I cried most of the way there. Tears of JOY!!! Have you ever cried over the color of the leaves? Have you ever cried over the sun shining in your face?
I love Abba, and I wouldn’t trade a minute of the journey– as Garth Brooks bellows in my head– I could have missed the pain, but I’d a had to miss the DANCE!
Oh, My SOUL!
May our SOULS SHINE! May we not ‘overlook’ His beauty and All of His wondrous creation.

My friend Wade never complained that day. The once strong carpenter, a trade of our Master and Savior, has gained some different tools in his toolbox. These tools were teaching me many lessons, and as the evening drew near, Wade struggled to cough up the stuff in his chest he needed to get out. After composing himself, he continued to smile and joke about the ball game. He spoke about how good it felt to sit in his recliner since my husband was there to help him in and out of it. He was enjoying the day. The Shabbat in all her Glory was shining on him.
My friend Wade didn’t lament about a whole host of things. Tiny things we take for granted. Tiny organs that lay hidden behind ribs and bones that one day will come together and stand dressed in glory, but for now, each day, my friend grows worse, yet stronger:

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
–II Corinthians 12:9-10, NASB
Meeting Wade and Cheri have been one of the biggest blessings in our life! They are people of integrity, and one day I’ll dance with Wade and Cheri, and we will have a drink of the best wine we’ve ever tasted–poured out by the greatest Servant that’s ever walked this earth, but for now, time is a precious thing.

wade 8

A personal message on Cheri’s Facebook page recently ministered to me. She said this:

“One year ago, our lives changed forever. One year ago, we heard a doctor say “as a physician, this is one time I wish I could say you have cancer. I’m sorry.” That’s when the letters A L S entered our life, and invaded our home and the body of my sweet husband. But one year ago is also when we learned a few other things as well. 1 . Never take your loved ones for granted. 2. Pray big, worry small. 3. God is an ever present help in time of trouble. 4. Never ask why. Even our Savior Yeshua suffered on this earth. 5. Trust in Him with all your heart and soul. 6. Take that much needed trip. Before you CANT. 7. People disappoint, but Abba will never let us down. 8. Speak life, be a light to others, stop all the negative junk with yourself, and others. 9. Sometimes we are stronger than we ever imagined we could be. And 10. Sometimes our hero is right there under our nose….mine was. I love you Wade Fox. You are amazing.”

Each morning presents new obstacles and new sunrises — new colors of paint. Today, His Spirit lives in us, and we are said to have the same mind as Yeshua. May we try harder to reflect His foliage. Yes, let’s work harder to have compassion for the hurting. See the trees for the first time. Taste the rain when we are sick of it. Make a snow angel as a child would. Notice the people He places in front of us. Look at the sun like Wade does, and sing to the moon, for time is speeding faster, and each day the mirror shows us we have grown older–weaker. Let us give Glory for our breath in the morning.  May we become more forgiving–more steadfast. Guard our hearts against those who would cause us to dwell on things that are toxic and meaningless.
I don’t care what kingdoms we have built, what business, how much is in our bank account, how educated we are, how esteemed we are by men; it can all be taken from you in an instant.
Moses, today you are going to walk up a hill and die.
Take this cup from me, Yeshua cried. Take this cup!  But not my will, but Yours be done.
This life is such an incredible journey, no matter how long we are here. Each day is like putty in our hands, a paintbrush between our teeth, a golden ticket, a song, and we can feed a hungry child naturally or spiritually. We can collect money for a roof, notice the sun shining in our face and the color of the leaves, or the bareness of a tree waiting to bud for the next season. Even a tree that looks dead has sap bubbling up underneath, just waiting to blossom and bloom.

I hope this message ministered to you and that you will keep my friends in your prayers, and if you feel led to give this couple a love gift to help them during this difficult time or perhaps a gift for some of the orphans, Cheri and Wade love, please click the contact box and send us a message. We will make sure every gift gets in their hands.

wade 5

Blessings!

Tekoa

Posted in Healing of the soul, Health and wellness, Inspirational, Tekoa Manning, TM

Willy Wonka Meets Joni– Soul Shine Part VI

Posted on by Tekoa

Image result for willy wonka golden ticket

I watched a show years ago on TBN where a woman gave her testimony, and at the end of the show, the host wanted to pray for Abba to raise her up out of a wheelchair. She said, “That’s great; I’ll take any prayers I can get, but pray for my heart to be right, pray for me to forgive quickly and be used for his glory.” I’m paraphrasing, but I never forgot her; her name is Joni.

When I think about Joni Eareckson Tada, my heart wants to burst. A teenage dive into shallow water goes wrong. “She suffered a fracture between the fourth and fifth cervical levels and became a quadriplegic (or tetraplegic), paralyzed from the shoulders down.”

A woman with no ability to use her arms has written over 40 books.

A golden ticket!

“Want to change the world? There’s nothing to it.” Willy Wonka.

Back in the day, Joni learned to write with a pen between her teeth and paint with a brush there as well. For me to list all her accomplishments and works would take up this whole blog post, but I’ll share a few.

Image result for joni eareckson tada

Tada founded Joni and Friends in 1979, an organization to “accelerate Christian ministry in the disability community”[5] throughout the world. In 2007 the Joni and Friends International Disability Center in Agoura Hills, California, was established. The Joni and Friends International Disability Center runs a multi-faceted non-profit covering a number of program outlets. The longest running program is “Joni and Friends Radio” and can be heard each weekday on over 1,000 broadcast outlets. Tada also records a one-minute radio broadcast, “Diamonds in the Dust,” that airs daily.[7] Other Joni and Friends programs include Family Retreats (a camp/retreat experience for families affected by disability),[8] Wounded Warrior Getaways (which offer a similar experience for families of Wounded Warriors),[10] and Wheels for the World (collects manual wheelchairs and other mobility devices which are refurbished by volunteers in prison restoration shops then shipped overseas where the wheelchairs are fitted by physical therapists to people in developing nations).”

What would possess a person to help so many suffering souls? What would cause a person to refurbish wheelchairs and help wounded warriors?

Another wounded warrior!

A diamond in the dust.

She could have wallowed in pity and defeat, but what amazing accomplishments she has acquired while running her race to get the gold. Her paintings and words help heal many who walk upright and use hands and feet and limbs that work perfectly! She is running even though she cannot stand.

“GRANDPA JOE:

     I NEVER THOUGHT MY LIFE COULD BE

     ANYTHING BUT CATASTROPHE

     BUT SUDDENLY I BEGIN TO SEE

     A BIT OF GOOD LUCK FOR ME

     ‘CAUSE I’VE GOT A GOLDEN TICKET

I’VE GOT A GOLDEN TWINKLE IN MY EYE

  I NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO SHINE

     NEVER A HAPPY SONG TO SING

     BUT SUDDENLY HALF THE WORLD IS MINE

     WHAT AN AMAZING THING

 ‘CAUSE I’VE GOT A GOLDEN TICKET.”

“The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold.  Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the Lord had brought on him” (Job 42:10-11, NASB).

May He restore us. May we use our teeth, our thumbs, ears, every part of our body that will function because all the parts of the body joined together is like a well oiled machine.

Blessings, Tekoa!

Sources:

Willy Wonka:

http://wonkadotcom.tripod.com/script.html

Abarim Publication: http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Job.html#.XDIIAE3sbUg

The Candy Man: Sammy Davis Jr.

Joni Eareckson Tada: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joni_Eareckson_Tada

Photos of Job: http://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/job/

Photo of Joni: Ambassador Advertising

Various photos of movie: Google

Posted in Healing of the soul, Health and wellness, Tekoa Manning, TM

Willy Wonka and Soul Shine Part V

Posted on by Tekoa

What can healthy people learn from the chronically ill or those with disabilities? I want to show you something extraordinary, but you’ll have to take some advice from Willy Wonka and his fantastic quote.

‘Strike that, now reverse it!’

Roald Dahl, the author of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, has many hidden gems– so many indeed, I’ll be sprinkling them throughout.

Yes, strike out what you’ve been programmed to believe and reverse it.

Grandpa Joe, in the movie Willy Wonka, got out of his sickbed when his grandson received a golden ticket, but I have some dear friends right now with ALS, MS, RA, etc. that haven’t been able to get out of bed for months—can’t feed themselves, bathe themselves, wipe their __ themselves. Unless Yeshua walks into their rooms and heals them, they will be gathered with their loved ones sooner than later. And HE can, but He hasn’t yet.

No golden ticket, Charlie.

I have another friend with RA that has been in a nursing home bed for over a decade—a decade in bed, but she has ministered to me during some of my darkest hours. She ministers from a bed of suffering, typing text on good days with her pinky fingers as her other ones are like crinkle French fries.

time

“Time is a precious thing. Never waste it.” Willy Wonka.

But I ask, which person would waste more time, a person disabled or one with good health? All of us are prone to waste precious time, but I think you’ll be amazed at some of the people I cover in this post. Many of them could have consumed their whole lives in pity, anger, doubt, and fear, but instead ministered and still are ministering to the masses. They don’t have long healing lines wrapped around buildings. They don’t make millions or own jets, but what they have sparkles and shimmers from the inside–out.

“Where is fancy bred? In the heart or in the road?” Willy Wonka.

I asked the Father some questions the other day. Perplexing questions. I was feeling overwhelmed by the many sick people He has sent across my path, and also not having the time or strength to be there for them like I want to be. Many times, I talk to the Father but don’t get a quick response, but that day He astounded me.
That day, multiple blogs, memes, and posts on social media were upsetting me, but not just me, friends as well. I’ll give a couple of examples:
“Start each day with a jog–eat these foods instead of these–motivate yourself, make kale chips, take a yoga class, gets some CBD oil/ essential oil, water mineral drops, bone broth, etc.”
Sometimes healthy people upset sick people, and sometimes sick people frustrate the healthier ones, especially those who’ve conquered obesity, Cancer, thyroid issues, and the list goes on. They want to fix us.

While meditating, Suddenly, I heard this in my spirit.

“Nick Vujicic wouldn’t have the ministry he does encouraging people if he had limbs.”

Immediately there Nick was before me smiling.

legless man
I meditated on that for a bit. If you don’t know who Nick is, He is one of seven known cases in the world of people born with tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by the absence of arms and legs. ” According to his autobiography, his mother refused to see him or hold him when the nurse held him in front of her, but she and her husband eventually accepted the condition and understood it as “God’s plan for their son.”

His bio is long, but here’ a snippet.

“Since his first speaking engagement at age 19, Nick has traveled around the world, sharing his story with millions, sometimes in stadiums filled to capacity, speaking to a range of diverse groups such as students, teachers, young people, business professionals and church congregations of all sizes.”

The Father speaks to Moshe, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?” (Exodus 4:11, NASB).

Let’s get back to what I heard:
“Nick Vujicic wouldn’t have the ministry he does, encouraging people, if he had limbs.”
What a profound thought! And possibly due to his smiling photo splashing in his pool, we only see one side of his life. If he was sitting in a wheelchair looking disparaged and weary, would we see him the same? Would our emotions change? Of course, they would.
Some would argue that if the Father healed him and he grew limbs, he’d have a more prominent ministry, but what has given him a ministry is his attitude and vigor to make something of this precious life regardless of his physical condition. By the way, two of the seven with tetra-amelia syndrome are sports writers and journalists.

I believe in healing and multiple ways of being healed, but is everyone healed physically? No. Not even the most righteous missionaries in the Newer Testament. Not even the great prophet Elisha who died in his disease. Wouldn’t they be eating foods that were grown the Torah way? Eating Kosher? Of course! Wouldn’t they have a better grasp of anointing oils and laying hands on the sick? Why would Paul (Sha’ul) tell Timothy to have a little wine for his stomach, if a swing of his suit jacket, a dab of oil, and a “By His stripes you are healed” would work?

“Wrong sir, wrong!” Willy Wonka.

But let’s face it, many people with arms and legs that are suffering greater than smiling Nick. He encourages people to enjoy life and be thankful, grateful even, but if you give him enough kale juice, cut out sugar and carbs, slather him in oils, will he grow arms and legs? Not likely. These things work well for the person who is healthy or for the ones who have taken their health for granted and have become couch potatoes.
I want to present a thought: Could Nick be more whole than you and I? More joyful–More thankful? Wasting less time than those with limbs?
Have you ever visited a nursing home, hospital, or orphanage to minister to someone and they ended up ministering to you? Happens every time!
There was a man named Lazarus who died and went to Abraham’s bosom. He wasn’t wealthy or healthy. He was sick and in need of food. He had sores oozing. However, in the next life, it was the wealthy strong man who was in torment.

The next life. . .

“Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. “And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores” (Luke 16:19-21, NASB).

If you want to view paradise, take around and view it.” Willy Wonka.

I’ve written about sickness often, but possibly not in these shades of grey, and the worse I suffer, the more I have to say. These blogs aren’t for everyone, but perhaps they will help a few.
People quote multiple verses on healing. They use them repeatedly for friends who just received a diagnosis.  However, most of these people boldly quoting, still wear prescription eyeglasses and see a dentist, take medications for pain or a Tylenol on occasion. Possibly many who claim divine healing took the chemo, had the surgery, etc., for extra coverage.
If a person with paraplegia or a person with quadriplegia is brought into the room, will those who are shouting verses and natural cures, will they walk over and yell, “Life and death are in the power of the tongue. Stand up and walk! He came for you to have an abundant life!”  Would they be inclined to tell them to just eat some kale and drink some pomegranate juice– live the Torah way?
Doubtful.
He did come to give us life and life more abundantly! And Nick is living just that.  But Lazarus wasn’t. He was right in front of the Rich man, but the rich man never poured wine or oil in. He didn’t medicate his sores or let him eat at his table. It was a healthy, wealthy man who needed to be healed of a heart condition.

By His stripes, we are healed,” is a popular one used for the sick.  Peter uses this verse to point out a truth. “…and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (1st Peter 2:24 NASB). Yes, often it’s talking about being healed from sin and the lost sheep of the House of Israel.

Is there a measure used when regarding how Powerful Our Father is? Is someone with poor eyesight or an earache a better candidate to be healed than, say, Nick, growing arms? Why don’t we pray to throw out our bifocals at 40? Why did a man who had vigor and perfect eyesight walk up a hill and die? Because Abba said, it’s time, Moses. Because Abba said, it’s time, Son.
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, the time for you to die is near; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting” (Deuteronomy 31:14, NASB).
“Although Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated” (Deut. 34:7, NASB).

“Bubbles, Bubbles everywhere, But not a drop to drink” Willy Wonka.

bubbles

I know that most people want those suffering to get better–to live happily ever after. They do everything out of love, and they want the ones in anguish to be made whole! But what if the person in front of them is more whole than they are? Even happier?
Sometimes things are opposite.

“Strike that, now reverse it!” Willy Wonka.

Psalm 73,

“Surely God is good to Israel,
            To those who are pure in heart!
2But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps had almost slipped.

3For I was envious of the arrogant
As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4For there are no pains in their death,
            And their body is fat.

5They are not in trouble as other men,
            Nor are they plagued like mankind.

6Therefore pride is their necklace;
The garment of violence covers them.

7Their eye bulges from fatness;
The imaginations of their heart run riot.

8They mock and wickedly speak of oppression;
They speak from on high.

9They have set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue parades through the earth.

10Therefore his people return to this place,
And waters of abundance are drunk by them.

11They say, “How does God know?
And is there knowledge with the Most High?”

12Behold, these are the wicked;
And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.

13Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
And washed my hands in innocence;

14For I have been stricken all day long
            And chastened every morning. (Psalm 73:1-13, NASB).
Do you feel stricken and chastened? Job did. Jeremiah did and many others.

Another person who was born with much adversity was Helen Keller, but she accomplished more than most people who were born with eyes to see and ears to hear.

“Anything you want to, do it; want to change the world… there’s nothing to it.” Willy  Wonka.

“Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The story of Keller and her teacher, Anne Sullivan, was made famous by Keller’s autobiography, The Story of My Life, and its adaptations for film and stage, The Miracle Worker.”
What would her life have been like if she was healthy, had perfect vision, and powerful hearing?

AWW, BUT SHE DID!

helen_reading

She saw and heard things many did not, thanks be to her mentor, Anne Sullivan. Who are you mentoring right now that has greatness inside of them, things that need to be birthed for future generations?

One for Israel has a fascinating blog on the life of Hellen. Here’s a snippet:

“Helen visited Israel shortly after it was founded, to promote rights for the disabled and to be an encouragement to the newly-born state. There she met Golda Meir who was Israel’s Labor Minister at that time, and the friendship between the two continued through letters after she had returned to the United States.
She worked with the American Institute for the Blind for 44 years, and while in Israel teamed up with the Jewish Institute for the Blind, who presented her with a special silver-covered Jewish Bible when she visited them there.

Many of these facts, visits, and letters are not well known to the public, but possibly one of the most powerful pieces in the Keller archive is a letter to the Student Body of Germany, written in 1933. The German universities had been burning books that contradicted their evil agenda, including a book that Helen herself had written on socialism and social justice, and hearing of it shortly afterward, Helen’s anger and sharp words warned the Nazis;

“History has taught you nothing if you think you can kill ideas….
Do not imagine your barbarities to the Jews are unknown here.
 God sleepeth not, and He will visit His Judgment upon you.”(1). Click HERE

Would Helen Keller be the same bold, compassionate woman without her disabilities? Without her teacher? Perhaps, but doubtful in the measure of hunger she exuded. How many people with spiritually closed ears and eyes laid hands on her or prayed for her to see while they sat blind and naked without hunger or passion? We can have 20/20 vision and be blind as a bat.
Oh, friends, we must rethink some things.

“We have so much time and so little to see.
Strike that, now reverse it!”  Willy Wonka
We’ve looked at a few people with disabilities in this portion, but we will look at some with dis-ease, depression, and mental health as we continue in our next portion of Willy Wonka, Part # VI.

wonka suspense

Part # 1 HERE

Part # 2 HERE

Part # 3 HERE

Part # 4 HERE

Part # 5 HERE

Part # 6 HERE

Posted in Healing of the soul, Inspirational, Tekoa Manning, TM

Taste Your Words–Healing of the Soul Part IV

Posted on by Tekoa

Image result for you is kind, you is smart

Sticks and stones may break bones, but words can crush the heart. A word spoken in anger, disgust, and hatred can go deep into our bones and take decades to heal from. They are shot like arrows into our hearts. Even the words we speak about ourselves are damaging.

Loving our neighbor as ourselves is difficult if we are constantly bashing our temples and the creativity and talents the Father has given us. We are all unique and gifted in different areas. Our outer shells may not look the way we desire, but is that because we do not see our own beauty and worth? Are we coveting others gifts and physical appearances? Do we express our weaknesses to others or speak death daily?

The other day, I was led to an amazing article written by Author Ted Hargrove, titled Seven Things You Should Know About Pain Science, he explains how if we feel pain it’s because our brains think our bodies are under some sort of threat. Ted uses two traumatic examples where no pain is felt. One, a soldier wounded in battle, two, a shark attack that removes a limb, and explains how that person will more than likely feel no pain until the emergency is over.

He goes on to describe something called ‘allodynia.’

“Allodynia is a condition where even normal stimuli such as a light touch to the skin can cause excruciating pain. This is an extreme example of something that might occur quite commonly on a much smaller scale – the nervous system is sensitive to potential threats, and sounds the alarm even when no real threat is present.”

A person who has been through trauma, rejection, and stimulation overload, could end up in full-blown Allodynia. This reminded me of fibromyalgia, a condition I used to suffer from daily, but have mostly been healed from.

Yes, an alarm goes off even when it appears no real threat is present.

I also became keenly aware of adjectives we use to describe our pain, whether emotional or physical, but what if our pain was trying to exhibit something hidden? Something more than a title or label placed on us by a doctor. Could our past tragedies, heartbreak– a bad car wreck, abuse, or fearful experiences be triggered again and felt, with all its excruciating agony, by just seeing a car like the one that hit us? Could smelling the same cologne worn by our attacker cause our brain to signal a warning, like a car alarm that was going off for no particular reason? Could watching a violent movie cause us to re-experience the beating, the trauma, or the very same emotions we had as a five-year-old child whose brain sent a signal to run and hide because danger was near?

The body is a complex machine that was created by the original Designer of All Things.

The words that we speak may hold underlying answers about our emotional state, spiritual state, and yes, physical state. So the first thing I am going to ask you to do is to start listening to your own voice. What are some of the things you say when you have any type of pain? Not just the “ouch,” I stubbed my toe pain, or the lower back pain, but pain that at times says things about our deeper emotions.

While watching an episode in a series, a woman severely obese was crying out to lose the weight, but all I heard in my spirit was, “Are you carrying a ‘heavy load?’ Is it “weighing” you down or weighing on your mind? Do you ever say, “I feel weighted down with worry? I’m “fed-up!” Think about that term—fed-up. I can barely fit in my clothes.” Let’s ponder these and the mental anguish they carry.

After a very painful situation, that brought about division in my life, for over a month, my eyes would not stop weeping. Actually, I am just now starting to get relief. I began asking The Father what was wrong. No allergy medicine or eye drops seemed to dry up the continuous pouring. On one particular day, I just threw my hands up in the air and said, “Why are my eyes pouring to the point I am carrying a cloth with me everywhere I go to dab them?” Immediately afterward a friend sent a text message that was a photo shot of Psalms 126.

“Those who sow in tears

will reap with a song of joy.

Whoever keeps going out weeping,

carrying his bag of seed,

will surely come back with a song of joy,

carrying his sheaves.” 126:55-6.

Then another friend sent a text with a prayer request for a loved one who had a heart condition and now it was causing swelling in her legs and feet and a weeping under the skin– fluid. Sometimes we are weeping inside but cannot express the emotions we are feeling. Any time I have ever done ministry for those who have been shattered and broken, they tend to cry. It doesn’t matter if they are grown men, tears begin to pour out. This is the first sign of healing. Sometimes the pain in our emotions is so intense it comes out in our skin. Yeshua wept! Yeshua sweated drops of blood.

My husband, who suffers from eczema, has to use special soaps, detergents to launder sheets, towels, and clothing. His skin can erupt and become itchy and red. One pharmaceutical company has a new and upcoming drug for this issue (and no, I am not a big pharm gal) but the commercial explains how eczema can be ‘under the skin.’ We like to say things like, “Boy, he or she was really getting under my skin!” Eczema signs and symptoms include tiny blisters that can ‘weep’ and ooze, eventually producing crusted, ‘thick skin.’ Hopefully, by now you are picking up on the play on words here. After so much weeping and oozing, we tend to acquire a thick skin against those who insult us and criticize or hurt us. We become hardened to difficulties, but our skin can show signs of things hidden.

Our inner strengths or weaknesses can be interpreted in organs and health issues. We hear that Jennifer has a weak heart, or possibly our Uncle Ken, who died of an enlarged heart—his heart, like Secretariat, was too big. It burst! There is a real term used called broken heart syndrome.

“For some people, a traumatic event or memory can trigger the physical symptoms of “broken-heart syndrome.” Also known as stress-induced cardiomyopathy, takotsubo cardiomyopathy, or apical ballooning syndrome, it’s a condition in which heart muscle becomes acutely weak and then fully recovers a few days later.”

Cancer is a word that comes from the Latin word crab or creeping ulcer.

What about diabetes? An old term used for it was ‘pissing evil.’ It comes from a Greek word that means to pass through as urine speedily.

The words “diabetes” and “mellitus” have two very separate meanings. They are, however, linked together and have a meaningful connection. Mellitus is pleasant and tasting as honey. Diabetes means passing through as a large discharge of urine.

It doesn’t matter what type of diabetes you have, it can and does lead to excess sugar in the blood. This causes serious health issues. What picture words come to mind here? We at times can ‘pass through’ things quickly with an overly sweet demeanor, but possibly underneath we are hurting. Are we pissing evil instead of possibly confronting situations? Yes, a spoonful of sugary helps the medicine go down, but a whole pitcher full may be doing more harm than good.

Do we need a chiropractor or massage therapist often? Is your Father-n-law or daughter-n-law a “pain in the neck?” Or have they been giving you the “cold shoulder?” What about this one. “My back is tight.” Is your back against a wall? Do you feel like you’re in a ‘pinch? Has someone “hit a nerve?”

See how we easily relate and send our pain and sorrow through our temples? Take it from someone who was pronounced fully disabled in 2009 at the age of 42, pain in your life will erupt in your body. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2008 and later was diagnosed at Mayo Clinic as a ‘possible MS suspect.’ I had scars or lesions on my brain. MS means multiple, as in many. Many scars. My life was filled with just that, many scars. Picture a lamp cord plugged into a socket with the light turned on, now picture all the rubber protection covering the wires removed. You then have a live wire. Thankfully, due to His mercy, I am recovering and on the road to good health, but how do we achieve this?

If your body has been through trauma, abuse, rejection, and sickness, here is a free chapter from my devotional ‘Thirsting for Water’ on steps to take to become whole. Click HERE.

If we are bruised on the inside, it will flow outward and cause issues. I recently purchased fruit from the store. The fruit was labeled organic and looked yummy on the outside, but when I got home and cut into it, it was rotten to the core. The inside was black. Many times we have had so much thrown at us, and written on our spirit that we need an eraser. We need a bath or a mikvah to wash off all the phrases we have spoken against our amazing temples and all the abuse that has been spoken against us by those in ignorance.

If you were raised with parents who suffered from mental issues or low self-esteem, you might have been exposed to this sickness at an early age. Perhaps you heard things like, “He is immature for his age!” “Are you eating again?” “She’s as skinny as a bean pole.” “You will never amount to nothing!” “Whore—slut!” “Bastard.” “I never wanted you—I wish you had never been born.” “Ugly.” The list of words flung through the air like arrows that pierce hearts is without end. We, humans, hurt each other. We judge harshly, and we lack the love of a Father at times. Our broken bodies need injected with His Spirit. A King lives inside of us. There is oil in Gilead.

Picture a clean slate. A feeling many of us felt when we made a covenant with our Father and Yeshua, the one whose blood covered us. We felt like we had been given a bath. His Word is said to wash us clean. Instead of soap picture His Words bathing us, and it does.

Have you ever heard someone say something that was so offensive that when you described what they told you, you used these words? “It went straight through me!” Can you say diarrhea? A word that means ‘to flow through.’ The words spoken or the stress of upcoming events is so difficult ‘to stomach’ it just flows on through.

Let’s look at a couple more items before I wrap this up. What about asthma? COPD? Are you finding it hard to breathe in real time? Do you have to tell yourself to ‘take a deep breath?’ Are the people in your life ‘a breath of fresh air or are they ‘suffocating you?’ See how that works?

Are you continually trying to fill an inner void?

A very special verse comes to mind and one that I am holding onto in this season.

“Don’t be afraid, because I am with you. Don’t be intimidated; I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will support you with my victorious right hand.

“Everyone who is angry with you will be ashamed and disgraced. Those who oppose you will be reduced to nothing and disappear. You will search for your enemies, but you will not find them. Those who are at war with you will be reduced to nothing and no longer exist” (Isaiah 41:10-12, GWT).

Whether any of these words have anything to do with our illnesses, one thing is certain; speaking life is good medicine. I am not a name it and claim it gal, but I do believe that when we speak powerful words from His Word and we hear them, they can take root in our spirit man and cause us to erupt with life. Like a plant that is dying, we nurture it with water and food and also words.

We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Let’s start looking in the mirror and loving who we are, what we look like, and pamper our bodies. Let us speak kindly to ourselves and celebrate what works in divine order.

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).

Our words should flow with living water. Our words should clean, heal, uplift, hold, love and encompass those who are broken and hurting. May He heal our lips and our hearts.

Blessings,

Tekoa

Part # 1 HERE

Part #2 HERE

Part #3 HERE

Part # 4 HERE

Part # 5 HERE

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