Trophies of Grace, Part Two

Before all else, we are to seek the kingdom of God, which is within us, and then all of our external concerns will be taken care of. When we accept Jesus as our Lord, He rules our inner life and brings with Him righteousness, peace, and joy. No matter what difficulties or trials we may experience in our outward life, if we are whole inside, we will not only survive, we will enjoy our lives.

Our inner life with God is much more important than our outer life. Therefore, emotional healing, which I also refer to as inner healing, is a subject that needs to be discussed in a scriptural, balanced way that produces godly results. The apostle Paul said that we can be "assured that He Who raised up the Lord Jesus will raise us up also with Jesus and bring us . . . into His presence" (2 Corinthians 4:14Close2 Corinthians 4:14 We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus,* will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ). In verses 16-18 he continued:

Therefore we do not become discouraged (utterly spiritless, exhausted, and wearied out through fear). Though our outer man is [progressively] decaying and wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day after day.

For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!],

Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting.

The King James Version of verse 18 says that Jesus said He came "to heal the brokenhearted." According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, the word translated brokenhearted in this verse is a combination of two Greek words, kardia, meaning simply "heart,"1 and suntribo (soon-tree'-bo), which means "to crush completely, i.e. to shatter . . . break (in pieces), broken to shivers . . . , bruise."2 I believe Jesus came to heal those who are broken inside-those who are crushed and wounded inwardly.

If you have been traumatized by abuse, it is my hope that this book will serve as a road map to get from the ashes of devastation to the beauty of health and wholeness in your inner self.

My prayer for you is paraphrased from Ephesians 3:16CloseEphesians 3:16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) :

I pray that you will be strengthened in the inner man through the power of the Holy Spirit and that He will indwell your innermost being and personality.

I also encourage you to always remember God's promise, found in Hebrews 13:5-6CloseHebrews 13:5-6 Don't love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,"I will never fail you.  I will never abandon you."* So we can say with confidence,"The LORD is my helper,  so I will have no fear.  What can mere people do to me?"* OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) :

For He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me?