Freedom Resources

How did John know what was said between Jesus and the woman at the well?

He’d been sent into the village to get food for the Master. This means that John was nowhere near as the two of them talked – and yet he wrote an account of their meeting.

The information would have come from Jesus.

I’m betting that Jesus did not relate all of the details, but only what needed to be told for the purpose of including it in the Bible. What He disclosed about this woman was public knowledge.

As I consider this story in an actual setting, I’m thinking that there was plenty said between the two of them that went unreported. It took a while for the disciples to travel into town, buy a meal, and walk back to the well where they’d left their Leader. What’s written in John 4 could have been said and done in less than five minutes!

That’s so like Jesus!

…Whatever it was He wrote in the dirt of the synagogue floor remains undisclosed as well.

Love covers a multitude of sins.

One thing we do know, He showed up in her history…told her that He knew about her five failed marriages and current “shack-up”, too.

That’s how He rolls.

Once we know that Jesus was present all along, we are changed.

The same thing happened to Nathaniel as well (John 1:45 – 51). All Jesus did was tell Nathaniel that he was sitting under a fig tree when Philip invited him to “come and see the Man.” What Jesus said was, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

Bam!

Nathaniel followed Jesus for the rest of his life – and was martyred for his beliefs!

This can happen to you!

When Jesus shows up during a counseling session, people get healed. They do not just learn techniques that allow them to experience “tolerable” relief; wholeness is restored!

I don’t find a Biblical model for a lifetime of meetings and support groups; nor for years of therapy to make life more manageable.

For years I went through psychoanalysis of one sort or another, rehashing trauma and abuse and having everything explained to me…why I felt the way I did, why they did what they did, what I could do to manage my symptoms, and so forth. Week after week, painful memories were stirred up. I left feeling as bad as when I went in. This left me in a state of feeling like a perpetual victim – and nothing changed. So long as I “worked my program,” I did “better”. If I stopped, it wasn’t very long before I was back to using my coping mechanisms.

Jesus did not send one person to physical therapy, or set them up with a “rest of your life” recovery group.

Real, deep, lasting healing took place.

As promised in Out Of The Dark And Into The Light, here are some resources for those who suffer from deep emotional pain, and those who minister to them. I couldn’t merely tell you that I was healed without showing you how to receive this for yourself or those you work with. 🙂

The first step I would recommend is  Seven Steps to Freedom in Christ by Neil T. Anderson. There are so many different ways we can open up our lives to interference by our enemy. This prayer counseling session is an excellent way to expose them as well as unholy agreements we’ve made along life’s journey.

Examples of the latter would be: “I’m never going to let anyone get close enough to hurt me again,” or “That’s it. I’ll never trust anyone again.” Obviously, these are going to be an issue in marriage and other close relationships, leaving us lonely and “on the outside looking in.”

Next, the kind of healing I shared in my story comes, in part, from Edward Smith’s teaching. You can read about this type of ministery here: Healing Life’s Hurts  Through Theophostic Prayer by Edward Smith. This is a highly effective form of counseling that invites the Holy Spirit to lead the sessions, bringing up the things He wants to heal.

The term “Theophostic” is made up. It is a combination of two Greek words: “Theos” – God; and “Phos” – Light. It is the light of God shining into the heart, mind, and soul of a person that brings true and lasting healing.

For most people, there was a “first time” event; after that the other were “like” the first time. For instance, the first sexual assault, first physical abuse, first abandonment. After that, the next time is like what was experienced before. Each event connects to the first time it happened.

When Jesus heals the “first,” the echoes of that event are also healed.

For those who’ve been abused over and over again, this is fantastic news. What this means is that we deal with root events only.

For me this was a dozen or so “firsts.” Once Jesus led me to Barbara, who was able to minister to me using Theophostics, life began to change dramatically. I began to change dramatically.

One by one, Jesus used her to take me back to those first events. He “showed up” in them, spoke truth to that broken place in me, and it was healed. Not only that event, but every other one that was connected to it due to similarity.

The sound of shackles falling to the ground at the end of each session was almost audible!

It’s been more than a year since I last needed to go to counseling.

Even better, the coping mechanisms I had have also fallen by the wayside. They’re not needed. No alcohol, no drugs, none of the other addictive behaviors.

Best of all, I’ve finally begun to mature!

Oh, and it gets better yet. Even when life around me is chaotic, I have peace like I’ve never known in all my life!

IT IS FINISHED!

For counselors (and lay people as well) who want to receive some training in a variation of Theophostics, and don’t have the money to invest, Russ Dizdar has an excellent training course. It is over 25 hours of MP3s (and the accompanying notes) that you can download at no cost.

Yep, FREE!

Russ and his crew work in the trenches and on the front lines rescuing those who are enmeshed in the occult. His main focus is SRA (Satanic Ritual Abuse victims), which often involves multiple personalities (aka DID). They have a very good success rate, and his teaching on this subject is fantastic. The material he provides is also effective with trauma/abuse victims as well. You can find his free course here: Freedom Encounters.

In this training course, Russ shares what he and his associates have gleaned from their work with hundreds (if not thousands) of victims. The material is organized and presented in terms that anyone can understand. Each hour-long session covers a specific aspect of counseling, giving information needed to minister effectively to broken people.

Like Theophostics, Freedom Encounters relies heavily on the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

If you counsel the wounded, this would be an excellent tool to add to your toolbox!

Jesus came to set us free, and whom the Son sets free is free indeed…

…I’m living proof of His healing power!