Have you ever noticed that one of the things that people make prayer requests for more than most other things is healing? If you ask most people if they think that God is going to heal them, they'll respond with things like: "I think so.", "I hope so", or something else that basically tells you that they want to be healed, they are asking God to do it, they think that it is at least possible that He might do it, but that they have no idea if they can actually expect it to happen.
What most people either do not know or have overlooked is the fact that God has already done everything about healing anyone that He is ever going to! Before anyone gets upset because it sounds like I'm saying that God is never going to heal anyone again, and that from now on if you are sick or injured it's just too bad, I urge you to get out your bible and look up what God has to say about it:
1 Peter 2:21-24, "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."
This scripture is commonly used as a basis for healing, but while it does guarantee healing because it's part of the wholeness that Jesus paid for, it also makes it clear that this is already accomplished. It doesn't read "will be healed" or "might be healed", it reads "were healed". It's in the past tense, already done.
Matthew 8:16-17, "When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."
Again, this is past tense, and it's already accomplished. Since Jesus bore our sicknesses and diseases, then we don't have to bear them! Faith in Jesus grants us the right to live in divine health! For the born again spirit filled Christian there is no reason to ask God to heal you of anything, because He has already done everything that needed to be done! All we have to do is receive it.
How we receive our healing is the same way we are saved, and the same way anyone receives anything from God, BY SPEAKING FAITH!
Mark 11:22-23, "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith."
Jesus didn't say this because He wanted us to go around throwing mountains into the ocean, but to illustrate that what we say has power IF it is combined with faith in God. So if we have faith in God and that He sent Jesus not just to pay the price for our sins, but to pay the price for our healing as well (1 Peter 2:24). Then we can speak the word of God concerning something, believing in our hearts that what God said about it is the true and final word on it and fully expect to receive what God's word says we are and have.
To receive Jesus as Lord and be saved you had to confess with your mouth that Jesus paid the price for your sins, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. Then to receive your healing you have to make sure that what you are saying is in line with what God said about healing. So when some sickness begins to attack you, go to the word of God, read 1 Peter 2:24, Matthew 8:17 and you speak to it: "God said that Jesus bore my sicknesses and diseases, and that by Jesus' stripes I WAS healed, therefore I Don't have to allow this (flu, cancer, cold whatever) to exist in my body." And then give God thanks that He has done this for you and even if whatever it is keeps on attacking, don't be moved by what you feel or see. Instead be in constant agreement with what God said about it and follow Abraham's example:
Romans 4:19-21, "And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform."
We need to be 'fully persuaded' or totally convinced that God has taken care of our healing just as Abraham was. It's true that as you're saying "In Jesus' name I don't have to bear this sickness because He bore it FOR me and by His stripes I WAS healed." satan comes along and starts whispering in your mind, reminding you that this sickness is oh so nasty and you don't feel very healed. And yes, it may be a fact that this problem is there, but that is not the truth. The truth is that Jesus of Nazareth was Anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power, and that by His stripes, you WERE healed. If you speak the truth as God's word gives it, in faith, then the truth will change the fact.
Sadly, many Christians are going though life with one sickness, disability, or another despite the fact that they don't have to. But they are prevented from realizing this awesome truth because either they haven't been taught, or they were taught and for whatever reason could not or would not accept that teaching. In fact, if more Christians understood that Jesus paid for much more than just our salvation there would be a lot more people who could not only consistently walk in divine health, but so much more:
One of the signs, or indicators, that Jesus said would follow people that believe in and accept Him would be that they (the believers) shall lay hands on the sick, and they (the sick) shall recover. (Mark 16:18) and the reasons for these signs are to confirm the truth of the Gospel, and that God loves all of us and wants us to live in health:
3 John 1:2, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."
And to show that when you accept Jesus and learn and understand that doing so means that you have access the same Anointing that He has. And when you come to this realization, you find yourself in the same position as Jesus:
Acts 10:38, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him."
The bible makes it clear that we should always in all things follow Jesus' example and this is no exception. The body of believers in and followers of Jesus should realise that after Jesus acended into heaven, the Holy Spirit was sent so that we also would be Anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power!
Acts 1:8, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
And before anyone objects with the reasoning: "Just because the apostles received the Holy Ghost and that Jesus was Anointed with the Holy Ghost doesnt mean we can. After all that stuff was just for then and God's not gonna do that again. Besides, we arent Apostles are we?" I can assure you with biblical accuracy of both things. First, yes, we can receive the Holy Spirit just as Jesus and the Apostles did, all we have to do is ask in faith:
Luke 11:13, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"
Second, yes, we are ALL called to a certain amount of Apostolic service even if we aren't called to operate in the office of an Apostle. Apostle is a Greek word that means "sent one". and Jesus has in fact sent each and every one of us!
Matthew 28:19-20, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
That sure sounds like he's sending his followers doesnt it? And if you're one of His followers, then you are one of the people that He SENT, and therefore have an Apostolic service as part of your calling.
