5 Insights on Divine Healing From James 5

In "Doctrinal Discussion", Dr. Glenn McClure points out five insights on divine healing from James 5:14-20:

  1. The person who is sick must want the healing.
  2. The church leaders not only directed this request for healing to God, but also acknowledged that only God could bring it about.
  3. We must pray in faith; faith is a prerequisite for healing.
  4. We should not overlook those who are praying and the one for whom prayer is offered.
  5. We must consider the intensity of the prayer of faith.

For deeper explanation of these insights, please see your Adult Teacher's Insights, pages 37-38.

2016-01-07T09:00:33+00:00January 7th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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Why Jesus Was Impressed

"When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee." (Mark 2:5)
In "Biblical Perspective", Dr. Gayle Woods writes:

Jesus and the crowd in the room heard the noise above them as the roof was dismantled. It was not long until sand and bits of mortar fell into the room. A cloudy haze filled the room as they watched in wonder. A hole appeared, revealing the sky above. The opening grew larger and larger until they saw the four men feverishly destroying the roof. Then the cot with the paralyzed man was lowered carefully into the room. Somehow people bunched closer together to allow for its intrusion into their midst. Jesus was impressed. It was the collective faith of the friends that impressed Jesus. They brought their friend for physical healing, but Jesus offered him much more. Jesus spoke to the need of his heart. Using a Greek term that was used affectionately, Jesus said, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

Discussion: What one step can you take today to demonstrate a greater faith in Jesus?
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 35.

2016-01-06T09:00:48+00:00January 6th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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What causes us to become too familiar with God to worship Him?

In "Biblical Perspective", Dr. Gayle Woods writes:

Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? Do we hear a note of disappointment in the words of Jesus? Is there an indication that He seemed to be somewhat puzzled by the fact that nine of the ten men who had been healed did not seem to place great value on what He had done for them?
This account should be a serious reminder to the people of God that we must be careful not to become familiar with the work of God to the point that we lose the sense of wonder and amazement. When the awesomeness of His glory begins to dim, we need to fall on our faces at His feet once again to renew our commitment of love to the one who made the difference in our lives.

Discussion: List possible reasons why the nine lepers failed to show gratitude to God.
Discussion: What are ways we today become too familiar that we fail to worship?
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 31.

2015-12-31T09:00:13+00:00December 31st, 2015|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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Who is the "leper" in your life?

In "Word Focus" William Sillings writes:

Jesus touched (hapsato) the leper. Not only that, but He also stretched out His hand (ekteinas — aorist participle). The literal meaning of this word might read something like this, “When He had stretched out His hand,” signifying that this was a very intentional action. We think little about the fact that Jesus touched a leper, because we have heard it so many times. But think about what it meant to the first-century disciples. According to Leviticus 13, anyone who had leprosy was to be declared unclean, and they were to be quarantined from their families and the rest of the camp of Israel.
For Jesus to touch a leper was to transgress the traditions of Israel as well as to cause Himself to become ceremonially unclean. In the eyes of His disciples, Jesus was rewriting the tradition. He was taking drastic steps to make His point that people are more important than ceremonial cleanness.

Discussion: Who are the people our community are unwilling to touch? Who are the people our church is afraid or unwilling to touch? Who are you unwilling to touch?
Discussion: How should we change our attitudes and actions toward our "lepers"?
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 28.

2015-12-30T14:00:46+00:00December 30th, 2015|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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Lesson Highlight: "walk"

In "Doctrinal Discussion" Dr. Glenn McClure writes concerning the Christian walk:

  1. We need to walk in love which is the essence of our walk (Eph. 5:2).
  2. We need to walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7), knowing that God’s way will not always be accepted by this world.
  3. We need to walk in the light (1 John 1:7).
  4. We need to walk with integrity (Rom. 13:13).
  5. Most importantly, we need to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4); that is, we need to walk in Christ (Col. 2:6), the one who has given us physical, spiritual, and eternal life.

Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 26.

2015-12-24T09:00:13+00:00December 24th, 2015|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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Lesson Highlight: "if thou canst"

In "Word Focus" William Sillings writes:

Verses 22-24 are the crux of this story. The man asked Jesus for help “if you can do anything.” The Greek text includes a small aside at the beginning of this verse (to ei dun), which carries the force of “As to your ‘if you can’ — everything is possible to him that believeth.” It is almost as though Jesus had said, in our vernacular, “If I can! The very idea!” He was saying, “I not only can do something, but I can even do everything you need to have done. The ‘if ’ is not on my part. The ‘if ’ is yours. I can if you can believe. ‘All things are possible to him that believeth.’ ”
The word for believe (pisteuonti) is a present active participle in the dative case, and it means “to the believing one” or “to the one whose defining characteristic is that he believes.” The father answered, “I believe,” in the present active indicative. He was saying, “I do now believe.”

Source: Miracles of Jesus, Adult Teacher's Insights, page 22.

2015-12-23T09:00:02+00:00December 23rd, 2015|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , |0 Comments
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Do you fear becoming stained by the world?

In "God's Word for Today" David Fry writes:

When Jesus touched the leper, rather than becoming unclean, the leper was cleansed. This tells us that Jesus cannot be contaminated with sin or disease. As the Apostle Paul said to Timothy, God likewise has “not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). Believers do not have to fear contamination as long as they are living confidently in Jesus Christ.

Discussion: How has the church at times avoided ministering to people in need because the church fears the "stain" of the people's sin and worldliness?
Discussion: How does 2 Timothy 1:7 give you confidence, in place of fear, to live and serve in the midst of an unholy world?
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 30.

2015-12-23T09:00:01+00:00December 23rd, 2015|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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Lesson Highlight: "no room"

"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn." (Luke 2:7)
In "Word Focus" William Sillings writes:

When Jesus was born, there was no room in the inn (kataluma — literally, lodging, inn, or guest house). The inn was likely an eastern khan which is like a series of open-ended rooms or stalls opening into a common courtyard where the animals were kept. There was no room in the khan, so it was in the common courtyard where Jesus was born. There was no privacy even at this event for this weary, wayworn family. The fact that there was no room in the inn is typical of what was to happen to Jesus all through His life. The room reserved for Him, says Barclay, was on a cross. “He sought an entry to the overcrowded hearts of men; He could not find it; and still His search — and His rejection — go on.”

Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 16.

2015-12-18T09:00:22+00:00December 18th, 2015|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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Lesson Highlight: "shepherds"

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night." (Luke 2:8)
In "God's Word for Today", David Fry writes:

The shepherds’ first reaction was fear but it ended with rejoicing. What happened between the moment of fear and their time of rejoicing was their obedience. Of course, one can hardly imagine disobeying such a magnificent manifestation of God’s will. It was not merely hearing the message from the angelic host that persuaded them to seek the Messiah, but also witnessing the great rejoicing of the angels. Soon they too would rejoice. It wasn’t what was happening in the heavens that caused the shepherds to rejoice, but what God was doing on earth, in a manger in Bethlehem. Unlike Mary who kept quiet, the shepherds loudly praised
God for His coming.
The grandeur of Luke 2 is that Caesar Augustus, emperor of one of the greatest empires in history, gave way to a baby in a manger and a moment around which all of history revolves. Caesar had his earthly glory, but Christ received heavenly glory. Ancient rulers sought to be viewed as divine by their subjects, yet the true God became man to be subject to human suffering. Human emperors sought power over humanity; God sought humility among men. The difference is love. The miracle of love is a God who has all power and superiority, yet humbles Himself to become one of us.

Source: Miracles of Jesus, Adult Teacher's Insights, page 18.

2015-12-16T09:00:39+00:00December 16th, 2015|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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Lesson Highlight: "quickened"

"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses." (Colossians 2:13)
In "Word Focus" William Sillings writes,

Colossians 2:13 says two things about our sins. One, being dead (nekrous ontas) uses the present participle “being” to describe our deadness as a continual state of existence. We not only died by sinning once, but we were in a state of deadness brought on by continual sinning and by the nature of sin in our lives. The second thing Paul said is that he quickened [us] together with him. Quickened (sunezoopoiesen — aorist active indicative) means “He made us alive together with Him.” We were dead, but now we are alive.

Discussion: What is the significance of being "made ... alive together with Him"?
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 10.

2015-12-11T09:00:20+00:00December 11th, 2015|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
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