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I’d like to stress to you again, that I’m not against doctors or the services they offer to us…but I AM against the medical system as a whole, and remain convinced that if we fully understood the redeeming work of Christ on the cross that we, as believers, wouldn’t need doctors!  

The following verse is a very revealing one to me, personally. Most of you are familiar with the story of the woman that suffered from the issue of blood. But we get so caught up in her suffering and being set free from her sickness, that we often overlook a very telling passage!!

‘She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.”  (Mark 5:26)

Wow! Can anybody relate to THAT one? Think about this for a moment, if you will. You’ve been told you have cancer by someone you barely know, if you know them at all. This person that you barely know will fill your body with toxins, subject you to radiation poisoning, cut open your body, fool around with your insides, sew you back up and with any luck at all, you may eventually recover. Then this person that you barely know will take all of your money in return for his (or her) services rendered…and what do we do? We THANK this person!! If someone was to abduct you as you were walking down the street, and perform the same procedures with the same equipment under the same circumstances before releasing you (otherwise unharmed), what would your reaction be?

Now granted, these are two different scenarios, and it’s not my intention to belittle the medical community, I’m just saying that something here seems a little out of place! I cannot be convinced that God designed our bodies to be handled that way! At the same time, it’s not  the medical community’s fault…they are the ones trying to help US!  The point here isn’t what the doctors to or don’t do, it’s what Jesus does!

Jesus did absolutely NOTHING except let this suffering lady touch the hem of his garment…and what happened? She was instantly healed! Now ask ME, if I would rather be subjected to the tortures of medical treatment in return for all of my money (as well as most of my future earnings), or if I would rather touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, and I’ll prob’ly look at you like you’re crazy! It’s a no-brainer for me, because I don’t especially care to have myself subjected to all that abuse!

Think about some of the commercials you see on television for medicine. There’s a drug to help soothe your heartburn, which is great! But, while it’s getting rid of your heartburn, it can destroy your liver, damage your heart, cause your eyes to bulge out of their sockets and tie your intestines into tiny little festering knots…dude, I’d rather have the heartburn! There’s one to help you sleep, but if you start feeling suicidal, you should call your doctor.  If I’m gonna be that depressed, I’d rather be sleepy! Ironically, when I call my doctor, the first thing he’s gonna do is give me another medicine that’s going to produce some other horrendous side effect! It’s really fascinating to think about!

Now granted, all this is a little extreme and I call myself just having a little fun with it, but when you really stop to think about it, don’t you see some truth behind it? Doesn’t this seem a little mixed up to anybody? Do you know one of the biggest reasons we don’t see Jesus healing more folks than we do? Because there aren’t very many of us that go to him for healing…most of us choose to go the medical community instead. And there’s nothing wrong with that…but if we went to Jesus FIRST and, not only asked for his healing, but EXPECTED it…then how many of us would have to see the doctor?

Before I end today’s post, let me say again, that I’m not trying to imply that no one should ever go to the doctor. What I’m saying is this: Go to Jesus FIRST! Reach out and touch the hem of his garment…and THEN if you still feel the need to seek medical attention, by all means do so! But go to Jesus first…even if you have to do it while you’re driving to the hospital. Give HIM the first shot at healing you…you just might be surprised!

In the last post, I began a teaching on sickness…so, for better or worse (smile) we’ll continue along those lines…

Why do we suffer from sickness? I don’t know. I have a few ideas, some of which may be relevant, and others that may be off in left field, but here are just a few:

Lack of faith. When I say that, I don’t mean to imply that everybody that’s sick lacks faith! There are an awful lot of people that I know personally that have (in my mind, anyway) a great deal of faith that suffer from sickness. At the same time, if we don’t accept the fact that it’s God’s will to heal us and that Jesus is the instrument of healing, why we would we seek it from Him in the first place?

Lack of understanding. For instance, how do we receive healing? By faith…the same way we receive salvation! But if God offers it freely to all, as he does salvation, again…why are so many sick? Same reason so many are lost! Even a good many Christians, though, lack understanding of healing, just as they do of God’s grace. God didn’t say we had to understand salvation in order to receive it! Again, this isn’t meant to imply that everybody that suffers from sickness lacks understanding! Far from it!

In fact, this might be a good place to point out that I don’t know the answers…I’m just offering suggestions…food for thought. I can assure you, that if I knew the answers, I’d be sharing em with everybody I could share em with! Maybe it’s different for different people…maybe some lack faith, while others lack understanding! Still others aren’t patient enough, perhaps?

When we aren’t healed instantly, maybe we figure God chose not to heal us, so we give up the idea of being healed? We’re a generation of “now” people. We want it and expect it “now.” And it may come that way, but it may not. In almost every account in the Bible, it WAS instant. Doesn’t mean it will be EVERY time! In 2 Kings 5:14, Namaan had to dip in the Jordan seven times before he was healed. In Mark 8:22-26, Jesus gave the blind man a double-whammy before his sight was clearly and fully restored. Didn’t Daniel have to wait 21 days for an answer to his prayer while the angel wrestled with the prince of Persia (Dan. 10:13). But, generally speaking (at least for myself), after 21 days I quit thinking about it 2 weeks ago and assumed it wasn’t happening! And I can’t imagine I’m THAT much different from anyone else!  

Some folks don’t believe they are worthy to be healed. They’re right…but then again, none of us are. None of us are worthy of salvation, either, but it’s been given to all who will receive it!

1 Cor. 11:27-30 offers a little insight into the question, too! Unforgiveness may play a big role in healing. Do I have the answers? I wish I did! What I do have, though, I freely share with you…Jesus heals! He heals today…and he heals all who come to him. Can I answer all the “whys”? Nope. I just know he heals. I know he’s offered it to everyone, just like he has salvation. And I know he did it on the cross. It’s not something that he’s GONNA do. It’s something he’s already done.

Now, the question remains…how do we receive it??

I’ve been a little busy to make posts on a regular basis lately, but this is one I felt necessary to make as soon as possible. Over the past few days, I’ve encountered what seems like an abnormally high number of people with serious and even life-threatening conditions. Various forms of cancer in various stages, etc…and it was impressed upon me that I need to shift my focus for awhile on the freedoms that Jesus gave us through his work on the cross…

First of all, I’d like to explain that I’m not against doctors or the medical community, even though at times it may SOUND like it. For me, personally, however, I generally try not to have too much to do with either. I prefer to entrust my health to Jesus. At the risk of opening up a huge can of worms, I’ll give my opinion on the medical community this way: it is needed only because we don’t fully understand and accept the finished work of Jesus on the cross! If we fully understood and accepted what happened there on Golgotha 2000 years ago, only the unbelievers would ever have need of a doctor or a pill…

With that said, I’d like to share some thoughts with you on the subjects of sickness and healing. First of all, I do believe God uses sickness at times, but only because we allow ourselves to be sick! (Don’t jump on me yet…lol…I’ll try to explain in more detail in the upcoming posts!). A few of the reasons I believe this:
1) Jesus bore our sicknesses and infirmities on the cross. (Matthew 8:17)  To me, that tells me that sickness and infirmity are dead to me. When he died, so did they.  When he was resurrected, they remained in the grave…or even more likely, when he descended to hell (Eph. 4:9), he left them there with their rightful owner.

2) Sickness is a weapon of the enemy.

“…how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” (Acts 10:38 NIV)

Who did Jesus heal? The sick. Those he healed were what? Under the power of the devil. With that in mind, it’s interesting to read, also, what Jesus has to say about the matter in Luke 10:19:

“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”

3) It’s God’s will for you to be healthy! It’s well documented in the Bible that Jesus healed all who came to him for healing. I could give you enough verses to fill this post! Just a few examples: Matt. 14:36, Mark 6:56, Luke 4:40.

“Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (John 5:19)

Jesus healed people HERE because it was God’s will! Jesus did only what he saw his Father doing! Healing people! If Jesus was being obedient to his Father, then it must have been his Father’s will to heal us!

Think about the Lord’s prayer for a moment…”Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” There’s not a Christian alive, I wouldn’t think, that believes there will be sickness in heaven. If it’s God’s will for there to be an absence of sickness in heaven, why would anyone think it’s His will for the earth to be so full of it?

Isaiah 53:5…by his stripes we are healed!

4) The enemy is a liar (John 8:44), a deceiver (Gen. 3:13), and a schemer (Prov. 24:8 and 2 Cor. 2:11) who is out to destroy us (Isaiah 54:16), and roams around  looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8)!

The Bible says we’ve been healed. With sickness being a weapon of the devil, our first clue that sickness is a lie, a deception and a scheme meant to destroy us, is the fact that it’s the devil’s weapon! And we have been given authority over it in the name of Jesus! Our problem is our lack of understanding and acceptance of it. There are many today, that believe Jesus only healed while he was here on earth. But my Bible tells me that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8) And what that means to me, is that if he healed the blind man, the lame man, the woman with the issue of blood (and countless others) when he walked the earth, then he’ll heal me today…in fact, he already HAS. He did it on the cross. I just have to understand it and accept it!

And that’s where problems start…