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Your Birthright!
Not only is sickness an attack on The External Temple of The Holy Spirit, it is an attempted attack at the The Spirit Himself. From the beginning, satan knew he was no match for God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit. But that didn’t keep him from trying. His favorite “Poke” at God was to try to beat Him at His Own Game, so to speak.
God gave these humans free will. Fine! Satan planned to get the earth people to forget The Power they had in having The One living inside of them. Or even better, satan wanted them to remember and use their free will to reject their Creator.
Sickness gives satan an excellent opportunity to tempt us to believe God doesn’t love us or that He has forsaken us all together. As our sick body seems to talk louder and louder, we listen to it and stop listening to the One Who is ever present with us.
GOD’S PRESENCE
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.
Hebrews 13:5
(What does NEVER mean?)
JESUS’ PRESENCE
Surely I AM with you ALWAYS!
Matthew 28:20
(What does ALWAYS mean?)
THE HOLY SPIRIT’S PRESENCE
[Jesus speaking] And I will ask The Father
and He will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you FOREVER —
The Spirit of Truth.
The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.
But you will know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you!
(What does FOREVER mean?)
Be aware, in times of misery, satan will come to you and say, “Where is God in all of this? Looks like he left you like this. Don’t you hate it when He does that??”
How do you answer satan? Grab your Sword of The Spirit and quote THE WORD!
Why Does God Allow Suffering?
Job was a righteous man, who pleased God. But God realized Job had a few flaws that satan could use in the future to infiltrate this man of God. When satan asked God’s Permission to attack Job, God agreed. And attack he did! Job endured one calamity after another.
Wait! If we are doing what God wants us to do, shouldn’t He reward us with only good things? It doesn’t work that way. If it did, it would be all about our performance and not about God’s Mercy. Our relationship with God would be reduced to a “fee for service” arrangement.
If you are struggling, here are some comforting Words from the Scriptures.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,
whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Let perseverance finish its work
so that you may be mature and complete,
not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4
[God speaking through the prophet, Isaiah]
See, I have refined you, though not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
Isaiah 48:9
[Jesus speaking] I AM the True Vine,
and My Father is The Gardener.
He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit,
while every branch that does bear fruit,
He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
John 15:1-2
When I read those words, I must admit I am not totally comforted. Facing trials, being refined through affliction, and being pruned does not sound like what I would like. However, we must look at the end result. We must look through the pain to the gain!
Allowing God to clean us up results in being even better than we are right now. It puts us in a better position to genuinely bring forth The Fruits of The Spirit.
Afflicted …
Job actually did well in maintaining righteousness and trust in God, even as horrible things happened to him. However, satan knew what would bring Job to his knees. And satan was envisioning Job on his knees, cursing God, not worshipping Him.
Hear satan’s chilling words to God when he asked to take the torture of Job to a new level.
“Skin for skin!” satan replied.
“A man will give all he has for his own life.
But now stretch out Your Hand and strike his flesh and bones,
and he will surely curse You to Your Face.”
We may not get as far as cursing God, but sickness tends to bring out the worst in us. Like the illnesses that were frequently referenced in the Bible, our outer covering gets opened up and impurities spill out. Doubt, distrust, fear, anger, depression, surrender to every imaginable vision of satan poke through our outer covering. When we thought we controlled that covering, we may have said confidently, “Hey, I’ve got this! I’m just fine!”
When it became obvious that Job didn’t “have this” and he was definitely not fine, he and his friends tried to analyze the situation from all angles. And yet any theory sooner or later led back to the thought that God had rejected Job for reasons unknown.
God allowed Job to wallow in the mire of his thoughts for quite awhile, before He finally got to the point of hushing Job up. And when God spoke, Job, his friends and all of Creation heard God’s Reply.
God did not answer even one question Job asked. He simply told Job extensively what is summarized in one tiny sentence, recorded in Psalm 46:10.
Be still and know that I AM God!
Instead of trying to figure out why sickness has come upon us, a better approach is total surrender to the One Who created us and knows every cell of our bodies very intimately.
When we are willing to affirm in our spirits that God is God and He has never left us, Jesus, in all His Authority, will tell satan to leave and The Holy Spirit will blow the door to our hearts and mind shut behind satan’s hasty exit.
Will our healing be instant? It might. Or it may take place in God’s Perfect Timing. Don’t look for signs and wonders, even though they may appear. Look to The One Who is ever present and loving you in the midst of any trial.
Hear the comforting Words from the scriptures. You may find them more comforting than the previous ones!
And we know that in all things,
God works for the good of those who love Him,
who have been called, according to His Purpose.
Romans 8:28
“For I know The Plans I have for you,”
declares The Lord,
“Plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
Plans to give you Hope
and a Future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
Job’s healing came when he surrendered to the Awesome Hands of God, the same God Who made the Universe and everything in it. After many chapters of whining and seeking whys that never came, Job fell silent, as God spoke. And as The Truth of God’s Authority soaked into Job’s mind and heart, he could only exclaim,
My ears have heard of You,
but now my eyes have seen You!
Job 42:5
Meet Jesus, The Healer!
There were those who had the opportunity to see the Healing Power of Jesus up close and personal. Again and again, Jesus revealed God’s Desire that His Children be whole and healthy in every way. And yet today, questions still linger about God’s Will, as it relates to illness. Perhaps you have some of the same questions. Hear Jesus’ Answers!
Are You willing to heal?
Matthew 8:2 records that a man with leprosy came and knelt before Jesus and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus answered with a statement for all time, “I AM willing! Be clean!”
Do You have the Authority to heal?
Jesus took care of the Authority issue in one fell swoop, announcing that He had the Authority to forgive and to heal. Matthew 9:5-6 records Jesus told a paralytic, his sins were forgiven and then He commanded him to get up and walk!
Does the Fact that You frequently addressed forgiving sins
before healing people mean they were just full of sin?
Is that why they were sick?
In order for us to receive a gift, we have to have open hands and be in a position to receive that Gift. Jesus approached people face to face. He first removed anything that would put distance between them and Him. He established a straight path for His Power to flow into them. Sin may not directly cause the illness we see manifested, but sin will definitely interfere with our ability to receive all that Jesus has to give.
How do You heal people? What is Your Source of Power?
Luke 5:17 records “The Power of the Lord was present for Him to heal the sick.” God and The Holy Spirit were standing with Jesus, locked together in Agreement and Love.
Do You make house calls?
Matthew 8:6-7 records that a Roman soldier came to Jesus and begged for healing for his servant at home. Jesus said, “I will go and heal him!”
Do You have office hours?
Most places are closed on the Sabbath.
When the teachers of the law were trying to trap Jesus, they showed Him a man with a shriveled hand and asked Him if it was legal to heal on the Sabbath. Matthew 12 records that Jesus made it clear that it was acceptable to heal at any time, even on the Sabbath. He healed the man right in front of them!
Will You respond to my requests for someone else?
Many people were healed by Jesus because others asked on their behalf!
Are there other reasons besides the obvious that You heal people?
Jesus healed because of His Compassion, but also as a means of drawing people to Him to hear His Message. John 6:2 records “a great crowd of people followed Him because they saw the miraculous signs He had performed on the sick.”
Who exactly will You heal?
Matthew 12:15, as well as other scriptures, reveal “He healed ALL their sick!”
If You have The Authority and Power to heal,
if You are willing to heal,
if You respond to the pleas of anyone
who believes You can and will heal them,
what is left that would prevent healing?
A lack of faith! In all instances of healing, there was someone who believed Jesus could and would heal. And in those places, where people did not have faith, Mark 6:5-6 records Jesus could not do any miracles.
He could not do any miracles there,
except lay His Hands on a few sick people and heal them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith!
In one of the most interesting cases of healing, as recorded in Matthew 20, two blind men were begging Jesus for healing.
Jesus asked them what they wanted Him to do for them. Wasn’t it apparent what they wanted? What was Jesus up to? He wanted them to speak the picture they had in their minds. He wanted them to see themselves seeing!
How Much Faith Do I Need?
Truly I tell you,
if you have faith as small as a mustard seed,
you can say to this mountain,
‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move!
Nothing will be impossible for you!”
Matthew 17:20
Points To Ponder
Do you believe Jesus has The Power to heal?
Do you believe Jesus has The Authority to heal?
Do you believe Jesus has The Authority to forgive sins?
Do you believe Jesus wants to heal you?
Are you willing to ask His Forgiveness for sins you’ve committed, including a lack of faith?
Are you willing to receive His Forgiveness?
Are you ready to receive The Healing He offers you? How great is your faith?
