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There are many of Jesus’ characteristics on trial this generation. Many dismiss Him as merely a teacher or cult leader. Even in the church, plenty is discussed and scrutinized about homosexuality, women-teachers, money, end-times, justice, and on and on the list goes. But one characteristic I recognize has been thrown so deep under the rug, we don’t even know we are dismissing it: He is the Great Physician. 

Sure, many of our favorite songs keep praising Him as Healer. But I don’t see many preachers sharing the depths of what this means and explaining the authority the Believer has to heal the sick, raise the dead, and command diseases to flee. It can be brushed over, and abhorrently muddied with “God loves doctors”, and “God heals through medicine”, and “let’s heal your soul instead”, and “let’s be patient with what you are asking from God.” I’m not directly saying these statements are evil. But I am questioning whether they are sprung from a place of fear and disbelief shrouded behind the face of “wisdom” and “realistic faith”. 

What is Healing? And does Christ heal? These were statements so foreign and silly in notion as a young man, because my church spoke and taught so fervently about them. I remember months of Wednesday night studies of Watchman Nee’s Spiritual Authority. Annual week-long revivals with Andrew Wommack leading the charge and teaching us. Pastor Dave Ellis wouldn’t let a soul speak something that was anything but “life”.

But I must admit, in recent years, my lips had grown stale and my heart quaked when I thought of the power of the Almighty here to heal. I felt a pressure to not share because we in the westernized church demand ourselves to be “less exclusive” and available for anyone. Don’t be “weird” or you might scare someone away. Which is a ridiculous notion when you think of how Christ usually started his interactions with Healing and the teaching came secondary. 

So, I recognize that this teaching needs to be shouted more. I find many churches afraid of the fruits of the spirit (more on that in a few weeks); they want to merely know everything, yet not practice anything.

Does God heal? And will He heal you right now?

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Miracle Cures have been around since long before Miracle Max was raising the Dread Pirate Roberts from the dead. And they will continue in some form or fashion until the day we all go to heaven. Now they are called Essential Oils. And half of all the mothers in America are now mad at me for saying so.

But the Holy Spirit is not snake oil. And from the Holy Spirit is the power to heal an infirmity or restore a life in the name of Jesus. To many that have grown up with too much earthly wisdom instead of childlike faith, this sounds too good to be true. And such will dismiss it as they don’t understand the wonder-working power of Jesus; that it’s His plan and His word that promises us not only that will he heal us, but that He has already. 

The following passage was written 700 years before Christ, prophesying what He will do on the Cross for our sin and sickness:

Surely He has borne (carried) our griefs (sickness)
And carried our sorrows (pain; physical and mental)
Yet we esteemed (thought, imagined) Him stricken,
Smitten (struck, wounded) by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded (slain, pierced) for our transgressions (rebellion)
He was bruised (crushed) for our iniquities (guilt, punishment)
The chastisement (discipline, correction) for our peace (completeness, soundness, safety, health, prosperity, peace from war, peace in tranquility, friendship) was upon Him,
And by His stripes (wounds, blows) we are healed (to heal, make healthy, literally of personal distresses and natural defects or hurts).
Isaiah 53:4-5 NKJV (parentheses include a deeper understanding of the Hebrew word)

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Does God want to heal you?

In one of the villages, Jesus met a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground, begging to be healed. “Lord,” he said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.
Luke 5:12-13

He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.
1 Peter 2:24

Christ is willing; Christ is able; Christ has done it. That’s why His scripture says, “you are healed”. There’s no “you will be”, “if”, “when”, or “maybe”. You are healed.

Like salvation, we know that receiving His salvation differs from Him giving it to you. He gave us salvation over 2,000 years ago. But it takes each of us receiving it to acquire it. In this manner, He gave us authority, health, and provision 2,000 years ago. But it takes us receiving it to acquire it. 

You could say, “If He wanted me healed, He would heal me. So healing must be only at His will and random, and I have nothing to do with it.” That’s as foolish as saying, “why hasn’t He changed the heart of my sister and made her fall in love with Him, rescuing her from Hell?” 

He has healed us. It’s our unbelief, fear and death-speech that kills us. He has given us the power of life and death in our very words. And most of the time we spend our time speaking death instead of life. We say, “Oh, never!” “Oh, always!” “Of course, I got sick.” “It is what it is!” And so on, like weak little insects getting stomped on and thrown about by the wind.

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority. (Who did He take it from? Satan, of course! God gave earth and its authority to us when He made us. We gave it to Satan when we sinned. Jesus took it back when He died without sin.) in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 28:18-19 (After His death and resurrection; parenthesis added for teachings sake)

You have all authority in heaven and on earth. The only power Satan has is to scare you into thinking he has authority.

I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.
Mark 11:23

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Oh, “Move Mountains” makes a great T-shirt! Your neighbor will sell you one with her essential oils. But do we believe the mountain will move when we speak to it? Or do we say it, turn away, and hope God does something so we don’t feel foolish? Doesn’t matter, because we won’t look back anyway.

Here is the thing about authority. You feel real authority when it walks in the room. I’ve been in the room with leaders who don’t actually have authority. And they look helpless. They may get angry or belligerent. And I’ve seen someone walk in and the room becomes silent. Authority doesn’t demand or shout, scream, and throw a fit. It simply takes.

That’s the authority you have as a Believer.

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
Romans 12:3

The Father has given us faith through the authority given to Christ.

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17

Not from “having heard” the Word of God. But by “hearing” the Word of God. Just because I or some preacher told you once doesn’t mean you have faith to move mountains. You need to strengthen that faith. And that comes from hearing the Word of God. And hearing it, and hearing it, and hearing it…

Faith grows by feeding it the Word, and exercising it in everyday life.

“Most Christians feed their bodies three hot meals a day, and their spirit one cold snack a week. And they wonder why they’re so weak in faith.” F.F. Bosworth

Care not for what circumstance looks like. Care for what the Word of God says. Do not work out your faith based on experience, but believe God’s Word until such experiences fall in line with It. Do not trust in your experiences. That only makes the Word into a neutered, watered-down abomination of pathetic cowardice. It may help you sleep at night because it “all makes sense, now”. But it won’t get you any closer to Heaven. In fact, it’s the safe road—slow and gradual—that leads to Hell.

We walk by faith and not be sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV

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I was somewhere around age fifteen when I first fully grasped this understanding that God is Healer; that I need only speak with authority and believe, and I will be healed. I remember distinctly, one evening, I was alone in the house, laying on my back in the kitchen. My whole life, unbeknownst to my family, I had suffered from weak joints and ligaments. I ofttimes would stand from a laying position and dislocate my knee; dozens of times I snapped my shoulder out of socket while playing or climbing a tree. I was deeply afraid when it would happen, but refused to speak to anyone about it. During a week’s revival at our church, Andrew Wommack spoke about this healing power and I believed it. I was lying on the floor of my kitchen and spoke to my ligaments and joints. I commanded that they were healed and that no more would my joints dislocate. I stood from the floor and all my life henceforth, I have never dislocated a joint. Now, from time to time, I’ve gotten close, and each has brought with it a sudden tinge of fear. But I deny that fear and command it to leave as well, for God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.

I recognize that children and teenagers are actually quicker to grasp this than adults; adults you have twist the arm, change their way of thinking, or break down walls of “reason”, “experience”, and bad teaching. 

Hence, there is power in the testimony, so I will continue:  I was age sixteen. My sister was driving my friend and me to Daytona. We spent an afternoon there and, on the way back, it began pouring. My sister was not an apt driver yet and made some mistakes while taking us home. She panicked when another car “popped out” of the rain in front of us. And at 80 mph, on I-95, our Mazda 3 careened off the highway and flipped into the woods. We all climbed out, and most of us were unscathed, save the poison ivy we contracted and my face that was deeply scarred. Either from the airbag or windshield, the skin on my face had been pealed back and the entirety of it was dripping blood. I still remember looking down and seeing my protruding lip sticking three inches out and dripping yellow puss and purple blood. From the expressions of my weeping sister and shocked friend, I knew it was bad. I prayed on the spot and declared that in the Name of Jesus, not one scar would be left on my face within a week’s time. One week later, I pulled the last scab from my lip and have no scars from the incident; so much so that people do not believe the moment happened until I show them pictures. 

One day, when AnnaBelle was very young, I was carrying her and slammed my third toe into a doorjamb. The bone instantly broke, turned sideways and swelled purple and black. I was in a fit, but didn’t have the time or money to concern myself with fixing it. I continued on in life. The next day, I was suffering from a migraine and lay in bed next to my wife. I begged her to pray for my healing. As she did, I felt my wounded toe vibrate and heard an audible click as it snapped back into place. (This is the beauty of miracles happening when we don’t even know what we are directly asking for, yet merely asserting our authority.)

Not many days after that, a young lady from our youth ministry called us in agony. She was suffering from a tumor in her stomach that the doctors could not find a way to help. She told us of the pain and asked if we would pray for her. I snatched the phone from my wife’s hand and declared passionately, “Whitney, you are about to see a miracle.” I spoke to the tumor, and she immediately felt a sensation like a balloon popping inside of her stomach. The doctors confirmed that the tumor had disappeared. 

This will help some of you get over the idea that God only uses some to heal. My daughter was three or four years old when I asked her to lay hands on me and pray for a migraine to leave. She spoke in her soft voice, “Headache, go, Jesus Name”, and the migraine left instantly.

When Carlia was pregnant with AnnaBelle, we went for regular checkups, as one does. One such visit involved the doctor informing us that AnnaBelle had cysts on her brain and it was likely to lead to Down Syndrome. We prayed over the cysts and commanded they leave. The next visit showed no more cysts. Sydney had the same diagnosis, to which we laughed and replied, “don’t worry about that. We will pray and they will leave.” The doctor was shocked and a bit ashamed of us. But by the next visit, there was no sign of them. 

When Carlia was 32-34 weeks pregnant, she suffered from intense pain in her stomach. When we rushed her to the hospital, the doctor told us that AnnaBelle was suffering from arrhythmia and was likely to die if we did not remove her right then and there. The doctor was so eager to cut my wife open, that I had to demand she back across the room while I held my wife’s hands and prayed over our daughter. We spoke to AnnaBelle’s heart and demanded the doctor check her heart again. Four hours of an unsteady heartbeat had preceded that prayer; but now, the heart was beating a perfect rate again. The doctor didn’t know what to say and disbelieved it. But AnnaBelle’s heart has never had any side effects or evidence of a weak heart. 

When my son was seven weeks old, he contracted respiratory syncytial virus, which led to streptococcus pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis. They deemed him the sickest child in all of Nemour’s Children’s Hospital in Orlando, Florida. The story of which I cannot express, because it would take letter upon letter to explain. But we saw miracle after miracle, both in his life and those around us. At one point, he died, and we prayed for him to come back to life, and he did. My son is alive because of the wonder-working healing power of Jesus Christ. 

And yet, one week after Harvey entered Nemour’s, a family moved into the room next door with a boy of the same age. He, too, had contracted these viruses and in a heart-wrenching moment of hell and pain, that little boy died exactly one week after Harvey did, and yet never woke up again. My wife can still remember the screams of agony from that mother who mourned her baby boy.

Why does healing work sometimes, and other times it doesn’t? Does God only heal some, and not others? Why did we have to go to a hospital if God can heal anything, anywhere?

Well, why is it easy sometimes for the Believer to find abundance in finances, or favor, or their words, or promotion? And yet other times it’s not.

Because God isn’t a slot machine. 

And life isn’t a game. It takes more than all that. But just because it doesn’t work sometimes—just because I’m up against an enemy that wants nothing but to kill me and you and everyone, every day; damage us, beat us, depress us, deflate us, separate us; just because I’m up against a kingdom of darkness—doesn’t mean I stop saying my God is more powerful, more ready, and more willing to heal and make us whole.

It takes us standing in our faith and believing, in the face of all doubt and worry. I tell my children all the time when they are afraid of something, “you are brave. And you can’t be brave unless you are scared. Bravery is doing the thing in the face of fear.” The same is true for your faith. It wouldn’t be faith if you could see and understand. But you have mountain-moving faith. Now use it in the face of disbelief and doubt.

It’s like we are fighting in a battle—a war, on the front-lines—and leading the charge is the God of the Universe, the Holy Spirit; and we get shot in the arm, hit in the leg, or struck in the heart; and we sit down in the middle of the war zone and yell at the General for shooting us.

What are you talking about?! He’s fighting with you! Not against you!
And by the way, this General has the power to heal. The power to close those wounds and erase them forever. This General moves your wounds to His body and says, “let’s keep going. You take the pain; I’ll take the suffering. You take the testimony; I’ll take the death.”

The healing power of the Holy Spirit is with us; it stands beside us always. This isn’t snake oil; it’s the power of the Holy Ghost, able to raise the dead and heal the sick, and save our souls from Hell.

I can’t explain why something didn’t work. But I can stand on why it does. And that is the healing power of the blood of Jesus that is more than just a great lyric for a song. Use it. Demand healing. Exercise your faith. Hear the Word of God again and again instead of all the naysaying that you, your family, and closest friends might say. Speak the Word of God over your life. And nothing else. Until you see it come to pass. 

And if you die with His Word on your lips, you die with good company and righteous reasons. For to live is not to live for living’s sake. But to live for death’s sake. Live like there is no tomorrow, with today’s faith on your lips. You have one life. Use it to its fullest and believe in the wildest things imaginable, for your Father in heaven has promised what He has planned far exceeds it. 

You are healed. By His stripes. End of discussion. 

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