Regaining Lost Ground

Pastor Shane Idleman: He is the provider. He is the healer. He is the sanctifier. He is my guard, the strong tower. He is my Sabbath rest. I rest in him. You have all these names of God: the eternal God, the banner—I love Jehovah Nissi, the banner. It is the angel armies of God. They would put up a banner, or God would put up a banner when he has victory in our lives. Just knowing him by all these names is very, very powerful.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us here at Westside Christian Fellowship, located in Leona Valley, California, one hour north of Los Angeles. Today on Regaining Lost Ground, we hear the second and final part of this truth-filled message titled, "A Fresh Perspective on Healing, Part 2."

Jeremiah 17:14 says, "Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise." Join us today as Pastor Shane continues to share on trusting God no matter the diagnosis, no matter the trial. Rest in God's sovereignty today here on Regaining Lost Ground.

You can hear the whole message at Pastor Shane's YouTube and Rumble channels. Make sure to subscribe today. For more information, visit us online at westsidechristianfellowship.org. We also encourage you to hear more truth from Pastor Shane with the Idleman Unplugged weekly podcast. And now, from Westside Christian Fellowship in Leona Valley, California, here is Pastor Shane Idleman.

Pastor Shane Idleman: Healing or feeling better is up here too. It's not just "think positive," Joel Osteen or Norman Vincent Peale. But what it is, it's believing and trusting in God and thankfulness. What that does in the body is a real thing. You take your thoughts captive and you begin to have joy in the Lord. If not, you're down all the time and it can really hurt your body. I could get into a whole 20 minutes on cortisol and cancer and things like that. It's just amazing how the body works.

Some of the scriptures—Psalm 56:3-4 is one of the ones I was going to share with you Sunday: "Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in you." Fear comes in. Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in you. Many of us deal with that if you've had cancer or you're dealing with it. You always live with that in the back of your mind coming back and rearing its ugly little head. There's that fear, or just in life in general. Everything can be going great, but still, you struggle with fear. It reminds us that we can get afraid, but God's word says, "I will trust in you."

So, really what it is, I have this fear, but I'm taking it to the Lord. You don't dwell there. You don't stay there. You take it to the Lord. You say, "Lord, this isn't right. I'm trusting in you." Because let's cut right to the chase: what can flesh do to you? What can man do to you unless God Almighty allows it? "In God I will praise his word; in God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?" Nothing.

That could even mean your flesh. The context is enemies, of course, but man—but also, God's in control. He just can speak the word and speak into your situation. But many times he allows us to go through suffering. Psalm 118: "I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death."

Interesting verse, but it says there, "chastening." That is the Lord's discipline. The Lord has chastened me. He has disciplined me. But it wasn't for death; it was to wake me up. It was to get me back on the right track. Also, when God does something miraculous, or when he keeps you healthy or you have these years to live, you're to do work for the Lord. You're to declare the works of the Lord. We're not to be selfish.

That's one thing. A lot of these verses meant a lot to me the last three months. One option was to go to the elders and take a three-month medical sabbatical. But why? What's the point? I want to declare your works. I want to preach through this. I want that brokenness and that anointing to flow into other people. Just sitting at home pouting is not going to accomplish anything. I would be miserable.

The idea when God gives you that life and gives you that voice to speak, we are called to do just that—to declare the works of the Lord. I love this one, Psalm 107: "He sent his word and healed them. He sent his word and healed them." Now, because these verses don't have commentaries and they're not written in a whole letter per se—they're verses here and there—it can be framed a couple of different ways.

He sent his word—what he says, his spoken word—and it heals them. Or God can just speak the word and it heals them. All he has to do—remember when Jesus would just speak a word and they were healed? It's amazing. Jeremiah: "I will restore health to you and I will heal you of your wounds." What happens is you begin to meditate on these verses.

It doesn't mean you name it and claim it and you speak it and it'll happen—blab it and grab it. But you're getting your mind set on things of hope. The hard part has been challenges, very challenging. The person I just mentioned earlier and another person on Saturday—I've had two people that I prayed with for healing and they believed in God and they are no longer here in the last week. God took them.

How do you process that? They're quoting scripture. They're relying on scripture. But we forget that ultimate healing is not here on Earth. "For I am the Lord God who heals you." Exodus says, "I am the God who heals you." Whenever you're sick, can you imagine meditating on these verses? I believe there is power in that too. I believe as you meditate on healing verses and you believe it and you trust it—Lord, wherever your ailment is, you pray over that.

You believe, "God, I believe you are the God who heals," because now belief and faith are being engaged. You have to engage faith and belief. You have to believe that he is who he says he is. I know I mention it a lot, but it's such a great principle, the three Hebrew boys: "My God will deliver us, but even if he doesn't, he's still God." What a great view. That view has been so helpful.

You can say, "I know God's going to heal me. I know he can. I know he can speak it. I know he can just say it. But even if he doesn't, even if he doesn't, I will not turn from him." You can rest in that. The true believer can rest in the storm as well as in the calm port of the harbor. "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Those who have been hurt, those who have been cast down, those who have been rejected by society—have you ever been through a hard season?

We get hurt easy, don't we? It happens a lot. I didn't realize even going through this how much it would hurt me. When you don't hear from people—people used to go here, people I know—I have never even heard from them. It hurts. But I know I've learned a valuable lesson. I'm sure I've done that too. It makes you a better person, a better pastor, to always try to be sensitive and to reach out. But we get—it's just the pain of relationships and different things.

Jeremiah 17: "Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed." Calling on him to heal. Psalm 103: "He heals all your diseases." There's nothing God can't touch. I mean, if you just look at all of these—Proverbs 4:20: "For they, my words, are life to those who find them, and health to their flesh." God's word is health to my flesh. The ones that I just have to meditate on are, "Those who wait upon the Lord shall not be ashamed."

"Those who wait upon the Lord shall not be ashamed." I don't have the comfort of remaining silent and not telling too many people about what I'm going through like most people get to do. I'm jealous. Most people going through stuff don't tell people, do they? They just go through it. I'm like, that must be nice. But I've got as many people as are watching me, watching me, judging me.

"I knew he shouldn't have done such and such. See, I told you." I will not be ashamed if I wait on the Lord. Just going to Sprouts and somebody says, "Oh man, I heard about what happened and you look good." I'm like, how am I supposed to look? I'm not dying, guys. Come on. It's this constant reminder. There's shame in sometimes, "Did I do the right thing? Am I doing the right thing? What is the right thing?"

If we put out survey cards and put them in the box, I bet there'd be a lot of different surveys on what I should and shouldn't be doing. Same with me. I tell people advice they don't need to hear too much as well. Because God directs us differently. One thing he has really taught me is he doesn't need anything. He doesn't need chemo, radiation, supplements. Does God need any of that?

He just laughs. But he allows us to use certain things, to use doctors, to use surgeons, and he will work through them. I've mentioned it many times before that I know tons of people who have been healed in all different ways: conventional, alternative, and immunotherapy, which is kind of in the middle. I know people who did nothing and they're—a friend of ours, her doctor told her 12 years ago she has cancer and she never went back.

She's still just living and gardening and I'm like, well, you got to hand it to her. I don't know if I'd go that route, but how can you question her trust in God? That's more trust than most would have. "Oh, that's foolish. That's not using wisdom." That's between them and the Lord to say, "You know what, God, I'm just going to trust you. My life is in your hands." That's pretty powerful. 12 years. Hope they don't listen to this.

"The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness." I forgot to tell you the other ones: "Those who wait upon the Lord will not be ashamed." Of course, "Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength." "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? I will trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding. In all my ways, I'll acknowledge him and he will direct my path."

If you believe in those things, if you're staying in his word, obeying his principles, and praying for direction—even like I talked about my huge experience in Mexico—I could still see God was all over it. Looking back, I thank him for it. How much better now the booklet is and my knowledge of things and what he brought me through and trusting in him and him alone.

It's just amazing. You don't see it right then. It's when you look back that you can see God's sovereign hand in everything. "The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness." I was not in a real great spot in January, so I know God has done a lot. With night sweats and my body was declining pretty quickly, he changed all that.

How long it will last, I don't know. I don't know that, but I do know I feel really good now and I'll meet any of you on that hill if you want to go seven times. He's doing something. He's sustaining me. He brought me up out of that direction. I don't think I'd be preaching here right now had he not done something. So these promises are so incredible. He will strengthen him on his bed of illness if you cry out to him and worship him and praise him.

Or he could say, "Son, it's time to go home." It's funny, I've been at the hospitals and this guy will tell his kids to go out—I mean, he must have had a basketball-sized tumor and different things—and he's like, "Don't tell them, but I'm ready to go. Don't pray for—I'm ready to go tonight." He's ready to go meet his Savior. There's been a few of those. Don't pray for—I'm ready. It's a beautiful spot.

That just shows you the difference between Christianity and atheism. One is so fearful and the other is—of course there's fear, but they're ready. Let me go, I just want to go and be with the Lord. First Peter: "Who himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed."

Of course, this is a spiritual healing, but we also know in other cross-references where it can be applied to just God healing us. Look at the ministry he gave the disciples: "Go out and heal the sick. Raise the dead. Speak in the tongues and do these different things." I think those things are still alive and active for us today.

James 5: "And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." So this one, we do see a correlation. Sometimes sin can lead to sickness. Over the years, I'd say there's a lot of people I've met that God has used sickness to wake them up, to get back on track with the Lord. Either financial devastation, either their spouse leaves and never comes back, or they get a bad call from the doctor—something wakes them up.

They repent and they come back to the Lord and they ask for prayer. That confession, the confessing of their sins along with the prayer—James also goes on to say, "The fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Fervency, effectual, pointed. It avails; it will accomplish what it's meant to accomplish.

Prayer is powerful. Prayer is very powerful. "And the prayer of faith will save the sick." Faith does play a huge role. I hope I didn't minimize that Sunday. I was not trying to minimize that because faith is everything. But a lot of people believe you can control God if you just have enough faith. There are people that teach that—you should never be sick. Somebody dropped off a book and I was reading it and thought, oh my gosh. It says you should never be sick if you just do this. Who is this person? I'm going to follow them around and see if they ever get sick. This is ridiculous.

Faith is so important though—believing that God is who he said he is. Matthew 8: "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah, 'He himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.'" So that did happen on the cross. He took our infirmities, our sins, and he bore our sickness. Third John: some people say it's just an exhortation or to begin his letter, but there might be more to it. "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers."

The reason this verse caught a lot of flak is because some of these "Name it and Claim it" guys would use it. "See, you should be wealthy. You should have a jet like me and a Rolls-Royce. Just as your soul prospers, so should your financial status." How many of you know that's not always true? That is not always true. What he's talking about here: prosper, blessed of God.

God's watching out for you. God has your back. And yes, it flows into our health and our soul and our body. It's all connected. Mark 5:34: "And he said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.'" Do you ever wonder if that woman would have never touched the hem of his garment? What if she would have just stayed at home? "It's too crowded out there." Do you think she would have been healed?

It doesn't appear to be that way. So maybe as a church, we need to be more involved in the faith of what God wants us to have—that faith to believe in more. More healing for our kids and ourselves, that God will restore, that God will bring the prodigal sons home. I was going to end Sunday with some names of God, and then we'll close it out because I mention these a lot, but it's good for you to see them.

With Elohim, it's a creator. Yahweh is eternal. El Roi, God who sees. Shaddai—that's why they would say El Shaddai—he's all-sufficient. Adonai, Lord of all. Yahweh Rapha, the God who heals. Yahweh Nissi, banner of hope. Yahweh Shalom, the God of peace. Qadash Yisrael, the God who is holy. Yahweh Tsidkenu, he is the God of righteousness. And then Jehovah Jireh, our provider.

Our provider. It's so important for each of you to individually know God in those different ways. He's not just God up there. He's God who you have to run to when you need him. He is the provider. He is the healer. He is the sanctifier. He is my guard, the strong tower. He is my Sabbath rest. I rest in him. You have all these names of God: the eternal God, the banner—I love Jehovah Nissi, the banner. It is the angel armies of God. They would put up a banner, or God would put up a banner when he has victory in our lives. Just knowing him by all these names is very, very powerful.

So that's what I was going to finish off Sunday with. Thank you for listening. We'll have the worship team come back up. It's just simple worship tonight, a few songs. I really want to encourage people to engage worship. You can stay seated if you'd like, or you can come forward and kneel. You can stand if you want. It's really up to you. But this is the time where we just—our hearts are open and we engage God.

During the message, scripture will speak to you maybe, or it really stands out, or God's doing something in your heart. This is where you open your heart to God and begin to just worship him. Worthy is his name. That song we did, Yahweh, God, we love you, we adore you. Holy, holy is your name. You change your heart. The heart has to change, yes, through prayer, yes, through study, but ultimately worship is what really changes the heart. So we're going to go into worship. I'll probably get another drink and then I'll come back in here. The front will be open and we're just going to worship. There's nothing more important than that—meditating on the word of God and worshiping. Amen.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Regaining Lost Ground with Pastor Shane Idleman. You can find more information at westsidechristianfellowship.org. That's westsidechristianfellowship.org. And for all the latest on what God is doing with his ministry here, please be sure to follow us on most social media platforms.

Westside Christian Fellowship is located 60 miles north of Los Angeles in Leona Valley, California. Thank you again for listening to today's message of Regaining Lost Ground, where we are reminded daily: times change, truth does not.