HEALING
PART
1!
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HEALING ** Part 1
God's Gift of Mercy and Grace by Dan Gallagher.
I am passionate about healing, and I have been passionate about this for
many years. In fact, in 1972 for the first time in my life, I had the
Bible opened to me and explained in a way that I had never before
understood. I was raised a Roman Catholic; and of course, I was born
again as a Christian and accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord, but I had
never understood that God's power, His gift of holy spirit, resided in
us, and that we could operate the power of God in our lives.
As I sat in a Bible class and learned for the first time many keys on
how to appropriate this power and put it into effect. My heart was
thrilled, for my mind would wander to my sister, Patty. You see, my
sister, Patty is one of my five sisters. She is two years older than me
and is the closest to me of my elder sisters. Patty was born a perfect
child, but unfortunately through the mishaps of the wrong decisions of a
couple of doctors, Patty's brain was oxygen starved within a short time
after her birth. The result was a condition called Cerebral Palsy, which
is actually where a part of the brain dies. That caused Patty some
crippling, some mental retardation, loss of hearing, and also an
inability to speak. Not only was that bad enough but Patty as a young
child was also hit with polio.
As I sat in this class and was learning for the first time that healing
was available. My mind kept thinking about Patty. As I heard these
things, I considered, 'Wow, what a miracle it would be for me to return
home and to minister to my sister-certainly a need was there for
healing, and I certainly wanted it. I knew that my whole family,
including my parents, wanted it. Yes, I did understand that parents have
legal rights over children, but my sister was of an adult age. I was
here, and I figured that I knew these keys. Certainly, God being all
love, kind, and merciful would want my sister healed. I knew that God
was not the author of sickness, sin, or death.
Within a short period of time after graduating from this class, I hopped
into the car and headed north. I was in southern California going to
college, and my family lived in northern California, which was a trip of
about eight hours. I drove the whole time praising God, praying, and
just seeking Him that He would intercede for my sister, and I knew that
He would certainly heal her. Well, I walked into the house that day, and
was able to get my sister and take her into my bedroom. I closed the
door, and I got down on my knees and held Patty's hand. She had no idea
what was going on, but I knew God did. I sat there and closed my eyes,
and I prayed for my sister. I prayed for her healing, and I prayed with
all the authority that Jesus Christ had given to us. I knew in my heart
that I felt that I had faith and that I believed that God would heal
her.
Slowly I opened my eyes. What I saw was that, unfortunately nothing had
happened. I was devastated. I asked God, 'Why God? Why won't you heal my
sister?' As I said, healing is something that is very important to me. I
know that it is important to all of us. I know that many of us have had
the same impact of not seeing healing manifested in our lives. Myself,
my children, and my spouse at times have been sick or injured and needed
healing. We have all needed healing in one form or another, at one time
or another. We have seen the pain and suffering of loved ones around us.
Many of us, if not all of us, have prayed to God for relief, or a cure
at one time or another. We all know of other people who have suffered
the debilitating effects of injury, illness, and disease.
In this teaching, it is my prayer, my hope, my aim, and my intention
that you be able to understand exactly what God has made available to us
to the end that you receive healing in your life and that you are a more
effective minister, so that you are able to administer healing to others
that are around you.
We are going to look at a number of issues concerning healing. First, we
are going to look and examine the arguments or positions of why we
believe sickness is not part of God's plan. Second, we will then look at
what steps God has taken and also why we do not see more healing in the
Church today. As we begin to understand these things, we will then look
at what other factors impact our ability to receive and minister
healing. I believe that as we do this, you will gain a better
understanding to the end that you will be able to appropriate that power
of God that I so much desired to manifest and to use to help Patty in
that room many years ago.
As you read this transcription, I may read some things that challenge
you on your doctrine. I ask you, have patience and please reread this
teaching and the supporting hyperlinks not once but a few times. I will
be covering a lot of material, and I think you will need to work through
it a few times.
I ask that you read the transcription of John's teaching, because I
believe John will be able to expand areas and specific verses that you
need to understand in a more thorough way. Also, he will cover a
cultural paradigm that existed in the first century Church that is
different from our western paradigm. This difference has a great impact
on our ability to understand healing.
If you are like me, you have asked a lot of questions about healing. I
have heard some Christians say that if a person is sick, then they just
do not have enough faith because God would always heal them. Since he
does not get healed, it obviously has to be a matter of their faith. I
have also heard other people say that healing is not even available
today. Many times people have even said that God is the one that sends
sickness, and He does it to make us humble.
Section 1: What does the Bible really say about healing?
The best way to approach this subject about healing is to of course
start in the beginning. I know that most of you already know or are
familiar with this material, but we need to take the time to lay a
proper foundation. Remember, this is an overview teaching. Before we
address the question of 'Is healing available?', we should understand if
sickness was even a part of God's original plan. These are the first two
questions:
There are four main reasons for why we believe that sickness and disease
are not part of God's plan.
The first reason is that in the opening verses of Genesis it clearly
shows that God's original intent was for a perfect people to live
forever on a perfect earth. Everything that God made was 'very good.'
Neither sickness nor death, which is total sickness, was ever meant to
be a part of that picture. Corruption in the Creation, which includes
mankind, came only when Adam sinned. Adam and Eve were living in the
garden, Adam first and then along comes Eve. This was a place without
thorns and thistles, a wonderful paradise. The definition of paradise is
'a perfect place.'
No corruption existed. The corruption of the Creation, which included
mankind, came through Adam's sin. Not only did mankind suffer as a
result of Adam's sin, but Romans 8:21 tells us that the entire world has
since been held 'in bondage to decay.' Even plants and animals get sick
and die prematurely.
The second reason we believe the Bible indicates that sickness and
disease were not part of God's plan is that the Bible says God is love
(1 John 4:8). Now think about that. We are all loving at times, but God
is love, which means that by His very nature and unchanging character,
it is impossible for Him to think, say, or do anything that is not
totally loving. Making people sick to humble them is not my idea of
being loving, and I am sure that it is not yours either.
The third reason that we believe sickness and disease were not part of
God's plan is that God created the human body with an amazing, if not
even a miraculous, ability to heal itself. Now, why would He do that if
He were also the author of sickness and death? Why would He want to make
people sick if their bodies would keep healing themselves? It would seem
like He would then be working against Himself, and that is ludicrous.
There are many difficult verses in the Old Testament that seem to say
that God sent diseases, plagues, etc., but we believe that this can be
understood as people bringing upon themselves the consequences of their
own sin and unbelief. For a thorough biblical answer to the problem of
evil, sin, suffering, and answers to these questions raised by Old
Testament verses, I would highly recommend that you read our book Don't
Blame God. It will explain this in a more systematic way than I am
attempting to do today.
Again, the third point I am trying to raise here for why we believe
sickness and disease are not part of God's original plan is God even
made the body with a miraculous ability to heal itself.
The fourth reason is that Jesus always did the will of God. Wherever
Jesus went, he never made people sick. To the contrary, he healed all
that he could heal. In fact, Acts 10:38 is a very good record that sums
up Jesus' life and mission.
Who is the one who is causing sickness and disease? Well, I believe that
it infers right there. It is the Devil, because Jesus was doing the
healing. God's will is that people be healed.
This leads us to the second point of this teaching. What steps, if any,
has God taken to bring about healing for mankind? Is healing even
available?
The first thing that God has done is to give His Word, which heals when
it is received, understood, and believed. The second thing that God has
done to bring about healing to mankind is sending the 'living word-Jesus
Christ' in whom is complete healing. In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus declared
when opening his ministry the following:
I believe it very specifically says here that God sent Jesus to heal the
broken hearted and the recovery of sight for the blind. Healing is there
in Jesus Christ, and his life demonstrated that. That is the second
point of what we can see that God has done to bring about healing. He
has sent us His Written Word, and His Living Word. The third thing that
God did was not only that Jesus healed those who came to him with faith,
but he also empowered his disciples and instructed them to do the same
thing.
The steps God did to bring about healing were first, God sent His Word.
Second, He sent the Living Word, Jesus Christ. Third, Jesus empowered
his disciples to heal. Fourth, God anointed Jesus with holy spirit for
his mission on earth, and since Jesus' exaltation as Lord, he has
anointed each person who believes on him with that very same holy
spirit. The Lord Jesus is still highly invested in energizing signs,
miracles, and wonders because they are, if you will, God's advertising
campaign. Whenever and wherever we see miracles occurring, we can see
the power of God manifest. It declares the glory of God, His magnificent
ability, and His love for mankind. Every Christian now has that very
same power and authority to heal that Jesus had, and those in the first
century Church knew it and they believed it.
That is what I call an advertising campaign. When God wants to make His
moves known, He moves out and He demonstrates with His power. Paul was
also invested with the same power that Jesus Christ had because Jesus
had anointed him. And, Jesus has given to each of us (Christians) that
very same ability. When Paul reached out to minister and healed Publius,
all the islanders saw that, recognized it, and they came.
One of the manifestations of the spirit that Christians can utilize is
even called gifts of healing.
Some are even called as 'workers of miracles,' which we believe, at
times, includes miraculous healing. Clearly, God has provided many ways
for healing, which brings me to my third question.
I do believe that a number of factors can be found for this. The simple
and most basic answer is a lack of faith; however, there is a lot more
to this. Occasionally, we do see miraculous healing, but a number of
factors exist that affect healing, and we need to explore all of these.
Factor #1 Attitude:
The first factor that we need to examine is attitude. That is right, not
faith but attitude. I believe that attitude can precede faith. Too
often, people can approach the subject of healing with an attitude that
limits their trust in God. A foundational distinction exists in the area
of healing that we should all understand in order to adopt the right
attitude. We need to know that health and wholeness is God's will, and
that He has empowered us to heal by way of holy spirit, but that does
not mean that healing is a right.
In other words, it is not something that we demand or claim as I have
heard some teach. That is a pretty popular teaching-name it and claim
it, and if you just have enough faith, you can just command things, for
it is already yours, and you can just claim it. I believe that is a
wrong attitude. Just because God has made available to us healing and
wholeness does not mean that it is a right. When properly understood, we
believe Scripture reveals that healing is a gift, and is received by
faith (trust).
By way of explanation, let me just remind you that in the United States
we do have certain rights guaranteed to us by our constitution. We have
the right to free speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion.
These are rights, and they are something that we can demand; we can
claim them. As sons of God we have many rights, but unlike a right, a
gift is not something that one can demand. Instead, a gift is given
voluntarily without payment. It is presented to the recipient to show
favor. Redemption, salvation, and eternal life are some of the gifts
that God has given to us because of His great mercy and His grace.
Whenever a gift is given to us, it is always because of mercy and grace.
God is merciful because He has withheld from us what we truly deserve
for our sins, which is death. He demonstrates His unmerited favor
towards us, that is, His grace. Healing is one of those precious gifts
that God gives to us. We do not earn it, and we certainly do not deserve
it. Whenever and wherever healing occurs, it is always because of God's
mercy and grace.
Look at how David associated healing with God's mercy.
See, it says, 'Have mercy on me.' It is a gift. The Apostle Paul also
recognized that healing was the result of God's mercy. We see this in
Philippians when he was speaking of the beloved disciple Epaphroditus.
God had mercy on Epaphroditus. It does not say, 'We got around
Epaphroditus and claimed his healing that God had made available; we
demanded the right of healing that God had given to Epaphroditus.' No,
it says that God had mercy on him. Mercy is a gift.
Let's look at a number of verses that you will see say this same thing.
Isaiah 58:6-8
You should see in the above verses that healing is directly correlated
and associated to mercy. Remember, we are on the subject of attitude,
and attitude is something that will affect our faith. What is the
importance of understanding healing as a gift and not a right? Well, it
is a subtle distinction, but it is an important one. I believe that it
affects our ability to receive healing. If you are invested in receiving
healing, you will want to know and understand this.
The first distinction is the difference between truth and error, for
only truth sets us free.
To the degree that we have error, we also have bondage. Wrong teaching
always produces wrong results. I believe that is the first distinction
in the difference between a gift versus a right. Too much of what passes
for Christian teaching today comes from tradition and culture rather
than the Word of God. I am not invested in tradition; I am invested in
truth because it is truth that sets us free. Healing is a gift and not a
right. I believe that as you take the time to examine this, you will see
it is an important distinction.
The second distinction is that we are not properly handling the Word of
God if we rip it from the cultural context in which it was written. In
the United States, we tend to think in terms of rights and entitlements,
but in a biblical culture, people did not think that way. In the
biblical culture, they thought in terms of what we call patronage. John
Schoenheit in the second part of this teaching, will examine in detail
the entire subject of patronage, and I know it will bless you. It will
give you a depth of understanding, especially concerning your ability to
approach God in faith (trust).
You have to understand, in a patronage system (which was what the
biblical culture was), goods and services were seriously limited. If you
were to get what you needed, you often had to depend upon the generosity
of a patron, whether it was a landowner, wealthy person, or even the
emperor. They were considered patrons. This is how people got goods;
this is how people were able to rise up. A gap existed between the
'haves' and 'have-nots,' and the only way that the arts and many things
could continue and be promoted, was through patrons. This was a model of
the paradigm in which all of the first century saints lived. They
thought of God as a generous patron. A patron was someone to whom they
could confidently look to satisfy their needs, not by claiming rights.
If you went to a patron and said, 'I demand my right,' they would look
at you and say, 'Get out of here; you ungrateful fool!' They did not
claim a right. They received the goodness from this patron by virtue of
the patron's generosity and goodness.
We believe that this is how the first century Christians viewed healing.
In God and Jesus Christ we have a wonderful provision for physical
healing, which was demonstrated by Jesus and all of his followers. We
trust our heavenly Father and our risen Lord and Savior for healing, and
we give them the glory, not because we demand the right, but because of
the idea of their goodness and kindness towards us - their mercy and
grace. This fits within the biblical culture of a patron model. If it
were a right, then we could congratulate ourselves for asserting our
right, but that is not true faith. That is not true trust.
The third distinction is that when we have a right to anything, then we
can and should assert that right, but asserting or demanding something
to which you do not have a right carries with it an element of
arrogance. That is an attitude that God resists. Remember Proverbs 3 and
4, 15:25, and 21:4, God resists the proud. Well, arrogance is an
attitude that God resists. When you approach healing as a right verses a
gift by God's mercy and grace because of His goodness, then you are
bringing with you an element of arrogance. That is affecting your
attitude, which definitely affects your trust and confidence in God.
Your confidence is then in the right and not in the right Giver.
Consider for a minute that when the Old Testament saints came and
offered a sacrifice to God that they had no absolute assurance that God
was going to grant their request. In fact, to the contrary, the tension
of not knowing if your sacrifice was acceptable actually produced an
attitude of humility, which is something that God requires when He gives
His grace. Though Christ's atonement did make many things available to
us, we receive these by trust and confident expectation in the generous
one. Not by asserting our right, but by our humble submission and
knowing with confidence of His goodness and His graciousness and His
mercy towards us. The difference in attitude is subtle, but it is a
difference between biblical faith and arrogant presumption. Remember,
God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble [James 4:6].
Speaking in terms of our attitude, I want to remind you that God is not
a vending machine.
The Israelites were approaching God with an attitude that they merely
had to comply with the outward sacrificial requirements of the Law. They
wrongly focused on sacrifice, not on the heart. God does not just want
sacrifice; He wants a relationship with us. When I say that He is not a
vending machine, I mean a couple of things. He is not merely transacting
business with us. God is not prescriptive.
I believe a while back the Lord revealed that to me in prayer as I was
seeking him on healing. I heard the word 'prescriptive,' and as I prayed
and meditated on that and thought and asked, 'Lord what are you showing
me?' I believe that he said that 'God is not prescriptive.' God does not
say, 'Follow these steps and then you will get this result.' Why? Your
focus is then on the steps and not the one that gave you the steps to
follow in the first place. That is what the Jews were doing. They
focused on the Law rather than the lawgiver. Remember in Romans, it
tells us that they thought that their righteousness was of the Law.
Their whole focus was on the Law, and they lost sight of the Lawgiver.
God gives us a whole range, a continuum, with which we can move. We need
to be in relationship with Him so that we know what to do at any given
time. God is not a vending machine (He is not prescriptive). He does not
say do A, B, C, D, and E. Consider the Gospels, look at the whole range
in which Jesus Christ moved, and look at all the different manners and
methods in which he ministered healing. In one, Jesus is spitting and
dabbing mud in a mans eyes, in another one, he says that 'your sins are
forgiven,' and in another one he says, 'I will,' and the man was made
whole. In the Old Testament, a man dipped himself into the river seven
times and was healed on the seventh time, not on the first or on the
sixth but on the seventh. That does not mean that every person who dips
himself into the Jordan River will be healed on the seventh time. Why is
this? I believe it is because God is not prescriptive. He does not give
a set of steps to follow. God wants a relationship, and our attitude is
what is most important in that relationship - an attitude of humility.
It is an attitude of being able to look up to the goodness and
graciousness of God. It is an attitude of submission. It is an attitude
of knowing that God is all love and all kind, and He wants nothing but
goodness for you. It is a distinction, but it is an important
distinction because it is not a right that you come to Him and say, 'I
demand my healing!' That is arrogant and prideful, and God resists the
proud. Our Father desires an intimate relationship with each of His
children. He gives to us in order to bless us and to engender joy and
thanksgiving and to engender more trust in return to Him.
I certainly would consider a time of sickness, disease, and even death a
time of need. Well, we can come boldly to the throne, but it is a throne
of grace, so that we can obtain mercy and find that grace.
You may be wondering, 'But wait a minute, I was taught that it was a
promise, and that I could claim that promise.' In fact, one of the
verses that I was taught was 1 Peter 2:24.
Specifically, I am referring to the section that says, ' by his [Jesus
Christ's] wounds you have been [past tense] healed.' Well, if you
thought that, it's a great question. Let us take a look at that for a
second. Claiming something that we may not have an actual right to claim
can cause us error and get us off in a wrong direction.
How do we explain 1 Peter 2:24? Is any other evidence there that healing
is a gift and not a right as we are asserting? I want to remind you that
in 1 Peter 2:24, Peter quotes Isaiah 53:5. Remember that these are Old
Testament verses.
In Isaiah 53:5 we see the past tense employed, 'We are healed.' Remember
that these are Old Testament Israelites who were reading this in the
past tense. Were they actually healed? They were reading it in the past
tense just as we would read it in the past tense. Obviously, their
healing was not a literal reality at the time that they were reading it,
so what is going on here?
Isaiah 53 is replete with both past and present tense verbs. They are
describing the suffering of Jesus 700 years before his actual
appearance. Isaiah was speaking of a future event. We can look at the
past tense of that event just as they could look toward the future of
that event, but yet, they were reading it as if it had actually
occurred. That is because it is a figure of speech called the prophetic
perfect. John will go into a lot greater detail on this verse because it
is something that you will need to understand.
I want to remind you of something. When would this event actually occur?
It is true that physical healing is a part of what has been made
available in the atonement of Jesus for our sin and sins. This verse is
specifically speaking of the ultimate and perfect healing that Jesus has
guaranteed we will all receive in the Millennial Kingdom. It is not
correct to say then that we can claim or demand something that is a
future event. The wholeness in healing referred to by Isaiah and the
transformation of our bodies is an event that we can all look forward to
in the future Millennial Kingdom.
Perfect health in the absence of sickness or disease is not something
that we can manifest today. That is obvious. If that were true, if what
is normally taught, that healing is a right, then we should see it in a
lot greater scale because I do not believe that it is strictly a matter
of people 'not believing.' When we see healing today, we see it in
instances where God intercedes with His mercy and grace. Remember that
the manifestation of holy spirit is called gifts of healing. It is not
called your right to healing; it is called gifts of healing. It is very
significant that this manifestation is called gifts. In fact it is
called gifts of healing in three verses:
The first recorded instance of healing in the first century Church was
when Peter and John approached the cripple at the Temple gate called
Beautiful.
Peter did not say, 'Man, claim your healing and walk.' We need to
understand the importance of having a proper attitude of humility.
Remember, we were discussing factors that can effect healing. The first
one was our attitude.
Factor #2 Faith:
'What are some of the factors that affect healing?' The simple answer
was faith. Well, attitude is a precursor to faith. A number of factors
affect healing, but Scripture shows that faith, your trust or
confidence, is definitely the major variable.
a) The faith of the person seeking healing is the first way in which
faith shows up.
Consider the following verse:
What is faith? The word faith in the Bible is translated from the Greek
word pistis, which means 'trust, confidence, or assurance.' In much of
the Christian Church and in society, people tend to think of faith as a
firm belief in something for which there is no proof. It is something
mystical, almost something intangible. When religious people have no
proof for what they believe, we often hear them say, 'You just have to
take it by faith'; in other words, it is kind of like foolish believing.
This is not what Jesus is referring to in Matthew 9:22, when he said,
'Take heart daughter, your faith has healed you.'
Faith is merely trust, and trust is not a force that does anything in
and of itself. In the scripture above, the word faith is put for the
object of faith, which is the Lord Jesus Christ himself, whom she had
touched in the act of trust, in the act of faith. She trusted by
touching the hem of his garment that she would be healed. It was not
that the garment or her faith healed her, but that the power of God
resident in Jesus healed her because of her trust in Jesus. It was her
faith that was the activator that enabled her to be able to appropriate
the healing power of God that was resident in Jesus. Jesus very clearly
indicated in numerous instances that it is a person's faith that made
possible healing.
It was not actually the faith that healed. Faith is the key that opened
the door that allowed the power resident in Jesus to work and to be
activated. The man had great confidence, trust, and assurance in Jesus
Christ's ability to do it.
b) The faith of the minister is the second way in which faith shows up.
In some instances, a minister is present who prays for or ministers
healing to the individual seeking help. Remember, the first one is the
person seeking to be healed must have faith or trust, and the second
area is the minister (in those cases where a minister is there) must
have faith. Faith is the single most important variable in God's ability
to move.
One of the primary responsibilities that a person has when they are
ministering to another is to help the faith of the person who is seeking
help. That is what Jesus did in the following record:
Big emphasis was on the word if. Jesus picked up on that language very
quickly.
Jesus saw that the problem was not the power of God. God's power, the
gift of holy spirit resident in Jesus Christ, was not the problem. God's
power that resided through the gift of holy spirit in the disciples was
also not a problem. It was the faith of the man who was seeking help.
Jesus picked up on that very succinctly when he heard the word 'if', and
that is what Jesus addressed.
Jesus' disciples had been unable to help this man's child, and when
Jesus questioned the father, Jesus realized the problem was a lack of
faith, belief, or trust on the father's part. Jesus' confrontation of
the father in this area resulted in an increase in the father's trust.
When this happened, then Jesus was able to move and heal the son.
c) The manifestation of faith is the third way in which faith shows up.
This is one of the manifestations of holy spirit. In contrast to
ordinary faith, the manifestation of faith is necessary to accomplish
special tasks that God by revelation asks us to do. Jesus said that a
person with faith could tell a mountain to be cast into the ocean and it
would be done.
All of us know that we do not have the ability by our own human power to
move a mountain, so doing that obviously requires the power of God. We
need God to make that kind of miracle available to us first by giving us
revelation to do it. When God gives us that revelation, then the faith
that we must have in order to get the job done is called the
manifestation of faith. Many times God gives the minister revelation in
the form of a message of knowledge or wisdom. God reveals to the person
doing the ministering information, insight, or knowledge about the
person and then provides direction on how to apply that knowledge. The
manifestation of faith is then you having the confidence or trust that
what God or the Lord Jesus Christ has revealed to you will come to pass
at your command.
Commanding healing in the absence of revelation is just as ineffective
as commanding a mountain to move when not told to do so. If you want to
see how effective that is go outside and see a mountain-if no mountains
are by you, then you can certainly see a building near by you, and
command it to move. It will not move unless God has given revelation to
do it. When God gives you the revelation by way of a message of
knowledge or message of wisdom, He will also give you the manifestation
of faith or the ability to carry that out at your command. It simply
will not happen just because you command it or claim it. It only happens
by the power of God that is made available when He gives revelation to
proceed.
d) The community of faith is the fourth way in which faith shows up.
Remember faith is the single biggest factor or variable in seeing
healing occur. Have you heard of some Christian ministers who draw large
crowds and many healings occurred? Is something special happening there
at these events? I believe that at times something special is happening
there. Whenever a number of people gather, that group will demonstrate a
type of group thinking. You may see more faith in one group and less in
another, which can have a profound impact on the ability of God to move.
This sociological effect is what we call the power of context, which
says that behavior is a function of social context.
Jesus recognized that faith was contagious and that 'group thinking'
could cause it to either increase or decrease. Community faith is
definitely a major variable in how faith shows up. A great example of
community faith is recorded in Matthew 13. This is speaking of Jesus'
hometown in Nazareth where the community faith negatively impacted
Jesus' ability to demonstrate the power of God.
Group thinking is contagious. It can be powerful in a positive way and
in a negative way. A positive example of this is what happened in the
first century Church when they came together with 'one accord.' That is
to say where great unity or great faith was present in the community of
believers mighty things happened.
The phrase one accord in verse 12 is the Greek word homothumadon, which
literally means to have one mind, one passion. It is a beautiful
expression of unity and it is similar to the affect of an entire
orchestra made up of many individual musical instruments all playing
with perfect synchronization and harmony, playing as one voice.
Remember, faith is the major variable to healing, so anything that
happens to increase a person's faith, then increases the power of God
being demonstrated. This is what happened when merely by the passing of
Peter's shadow people were healed. Does a shadow have anything that is
powerful or miraculous? Of course not, a shadow has no power. It was
their great community faith, their homothumadon, their unity, their one
accord. People came up from villages all around Jerusalem. You see,
faith is contagious, so when a miraculous healing occurs as a result of
one person's faith, that stimulates an increase in faith in others
thereby resulting in more healing, which increases more faith.
When Jesus went to the house of Jairus to minister to his daughter, he
put all the mourners and doubters out of the room.
When Jesus went to see Jairus after he approached him about his daughter
being sick, Jesus put all the mourners and doubters out. Why would he do
that? He does this because the community faith was very negative just as
it had been in Nazareth where they questioned who Jesus was.
Peter did the very same thing in Acts.
When Peter raised Dorcas from the dead, what did he do? He put the crowd
out. The doubt and unbelief of the crowd could have had a negative
impact on his faith.
When you are ministering to someone, you need to speak to the faith of
the individual. God will show you that this person does not have the
faith. He will show you what to say and what to speak to be able to help
that person in their area of faith. You as a minister need to have that
faith. What God reveals and shows to you, He will energize through the
manifestation of faith. Also, it is a community of faith, the
relationship between Himself and mankind, it's reciprocal. That is to
say that each person plays a part in making the connection by which God
provides what we need. God wants a relationship. Faith and trust is the
simplest thing. It is paramount; it is foundational to all
relationships. Faith is the simplest thing that God could require of
man. Scripture shows that once faith accesses the power of God, then
faith puts you in a position to receive what God desires to give you.
The following verses show that faith is the primary human element in the
healing equation:
This man heard Paul speaking. Paul observing him intently saw that he
had faith to be healed. Can you see faith? No, you cannot. Paul
spiritually perceived it. God or the Lord Jesus Christ gave Paul the
revelation. Paul spiritually perceived that he had the faith to be
healed. The manifestation of faith on Paul's part was that he spoke with
a loud voice, 'Stand up on your feet.' And, the man leaped and walked.
Neither God nor the Lord Jesus Christ has changed since the day this
crippled man walked. Faith still is the primary requirement that we must
have on our part to be able to receive the promises of God.
Besides faith what else affects our ability to be healed? Well, faith is
the primary variable, but that is not the only variable. God has
established many physical and spiritual laws, and He expects us to know
them and to keep them. When we break them, we then receive the
consequences just as sure as when we get hurt by ignoring the law of
gravity. One of those factors is sowing and reaping.
Factor #3 Sowing and Reaping
We must take this principle into account. We know scientifically that
when someone smokes multiple packs of cigarettes per day, a high
probability exists that he will probably harm his heart, lungs, throat,
in addition to many other serious effects and consequences. If a person
is primarily living on a diet of junk food and drinks soda instead of
good water, uses excessive caffeine or alcohol, and fails to get enough
sleep, then he will leave himself open for some physical calamity. The
fact is that they are reaping seeds of physical deterioration because
that is what they are sowing.
This is a principle that God has established, and it cannot be ignored.
Sowing in this way, in a negative way, and then calling out to God is
mocking Him. Remember, God shall not be mocked (Gal. 6:7 - KJV). This is
definitely a factor that you have to consider. God tells us what to do.
We ignore it, and then we call on Him to fix it. We then wonder why the
problem persists. It is because you are going against a principle of
God.
I am not saying, 'Be shamed, or feel guilty in this.' You see, we are
all guilty of this to some degree. Even if we want to, it is impossible
for us to avoid the corruption and pollution in our food supply. Our
meats are filled with antibiotics or growth hormones. We have heard
stories of mercury in fish, and fruits and vegetables being genetically
altered. The fact is that a spiritual principle is there which God has
established in the physical and spiritual realm called sowing and
reaping. He has given dietary sanitation guidelines. He has laid many
things out in Leviticus, but we mock God with disobedient behavior when
we ignore these things, things that we know we should do for our health.
Healing has to be by His mercy and grace in order for Him to overlook
this type of mockery.
Factor #4 Stewardship
Another element to consider is the principle of stewardship. We are
talking about variables that effect healing. Just like a steward who is
responsible to care for his master's goods, so to God requires that we
take care of the things that He has provided to us. This not only
applies to material possessions but certainly our bodies as well.
When we blatantly violate godly principles, we limit God's ability to
help us. Consider a person who overeats and makes his home on a couch.
It is little wonder that they are over weight and have hypertension
[high blood pressure], adult diabetes, and experience knee and joint
pain from the excessive weight. How realistic is it then to call on God
and ask for their knees to be made whole. Using wisdom is requisite to
walking with God. He requires us to use wisdom or there will be
consequences.
It is not that God will not heal. It is not that God would not heal
them. After all God is God, but how realistic is it seeing that the
source of the problem, which is completely under our own control still
exists. If you have been a slug or have been improperly taking care of
your body and now you are reaping the consequences of that, then how
realistic is it? The problem still exists. God can heal the knees, but
the problem will just return because the lifestyle has not changed. I
think here of the phrase, 'Do your best, and then God will do the rest.'
I think that this can apply in this type of example.
Do you have to be perfect to receive healing? Absolutely not! None of us
are perfect nor will we ever be perfect. We do not have to be perfect to
receive healing, but we do have an obligation and responsibility to be
proper stewards and to do the best that we can. After all, if being
perfect were the case, then no one would ever get healed. For God to
heal a person who is reaping what he is sowing, who is violating the
responsibilities of stewardship, and who is mocking God through his
behavior, then God has got to deny Himself. Again, all healing is
clearly by His mercy and His grace because we absolutely do not deserve
it.
Section 2: What is healing?
This brings me to the next section of this teaching. What is healing?
Healing by definition means to restore the body to a sound state. In
this section, I want to look at four levels in which healing occurs.
Many times healing involves one if not all four of these interrelated
areas.
Level 1-Physical healing: This is very easy to understand because of
course we all experience physical breakdown when we are sick and have
disease. The simplest way to think of the physical is where an injury or
trauma is present. When a bone is broken, healing is fairly simple in
the sense that it merely requires mending the bone back together.
Another type of physical breakdown is when an illness results from a
malfunction of one of the many multiple systems in the body. A myriad of
complex physiological systems are present in our bodies. A breakdown can
occur from many organic or environmental reasons. For instance,
malfunctioning in the circulatory, respiratory, lymphatic, nervous, or
hormonal systems can set off serious sickness. This can happen because
of nutritional deficiencies, bacterial/viral infections, genetic
inherited, or environmental factors. An illness can be simply a result
of physical conditions. In that case, healing is simple in the sense
that you merely speak to the physical condition. By way of an example,
one time Lori, my wife, and I were moving a large dresser upstairs.
Through improper timing on my part, I pushed when her foot was in the
way while on a step. I pushed really hard and pushed that dresser right
into her ankle. She immediately cried out in pain, and she went down. I
got the dresser out of the way, and she said, 'Honey, my ankle is
broken.' Without even a thought, I just spoke what I felt was inspired
utterance. I said, 'Ankle heal in the name of Jesus Christ.' Immediately
something happened. She got up, and she was jumping around on her heel
and said, 'Honey, it's healed; it's healed!' Well, that was strictly
speaking to a physical cause. Nothing else needed to be done. It
happened; I just spoke, and she was healed.
Level 2-Emotional healing: This second area is what I call the area of
emotions. Remember, these are interrelated levels. Our health is greatly
influenced by our emotions. Modern science has long since corroborated
psychosomatic mind and body connections. Solomon wrote thousands of
years ago in Proverbs 14:30 the following:
Envy is an emotion. See the relation there of an emotion to a physical
breakdown. Marrow is in the bones and generates the red and white blood
cells. That produces the whole life of the body and the defense
mechanisms against invaders.
Your body is the living reality of everything that you are. Everything
that you experience happens to all of you, not just your brain. The
point that I am making here is that when sickness, disease, or breakdown
in the body occurs, speaking strictly to the physical condition may not
result in healing because an emotional barrier might be underneath it,
causing the physical condition. What is a happy heart in Proverbs 15:13?
That is joy and happiness.
These are emotional interactions with the body.
If these things can happen on a positive end, then we know they happen
in a negative way.
Can you see the relationship of emotions with sickness here? The medical
community has documented this mind-body connection with many diseases.
For instance, unmediated long term stress has been linked to heart and
vascular problems, gastro-intestinal breakdowns, headaches, skin
conditions, lung and breathing problems, and on and on. If a person
keeps on stuffing toxic emotions year after year, the day will come when
those buried emotions will come pouring out in some form of sickness or
illness. We were never designed to live in a state of unchecked stress,
un-forgiveness, bitterness, shame, guilt, deep-rooted fears, rage, and
hatred. These have debilitating consequences on the body. They have to
be addressed, many times in a healing situation. We can see the body in
physical breakdown, but what we do not see is that it is caused by a
deleterious emotional state of mind. In many cases long term healing
cannot occur until that emotional state is resolved.
I can think of one instance where an individual came to be ministered to
and they were suffering from some serious back pain and had been for
quite a while. They asked if I would pray for them. As I went to pray, I
saw a sack sitting on their shoulders. It was a soft mental image in my
mind. I knew that the Lord was saying that this person was carrying a
weight. Obviously, no literal weight was on this person's shoulders, but
it was an emotional weight. As I began to minister and speak to the
person, I just prayed; however, what I got was to pray for an emotional
burden. I began to pray for the weight to be lifted off their shoulder,
for the emotional weight to be gone. The individual began crying. I
could just see the Lord was revealing to me the source of this problem.
I asked the Lord to lift the weight off their shoulder and to help with
the yoke and for this person to be able to trust and put these burdens
upon the Lord because he certainly wanted to care for him in that way.
As that happened, I just received revelation at that moment (which was
just a knowing) and I spoke to the back and said, 'Back be healed in the
name of Jesus Christ.' I did not know it at the time that they were
healed on the spot because this person didn't tell me until months later
when he said, 'I never told you, but when you prayed for me, I was
healed at that moment.'
Numerous instances are there where an individual asks to be healed and
what really needs to be ministered to is an emotional state of mind
before the physical can be put back in place. Instances occur where
shame, guilt, self-hatred, and self-rejection resulted in autoimmune
disease, intestinal problems, and anxiety. As I have said, emotional
burdens can cause back and shoulder problems, and headaches. These are
emotional problems. This is a level of healing that must be ministered
to for the body to be able to be corrected.
Level 3-Spiritual healing: The third level that we have to address is
spiritual healing. Times will occur where this needs to be addressed
because of evil/demonic spirits being present. Many biblical accounts
can be found where the physical infirmity was caused by demons. In such
cases the demon must be cast out from the body before it can be made
whole. That alone can do the job, or the person may also need
restorative healing to repair the damage that the spirits have caused.
We can see examples of this in Scripture where Jesus' healing was very
closely associated with his casting out of demonic spirits.
Right in the middle of these verses where it talks about various
diseases, severe pain, and paralytics, it places the demonized. I
believe in this section of Scripture that a direct connection is there
between illness and those suffering the pain, seizures, paralysis, and
the presence of these evil or demonic spirits. Many times, demonic
spirits are behind blindness, deafness, muteness, and lameness. Spirits
of infirmity also exist. Many different types of spirits exist.
Arthritic spirits, spirits of pain, spirits of trauma, that can get in
through rejection and cause the body to break down. Remember,
self-hatred, unforgiveness, and bitterness all need to be addressed so
that this person in their emotional state can be healed, and that the
spirits can be cast out of them.
The man here is blind and mute. It clearly says that he is demonized,
and Jesus healed him. What did he do? It says that Jesus cast them out,
so that he could both talk and see. Wait a minute he is blind and mute,
and it is connected to being demonized, and Jesus does what? Jesus heals
him. How would Jesus heal him? He has to address that demon. This third
level that has to be understood is the area of the interference that
demons can cause in healing.
Level 4-Moral healing: The fourth area is an area in which I call
morality. We have to acknowledge the influence of morality on healing.
What a person feeds his mind is critical to the state of that person's
body. Satan, the god of this age, is inundating our lives with a glut of
violence, immorality, and godlessness in movies, music, radio,
television, and magazines. Pornography is everywhere. A definite
interrelatedness is there between these four areas: the physical,
emotional/mental, spiritual, and the moral.
Consider the case of an alcoholic. The person has an excessive drinking
problem, which is a sin. It is a breach of God's moral admonition.
Well, this individual had originally started to turn to alcohol to numb
out some type of emotional pain. Remember, an emotional barrier is here.
Given to alcohol for a period of time could possibly open him up to a
demonic spirit, some form of an addictive spirit, an alcoholic spirit.
The person is now manifesting the physical results of a damaged liver
and other consequences in their body. Healing in this instance could
require repentance of sin, a release of deadly emotions, the eviction of
an evil spirit and the restoration of the physical body, their organs
etc. Amidst such relentless assault on our morality, we have a simple
exhortation in the following verse:
That is how one cultivates the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control.
Having these qualities in our lives requires work, but it is vital to
combating the never-ending assault that comes from society on our
character.
Scripture testifies that God has healed people. Healing is always God's
will, but some things will have to wait until the Lord Jesus Christ
comes and catches us out of this world, and gives us that brand new
glorious body. God cannot, at least it is inconceivable to a great
degree, go against the aging process that was brought about by the
original sin.
A few months ago, a friend of mine called and asked me to minister to
one of their parents. They loved their parent, and they were suffering
from the effects of senility just brought about by the aging process. As
I went to pray for the person, I saw a concrete bridge crossing the
stream, and it was broken and collapsed into the stream. I knew
immediately that the Lord revealed to me that this was a bridge that
could not be crossed over again. Was it God's will to heal? Of course it
was God's will to heal, but some of these things are just going to have
to wait for the return of Jesus Christ.
My father who was 84 years old just passed away. I know that death was
not God's will, but it just was not possible to administer healing to
him. He was elderly. He had lived a full life. That bridge could not be
gone over again.
Scripture does testify that God has healed people who are not qualified.
We have to recognize that God's sovereignty allows Him to do that, but
we must be careful not to let the exception write the rule. We dare not
put God in a box, a box of our own human understanding. Neither do we
dare to try to enlarge that box, which is of His own making.
Remember, faith is the single biggest variable, and that is what we need
to emphasize here. We need to have the proper attitude. As we sow and as
we reap, that will affect our faith too. We want to be stewards, and we
want to be able to do the best that we can with what we have. I hope
that you have been able to see that healing is not just something on the
physical; it also involves the mental in the sense of the emotional,
spiritual, and moral barriers that are present in the healing process.
When I speak of morality, remember the verse where Jesus was speaking
and said, 'Is it easier to heal on the Sabbath or to forgive sins?' And
Jesus said, 'Your sins are forgiven.' Jesus was speaking to the moral
condition of the heart, and that released the emotional burden of the
guilt and the shame of the person who had been sinning. Morality
definitely has a barrier to healing.
In conclusion, I want to remind you that faith is absolutely the single
biggest variable, but remember that a great continuum is there in which
God moves. I have heard of instances where people have prayed for
someone who has not even accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, and that person
has been healed. They have gone on later to accept the Lord, but I do
believe this will happen because of God's plans and purposes, which is
another one of the variables that we have to understand. These are God's
plans and purposes. This is His box of His making and many variables
exist in which healing can occur. For one person, mud is dabbed in his
eyes, and he is healed. Another person dips seven times in a river and
then he is healed. Another person prays all by himself and is healed
alone. Another person goes to a minister, and that minister prays and
heals. At times, healing will occur by the casting out of an evil
spirit, and another time healing occurs by speaking to an emotion. Other
times, healing occurs by strictly speaking to the physical reality of a
broken bone or something of that nature. Other times, healing has to
occur on a moral level where sin has to be repented of, and that has to
be confronted, and then the person can be healed.
God is love, and God desires healing. The other day a person who is a
close friend of mine asked me, 'Dan, are you saying that there is not a
specific promise for healing?' I am saying that a promise for healing is
there for us, but it is not a right and something that we can claim. It
is an implied promise; it is not explicit. It is implied in the sense
that God is love. God is good. God always wants to care for us. God is
not a vending machine and He is not prescriptive. He does not want you
to have a relationship with steps one, two, three, four, or a
relationship with the Law, like the Israelites had.
God wants a relationship with us as a Father to His children, as a
patron to His people, because of His love, His goodness, His greatness,
His mercy, and His grace. May God be glorified, and that is always what
happens when we approach healing with faith and with the right attitude.
God bless you!
[For further study on this critical subject, please read
Healing Part 2: Understanding Healing in its Biblical Context by John Schoenheit.]
From: Healing: God's Gift of Mercy and Grace
More Healing Teachings
2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.
May you, and all those you love,
be so blessed and fortunate
as to stand approved before God,
unashamed of your workmanship.
May God Always Bless You and Yours As
You Stand Steadfast on His Word Of Truth!
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