The Healing Word

Pastor Jack Morris: I want you to take that experience of the cross that you already have in your heart. I want you to take that experience of the cross and begin to thank God that he saved you, that he forgave you, that he cleansed you, that he gave you eternal life. Now, as you begin to do that, the bitterness will go away.

Guest (Male): On today's Healing Word broadcast, Pastor Jack Morris begins a new five-part series with a message titled "The Power of Loving Kindness." In this opening message, Pastor Jack reminds us that genuine kindness is more than a simple act; it's a reflection of God's love working through us. When we choose compassion over criticism and patience over pride, we demonstrate the transforming power of Christ in everyday life.

Pastor Jack Morris: The power of loving kindness. In your outline, I want you to write down the word "gospel" on that first line. And on the second blank line, write down the word "grace." On the two blank lines before we get to point A, write down the word "gospel" and the word "grace."

Some weeks ago, Brother Mervyn Martin was here and preached. He preached a sermon having to do with the loving kindness of God. Remember he gave out those little plastic spoons and all of you thought you were going to get Dixie cups and ice cream. He said something to the effect that a man went to a person's door, knocked, and asked for a slice of bread because he was hungry. He said that would be an act of kindness if you would give me a slice of bread. But if you put a little jam on it, that would be loving kindness.

God puts some sweetness in what he has done for us, hasn't he? The most precious, sweetest gift of God, Jesus, sweeter than honey in the comb, came to us to bring to us the very love and sweetness of God and to show us how to love God back and have this wonderful relationship with God. Whenever that story is told, that's called gospel, good news, that Jesus came.

He came on a mission of mercy. He went to the cross, taking our sins and dying in our place. He was buried and rose again and ascended back to heaven. Now heaven's door is open wide to all who will believe. That is grace. That's God's loving kindness. Once it is told by song, by sermon, or by the written page, it's called gospel.

The gospel is the telling of God's loving kindness or God's grace. I'm not going to say too much more about the phrase loving kindness; I'm going to say grace because those two are synonymous. Grace is loving kindness. When I talk about grace, that's gospel.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation. That's one of the very first scriptures that I ever learned when I was about 15 years old. I gave my heart to the Lord and I memorized Romans 1:16: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Greek or to the Gentile."

Go back to that phrase: the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The telling of that story brings power. Without the telling of that story, there's no power and there's no salvation. But when I tell the story, or you tell the story, or we hear the story of God's grace and God's loving kindness, that's the gospel and that is the power of God unto salvation.

When the gospel goes forth, there is power inherent in it. It's like yeast in bread; it starts working and it spreads through my system, into your system, and into our system. There's a mysterious power that starts working every time it goes forth because the Bible says the word will not return empty; it does something.

This morning as I preach, I'm preaching the gospel, the good news concerning Jesus. As I preach it and as you hear it, something mysterious starts happening in you. If you're unsaved, there comes a conviction. You are now being convinced. I'm not doing it, but that power within you is starting to convince you that you need to accept this love that Jesus is bringing. You can't turn it away. You can't just say you do not want God, love, or forgiveness. It starts working. There's a convincing that starts happening in the heart of the unsaved.

If you're already saved, there is a power now that starts working in you that brings you closer to Jesus, causing you to focus on him and to think of him. Faith starts building up inside you and you start becoming stronger in the inner man. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation or the power of God unto making you, sinner or saint, a whole and complete person.

When you receive the gospel, you start receiving the power of God. If you want the power of God to get in you, then keep your ears and heart open this morning. Every time you hear the gospel being sung, preached, or read, keep your heart open to it because there comes with it an invisible power. You don't know what's happening, but something starts happening.

The book is alive with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit breathed it and God is now blowing his breath on you. The very breath of life that brought Jesus from the dead, this mysterious, miraculous power is now beginning to happen. Don't resist it. Open up to it and receive it, and you will know wholeness and completeness in your life.

This is what happened in Galatia when Paul went there. He took the gospel to those people. First, put on line A, "before they had the gospel preached to them." They were without the grace of God and without the loving kindness of the Lord. Chapter four, verse eight says: "Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods."

They didn't know the love or mercy of God. They didn't know the heavenly Father who created the heavens and the earth, whose son's name is Jesus. They knew absolutely nothing about him. They were of the world, slaves to their passions, their lusts, their pride, and to a worldly way of life. They thought of God, but they had an erroneous idea about him. They were in complete darkness and were slaves without even knowing it.

This is the condition of everybody who is outside of Christ. Someone might ask why I am staying so much in the book of Galatians. It is because you and I are exactly like the Galatians. Without God, we're lost, just as they were lost. Without the almighty God, we have other little gods that we continue to serve. We have habits of life that we bow and submit to until they overpower us. These little gods have control of us.

Something or somebody is going to control you. All your life long, something or somebody is going to control you. You have one moment of autonomy to decide who that something or somebody is. But you will not control yourself. Your passions, your pride, your lust, your habits, your attitudes, and your emotions will continue to demand that you submit to them. Choose the Lord. Choose Jesus. You can only choose Jesus when the gospel is brought to you. Paul took the gospel to the Galatians so they would have a choice. Every human being has a choice. God has made it possible that we could choose Jesus and be freed from the power of sin.

Guest (Male): The season of giving is a time to reflect on the blessings in our lives and share the love of Jesus with others. While so many are filled with joy and peace, others are struggling, facing loss, emotional challenges, and physical pain. That's why The Healing Word is here, to offer hope, encouragement, and the life-changing truth of Jesus Christ to those in need.

We love Jesus and we love you. Through your prayers and financial support, you can help us reach even more people with his healing message. Together, we can be a source of comfort and strength to those who need it most. Visit thehealingword.com to make your tax-deductible donation today. Let's end this year by spreading his blessings and sharing his love with the world. Thank you for standing with us. God bless you.

Pastor Jack Morris: On line B in your outline, write down the phrase "the call of grace." Watch grace call you. When the gospel of grace goes forth, the power of God begins to work like yeast in bread. I'm going to read verses 13 and 14 in Galatians chapter four. "As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you." There it is; he first preached and proclaimed the good news.

Verse 14: "Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself." That is how good the news is. We have to hear that story because it is the only story that will take us to heaven. It is the only story that will help us to live a full and complete life here.

Consider the circumstances that brought the gospel to the Galatians. The Bible is the most honest book of all books. Paul says here that it was because of an illness that he preached the gospel to them. Paul received Christ as his Lord and Savior and he was so filled with the grace of God and good news that he wanted to share it. He got his good friend, Barnabas.

Barnabas got his nephew, John Mark, the brother of John Mark's mother. Paul, Barnabas, and this young guy called John Mark left Jerusalem and set sail into the Mediterranean to the island of Cyprus, preaching the gospel. Next, he went to Pamphylia and then he went to Antioch, the highlands of Galatia.

Something happened at Pamphylia. It is somewhat still of a mystery. We don't know exactly what happened, but he didn't stay there long and he didn't preach the gospel there. At Pamphylia, John Mark left the missionary party, got homesick, and went back to Jerusalem. Paul fell out with John Mark for a while, but in the end, he called him back and said he was a worthy man. Thank God he did; he wrote the Gospel of Mark, which is the very first book of the entire New Testament.

Pamphylia is a coastal lowland. Malaria raged there because it was a breeding ground of mosquitoes. It is thought that Paul contracted malaria. There was some reason he didn't stay, but he immediately left for the highlands to get out of that area so that he could heal and regain his health. No doubt John Mark, a young preacher, saw this happen to Paul and became disillusioned. He likely wondered why a man of God who was out preaching the gospel would get sick.

That explains the reasoning for why John Mark left the party. Friend, everything that seems bad isn't necessarily bad. God can change sickness into blessing. God can change disappointment into praise. God can change ugliness into beauty. Think of your pain or what you're going through right now. The gospel wants to work in you to bring about the healing that God has for you.

That ugly experience that put you down and disappointed you might not be all bad when you put it into God's hands. God can change bad into good and pain into gain. People say when the world gives you a lemon, make lemonade. We don't have a crystal ball to see what is going to happen, but we have the Lord.

In Exodus chapter 15, immediately after the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, they had that great miracle experience. For three days after crossing the Red Sea, they wandered in the desert of Shur without water. You do not live much longer than three days without water. There were two and a half million people who had almost dehydrated.

They couldn't find water in the desert and they cried out to Moses, saying they were going to die. They felt that while they didn't drown, they were now going to dehydrate. Moses cried out to the Lord and the Lord showed him a pool of water. It was called Marah because the waters were bitter and they couldn't drink it.

As Moses looked to the Lord, God showed him a piece of wood and told him to throw it in the water. You just do what God wants you to do, no matter how simple it is. He picked up the piece of wood and cast it into the water. The waters became sweet. God can change bitterness into sweetness when you follow him. They all drank and they all lived.

I don't know what bitterness is in your heart or on your tongue today. Whatever has caused you to be disappointed or bitter, I want you to think of a piece of wood today: the wood that Christ was nailed to. I want you to see him on that tree dying for you and dying for me.

Take that experience of the cross that you already have in your heart and begin to thank God that he saved you, forgave you, and cleansed you. As you begin to do that, the bitterness will go away. The disappointment will lose its sting. The pain will become gain. The ugly experience can be turned into a beautiful experience.

Paul contracted malaria and it nearly took his life. He had to flee to the highlands to get away from that place and he couldn't even preach the gospel. But when he got to the highlands, he did preach. Because Paul nearly died of malaria, you and I have the book of Galatians today. The Galatian church was established because they heard the gospel.

God cares for you. We need to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. On line C in your outline, write down the phrase "the renewed call." Look at Galatians 4:19: "My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you." Here is the renewed call.

The ugly things that have happened in your life may have distracted you. It could be a loss. I've heard people say they prayed for healing and the person died. Others say they prayed for healing and they are still sick after all these years. You can become more conscious of what you have lost, whether it is your health or a loved one. You might have prayed to keep a job or get a promotion and it didn't happen.

Whatever you lost can loom up before you until you can't see anything else. When that happens, you have moved out of the state of blessedness and you have lost your joy. You can still be in church, as these Galatians were very religious people. They were caught up in rites and ceremonies and they walked the straight line. But other things crowded in and Jesus was crowded out.

There is only one throne in your heart. It only has room for Jesus or something else. Jesus is not going to scoot over and share it. He is going to be Lord of all or not Lord at all. If something has crowded in, Jesus can crowd himself back in again if you will invite him. He will knock whatever it is out of the way and cause you to enter into that state of joy and blessedness.

I know right now some of you don't think he can do it. But he can. God is calling people back to that renewed place. Paul uses a metaphor here. He says, "My dear children." In both Greek and Latin, those little diminutives mean deep affection. Paul wasn't condemning people for allowing other things to crowd in; he was inviting people to invite Jesus back in.

God wants to help you today. He wants you to re-enter into that state of joy. You might not have left the church or gone back into sin, but you don't have any joy. The Bible says the joy of the Lord is your strength. That means a joyless Christian is a weak Christian. The call is to come on back.

Paul used the metaphor of a mother giving birth to a child to bring it into life. God wants to bring you back into life and joy again. Isaiah 12:3 says, "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." Jesus said to the woman at the well that if she asked of him, he would give her living water.

A promotion, a new job, or a new house will not bring you to a state of blessedness. You can be in the church without the church being in you anymore. We're going to bow before the Lord. The gospel has been working like yeast in your heart. Open your heart now and let the Lord come in. Do the work that he wants to do. Come back to him and know the joy of the Lord again. He won't condemn you. He's calling you back.

Guest (Male): As we've heard in today's message, the power of loving kindness reveals how God's love expressed through our actions can change hearts and relationships in ways we might never expect. And this is just the beginning. Next time, Pastor Jack continues this series with an empowering message titled "Take Control of Your Life." You won't want to miss it as he shares how God gives us the strength and discipline to live with purpose and victory.

If today's message brought encouragement and healing to your heart, would you prayerfully consider supporting The Healing Word Ministry? You can give safely and easily by visiting thehealingword.com and clicking the donate tab. Thank you for standing with Pastor Jack Morris and The Healing Word Ministry. Join us tomorrow for another Healing Word message.