Holy Ground

By: Laura Churchman, CPNP, CTP, HHC

Why this picture? Knowing what I was going to write today, I looked for a bush on fire. When I saw this picture I thought it was so symbolic of the burning bush and living water. There is so much depth to the faithfulness of the Lord. 

Welcome! My name is Laura Churchman.  I am so excited to start this blog! I am a Christian, called by God into the medical field. I have seen and learned so much in the last decade and the one thing I know for sure is that more than anything else, I want to follow Jesus Christ. So, I am a Christian before I am any of the alphabet soup of letters after my name. Healthcare as it pertains to Christianity​ is a strong conviction that the Lord has placed on my heart. For years I have been praying about how to incorporate this conviction into my profession. I felt God was calling me to do/offer more than just being loving and kind to those I encountered, but I did not know what. After years of praying for His provisions and guidance, God opened the door for my practice, Healing from the Root.

My prayer is that the Lord would have His way with this practice. It is such a blessing to me to have the opportunity to serve in this capacity. My heart's desire is that I would be a vessel for the Holy Spirit to speak to His people about their health. That with the knowledge the Lord has taught me in my Christian walk, schooling, and life, He will bless others through me. As a Christian medical provider, I am here to help educate, guide, encourage, pray and fast with my fellow Christians as I walk with them through their healthcare needs and questions.​

I would like to share with you the details about the conviction I mentioned above. It rocked my world when the Lord convicted me. There was a lot I realized I needed to allow the Holy Spirit to change in me. I had to decide, do I address the Nineveh within or end up in the belly of a whale? (Come on, that was a good Bible reference!) Lol, I have to keep a sense of humor. This is a hard message to give, hear, and receive. Transformation processes with the Lord are ongoing, therefore grace for ourselves and others is needed as we will not meet perfection this side of Heaven. I am a testimony to the fact that what I am about to discuss with you will not lead to an easy path, but it is so worth it! Trust the process. The Lord is always faithful.

There is no judgement. We are not perfect. We make mistakes. We are sinners. But above all that, we are saved, we are loved, and we are children of the one and only God!  I am committed to following His lead. So here I am, ready and willing to serve. Now let me quit rambling and get to the story :) 

As He often does, God convicted me through His word. Here is the first verse He spoke to me:​

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."  1 Corinthians 6:19-20, The Holy Bible

Then...

“Do not come any closer,” the LORD warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground."  Exodus 3:5, The Holy Bible

Mike drop.

​Now bear with me while we unpack this together... 

First, think about it, what an experience that must have been, being in the presence of the Lord, standing on holy ground!? It is hard to imagine what that might have been like. In the midst of me diving deeper into this thought, I felt the Lord speaking to me, "you are holy ground. My Holy Spirit dwells within you." I had been a Christian for several years at this point and never viewed myself as holy ground. How could I? I knew all the sins I committed? But wait... Jesus washes our sins away. (1John 1:7) They are thrown into the sea of forgetfulness. (Micah 7:19) Now, we can move forward. I knew the Bible addressed the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, but for some reason that did not convert in my head to my body being holy ground. Like many Christians, I have referred to my body being a temple without really understanding the magnitude of that statement. 

​Really, lets take a second to think about that. Where else in the Bible do we see the Holy Spirit dwelling?  What about the Tabernacle in the most Holy place? This was where God dwelt with his people (Exodus 25:22). How careful did Moses have to be in following such specific instructions to build the Tabernacle? (Exodus 25-27) Who could enter the most Holy place and how often? (Hebrews 9:7) And what about the Ark of the Covenant?! Have you read 2 Samuel 6? Out of good intentions Uzzah tried to steady the Ark but unbeknownst to him, there was a specific way to handle the Ark (Exodus 25:13-14) and the anger of the Lord came upon him.

Clearly, holy ground is to be revered and respected. What is the honest answer for each of us when we evaluate how we treat our temple? Our perfect God does not expect perfection from us but He faithfully perfects us if we allow Him to. It takes an active role on our end to respond with obedience. Obedience for each of us might look different as what tempts each us is different. Some acts of obedience may look the same. The first act is to pray to the Lord to reveal areas in which we are not honoring His temple and respond with humility and repentance. Next, we pray for His guidance as we strive to do better.  

 Without judgement, I am here to help. Are you ready to start cleaning up your temple?