Brown's Daily Word 1-26-10

In Dr. Sandra Wilson’s book, “Hurt People Hurt People,” although victimized herself in her childhood, she shares the wisdom of her years as a professional counselor when she writes, “The reasoning behind this (the victim becoming a victimizer) seems to follow this premise: If I overpower, dominate, and abuse you today, it temporarily numbs the pain I still have because I was overpowered, dominated, and abused yesterday. Apparently victims gain a sense of inner strength and personal mastery by dominating someone even more powerless than themselves.” (Page 33) When we live out our broken-heartedness, it is destructive to us and to those around us. We alienate ourselves if we do not allow Jesus to heal our broken hearts.
The reading for last Sunday was taken from Luke 4:14-21, "So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 'The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.' (Isaiah 61:1-2) Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:16-21 (NKJV)
This passage is known as THE NAZARETH MANIFEST". In fact, this passage from Luke is the Mission Statement of Lord Jesus. Our Lord came to earth, preaching the gospel to the poor, healing the brokenhearted, proclaiming liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, liberty to those who are oppressed and proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord. Yet, we often overlook in this Scripture, that Jesus went into the synagogue, the Jewish house of worship at that time, “as His custom was.” Jesus made it a habit in His life to go to the house of God at the appointed time and day.
The Mission of our Lord Jesus included the healing of the broken hearted. One of the ways this healing takes place is in the context of the community that is called by Jesus as His body, the church. People who interact in close community with others have their broken hearts healed more quickly. When a group of people gather together and love one another sacrificially the way that Jesus loves us there is healing power in that environment! When we gather together we know that the other Christ followers around us have been issued a directive from our Lord and Savior to love us and we to love them. Love is the greatest healing tool available to any of us and when we miss out on gathering with other Christ followers we miss out on the great potential for healing that it brings!
Jesus the Head and the Lord of the church ,designed the local church family as a place for Christ followers to discover, develop, and deploy their spiritual gifts. "Encourage one another daily…so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness." Hebrews 3:13 (NIV) "If you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back." James 5:19 (The Message) Satan loves detached believers. He loves to isolate us so that when our hearts are broken we’ll mistakenly conclude that no one cares. Thus, it is vital to keep coming back into the community of the faithful.
The Christian life is more than just commitment to Christ. It’s a commitment to other Christ followers! "First they gave themselves to the Lord; and then, by God’s will, they gave themselves to us as well." 2 Corinthians 8:5 (TEV) If I stay close to Jesus and close to His followers my broken heart will mend much more quickly and effectively than if I try to "go it alone"!
In Christ ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZQ-jjhlyFM