Healed – or not.

I read something today that made so much sense to me. It was in the book, ‘Healing comes by Sanctification’ by Dr Michelle Strydom. It came down to that more non-believers get miraculous healing than believers do. Just think about the prayer lines in churches on a Sunday. How many people actually get healed? How many people get healed at a crusade in Africa where no one has even heard about Jesus? Lots! Blind eyes are opened, the deaf hear, the lame walk. We have all heard the testimonies and seen videos. So why would God choose to heal people who don’t honor Him and who haven’t accepted Jesus as their savior? But people who have been serving Him for years and go to church every Sunday still have multiple medical issues? Just think about it this way: If you’ve never heard the Gospel, never been given the chance to follow Jesus, then some guy from a far away country has a meeting and you go. He calls up everyone who is sick and you go because you have severe arthritis and have been unable to work for the last 10 years. He says some words in a language you don’t understand and suddenly your fingers straighten, your toes and feet come into line, and the pain disappears. You test this newness in your limbs and very soon you are jumping up and down like a child and running around the arena. What is your first question? “Who did this? How is it possible?” The ministry workers tell you about Jesus and you decide that if this Jesus God could do this then He deserves your loyalty. Your family and friends are in awe and they all decide that Jesus is the way to go. You see what’s happening? If non-believers see miracles they become converted. But what happens when a believer is healed? And it does happen. Not much. Hopefully they will become more zealous in their witnessing.

 

What does the Bible say about healing? Reading through the Gospels it seems like most of the people Jesus healed were not believers yet. Probably obviously because His ministry on earth only lasted 3 years. . The Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts are the spreading of the message of salvation. They are foremost for non-believers. This is about coming to Christ and in these books there are many healings. The Books from Romans to Jude are about sanctification after Salvation. They were written for believers. Psalm 31:10, “For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.”

Psalm 38:3-8 in the Message, “I’ve lost twenty pounds in two months because of your accusation. My bones are brittle as dry sticks because of my sin. I’m swamped by my bad behavior, collapsed under gunnysacks of guilt. The cuts in my flesh stink and grow maggots because I’ve lived so badly. And now I’m flat on my face feeling sorry for myself morning to night. All my insides are on fire, my body is a wreck. I’m on my last legs; I’ve had it – my life is a vomit of groans.”

These are only two of many verses that illustrate how the way you live affects your health.

 

James 5:16, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” You may think that confessing your sins, or the bad way you’ve been doing things takes a lot of courage, but what it really takes it true repentance. The realization that you are wrong. And we don’t like being wrong. It’s not something we do well. Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is near those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart – These, O God, You will not despise.”

I other words, we have to be brought to our knees by the realization that we are wrong in whatever it is we have been doing and we have to be willing to speak to someone about it so that we can be healed. Have you ever done something that you know is wrong and then worked up enough courage to tell someone you trust what you did? How did you feel once you told them? Way better, right? That’s how it works. Sometimes you only have to confess to God, but you have to confess and you have to sincerely turn away from what you were doing wrong. And you will be healed. Or maybe you won’t but your heart will be healed and that is way more important than your body. God doesn’t work by formulas, He works by love.

Brimstone and Fire

Brimstone and Fire

I have often heard of the ‘brimstone and fire’ preachers. Definition:- “an idiomatic expression of signs of God’s wrath in the Old and New Testament. In the Bible, they often appear in reference to the fate of the unfaithful. This term is also used to describe a style of Christian preaching that uses vivid descriptions of judgement and eternal damnation to encourage repentance.” Brimstone is the archaic name for sulphur. I have also often heard people say that we need more of the brimstone and fire preachers today so that the people can repent of their evil and turn to God. I beg to disagree. I don’t think that telling someone how bad he is will make him change his ways. One reason for that is because he already knows he is doing things which aren’t right. Even if a person grows up with the Bible and biblical principles, or parents who teach right from wrong, he grows up in a country with certain rules and laws. These laws are there to protect the citizens and normally reflect the norms and culture of the people of that country. And then also every person is born with something called a conscience. There are a few people who have psychological problems, whose conscience apparently doesn’t function as it should, but they are a very small minority.

Romans 2:14 and 15 puts it into a nutshell: “for the Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law unto themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them…”

Romans 2:4 “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” To me that means that people do know when they are doing things that are wrong, and the God’s goodness (love) will cause them to repent. Preachers or people who tell others how bad they are and condemn them are not going to make much of an impression. If we love people we will be reflecting the nature of God and we will attract people instead of pushing them away with judgemental attitudes. I don’t think we pray for people because we feel sorry for them. We pray for them so that God can work in their lives. If you are perfect you don’t need anyone to pray for you. Jesus uttered some very profound words

 in Matthew 5:44, “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,”

I don’t think fire and brimstone or even brimstone and fire are going to get us anywhere. You catch many more flies with honey than with vinegar.