Devotional: A Case for Healing

A Case for Healing

I am stirred up today to talk to you about Healing. In my community, and in yours, reports regularly come in of people and situations that need prayer due to illness. Maybe you, yourself, are the one in need of healing. Let us make a case for the Gospel of Jesus Christ! He said in John 10:10, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and they may have it more abundantly." First of all, you need to be convinced that it is not God's will for people to suffer with illness in their physical bodies. Jesus said it was the thief who comes to steal, kill, and to destroy. Illness, in any form, is stealing and destroying the good cells in your body. And in some cases, the illness wins by physically killing the body. This is not the will of God, or else Jesus would have said so. You cannot find any place in the Bible where Jesus told someone with an illness, "This is God's will for you." No, on the contrary He healed the sick, raised the dead, and overcame all the power of the enemy.

Peter declared in the Book of Acts, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him" (Acts 10:38). Notice that "doing good" and "healing" are tied together. Therefore, we can conclude that healing is good. There is also a point to be made regarding who was doing the oppressing. Sickness is oppressing! The word "oppress" literally means to keep down by severe and unjust use of force; to weigh heavily on someone or something; to overwhelm or crush. God anointed Jesus to do good and heal those who were oppressed (kept down by severe and unjust force, overwhelmed or crushed) by the devil! Let me say it again: we can conclude that healing is good!

Then we have another point to our case. Isaiah said that Jesus was "...wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). This prophecy was looking forward to the day that Jesus would die on the cross. Isaiah said that on that day "...we ARE healed." Then in 1 Peter 2:24, we find - not a quote of the Old Testament - but another declaration of what the believer has received with their salvation. "Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness - by whose stripes we were healed." Did you notice that the terminology changed? Peter said, "...we WERE healed." Isaiah said we "are" healed, looking forward to what was coming, while Peter looked back at what had come and declared for every future generation, we "WERE" healed!

Some people try to make a case that the references to healing in the Bible are referring to our spirits. But that can't be true because God did not take our broken and sick spirits and "heal" them - no, He took the man or woman who was empty of spirit and put His Spirit within them. This happens when a person is born-again. Our spirits are not "re-created" they are new. Ezekiel said of the Lord, "I will give you a NEW heart, and put a NEW spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you..." (Ezekiel 36:26-27). When we became believers in Jesus Christ, the hard, dead part of ourselves was removed and the Life of God was placed within us. And with that New Life (not healed and fixed, but brand-new life) came the Spirit of the Living God! And one of the greatest promises ever found in the Bible says: "If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also GIVE LIFE to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you" (Romans 8:11).

Jesus said He came to give life and to give it in abundance. Believers received this gift of eternal life when we accepted Him as our Savior. But know this, eternal life is not just a span of timelessness (heaven) in which we are going to live someday, but it is also a quality of life that begins the moment we are born-again. Is sickness a "quality" of life? No! No! NO! That is why Paul could say that the Spirit of God that comes to dwell inside every believer will "give life" to what? Our mortal bodies. Mortal is not eternal. He is specifically talking about this body of flesh that carries us around every day. If the scriptures were referring to spiritual life, then it would have said so. But instead, this amazing promise is for everything from a hangnail to a headache to cancer! Think about it! If the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you, is your illness bigger than death? Of course not. Yet, not everyone believes this. Some people act like their illness is already a death sentence. Let me assure you, it is not the will of God for you, or anyone else, to be sick or to die prematurely. This is why He gave us of His Spirit -- the same Spirit that raised Jesus our Lord from the dead! He wants us to LIVE a full, healthy life.

So if you, or someone you are praying for, is suffering with sickness or disease, and you (or they) are a child of God, then make this confession everyday and for every situation: THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD DWELLS ON THE INSIDE OF ME BECAUSE I AM A BELIEVER IN JESUS CHRIST. AND THIS SAME SPIRIT THAT RAISED MY JESUS FROM THE DEAD IS GIVING LIFE TO MY MORTAL BODY RIGHT NOW! IT IS DRIVING OUT EVERY TRESPASSING SYMPTOM FROM THE DEVIL THAT DOESN'T BELONG TO ME BECAUSE GREATER IS HE WHO IS IN ME THAN he WHO IS IN THE WORLD! Case closed.