He Still Heals, Do You Believe?

First, I want do dispel some common misunderstandings about sickness and disease.

God is the same, yesterday, today, and forever more. "How can a loving God, allow sickness and disease?" He doesn't make anyone sick. He is a loving God. He is our Father. He does not want us to suffer. It was never His intent. He makes us perfect in His eyes.

God made the Earth perfect. He made man in His imagine. Perfect in every way. He gave man domination over the Earth and all that is in it. He made him lord over the Earth. Man in turn, gave that authority over to Satan. Satan, from that point on, is lord over the Earth. What God made perfect, Satan corrupts.

Remember the story of Job?

Job 1:

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.

7 And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

9 Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

12 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

It goes on to tell us how Satan then destroyed and took everything he could away from Job. Job remained faithful to God. Notice what God said to Satan. "Behold, all that he hath is in thy power" Why? Because he is in the World. Then in,,,

Job 2:

1Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.

2 And the Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

3 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

4 And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

6 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

Now notice again, God said "Behold, he is in thine hand." Did God make Job sick? No. Satan did. "So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown."

Remember what Jesus told Peter?

Luke 22:

31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Again, as Job, as all of us are, we are in the hand of the devil. Peter was in the hands of the devil. We are in the flesh. We do not have a choice, but to deal with the things of the flesh. Since that original sin in the Garden, we are now subject to the things of the flesh. That is why Jesus came. To set us free from the bondage of the flesh. Jesus said this.

Luke 4:

18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

He was quoting this Scripture.

Isaiah 61:

1The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

Peter passed the test, and became so powerful in the Lord, that his SHADOW healed people. Job passed his trials and tribulations and became one of the Richest and most powerful men ever to walk the earth. You see, not everything is bad, that we call bad.

I want to share a quick story with you. There was a man that was born with no legs. His parents were distraught. The Father had a hard time dealing with this. The baby grew and became a boy, and then became a man. Meanwhile, in a war, a Soldier loss his legs when he stepped on an explosive. He was confused and depressed. Not knowing if it was worth it to go on. A former Football Player, now all he could see himself as is a cripple.

One day, the Solider was laying in bed, wishing he would have just died, when the man with no legs came into the room. In time they became friends, and the man with no legs, taught the Solider that life is just fine without legs.

You see, the point of the story is this. The man with no legs, never cared about not having legs. He was born that way. To him that was normal. But because of him, this Solider and many other people have been helped, and perhaps even saved. Was it bad for the man to be born with no legs?

We have a bad habit of looking at something, not seeing exactly what we think it should be like, and calling it bad. Some people even look at someone who is sick, or crippled, and wonder what they did to deserve it. Jesus said this to his Disciples, when they came across a blind man.

John 9:

9 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

You see, sometimes what we see is bad, God sees as good. We would too if we knew that total truth.

Healing is one of those teachings that some do not accept. They do not understand it. They do not believe it. They think, for good reason, that anytime they see a "Man of God" with a Microphone in one hand, and a Bible in the other, that they are scamming people out of their money. The reason for this is simple. In too many cases, they are right.

However, just because not all men can heal you, doesn't mean that God is unable. " But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God allthings are possible." And "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." Everyone has a purpose and a plan in God's eyes. They are all important. You are the way you are because it fits into that plan. If it IS in Gods plan to heal you, not only can He, but He will.. The Psalmist puts it this way.

Psalm 103:

1Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

When foretelling of Jesus's coming, the Word declares this..

Isaiah 53:

1Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Jesus is the same today. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He still heals. That is not the question. God makes no one sick. That is not the question. As a matter of fact, God set up a Heaven on Earth. In the Garden, Adam and Eve walked through, wherever they chose. The Lion laid down with the Lamb. No sickness and disease was present. Nothing could harm them. No sickness, sorrow, sadness, nothing bad existed. God himself would speak to them face to face. Once we gave authority of the earth over to Satan, once we bowed down to, and obeyed Satan over God, is when everything changed.

Another fact of truth about sickness and disease is something people do not want to face. However, that doesn't change the truth. Sometimes, we bring it on ourselves. Smoke for 40 years? Get Cancer? Wonder why? Eat all the wrong foods, get Diabetes? Wonder why? Pollute the air and water that we need to live, wonder why we get sick? Sometimes it is by our own hands we get sick.

So what is the question? The question that Jesus asked many, if not all, that He healed was this. "Do you believe?" In

Matthew 9:

27 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us.

28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.

29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.

30 And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.

One of my favorite stories is in

Mark 5:

22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,

23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.

24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.

So this man heard and believed, that Jesus heals. He left all and traveled to see him. He sought Him out, and he asked Him to heal his Daughter. The Word does not tell us that Jesus said, do this, or that. Jesus did not ask the man anything at all. No The man asked, Jesus went. But it gets better..

25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,

26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,

27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.

28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.

Now there is true faith. She did not want to talk to Him. She did not want to bother Him. She had so much Faith, that she believed if she merely touched His cloths, she would be healed. She was.

29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?

31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

Can you imagine this. Hundreds if not thousands of people walking with Jesus. All trying to get closer to Him. He stops. He says "Who touched me?" I can imagine what, most likely Peter, thought. You see this crowd? EVERYONE is touching you. What are you talking about?

32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.

33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.

34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

"Your faith has made you whole." Now remember, while all this is going on, the Ruler of the Synagogue is in great distress and worry for his Daughter's life. Here is Jesus dealing with an unclean women. Whenever we get sick, we want what? To get better NOW. But God does things in His time. For His reasons.

35 While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?

36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.

Forget what man says. Do not lose faith. Do not fear. BELIEVE. Trust in God and the fact HE knows what is best.

37 And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.

38 And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.

39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.

40 And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.

41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.

42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.

43 And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.

You have to love that. He raises the Girl from the dead, and says, "Give her something to eat." Another one of my favorite stories can be found in..

Matthew 8:

5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,

6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

Again, The man sought out Jesus. He came to Him and asked Him. Believing He could heal. Again, notice Jesus asked him nothing. He said "I will come heal him." But then, the Centurion showed Jesus how much faith he actually has. It amazed even Jesus Himself,

8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

Jesus marvelled. Would you not like to do something that makes even God amazed at you. Can you imagine that. It goes on to say that in the same hour that Jesus tells the Centurion his servant was healed, he was. Remember the Woman in

Mark 7:

25 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:

26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.

27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.

28 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.

29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.

30 And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.

It was the woman's faith that made her Daughter whole again. Over and over again, we see Jesus ask the question, or we see those seeking healing answer the question in various ways. Do you believe?

Now please do not misunderstand here. If you have sought out a "Person of God" that claims to have the gift of Healing, and nothing happened? It is not you. Most likely, they do not possess that gift. If you go and anyone asks you for money, to heal you, don't just walk, but run away from them. They are not of God. Remember what Peter said to the Lame man at the Gate?

Acts 3

6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God:

When those that do possess the gift of healing, heal, they do so for the glory of God. Not for Profit. However, you do not need a man to heal you. All you need is Faith in God. Remember that the Centurion? No one came into his house. No man laid hands on his Servant. Yet the healing took place.

What about those that do not recover? What about those that die? Why would God allow that person to die, and not others? It's not fair. No. It's life. Remember, it is in God's Will. In Gods time. We will all die eventually. As the Word declares:

Ecclesiastes 3:

1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Everything and everyone, has a time. We are born, one day, we will all die. We will leave this earth. Depending on your choice, you go where you go. I can't prove it, but I truly believe that in that Lamb's book of life, is not only your Birth date, your name, all that is about you, but also your death date. I truly believe that it is already determined. How we get there is up to us. Some go to sleep. Some die in accidents. Some suffer sickness and disease. But we all die?

That is why it is so important to know, that when you do pass on from here, that you will go to be with God. Say this Prayer in your own words.

"Oh heavenly Father, Lord God. I am a sinner. I know this. I know there is nothing I can do to change that. But I know you can. I accept Jesus's sacrifice for me. I repent my sins. Please send the Spirit of Adoption into my life. Help me to get to know the real you. Save me. Please. In the name of Jesus, Amen!"

That's it. It IS just that simple. Go be Baptized in the way Jesus said to be. Learn who God is. Be the Child of God you have just become. Understand that just because you leave this Earth. It's not the end. Just because "good people" die, doesn't mean it's a bad thing.

When we go to Heaven, we no longer suffer sickness, disease, pain or suffering, sorrow or sadness. Death does not have to be a time of sorrow. For when a believer dies, it could be considered a time of celebration. They have endured to the end. They have received their reward. They are with God himself. They are surrounded by love, peace, happiness. it is a far better place that we go, than this of which we leave.

Trust in God. Have faith HE knows best. Have faith that He still heals. Know that there is so much more to Life, than the little things that Satan can throw at us. Even sickness and disease. Even DEATH will never separate us from God. Through your death, others may come to believe. We just do not see the big picture. But what we should do, is trust in Jesus. He said.."Be not afraid, only believe."

Until next time, Be blessed, and Jesus IS Lord!