In this fourth and final episode of the Smith's summary of their recent Christ My Healer, Christ My Health series, Craig and LaDonna finish their extensive review of the significant points of what the Scriptures teach about Christ's work in the sufferers. Craig reminds us of the admonition of the Lord to Moses as they were stuck between the Red Sea and the advancing Egyptian army, coming to repossess them as slaves and bring them back to Egypt's bondage. in Ex. 14:14 the Lord told them, "The Lord with fight for you, you need only to be still." Another enlightening passage was from the 139th Psalm that tells us the number of our days are laid out by the Lord before one of them is experienced! We won't die a day before God's already appointed time. "That's a liberating reality Pastor Craig noted! Craig and LaDonna reiterated for us the importance of settling the "why question." Lord, why did this happen to me, is the question we often struggle with. In a remarkable dig into God's Word, the Smiths reminded us that for even those called into ministry, suffering is often a part of the call of God! And what a great reminder it was when they reviewed the Word and human history to note that the impact of sudden Divine Healing can often times be short lived, while the effect of the prolonged work of God in the life of the chronic sufferer extends the work of God throughout a much longer time, leading to great rewards in heaven, even the potential of being inducted into heaven's hall of fame! The summary ends with a reminder of the lyrics of A.B. Simpsons great, great song, Himself! Have you been encouraged by the Smith's in-depth study into Divine Healing and Divine Health? The Smiths have really opened their hearts and lives to us all. They pray God will have used it all for His honor and His glory! Until next time...

In this third episode of the Smith's summary of their Divine Healing, Divine Health series, Craig and LaDonna pick up where they left off at the end of last week's session. They were answering the question, Is it God's will that we all be healed at all times? Clearly the Scriptures point out that God's ways are not the ways of the health, wealth, and prosperity preachers filling the airways with their false teaching. It's an important reminder about the authority of the Scriptures in our lives and in what shapes how we do ministry. Which led to the reminder of how we can transfer from a focus on Divine Healing to embracing and learning to live in Divine Health when God chooses not to heal our bodies. Psalms 57:1-2 was reviewed once again as crucial to Craig's understanding of disasters being used by God to fulfill His purposes for our lives, and, yes, that includes the lives of those He has called to full-time vocational ministry as well. The importance of both Divine Healing and Divine Health is connected, as Pastor Smith points out, to the Atoning work of Christ on the cross and in the empty tomb. As Pastor Smith put it, "Healing is Friday, Health is Sunday!" And a thorough review could not overlook the crucial revealing of the mystery that had been hidden from many generations, which is what Craig calls, "The Believer's Advantage." That is, "Christ in you, the hope of glory!" The indwelling Christ makes all the difference whether it be for Divine Healing or for Divine Health. The episode ends with LaDonna's reminder from Psalms 139 that our days have been numbered by God, Himself, before we ever lived one of them. That liberating reality has helped the Smiths powerfully embrace the sovereignty of God in their journey, resulting in the indwelling Christ making all the difference! What a way to live for the believer in Christ!

In part two of the Smith's summary of their series on Divine Healing and Divine Health, Craig and LaDonna remind us how this revisit to the last 8 episodes was an important thing to do. It came from Craig's third trip back to death's door in 2024 as he battled four serious outbreaks of infections in his body. That, along with his battle with Covid and the aftermath of the accident in 2009 has taken them much deeper into the truths of Divine Healing and Divine Health. And they don't want their listeners to miss these important truths for tragedy and trauma can hit anyone of us at any time. It was their commitment to the authority of the Scriptures that enabled them to handle all the challenges that have come their way. But before they could affirm the Divine Health God has sustained them in, they wanted us all to know they continue to believe firmly in the doctrine of Divine Healing. Why, because all throughout Scripture, in both the Old and New Testament, God is described as healer. All the way back to Exodus and His word to the Children of Israel, in David's heart in the Psalms, in the Prophet Isaiah's strong words that affirm healing in the Atonement, and even spoken of as integral to Christ's earthly ministry, which often involved healing of so many, and in the promise of the Great Commission's fulfillment, healing was included as part of the gospel message. It didn't stop there, though, as it was also given to the church as part of the spiritual gifts Paul wrote to the Corinthians about, and continues to this day through the faithful involvement of local church elders in the anointing and praying for the sick. But with such strong doctrinal truth affirmed throughout the Scriptures, the Smiths remind us that a twisting of doctrinal truth is always something to be careful about. Such is the case with the faith healers promoting a health, wealth, and prosperity gospel that is not the same as biblical Divine Healing. That's further supported by Scripture addressing the question, Is it God's will that everyone should be healed? Once again, the timeless truths of God's Word brings such clarity to this and all other important doctrinal teaching given to the Church of our Lord until He comes again! Let's continue to live in Divine Health, all while we continue to seek Divine Healing! It's the full message of the gospel that continues to transform lives across the world until Christ returns!

After two months of episodes in their Christ My Healer, Christ My Health series, Craig and LaDonna take the next few weeks to summarize all the teaching and explaining about the doctrine of Divine Healing and the doctrine of Divine Health. The Smiths felt it important enough because it is easy to forget details when it has taken 8 episodes to share on the subject matter at hand. But before the Smiths jump into this important review, they wanted to take the time to share with you some of the encouraging Scriptural passages they have recently been in during their early morning daily devotional times with the Lord. LaDonna takes listeners to the first two chapters of Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, which greatly encouraged Craig and LaDonna Smith and confirmed the importance of even this summary of past teaching episodes, because it comes from them sharing not only biblical truth, but as Paul noted, even their own lives as well. Biblical truth has to live itself out in the lives of God's people if it's to impact others to stand strong as well. The Smiths wanted to reiterate the incredible importance of God's people taking time daily to read God's Word, pray, and worship the Lord in order to be spiritually fit for the day. They trust you will take time with the Lord, and He will meet the hungry soul each and every time. That sharing of their lives summarizes the why of this important review of God's healing and God's health. It all stems from Craig's recent third visit close to death's door after battling four major infection outbreaks in the summer and fall of 2024. The first two visits were introduced at the end of this episode, including their accident in 2009, and Craig's battle with Covid in 2022. After all they've gone through, no wonder they sense the importance and urgency of bringing this important teaching to their Indigenous Faith audience. Craig and LaDonna pray it becomes a helpful reminder to you, dear friends!

In this eighth episode of Christ My Healer, Christ My Health, Craig and LaDonna wrap up final thoughts about the Bema Seat of Christ, or where He gives out rewards for the good works His people have done while walking with Christ on earth, and making the case that while all those who are saved will have the ultimate reward of an eternity with Christ, there's also rewards the Lord will give out, in varying levels, to his faithful servants. That thought is taken to another level as Craig unpackages for us some important biblical passages and information on what he calls Heaven's Hall of Fame. We see that it is made up of faith-filled people, many of whom were great conquerers here on earth, but there's also faith-filled people who were great sufferers inducted into this Hall of Fame as well! It's good to know that many more can receive such honor because not all of us can be amazing men and women of valor, doing great exploits for the Lord in battles, and fighting for Kingdom purposes. But we all can be powerful men and women who suffer and suffer well for Christ's sake! It should give the sufferer great encouragement to endure great suffering, as special recognition awaits from the throne room of God, Himself! And the very important point the Smiths make at the end can't be missed by us as you look at the reality of many who saw divine healings through Christ's life weren't there as His supporters when He was led up Calvary's Cross to suffer and die. Only a handful of faithful were there at the foot of the Cross while the vast majority, and yes, even those who not only saw healings, but were the recipients of divine healings from the very hands of Christ had abandoned Him and were no doubt even in the crowd crying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him, give us Barrabas!" The blessing of Divine Health is the prolonged effect it can have on the observers, leaving little room to doubt or walk away when impacted by the work of God in the life of the prolonged sufferer! Now that's something to ponder for a while dear friend! Divine Healing and Divine Health...both from the sovereign hand of God for the blessing of His people, and for the rest of the world looking for hope! Serve Him well, dear friend, and should He and His sovereignty allow, suffer well as well! Until next time...

Have you been encouraged by this series on Divine Health and Divine Healing? We sure hope so, dear friend. In today's episode, the Smiths complete their answer to why God allows those He's called into full-time ministry to often suffer deeply while serving Him. There's not only a call to serve, but a call to suffer placed on the lives of many servants of Christ. And why should we not expect to suffer, Craig states, because the One who calls us to serve has suffered so deeply and painfully for us when He suffered on the way to and while He was on the Cross dying for our sins! That realization was one of the more powerful ways God spoke to Craig during some of his deepest days of pain and suffering. If Christ could suffer for me, why can't I suffer for Him, Craig opines. But also, there's a great cloud of witnesses who also have suffered, such as the Apostles and early church leaders, many of whom were tortured, beaten, and even martyred for their faith! If they could suffer for Christ, again, why can't I? And in one of the most encouraging revelations of how to live in Divine Health that the Smith's have learned, they've been encouraged by the realization that there are rewards to come for all those who follow Christ and even some are marked for special honor in what Craig refers to as Heaven's Hall of Fame! You won't want to miss this insightful journey with the Smiths into God's Word in today's episode of Indigenous Faith. May these truths support you in your own seasons of pain and suffering, dear friend!

In today's continuation of this important series on Christ My Healer, Christ My Health, LaDonna shares some of the unique ways God used her to bring hope to other hurting families in the UNM Hospital's Trauma ICU Unit while Craig lay in an almost two month coma. Up and down the corridor of this major trauma unit were family after family who's lives were turned upside down as their loved ones were gravely injured and near death in their own seasons of suffering. LaDonna took her unique opportunity seriously to be a light with the gospel to these hurting families, as well as the medical staff tasked with Craig's ongoing intensive care. Even after release from that ICU unit, and even to this day, the Smiths have been given many wonderful opportunities to share the hope of the gospel to many they never would have had opportunity to meet if it wasn't for their own trauma experience. Truly the gospel has rung out over the years to those who were living in the shadow of death with their own family members and the medical experts serving them in their hour of need. The Smiths also address how their embracing of the authority of the Scriptures helped settle difficult questions and battles in the mind as they simply believed and acted on the truths of God's Word. Challenges such as the fear that the injuries would one day cut Craig's life short were answered by the timeless truths of the Bible and the Smiths also began to address the issue of why does God allow suffering in those He's called to serve? To the secular mind, it can easily reject God when faced with unanswerable questions like, "If the Smiths were out doing God's work, why did God allow the accident to happen to them? They were just trying to be faithful to their calling and they almost lost their lives doing so!" But you'll have to wait until next week's episode to get the full answer to that crucial question. That means we'll see you next week for the next episode of Christ My Healer, Christ My Health!

In today's episode, Craig and LaDonna Smith continue to share about the Divine Health that was being manifested in Craig's very broken body in the accident that neither he nor LaDonna should have survived. Craig shares from Exodus 14:14 the truth that God will fight our battles for us when we are physically, emotionally, and mentally unable to do so. He also shares how the issue of his identity and significance was deeply impacted by the inward working of the Spirit of God as Craig soon realized he would be unable to do the things he did for the Lord in his over forty years of ministry, which amounted in a significant way to his identity and significance before the accident. What now? For some, when you lose your ability to do the things that amounted to your identity and significance before, it can be debilitating and devastating. But Craig found that the Divine Health he embrace brought a much deeper work of God that allowed him to find his identity and significance to be placed in Christ alone, instead of what he did for Christ. And that provided him the ability to let go of his past efforts, and revel in the joy and sufficiency of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord, as Paul found out and reported it to the Philippians in chapter 3 of this powerful epistle. And in one of the most consequential things God did for the Smiths was to help them understand that while He allowed their circumstances to change, their orders to serve did not. Instead of reaching out to the Cree tribe in Canada, they began serving among the Medical Tribe in the various hospitals, rehab centers, and medical facilities they have visited over the past fifteen plus years since the accident. The call of God to be spiritual rescuers continues to guide the Smiths even to this day!