About the Book
"Futureboards" by Sarah C. is a guidebook that teaches readers how to create vision boards that align with their goals and desires for the future. The book provides practical tips and exercises to help individuals manifest their dreams and turn them into reality using visualization and intention-setting techniques. It encourages readers to visualize their ideal future and take action towards making it a reality.
John Alexander Dowie
By John Alexander Dowie (1847 â 1907)
I sat in my study in the parsonage of the Congregational Church at Newtown, a suburb of the beautiful city of Sydney, Australia. My heart was very heavy, for I had visited the sick and dying beds of more than thirty of my flock, and I had cast the dust to its kindred dust into more than forty graves within a few weeks. Where, oh where, was He Who used to heal His suffering children? No prayer for healing seemed to reach His ear, and yet I knew His hand had not been shortened. Still it did not save from death even those for whom there was so much in life to live for God and others. Strong men, fathers, good citizens, and more than all, true Christians sickened with a putrid fever, suffered nameless agonies, passed into delirium, sometimes with convulsions, and then died.
Oh, what aching voids were left in many a widowed or orphaned heart. There were many homes where, one by one, the little children, the youths and the maidens lay stricken, and after a hard struggle with the foul disease, they too, lay cold and dead. It seemed sometimes as if I could almost hear the triumphant mockery of evil ringing in my ear whilst I spoke to the bereaved ones the words of Christian hope and consolation. Disease, the foul offspring of its father, Satan, and its mother Sin, was defiling and destroying the earthly temples of Godâs children and there was no deliverance.
There I sat with sorrow-bowed head for my afflicted people, until the bitter tears came to relieve my burning heart. Then I prayed for some message, and oh, how I longed to hear some words from Him Who wept and sorrowed for the suffering long ago, a Man of Sorrows and Sympathies. The words of the Holy Ghost inspired In Acts 10:38, stood before me all radiant with light, revealing Satan as the Defiler, and Christ as the Healer. My tears were wiped away, my heart strong, I saw the way of healing, and the door thereto was opened wide, so I said, âGod help me now to preach the Word to all the dying around, and tell them how Satan still defiles, and Jesus still delivers, for He is just the same today.â
A loud ring and several raps at the outer door, a rush of feet, and there at my door stood two panting messengers who said, âOh, come at once, Mary is dying; come and pray. âWith just a feeling as a shepherd has who hears that his sheep are being torn from the fold by a cruel wolf, I rushed from my house, ran without my hat down the street, and entered the room of the dying maiden. There she lay groaning and grinding her clenched teeth in the agony of the conflict with the destroyer. The white froth, mingled with her blood, oozing from her pale and distorted mouth. I looked at her and then my anger burned. âOh,â I thought, âfor some sharp sword of heavenly temper keen to slay this cruel foe who is strangling that lovely maiden like an invisible serpent, tightening his deadly coils for a final victory.â
In a strange way, It came to pass; I found the sword I needed was in my hands, and in my hand I hold it still and never will I lay It down. The doctor, a good Christian man, was quietly walking up and down the room, sharing the motherâs pain and grief. Presently he stood at my side and said, âSir, are not Godâs ways mysterious?â Instantly the sword was flashed in my hand, the Spiritâs sword, the Word of God. âGodâs way?!â I said, pointing to the scene of conflict, âHow dare you call that Godâs way of bringing His children home from earth to Heaven? No sir, that is the devilâs work and it is time we called on Him Who came to destroy the work of the devil, to slay that deadly foul destroyer, and to save this child. Can you pray, Doctor, can you pray the prayer of faith that saves the sick?â At once, offended at my words, my friend was changed, and saying,â You are too much excited, sir, it is best to say âGodâs will be done,ââ and he left the room.
Excited?! The word was quite inadequate for I was almost frenzied with divinely imparted anger and hatred of that foul destroyer, disease, which was doing Satanâs will. âIt is not so,â I exclaimed, âno will of God sends such cruelty, and I shall never say âGodâs will be doneâ to Satanâs works, which Godâs own Son came to destroy, and this is one of them.â Oh, how the Word of God was burning in my heart: âJesus of Nazareth went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.â And was not God with me? And was not Jesus there and all His promises true? I felt that it was even so, and turning to the mother I inquired,â Why did you send for me?â To which she answered, âDo pray, oh pray for her that God may raise her up.â So we prayed.
What did I say? It may be that I cannot recall the words without mistake, but words are in themselves of small importance. The prayer of faith may be a voiceless prayer, a simple heartfelt look of confidence into the face of Christ. At such moment, words are few, but they mean much, for God is looking at the heart. Still, I can remember much of that prayer unto this day, and asking God to aid, I will attempt to recall it. I cried, âOur Father, help! and Holy Spirit, teach me how to pray. Plead Thou for us, oh, Jesus, Savior, Healer, Friend, our Advocate with God the Father. Hear and heal, Eternal One! From all disease and death, deliver this sweet child of yours. I rest upon the Word. We claim the promise now. The Word is true, âI am the Lord that heals thee.â Then heal her now. The Word is true, âI am the Lord, I change not.â Unchanging God, then prove Yourself the healer now. The Word is true. âThese signs shall follow them that believe in My Name, they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.â And I believe and I lay hands in Jesusâ Name on her and claim this promise now. Your Word is true. âThe prayer of faith shall save the sick. Trusting in You alone. I cry. Oh, save her now, for Jesusâ sake. Amen!â
Then, the maid lay in sleep so deep and sweet that the mother asked in a low whisper, âIs she dead?â âNo,â I answered, in a whisper lower still. âMary will live; the fever is gone. She is perfectly well and sleeping as an infant sleeps.â I was smoothing the long dark hair from her now peaceful brow, and feeling the steady pulsation of her heart and cool moist hands. I saw that Christ had heard, and that once more, as long ago in Peterâs house, âHe touched her and the fever left her.â Turning to the nurse, I said, âGet me at once, please, a cup of cocoa and several slices of bread and butter.â Beside the sleeping maid we sat quietly and almost silently until the nurse returned, and then I bent over her and snapping my fingers called, âMary!â
Instantly she woke, smiled and said, âOh, sir, when did you come? I have slept so long;â then stretching her arms out to meet her motherâs embrace, she said, âMother, I feel so well.â âAnd hungry, too?â I asked, pouring some of the cocoa in a saucer and offering it to her when cooled by my breath. âYes, hungry too,â she answered with a little laugh, and drank and ate again, and yet again until all was gone. In a few minutes, she fell asleep, breathing easily and softly. Quietly thanking God. We left her bed and went to the next room where her brother and sister also lay sick of the same fever. With these two, we prayed and they were healed too. The following day all three were well and in a week or so they brought me a little letter and a gift of gold, two sleeve links with my monogram, which I wore for many years. As I went away from the home where Christ as the Healer had been victorious, I could not but have somewhat in my heart of the triumphant song that rang through Heaven, and yet I was not a little amazed at my own strange doings, and still more at my discovery that He is just the same today.
Excerpt from the Sermons of John Alexander Dowie Champions of Faith by Gordon Lindsay
Walk the War Before You - What It Means to Live by the Spirit
Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. âGalatians 5:16â17 In seminary, this passage reshaped my vision of the Christian life. At one level, the passage is simple. It contains an exhortation (âwalk by the Spiritâ), a promise (âand you will not gratify the desires of the fleshâ), and an explanation or rationale (the conflict described in verse 17). But as we meditate on this passage, we discover that it also offers a threefold vision for the Christian life as a whole. Acknowledge the War Within First, Paul insists that the starting point for the Christian life is recognizing the war between the flesh and the Spirit. I say âstarting pointâ because of the logic of verses 16 and 17. In seminary, I was taught that one way to clarify the logic of a passage like this is to read the verses in reverse order while keeping the logical relationship intact. In other words, turn an âA, because Bâ argument into a âB, therefore Aâ argument. âI eat, because I am hungryâ becomes âI am hungry, therefore I eat.â When we do that, the passage looks like this: (Verse 17) The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Verse 16) Therefore (thatâs the logical connection) walk by the Spirit, and you will certainly not gratify the desires of the flesh. As Christians, we wake up every day in the midst of a war. Fleshly desires pull us in one direction; the desires of the Spirit pull us in the other. The status quo is a frustrated stalemate in which we are kept from doing what we want to do. Spiritual desires frustrate fleshly desires, and fleshly desires frustrate spiritual desires. Starting with this recognition means we can be realistic about the difficulty of the war. The frustration we feel in the face of the passions of the flesh is real, and Paul encourages us to be honest about it. Thatâs where we begin as Christians. Staggering Promise of Not But according to Paul, we donât have to stay there, because, second, we have a new destination. We donât have to surrender. We can live a life in which we absolutely donât gratify the desires of the flesh. This is a staggering promise. The ânotâ in verse 16 is intensified in the original Greek; itâs whatâs called an emphatic negation. Paul essentially says, âIf you walk by the Spirit, you will absolutely and certainly not gratify the desires of the flesh.â Now, itâs important to be clear about what Paul is and isnât promising. Heâs not saying that our fleshly desires disappear altogether. Instead, he promises that we will not gratify or complete those desires. In other words, the desires may still be present and still at war with our spiritual desires, but now, as we walk by the Spirit, we wonât indulge them. The basic idea is that all desires have a direction, a destination, a trajectory. They incline us towards some perceived good, some object that we believe will satisfy. In short, desires want to take us somewhere. Where Do Desires Lead? In Galatians 5, the desires of the flesh lead to the works of the flesh: âsexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.â Paul is clear that those who practice such things â by habitually gratifying those desires â will not inherit Godâs kingdom. On the other hand, the desires of the Spirit lead to the fruit of the Spirit: âlove, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.â So again, desires, whether of the Spirit or the flesh, have a destination, and when that destination is reached, the desire has been gratified. The itch has been scratched. Notice, however, the critical assumption Paul makes: the presence of the fleshly desire doesnât mean that we have to indulge it. Itâs possible to resist where our desires want to take us. For Paul, walking by the Spirit doesnât remove all fleshly tendencies and inclinations in this life. Instead, it interrupts them. It redirects them and reorders them so that they no longer dishonor God or harm people. Itâs important to be clear on this point so that we donât erect impossible and unrealistic expectations for the Christian life. In this life, the desires may still rise up, but according to Paul, they donât have to master us. They donât have to rule us. We donât have to gratify or indulge them. We donât have to scratch. We can be free. But only if we walk by the Spirit. Essential Bridge Walking by the Spirit is the third element in this vision of the Christian life, and the bridge between our present struggle and the future victory. Itâs the path that gets us from frustration to freedom. Which means that the pressing question for us is this: What exactly does it mean to âwalk by the Spiritâ? The image is clear enough. Walking is a form of movement. Itâs neither standing still nor running. Itâs steady movement, in a particular direction, under a particular power (in this case, the Spirit). Galatians 5:24â25 sheds further light on the image: And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. âWalk by the Spiritâ corresponds to âkeep in step with the Spirit.â Itâs as though the Spirit sets the pace and we keep up. Thereâs a rhythm to our walking. Like a drummer, the Spirit lays down the beat, and we march along. This basic idea appears in various forms throughout Paulâs letters: Walk rightly with the truth of the gospel (Galatians 2:13). Walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). Be led by the Spirit (Galatians 5:18). Keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:26). Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called (Ephesians 4:1). Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord (Colossians 1:10). âWalking by the Spirit is the bridge between our present struggle and the future victory.â Other phrases that appear throughout the New Testament include walking in love, walking in the light, walking as children of the light, walking according to Paulâs example, and walking in the truth. In all of these examples, the idea is the same: there is a conduct, a âwalking,â that accords with the gospel, the Spirit, and the truth. There is a way of life that fits the gospel. Before We Can Walk Walking by the Spirit flows from something more fundamental, though, and this is crucial. Before we can keep in step with the Spirit, we must first âlive by the Spirit.â That is, we must possess life by the Spirit. The life in question is resurrection life. We possess it because we belong to Jesus and have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Itâs what Paul elsewhere describes as âbeing made alive with Christâ (Ephesians 2:4). This is conversion, when God raises us from spiritual death by grace through faith in Christ. He elaborates on this reality in the great gospel passage of Galatians 2:19â20: I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. âThe Spirit is the animating power in our lives, shaping our daily decisions as we wake up in spiritual war.â Crucified with Christ so that the flesh has been killed. Raised with Christ so that he lives on our behalf and we possess life by his Spirit. This is the good news which so transformed Paul and is able to transform us. So, then, walking by the Spirit refers to our daily conduct, rooted in our union with Christ in his death and resurrection and empowered by the Spirit who redirects our desires to godly fruitfulness. The Spirit is the animating power in our lives, shaping our daily decisions as we wake up in the midst of the spiritual war. Paulâs call is for us to daily take up arms in the battle, to encourage and gratify our spiritual desires, and to keep in step with the Spirit because we belong to Jesus. Article by Joe Rigney Teacher, desiringGod.org
