Jesus - The Healer

Generational Sins Through my years of counseling, I have learned that wounds hindering my patients in their walk with the Lord, often go back to causes many years earlier. Sometimes, there is evidence of a line of similar wounds through several previous generations. It is a Biblical truth that, “the sins of the father may come upon the children to the third and fourth generation” (Exodus 20:5) .

Further, there was a barrier to the children of illegitimacy coming into full fellowship with the congregation of the Lord “even to the tenth generation” (Deuteronomy 23:2)! These are Old Testament judgements showing how sin can affect, not just the sinner, but many of his descendants. Thankfully, Jesus came to remove the curse of sin and to set us free from its effects, therefore, we do not have to continue in bondage to the wounds of our parents’ sin.

The Lord wants us to walk free, but how can we release those who caused the wounds if they have already died? If we cannot release them, can we be released ourselves? These are the types of questions I am often asked as the counselees recognize the wounds of the past and the patterns of the present. We do not believe that praying for the dead will change in any way, their standing before God, the Great Judge, therefore, we unfortunately cannot open the kingdom of heaven for them.

Even though we cannot use the key to the kingdom that has been given to us, the Lord still will set us free by the healing He purchased on Calvary, because it was “by His wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

Hidden Memories Whenever I counsel someone, we always start by asking the Holy Spirit to direct our thoughts. We want Him to reveal to us the areas of the soul where wounds may be found.

It constantly amazes me (though it shouldn’t) how often memories of long-forgotten events come flooding back! On one occasion, I was counseling a middle-aged lady who was having some relational problems. She started to quietly sob for no apparent reason.

My assistant, Debbie, moved over and put her arms around her, at which the counselee began to weep uncontrollably.

Debbie took her onto her lap and hugged her as a mother would a small child. After a few moments of deeply emotional tears, the patient began to beat upon Debbie with her fists, crying out “Why did you do it? Why did you do it?”

As she calmed down, she told us that she had thought she was beating her mother for throwing out her favorite rag doll when she was just four years old! The little girl had carried that wound for over 40 years even though she had not remembered it! It had been buried in the subconscious.

Many times patients have returned to tell me of a sudden recall of memory of some traumatic event of the past. I do not automatically assume that these recalls are all accurate. There is a great danger today because many people want to blame others for imagined sins of the past, and they want to excuse themselves from blame for present weaknesses and attitudes.

That is not my purpose in writing this book. I want to see people take responsibility for their own actions, to exercise the key to the kingdom of Heaven, to set themselves free, and to release those who may have wounded them. Both are victims of Satan - both need to be set free. Recrimination never produces freedom, only forgiveness does!

The Same Yesterday, Today and Forever As the Holy Spirit reveals wounds, we must take time to present that wound before the Lord, for His touch of healing.

He is the “alpha and omega, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 1:8). He is “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8) . He knows your wound - He was there when it happened - and He wept for you. As we present the wound to Him, with forgiveness for the one who caused it, He begins to heal and to restore the soul. Even though we cannot release the one who wounded us, the Lord is faithful to heal and to release us.

The Letter When the patient and I have talked, and they have recognized the hurts, wounds, and patterns, I invite them to write a letter to the person who wounded them outlining the perceived wound and the pain it caused. I encourage them to express their feelings and longings.

“If only you understood how much you hurt me when you… Oh how much I longed to hear you tell me you loved me!”

The letter can be very detailed because it will not be sent. Its purpose is to bring to the surface all the subconscious feelings and pain. When the time for forgiveness and release (if possible) comes, this letter becomes the ‘contract’ of forgiveness. “Are you willing to forgive for all that you have written down here?” I ask them. Then when I am confident that they have fully understood what I have taught, and that they have truly forgiven (and released) the offender, I invite them to destroy the letter making note of the location and date of their action. They are then encouraged to pray blessings upon their offender, if they are still alive.

In order to complete their release, I have known of people who took the letter to a local cemetery, where they have sprinkled its ashes and placed flowers upon the grave of the departed. For some, this has been the first time they have truly mourned over the death of a family member, even a parent, and have known the healing touch that follows true mourning.

Our conscious act of forgiveness breaks the power of Satan.

As the Lord does His work of healing in our lives, we learn to walk in the power of His Spirit.

As we take upon ourselves the whole armor of God, the enemy finds that we have no area of weakness in our lives by which he can hinder us in the battle.

Of course, forgiveness is not a one-time event or even a seven-time commitment. As Jesus taught Peter, it is a “seventy-times-seven” (Matthew 18:22) requirement. In other words, we are to have a continuous forgiving attitude.

We must always be quick to be reconciled with those whose actions or words may cause a division between us. One must recognize that there could very well be a need to ‘cool-off,’ but there can be no excuse for ongoing animosity.

May we become so committed to exercising the key in our hands that we will be known as ‘peacemakers,’ those who are known as the children of God (Matthew 5:9).