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He said, “If you will diligently obey the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your healer.”—Exod 15:26 NET
It is very reasonable that God should expect us to trust Him for our bodies as well as our souls, for if our faith is not practical enough to bring us temporal relief, how can we be educated for real dependence upon God for anything that involves serious risk?
It is all very well to talk about trusting God for the distant and future prospect of salvation after death!
There is scarcely a sinner in a Christian land that does not trust to be saved some day, but there is no grasp in faith like this. It is only when we come face to face with positive issues and overwhelming forces that we can prove the reality of Divine power in a supernatural life.
Hence as an education to our very spirits as well as a gracious provision for our temporal life, God has trained His people from the beginning to recognize Him as the supply of all their needs, and to look to Him as the Physician of their bodies and Father of their spirits.
Beloved, have you learned the meaning of Jehovah–rophi, and has it changed your Marah of trial into an Elim of blessing and praise?
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Old Conditional Promise for the Jewish Nation, God's Peculiar People
“If you will diligently obey the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your healer.” — Exodus 15:26 NET
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New Conditional Promise for the Body of Christ, the Bride to be, of Christ
Romans 8:11 Moreover "if" the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives "in" you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives "in" you.
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The Apostle Paul, below, gives us a conditional promise that supports the Old Testament promises of a loving Heavenly Father to His peculiar people the Jewish nations, which is what the AB Simpson Devotional above is talking about.
The real Bride of Christ is to be the current, peculiar, special, people. It is for those who have taken up their cross, following Jesus' example of being dead to our will, fleshly desires and selfish,fleshly control, in order to passionately walk in the will of the Father via the power of His Holy Spirit.
Romans 12:1-3
"I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship."
"Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you]."
"For by the grace {"Strong's Greek Dictionary, "Grace...especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude"} given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him."
John 4:34 "Jesus said to them, My food (nourishment) is to do the will (pleasure) of Him Who sent Me and to accomplish and completely finish His work."
Romans 8:5-14
For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit.
Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever]. [That is] because the mind of the flesh [with its carnal thoughts and purposes] is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God's Law; indeed it cannot.
So then those who are living the life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God, or be acceptable to Him. But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, "if" the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you].
But if anyone does not possess the [Holy] Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [he does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God]. [Rom. 8:14]
But "if" Christ lives "in" you, [then although] your [natural] body is dead by reason of sin and guilt, the spirit is alive because of [the] righteousness [that He imputes to you]. And "if" the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells "in" you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells "in" you.
So then, brethren, we are debtors, but not to the flesh [we are not obligated to our carnal nature], to live [a life ruled by the standards set up by the dictates] of the flesh. For "if" you live according to [the dictates of] the flesh, you will surely die.
But "if" through the power of the [Holy] Spirit you are [habitually] putting to death (making extinct, deadening) the [evil] deeds prompted by the body, you shall [really and genuinely] live forever. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
