Does it amaze you when you read the words that say Jesus went about "healing every disease and sickness among the people."
It amazes me. Especially since I can't even count on my fingers the "diseases" and "sicknesses" that my immediate family members and closest friends just spend their lives dealing with and learning to cope with. Things like emotional disorders (which is a type of sickness where your body is not balanced correctly), ADD/ADHD (again your brain is out of whack - if you can take medicine for it it's a disease or sickness), allergies, headaches, bad joints, feet problems, infections, old breaks and sprains... the list goes on!
But Jesus... I love to say it like that, music to my soul... BUT "JESUS went throughout Galilee, teaching..., preaching the good news about the kingdom of heaven, and HEALING EVERY DISEASE AND SICKNESS among the people." It's no wonder that the next verse starts with "News about him spread all over Syria..." and finishes by telling them how people everywhere traveled to him with their sick. THEN it lists some of the diseases they had, finishing with "AND HE HEALED THEM." No one was turned away. Our God is so good.
Now what I want to know is why don't we do that? Jesus said those that came after him would to even greater miracles. Maybe they do in some other oppressed countries, but we can't even match Jesus in the US let alone exceed him.
I wonder sometimes how much healing has to do with bringing the Kingdom of God to earth. You know, like the Lord's Prayer: "Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven..." I believe it is his will for there to be healings daily of everything that the people he created are oppressed under because He is a Good God who gives Good Gifts to those he loves. So are we just not bringing the kingdom. This passage says he taught, he preached, he healed. Is there some clue in this that we're missing.
Are we not teaching? Teaching means: to impart knowledge of or skill in; give instruction in. So that means that there is training going on. There is correction of misunderstandings. There are explanations being given. And the skill? perhaps it is just to learn to walk in the ways of our Heavenly Father.
Are we not preaching? Preach: to advocate, to proclaim, to give earnest advice. Are we not passionately sharing what the Kingdom of God is? Do we not tell people what is available to them? or worse yet, when people think they might have freedom or blessings from this Kingdom, do we tell them with our actions and tone that they aren't good enough for it and that they have to earn it - or that it comes in Heaven not on earth? But if that were true then why would Jesus pray for it to come to earth? If that were true, why would the Israelites, who messed their relationship up with God so many times and were definitely not perfect, why would these people who needed God desperately be told to see the Kingdom of Heaven? Unless the Kingdom of Heaven is not reserved for the few who are perfect by the law but for those who are loved by our Heavenly Father. He gives good gifts... what if this is the ultimate gift and we just need to live in it?
Are we not healing? To this question, I sadly think you can find a more definite answer to this question. Now mind you, I am not always good at stepping out of my comfort zone to offer healing even though I am one who believes that God wants to heal, that the healing is a gift to us because of what Jesus did on the cross, and that we just need to ask and receive what he offers us. I do believe that I have a gift of healing or at least I can heal (through Jesus Christ's power) because healing is something that any Christ believer can do, but I don't always ask people if they want me to pray over them. I think that if you talked to most people in America who claim to be Jesus followers, they would tell you that they do not go to people and offer to pray over them for healing. Sure people pray and plead with God to save their loved ones, but God's already convinced that he wants to heal. Your prayers are not for convincing a loving God to do what he already wants to do. Isn't that almost a waste if our loving Abba already is saying "Yes, I do want to heal everyone." Should prayers instead be for calling down that power to do the healing and activating, if you will, the process of healing and opening the floodgates of Heaven? "If any of you are sick, you should lay hands on him and he will be well." I am so guilty of not laying hands on everyone I know who needs it. Sure maybe I would love to see limbs grow out, but if I don't lay hands on that arm or leg - it's probably not going to change that way either. I know I have begged God to change his heart so that he wants to heal those who are sick - I did that with my dad and others. But what if I walked in faith, trusted and hoped that He does want to heal, and just accepted that power that was already offered for the healing? What if I expect a miracle, rather than expecting to have to work to convince God to move his hand? What if it is a matter of setting people free from their sicknesses rather than working for it (either by convincing God, or by fixing up one's issues, or by jumping through crazy hoops for healing)?
What if it became abnormal in the US for a Jesus follower NOT to offer a person prayer for healing? What would we begin to see then?
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