January 3, 2021 SHARE: Were you saved or healed? When Peter said, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” in Acts 4:12, he used the same word he spoke in verse 9, “If we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed…” What? Which is it? Was he “healed” or was he “saved”? I looked in up in Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. The Greek word in question, sodzo, is usually translated either “healed” or “saved.” In this passage, according to Kittel, the word is “perhaps deliberately ambiguous.” I love that. “Perhaps deliberately ambiguous.” Every day delivers its damage. You suffer wounds and blows even on your best days; some self-inflicted, many just delivered upon you. That makes daily “healing” essential. A restored creation Jesus displayed his mission whenever he touched someone for physical healing, whenever he spoke to the untamed wind and waves, and whenever he put demons in their place. Creation was broken in the fall; Jesus came to restore it. Ministry takes a chunk out of you every day. Winds of anxiety and conflict swirl, you suffer physically, emotionally, spiritually and vocationally. Satan is constantly on the prowl seeking to turn little cuts into hemorrhaging gashes. Daily healing is essential for people in ministry. Fortunately, Jesus is still actively engaged in the ministry of healing. Every time you humbly call out to the Lord for mercy and grace, he heals. The forgiveness of sins is the healing power of Christ at work. The comfort and peace given to the persecuted is the healing power of Christ at work. Hope to begin again each new day is the healing power of Christ at work. Humans make the best pastors. God knew what he was doing when he called you. You didn’t get this job because you were perfect, and you certainly didn’t get this job because you’re invincible. The reality of ministry is that it’s from our own scars that we serve others in their brokenness best, the places where we ourselves have experienced the healing grace of Christ in our lives. A wise pastor said, “I only preach out of my scars, not my wounds.” We seek healing when we daily confess our sins and when we find comfort in the gospel. I recognize that the daily healing work of Jesus is not perfect or complete. But it is, as Francis Schaeffer once called it, substantial. 2020 was a year of hurricanes, no matter how far you live from the Gulf. 2020 was a year of brokenness no matter what your doctor’s chart says. 2020 was a year of Satan’s unrelenting assault, as you know, no matter what! As you venture into a New Year, find time to sit quietly with Jesus. Bathe in his promises of peace and joy. He’ll save you as you drown and die and rise again to new life. He’ll heal you. And then, as you venture into each new day of the New Year… Thanks for reading. “Daily Healing Is Essential” is Lesson Nine from “Reclaiming the Joy of Ministry: The Grace Place Way to Church Worker Wellness,” a new book from Grace Place Wellness Ministries releasing on January 18, 2021!