We have received many testimonies of people who received their healing as they discovered the reality that Christ died for them.
How does this happen? When they call on the name of the Lord for salvation from their sins, they are united with their heavenly Father and peace enters into their hearts. This peace replaces the turmoil and stress that has plagued their lives, and when that peace enters in something happens…their bodies are instantly healed!
Many times they don’t even know when the healing happened. They only realize that the Prince of Peace now lives in them, their sins are forgiven, and peace is now reigning in their physical bodies!
Many people don’t receive their healing because they do not understand the continuum of time.
I can think of many instances of this in our meetings from around the world, one particular woman in Kazakhstan comes to mind. She was a worker at the Italian embassy and had a vision problem, needing glasses in order to read properly. She had been attending the healing meetings during the week and was hopeful that something would happen, but so far had not noticed any changes.
We would serve tea on the breaks, and this woman came up in the line behind my husband to get her cup of tea. I remember this very specifically, she picked up the tea bag and when she did, she began to shout, “I can see! I can see! I can see!”
She had prayed for the healing for her eyes and though it did not happen instantaneously, later in the week she picked up the teabag and could read the fine print on that teabag.
When did her healing begin? Her healing began on the day that healing was ministered to her—on the day that she believed she received!
By faith you can receive your miracle from God. Confess God’s Word over your life, “By His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). In faith come to God in prayer and say, “Lord, in Your Word You said that by the stripes of Jesus I am healed. I believe and I receive my healing from You!”
You know, sometimes I don’t feel well either. For example, if I have a cold and my throat is sore and I can hardly lift my head off the pillow, my flesh wants to be sick and stay in bed too. But instead, I start proclaiming the Word of God, “In Jesus’ name, I am healed by the stripes of Jesus! I strongly believe in it and I thank you, Lord, that You are touching me with Your healing power! And now, body, listen to me…” And I start speaking to my body, head, throat and to all the symptoms. I proclaim that I simply cannot be sick because I am already healed by the stripes of Jesus Christ.
This is my faith. This is what Jesus calls “faith,” and it’s very important!
Jesus said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you”(John 15:7 author’s emphasis).
He reveals that the power of His Word in your mouth is as powerful as rain upon the earth. When I lived in a desert for three months it became easy to appreciate a little rain. Hidden seeds that lay dormant for years under the sands would spring forth immediately when drops of life from above would fall.
We experience this in our crusade meetings all the time. A little word will bring to life a dormant dream hidden for years in the hearts of people. A word spoken releases a healing from above for those trapped by cancer, lameness, deafness and all types of disease.
“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it”(Isaiah 55:10-11 author’s emphasis).
God’s Word in your mouth on any subject carries the same weight as if Jesus Himself were speaking. Spoken in faith, it is never empty or ineffective. It brings the rain of blessing from heaven on a cloudless day.
Keep saying what God says and the earth will yield its abundance to you!
Several years ago my husband and I preached the Gospel in Africa. Every day many people gathered together and eagerly listened to the Good News. From the first day, I noticed a young African man who was disabled. He moved around on his knees on a special small cart that he had made for himself. I cannot even call it a cart; it was rather a small board on wheels. Crawling on that board, he developed big blisters on his hands and knees. Every day he would crawl to our meetings with the hope of getting a miracle, and God did heal him! The Lord responded to that man’s faith, once again showing everyone that He has an immense love for all of us, and that He desires to change the life of everyone who asks Him!
A large crowd of people that was present at the meeting saw how that young African man, whose legs had been paralyzed for many years, ran up on the stage with a cart in his hands screaming, “Look! I can walk! Look at me! Look!! My legs are moving! Just a few minutes ago I had big blisters on my hands and knees that would never heal. And now, look, those blisters have completely disappeared!”
Full of joy, he knelt back on his cart and showed everyone how difficult it had been for him to move around in that cart for so many years. Then he stood up, pushed that cart aside and walked down the stage!
This is what the Lord does! He wants to heal all people, and He can!
In the face of storms, Jesus spoke peace and all became calm. In the face of taxes, He said to go fishing and gold was found. In the face of lack, He spoke blessing over bread and multiplication occurred. In the face of devils, He spoke a word and they were cast out. In the face of corrupt governments, He remained steady while they trembled in His presence.
We are called to walk in His likeness!
Jesus is calling us to follow Him into this same kind of life that He had on earth. He came as our miracle model. He gave us the power to live the miracle life when He gave us the Holy Spirit. Let us discover what we have so we can be who we really are!
When we know what we have from God, we know who we are. When we know who we are, we know what we can do!
Miracles demonstrate God’s desire to meet the needs of His people.
Matthew 15:22-28 gives us a picture of the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus seeking healing. She had no access to the blessings available at that time to the children of Israel—the people God had made His covenant with and who were the ones to receive His blessings. She was apart from God, His temple, His covenant, separated by the law and without hope! Yet she reached beyond the barriers and touched the very heart of God and found something even deeper than religion. She found grace and mercy for her time of need.
The Canaanite woman discovered that healing is the children’s bread, the very sustenance of life that God intended for you and me to experience.
When you look at our modern world you see that we are ravaged with a multitude of diseases, many of them incurable. These are diseases that the best medical practices and technologies in the world have no answer for.
In this story, Jesus reveals the picture of healing as common as bread on the table. Bread was a central part of every meal in middle-eastern society, and healing is meant to be just as common for our everyday life.
The Gospel of Matthew reveals healing as the very bread of life, the very bread on our table, the very sustenance that you and I should experience!
In the Old Testament we find the story of the children of Israel and God’s promise that He would take them to a land flowing with milk and honey. Moses led the nation of Israel to the edge of that Promised land. Perhaps you are on the edge of your promise today?
Moses sent twelve men to spy out the land. Ten of the spies saw themselves as mere grasshoppers in the sight of the giants that lived in the land. Two of the spies had a different perspective. They saw the giants through God’s eyes and said, “These giants are bread for us” (Numbers 14:9 KJV).
What is your perspective on healing? Has healing become a giant in your life? Jesus said, I am the bread of life (John 6:35)! He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38).
With the advent of His life, miracles became the foundation upon which everyday life was to be built. No longer were miracles to be a mystery or strange phenomenon, but miracles were to be front and center on the table of life!
Jesus came down from heaven as the express image of our heavenly Father, taking Him out of the shadows and revealing Him as the healer of humanity. Have you seen the bread of life come down for you? Jesus has set the table with healing for you!
TL Osborn tells a story about when he was in India and both a wealthy woman and a poor “untouchable” woman stood together on the platform. Each had just been healed of an incurable disease that no one had been able to heal before.
On that day, as they heard the word of God being preached, Jesus came to them. And as they grasped and understood His willingness to heal them, they were both delivered and set free! There on that platform, the woman from the wealthy caste who had beautiful jewels sewn into her gown, and the woman who was from the lower caste both celebrated what the living God had done for them in healing them. Joyfully, out of hearts full of gratitude, they embraced each other in front of that multitude of people.
God is not concerned about your status. Jesus is not concerned with whether you’re lower, upper, middle, or “untouchable.” What He’s concerned about is reaching into your world to heal you!
Over and over it is stated that the just shall live by faith. Faith is the atmosphere the Lord has chosen for people to live in.
If you were to walk into the ocean you would not live very long without a tank of oxygen. Why? You’re not equipped to live in water. People are not equipped to live in a fallen world without faith. Some may exist a little longer than others, just like some may swim in the ocean a little longer than others. All will eventually drown without oxygen in water, and all will perish without faith in this world.
Faith is the evidence of things not seen. We have been given a sixth sense to see what others can’t see, and to declare the unseen as ours. If you’re sick you have an ability to see yourself whole by faith in God’s will for all to be healed. If you’re poor, you have an ability to see beyond your poverty to a promised abundance!