Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? For years I thought getting sick was just a normal part of life. I would say things like, “I am getting a cold,” or “I usually get the flu and a cold with a sore throat twice a year.” Guess what? For many years I caught what I said I would get. Every year especially around Christmas, I would get sick! I hated it and for years, I struggled with it, until I learned some basic truths. Sickness and disease are looked at as a common, nothing out of the ordinary part of life. Let me warn you, sickness and disease are no different and no less serious than a person breaking into your home. How many of you reading this would stand by idly if you knew tonight someone was going to stage a home invasion on your home? Would you say oh, this is a bad neighborhood, it happens all the time and then goes about your day? Sickness is a home invasion into your healthy body! How about a carjacking or highjacking? You would not be passive about these, would you? But honestly, you are more likely to suffer and die from sickness and disease than one of the above mentioned. Why are you allowing this to happen to you and your loved ones? Why are we so passive about the one thing that is most likely to end your life? For the next two weeks, we will deal with this issue.
Where did sickness come from?
Back in the Garden of Eden, God told Adam not to eat from the tree. Adam was told,” if he ate from that tree, he would surely die!”
Now fast forward to the New Testament; Romans 6:23 says: For the wages of sin is death. I believe most people read this and take it as a blanket statement never even meditating on it. What usually precedes death…. isn’t it the sickness? (Not always because some people die of natural causes and accidents of many kinds.) But sickness is a part of the deadly process of sin. In the book of Acts, Luke writes about Jesus; “Then Jesus went around doing good and healing ALL who were oppressed by the devil.” (Acts 10:38) Did you read that carefully? Healing all who were oppressed by the DEVIL! Another verse; John 10:10 (NLT): The thief’s (DEVIL’s) purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose (JESUS) is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
My simple theology is this: If something is killing you, stealing from you, or destroying your life, it is the devil or you or both!
Another tip from the Word in this verse is the word Kill it means; The devil gets you to destroy God’s blessing in your life through false religious practices. An example of this would be this statement, “God gave me this disease to teach me a lesson.” The devil gets you to cooperate with his plans through some religious ideology.
Religious Debates
There is much debate over sickness and healings within Christian circles. Some believe healings and miracles are of the past. Others teach Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was blindness or an eye disease, (religious nonsense). If you do a reference check, the term used in the Old Testament “thorn in the flesh (sides) is found in Number 33:55”, it refers to persecution.
But if anyone would open up the bible and just read it, they would find that from front to back, God heals His people. Acts 10:38 and the other Gospels state; Jesus healed all who were oppressed from the devil. One of the seven names of God the Father is “Jehovah Rapha”, I am the Lord that heals thee (Exod. 15:26).
Here are some scriptures:
- Psalm 30:2 – O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me
- Psalm 103:2-4 – Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
- Jeremiah 17:14 – Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.
- Psalm 41:2-3 – The LORD will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land and not surrender him to the desire of his foes. The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness.
- Matthew 9:35 – Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
- Acts 9:34 – And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed. ” Then he arose immediately.
- James 5:16 – Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
I have only taken a few verses from the Bible. I did this on purpose rather than taking you through the entire Bible. However, I have taken these verses from the Old Testament, The Gospels, The Books of Acts and the Epistles to show you that all through the Word of God healing is being taught. Remember one of His names, Jehovah Rapha, I am the Lord that heals thee. It does not say the “Lord that once upon a time heals thee”. God’s will is to heal you!
If The Bible so clearly teaches healing, whats the problem?
For so long the Church has been operating without power. Through vain traditions and doctrines, the Church has negated healing. Christianity has become a place where we preach; “Receive Jesus and go to heaven” and then in the meantime, we will teach and preach: “sin or behavior modification.”
Paul states in 1 Corinthians 2:4 – And my speech and my preaching were not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Today we like fancy sermons and high intellectual style preaching that tickles our ears. Paul stated his words were not enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in reality they were the exact opposite of what we see in churches today.
It takes courage to preach the “Full Gospel.” It takes courage to stand up in front of people and say, God is the God who forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases. It takes courage to say God is our protector and our strong tower, and to say to our congregations, God wants us to prosper in all we do. It simply takes courage to preach “faith that moves mountains.” But so many today through their vain traditions and doctrines have retreated!
Written by Dennis Stauffer
Edited by Gary Green (Omega House)
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God Bless
Dennis Stauffer (Founder/President and writer of DSI Ministries/Hands In Action)
Gary Green (Editor for DSI Ministries)
