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!

Have you ever stopped a storm? Jesus did. In a boat when all others feared for their lives, He spoke peace and the winds obeyed! Over the years we have seen the power of the Name of Jesus in similar situations when storm winds threatened our events.

It is truly a wonder when the winds respond to that name.

It happened in the northern desert of Mexico at a church roof dedication. We were suddenly pounded by a mighty wind and rain such as the people had not experienced before. First the side windows began to rattle. Then the roof we were dedicating began tearing off, panel by panel, right above the pulpit. The people ran for the door and the walls. I did also, but Leslie stood her ground at the pulpit and commanded the storm to stop in the name of Jesus. After she said the name three times, the wind and rain instantly stopped. The roof was saved and we had a glorious celebration!

Several years ago while conducting meetings in the Philippines we met a middle-eastern dignitary in our hotel lobby. My husband Kevin noticed that this man’s eyes were intently fixed on Kevin’s bible.

As Kevin looked over at this dignitary, the man moved in very close and began to whisper. He told how his wife had found him reading the bible and had turned him in to the authorities. His only hope to get out of prison and back to his family and position had been to renounce Christ. He was so discouraged, convinced that there was no hope for him.

My husband asked him a simple question. “Do you believe in Christ?” The man immediately responded “Yes, I believe!” Kevin prayed with him and he openly wept, knowing his faith had been restored.

He continued to stare at my husband’s bible, and Kevin slowly slid it across the table saying, “Here take my bible – but this time don’t let your wife find it!”

You may find yourself in a similar scenario where you have denied Christ. You are not alone, the Apostle Peter, one of the original disciples of Christ and author of two books of the New Testament, denied Christ three times after promising he would stand with Him to the end.

Regardless of where you find yourself today, Jesus said, “I will never leave you and never forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). You can come to Him right now! He is waiting for you with arms wide-open!

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!

God wants to touch and heal you. Just say these words from the bottom of your heart. Open your heart to God. Tell Him everything you want to say. He hears you and He loves you.

“Dear Jesus, You said in the Bible that You heal any sickness. You said that You save and heal everyone who calls upon Your name. I believe in Your Word and today I come to You. I believe that You are my healer. I believe that You are my savior. I believe that You are healing my body right now. Thank You, Jesus, for this precious gift. Right now I receive what Jesus paid for with His own life. I receive my healing. I believe that I am healed! You are my healer, Jesus! Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Jesus! Amen.”

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13).

We live in a secret kingdom. All around us is a world unseen to the natural eye. If you are born of God by faith in Jesus Christ and He is your Lord, then you have a spirit alive to God’s guidance. You do not have to fall for the manipulations of men or for mere external appearances. You have every right to the life of the secret Kingdom.

We don’t have to live below our privileges. For many years I lived in a foreign country, and I learned that it’s very important to learn the language of the country or else you will be called functionally illiterate. You can’t take advantage of the laws of the land if you can’t read them, and will find yourself at the mercy of others.

We are not at the mercy of the devil when we know our place in Christ!

My husband and I were preaching in a small village in Mexico. At one of the meetings there was an elderly man who could not walk. He listened to the Word of God and heard that Jesus was still alive and that He loves and heals. Nobody prayed for that man; nobody touched him, and suddenly he jumped up and began to sing and dance, because God touched his body and healed him!

Dear friend, I want you to know that that precious old man from Mexico is not any different from you. Jesus loves you so much that He gave His life just for you to be healed! God loves each one of us so much that He Himself dwells among us and heals us. And if today you need healing, He will heal you. All you need to do is believe!

Sickness and disease are the precursor to death and all are a result of sin. When we see a miracle in operation, once again we see God initiating good. Anything you can do sick you can certainly do better healthy! His miracles are confirmation to us that He restores life.

In the beginning when God said “and it was good,” sickness and death were not a part of His original creation. So now when we see a miracle in evidence, we recognize that miracles come to us as a demonstration that God is with us, and His will to do good and not to do evil, to be a blessing and not to harm, to give life and not to curse; He is for us and not against us!

When I receive Jesus into my heart, He lives in me — His Spirit, His holiness, and His righteousness live in me. When I walk, He walks, and when I talk, it’s like He’s talking through me. When I heal or I lay my hands on someone, it’s like He is touching that person through me.

According to Colossians 1:27: “Christ now lives in you.” So where is the presence of God? I’m not looking forward over here or looking backward over there, or begging for it up there. I am relishing the abundance and living in the glory of His love and His life and His Spirit in me, right now.  I come boldly to His throne of grace and receive what I have need of from Him. I recognize that He lives in me, I live in Him, and His presence surrounds me.

This is one of the foundational premises for our miracle life, practicing and recognizing the presence of God!