Reading:“These miraculous
signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name,
and they will speak in new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with
safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them. They will be
able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed." Mark
16:17~18
Jesus said that He came that we might have life ~ &
have it abundantly. Week after week you
will hear us teaching on a variety of subjects & that might seem rather
random to you. It is not. It all comes down to one thing: the life we
have in Jesus.
We cannot have the abundant life Jesus promises us if we
don’t know the Truth about who He is, why He came & what He has done for us. We cannot have the abundant life Jesus
promises us if we do not believe what He has told us. We cannot have the abundant life if we do not
practise the Word of Life. We will not have the abundant life if we do not
allow the scriptures to renew our mind & correct wrong thinking. We will not have the abundant life if we do
not allow the Holy Spirit to build up our inner man. Out
of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Matthew 12:34
Our actions do not
lie. They will always reveal what our
hearts believe.
Because this is a
fallen world it conspires to keep us in bondage to wrong thinking about
ourselves, about God & about the nature of sickness. It starts with
understanding the very nature of God.
· For the LORD is good. His unfailing love
continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation. Psalm 100:5
God is good & He
gives only good things to His children. So if you sinful
people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your
heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. These are Jesus
very own words as recorded in Matthew 7:11 Do you understand that this is for
you? If you have asked in Jesus name it
is the Father’s delight to give you good things.
His love continues forever… He does not change. If “I am
the LORD who heals you" was true for the Israelites in Exodus 15:26 how much more is it true for us
according to Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced through for our
transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our
well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
He is faithful. The word in Hebrew [ ʼâman] means to be trustworthy as does pistos
in the Greek. We can trust Him. We can
trust what He says. We can trust His
actions.
This is diametrically
opposed to satan who is called the Father of Lies, the Accuser, the Deciever,
the one who comes to steal, kill & destroy.
So logically, is sickness of
God? Is it a *good gift*? Is it consistent with what God says about
Himself? Is it consistent with His nature?
Of course not! Do not assign to
God satan’s lies!
· Secondly we must understand who we have become in
God’s sight when we became believers in His son, Jesus Christ.
He made
Him who knew no sin to be a sin offering for us, so that in Him we might become
the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
We are not
sinners. We may sin but we are no longer
sinners under the condemnation & wrath of God. We are redeemed. We have been bought with a price. We have been transferred from the kingdom of
darkness into the kingdom of Light.
As satan’s kingdom
brought an inheritance of death, destruction, judgement so then does God’s
kingdom infer a godly heritage of divine health, blessing, peace & joy but
we will never access any of it so long as we still believe satan’s lies:
I don’t deserve…
God doesn’t love me
as much as…
Healing is for
someone else, not me…
I’m not worthy…
Healing isn’t for
everybody…
And on & on he
goes sowing seeds of lies, stealing your victory, convincing you that God is
not true to His word, doesn’t love you, is not faithful, not trustworthy, not
kind, not the same yesterday, today & forever, doesn’t heal…but God has
promised good to us:
"But my God shall supply all your need
according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus". Phillipians 4:19
His grace is
sufficient for us. (II Corinthians 12:9
I Corinthians 10:13 …no temptation is irresistible. You can trust
God to keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up
against it, for he has promised this and will do what he says. He will show you
how to escape temptation’s power so that you can bear up patiently against it.
He has promised us
victory. "but thanks be to God,
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I
Corinthians 15:57).
God has promised
that all things work together for good to those who love and serve Him
faithfully ~Romans 8:28
Remember what Elijah
said to the people?
Elijah came near to all the
people and said, "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the
LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people did not
answer him a word.1 Kings 18:21
You cannot serve 2 masters.
Jesus pointed out But
if your vision is poor, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the
light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Matthew 6:24
· Thirdly, Before we
can even begin to discuss healing & God’s sovereign power to heal we have
to rectify our wrong thinking. We have to watch the words that come out of our
mouths. Do we speak life? Or do we speak death? With whom are we agreeing, Jesus, who
declares life, or satan, who decrees death?
Take any item in the news & consider your
belief about it. Earthquakes? Did God cause the earthquake? Road accident?
God’s fault? Accidental drowning. Shark
attack. Volcano. Terrorists. The world
is full of horrible things but the truth is God didn’t cause any of them. They
belong firmly in the realm of satan but we suffer the consequences of original
sin in a fallen world because we gave the guardianship & ruling of this
world to satan in the garden & even though Jesus took that back on the
cross satan is in no hurry to give back what he got & if he can convince us
that God is powerless we do not act with the authority & power that Jesus gave
to His church.
The tongue can bring death or
life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. Proverbs 18:21
A wholesome tongue is a tree of
life: but perverseness in it is a breach in the spirit. Proverbs 15:4
Our words matter. Either we agree with what God says about
us or we agree with satan. Satan is the liar, the accuser, the deceiver so if
our words agree with his then we are speaking lies, deceptions & accusations
about ourselves & others.
Do you begin to see how this works when it comes to
healing?
"Behold, as
for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will
live by his faith. Habbakuk 2:4 And Faith
is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us
assurance about things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1
And I will do
whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it! John 14:13~14
When we believe God loves us & desires to give us good
things; when we believe He is trustworthy & faithful; when we truly believe
that whatever we ask of the Father in Jesus name will be done that the Father
might be glorified we will speak words of life over ourselves & over
others.
Now none of this is going to come naturally because our
flesh is tied to this world so when a doctor tells us we have this that or the
other our natural minds fall into agreement. We forget this is only a diagnosis
& as citizens of another kingdom we have a higher authority & access to
the Great Healer.
What do the scriptures say? "Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on
seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to
you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to
everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7~8
We are to ask in faith that what we ask for will
be given. We are to ask in expectation
that we will receive what we have asked for.
We are to stand firm trusting in the One who is faithful &
trustworthy.
This is the foundation of our healing. If we are amiss in our belief about God, how
much He loves us & the authority we have as heirs of the Kingdom then we
will struggle to walk in healing. We are to seek God’s Kingdom & His
righteousness first. The promise is that
if we do that then all these other things will be given unto us.
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