Wounded by God's People (17 page)

ZONDERVAN

Wounded by God's People
Copyright © 2013 by Anne Graham Lotz

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EPub Edition © JULY 2013 ISBN: 9780310337546

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lotz, Anne Graham, 1948 -

Wounded by God's people : discovering how God's love heals our hearts /

Anne Graham Lotz.

    pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-310-26289-3

1. Hagar (Biblical figure) 2. Healing — Religious aspects — Christianity.

3. Suffering — Religious aspects — Christianity. 4. Pain — Religious aspects —

Christianity. I. Title.

BS580.H24L68 2013

248.86 — dc23                                                                                                            2013013057

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible,
New International Version
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, NIV
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other — except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

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Cover design: Michelle Lenger
Cover photography: Don Farrall / Getty Images
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Interior illustration: iStockphoto
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Interior design: Beth Shagene

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 /DCI/ 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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1.
Joshua 7.

2.
John 1:11 NASB.

3.
Matthew 9:3.

4.
Matthew 9:34.

5.
Matthew 12:14.

6.
Matthew 22:15.

7.
Matthew 26:3–4.

8.
Matthew 26:57, 67.

9.
Matthew 27:1–2, 26.

10.
1 Peter 2:23.

11.
Hebrews 12:2–3.

1.
Anne Graham Lotz,
The Magnificent Obsession: Embracing the God-Filled Life
(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2009).

2.
Other than Jesus Christ, Abraham may be the greatest man ever to have lived in human history. Jews, Christians, and Muslims all look to him as their patriarch. And God called him “friend.”

1.
Ishmael
means “the Lord hears.”

2.
Genesis 12:14, 16; 13:1; 16:1–16; 21:1–21.

1.
Genesis 12:15.

2.
Genesis 12:16.

3.
Genesis 20:12.

4.
Genesis 12:3.

5.
Genesis 12:17.

6.
Genesis 12:20.

7.
Joshua 2, 6.

8.
Joshua 2:10.

9.
Joshua 2:11.

10.
Joshua 2:11.

11.
Joshua 6:15–23.

12.
Romans 3:23.

13.
Ephesians 1:7.

14.
John 3:16; Romans 6:23.

15.
John 17:3.

16.
Revelation 3:20.

17.
John 8:12; 10:27; 12:26.

18.
And you are saved! If your cry was sincerely uttered, God has heard you. Right now, you are saved. He gives you His Word:

Take God at His Word. He is a gentleman — He doesn't lie, He means what He says, and says what He means. If He says you're forgiven, you're forgiven (1 John 1:9; Ephesians 1:7). If He says you have eternal life, you have eternal life (John 3:16; Ephesians 1:13–14). If He says He will live in you, never to leave nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), then He lives in you right now in the person of the Holy Spirit, and He will never leave nor forsake you. If He says He loves you (Jeremiah 31:3), dear reader on the periphery, then He loves you! What He says is so! (Psalm 119:89).

1.
Galatians 5:17–21.

2.
Romans 3:23; Jeremiah 17:9.

3.
Genesis 13:4.

4.
Genesis 14:22.

5.
Genesis 12:1–3.

6.
Genesis 15:2–6.

7.
Genesis 13.

1.
Genesis 16:2.

2.
Genesis 16:2, 4.

3.
Genesis 2:24.

4.
Genesis 16:4.

5.
Genesis 16:5–6.

6.
Matthew 5:22; some old manuscripts insert “But I tell you the truth, that anyone who is angry with his brother without cause will be subject to judgment.”

7.
1 Samuel 1:6, 7, 15.

8.
1 Samuel 1:15–16.

9.
1 Samuel 1:18.

10.
1 Samuel 2:21.

11.
1 Samuel 2:1–10.

12.
Genesis 16:6.

13.
Genesis 16:6.

1.
http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/30/anne-rice-leaves-christianity
.

1.
Psalm 5:1–3, 5–6, 8–9, 10, 11–12.

2.
Genesis 16:7.

3.
John 21:1–3.

4.
Genesis 16:7.

5.
Genesis 32:22–32.

6.
Joshua 5:13–6:5.

7.
Judges 6:11–12.

8.
Psalm 139:7–10.

1.
Genesis 16:8.

2.
Genesis 16:8.

3.
Genesis 16:4.

4.
Matthew 7:3–5.

5.
Sylvia Gunter,
Prayer Portions
(Birmingham, Ala.: The Father's Business, 1995).

6.
Genesis 16:9–10.

7.
Genesis 16:13.

8.
Genesis 16:5.

9.
Genesis 16:15.

10.
Acts 3:19.

1.
John 15:1–2.

2.
Hebrews 12:11.

3.
Genesis 15:5.

4.
Galatians 4:29.

5.
Genesis 21:10.

6.
Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4–6.

7.
Genesis 21:11.

8.
Genesis 21:12–13.

9.
Genesis 21:14.

10.
Isaiah 55:9.

11.
Psalm 23:3.

12.
Romans 8:29; John 15:8.

13.
Isaiah 53:4–5, 10.

14.
John 3:16.

15.
1 Peter 2:23; 1 John 3:16.

16.
Hebrews 2:14; 1 Corinthians 15:55–57; Romans 3:25; Titus 2:15; John 14:1–3; Hebrews 2:10.

17.
Luke 24:1–7.

18.
John 17:5.

19.
Ephesians 1:19–23.

20.
Hebrews 12:2–3.

1.
Lamentations 2:11; 3:19–23.

2.
John 1:11.

1.
Exodus 20:21.

2.
Exodus 16:10.

3.
Genesis 21:14.

4.
Genesis 16:13.

5.
Genesis 21:15.

6.
Exodus 33:18.

7.
Exodus 33:19; 34:6.

8.
2 Corinthians 1:3–4.

9.
Job 12:13; Isaiah 55:8–9.

10.
2 Corinthians 12:9.

11.
Exodus 15:26; Psalm 147:3; John 10:3–4, 11, 14.

1.
Genesis 12:8; 13:4; 18:16–33 are just three examples of Abraham's prayer life.

2.
Genesis 12:7; 13:18.

3.
Genesis 21:15–16.

4.
Genesis 16:10.

5.
The story is true, but Maria's name has been changed to protect her privacy. For other stories like hers, please read Tom Doyle's
Dreams and Visions: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World?
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2012).

6.
Jonah 2:2–7.

7.
Mark 6:48.

1.
This is a wonderful description of God that was a hallmark phrase of the late Dr. T. E. Koshy, a mentor and friend to many, including my friend Joel Rosenberg.

2.
Mother's car was fixed so that the damage was erased and it looked like new. And I did indeed become a better driver. I got my license at the age of sixteen, and to this day, at the age of sixty-five, I have never gotten a ticket. While I've been in some accidents, I have never caused another accident, for which I thank God! My father's encouraging and wise words to me have been proven true.

3.
Genesis 17:1–22.

4.
Genesis 17:23–27.

5.
Genesis 18:13–14.

6.
Genesis 18:20–33.

7.
Genesis 20:1–18.

8.
Genesis 12:14–20.

9.
Genesis 21:17.

10.
Genesis 21:17.

11.
Genesis 21:17.

1.
William Lobdell,
Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America and Found Unexpected Peace
(New York: HarperCollins, 2009).

2.
Genesis 21:17.

3.
Hebrews 13:5.

4.
1 Chronicles 16:34.

5.
Isaiah 63:9.

6.
Genesis 50:20.

7.
Luke 1:37.

1.
1 Kings 19:1–21.

2.
1 Kings 19:7.

3.
1 Kings 19:9.

4.
Genesis 21:17.

5.
Isaiah 54:11–13 NASB (adapted). The noun
son
is plural in the original text. I took the liberty of hearing it in the singular, as God's word of comfort and encouragement to me about my own son.

6.
Genesis 21:18.

7.
John 19:26–27.

8.
Luke 23:39–43.

9.
Matthew 8:3.

10.
Matthew 8:14–15.

11.
Matthew 9:29.

12.
Matthew 17:7.

1.
Genesis 21:19.

2.
Exodus 17:3–6.

3.
2 Corinthians 1:3–4.

4.
Genesis 21:19.

5.
Genesis 21:18.

6.
The prayers in this volume have also resonated in the heart of my younger brother, Ned. He read one of them at my mother's memorial service.

7.
Arthur Bennett, ed.,
The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions
(Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), xxiv.

1.
Huckabee, Fox News, March 17, 2012.

2.
Genesis 19:17.

3.
Genesis 19:26.

4.
Genesis 21:19.

5.
Genesis 21:18.

6.
Genesis 21:21.

7.
Colossians 3:13.

8.
Matthew 6:15.

9.
C. S. Lewis,
God in the Dock
(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1972), 49.

10.
Ephesians 4:32.

11.
The story is true, but the name has been changed.

12.
1 John 3:16, 18, 23.

13.
The story is true, but Jays name has been changed to protect his privacy.

14.
Luke 23:34.

15.
Crawford Loritts is the senior pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in
Atlanta, Georgia, a frequent speaker at Promise Keepers, and one of the two men who join me in discussing revival in my video Bible-study curriculum,
Expecting to See Jesus
.

16.
John 20:26–27.

17.
Philippians 2:8–11; Revelation 5:6–14.

18.
Ephesians 1:17–18.

1.
And yes, I had followed that choice to forgive with sacrificial deeds.

2.
John Ortberg,
Who Is This Man? The Unpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus
(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2012), 89.

3.
Genesis 25:8–9.

4.
While the story is true, David's name has been changed to protect his privacy.

5.
Hebrews 4:15–16.

1.
Luke 15:13.

2.
Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6.

3.
Jeremiah 29:11.

1.
Romans 12:9, NKJV; James 5:8–9.

2.
Galatians 6:17; 2:20; 2 Corinthians 12:7.

3.
Philippians 3:10, 13–14.

4.
Jesus used this very analogy in John 12:24–25 when He said, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

5.
“The Deeps,” from Arthur Bennett, ed.,
The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions
(Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2002), 134.