It is left up to us
Folks it is about faith in God. Faith to believe what God has said in His word. The Bible is the written Word of God. Whatever He says we can do, we can do. If God calls us healed, then we are healed. But it takes faith to believe that, especially if we are hurting at the time. Faith doesn't wait until all the circumstances have been taken care of before believing. Faith works only before the answer comes. After you have what you need, you do not need faith. Faith in God's Word assures us of our healing. Having faith in God's Word just simply means that we believe and accept what the Word says. Look at what the Word of God says in the following scripture. Remember this is God's Word to us.
1 Peter 2:24 (New King James Version)24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.
Matthew 8:16-17 (New King James Version)16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “ He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”
Psalm 103:1-3 (New King James Version)1 Bless the LORD, O my soul;And all that is within me, bless His holy name!2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,And forget not all His benefits:3 Who forgives all your iniquities,Who heals all your diseases,
Matthew 8:2-3 (New King James Version)2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
The leper did not question the Lord's ability but His willingness. The Lord immediately straighten out his theology with just three words; I am willing. He is always willing simply because He cannot say no to faith. I will explain why later. (More scripture)
Exodus 15:25-26 (New King James Version)25 So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, 26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
Exodus 23:25 (New King James Version)25 “So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you.
Proverbs 4:20-22 (New King James Version)20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; 22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.
Psalm 107:20 (New King James Version)20 He sent His word and healed them,And delivered them from their destruction’s.
Now let me show you what the Lord told them to do when He sent them out to minister.
Matthew 10:1 (New King James Version)1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.
Matthew 10:7-8 (New King James Version)7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
Mark 3:14-15 (New King James Version)14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:
Luke 9:2 (New King James Version)2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
Luke 10:8-9 (New King James Version)8 Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. 9 And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
What I want you to see is that all of this was done before Jesus went to the cross. There is not one time recorded on the pages of God's Holy Word that He ever said no to someone who came to Him in faith seeking their healing. Folks we are to base our belief system upon the Word of God not what some minister or theologian said. Keep in mind that it was the religious folks that were in opposition to Jesus. Also keep in mind that Jesus was operating under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, the same Holy Ghost that you and I have. You hear the phrase, “back in Bible times” the last time I looked we were still in Bible times. We are suppose to be doing exactly what Jesus did here on this earth by the same power that He was operating under until the Bible times come to an end and He establishes His Kingdom. Let me remind you of what Jesus said in Mark.
Mark 16:17-20 (New King James Version)17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
There are a couple of things that I want to clear up concerning the scriptures above. He is not talking about handling snakes as a test of faith or religious symbolism. The correct translation would mean to cast away serpents. As a matter of fact there is an example given in the Acts of the Apostles.
Acts 28:3-6 (New King James Version)3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4 So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.” 5 But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
God never intended for people to handle snakes to confirm their faith. He intended for us to grow in faith in order to walk according to His word. Another thing about the scriptures from Mark is verses 19 and 20. Verse 19 says that the Lord sat down at the right hand of God and verse 20 says the Lord worked with them confirming the Word with signs following. The Lord is seated at the right hand of God but He is confirming the Word by the Holy Ghost that is at work in us. He is working with us by virtue of His Spirit working in us.
The reason people aren't healed today as they were when Jesus and the Apostles were doing it is because there weren't preachers and church leaders telling people that it was not so; That Christ doesn't heal people anymore or that healing stopped when He died. In other words, people are bombarded today with doubt and unbelief from church leaders so therefore it creates an atmosphere of doubt and unbelief, because of that, people have to be taught how to receive from the Lord. During the time Jesus and the Apostles were ministering people came to the meetings expecting to receive therefore they were never disappointed. The farther you are removed from an event, the less light you have. Meaning we are about 2000 years removed from the time Jesus walked the earth so we are desperately in need of faith teaching that will prepare us to receive from the Lord. Without faith you cannot please God and what-ever is not of faith is sin. Hebrews 11:6 and Romans 14:23 respectively.
1 Peter 2:24 (New King James Version)24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.
Matthew 8:16-17 (New King James Version)16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “ He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”
Psalm 103:1-3 (New King James Version)1 Bless the LORD, O my soul;And all that is within me, bless His holy name!2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,And forget not all His benefits:3 Who forgives all your iniquities,Who heals all your diseases,
Matthew 8:2-3 (New King James Version)2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
The leper did not question the Lord's ability but His willingness. The Lord immediately straighten out his theology with just three words; I am willing. He is always willing simply because He cannot say no to faith. I will explain why later. (More scripture)
Exodus 15:25-26 (New King James Version)25 So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, 26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
Exodus 23:25 (New King James Version)25 “So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you.
Proverbs 4:20-22 (New King James Version)20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; 22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.
Psalm 107:20 (New King James Version)20 He sent His word and healed them,And delivered them from their destruction’s.
Now let me show you what the Lord told them to do when He sent them out to minister.
Matthew 10:1 (New King James Version)1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.
Matthew 10:7-8 (New King James Version)7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
Mark 3:14-15 (New King James Version)14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:
Luke 9:2 (New King James Version)2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
Luke 10:8-9 (New King James Version)8 Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. 9 And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
What I want you to see is that all of this was done before Jesus went to the cross. There is not one time recorded on the pages of God's Holy Word that He ever said no to someone who came to Him in faith seeking their healing. Folks we are to base our belief system upon the Word of God not what some minister or theologian said. Keep in mind that it was the religious folks that were in opposition to Jesus. Also keep in mind that Jesus was operating under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, the same Holy Ghost that you and I have. You hear the phrase, “back in Bible times” the last time I looked we were still in Bible times. We are suppose to be doing exactly what Jesus did here on this earth by the same power that He was operating under until the Bible times come to an end and He establishes His Kingdom. Let me remind you of what Jesus said in Mark.
Mark 16:17-20 (New King James Version)17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
There are a couple of things that I want to clear up concerning the scriptures above. He is not talking about handling snakes as a test of faith or religious symbolism. The correct translation would mean to cast away serpents. As a matter of fact there is an example given in the Acts of the Apostles.
Acts 28:3-6 (New King James Version)3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4 So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.” 5 But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
God never intended for people to handle snakes to confirm their faith. He intended for us to grow in faith in order to walk according to His word. Another thing about the scriptures from Mark is verses 19 and 20. Verse 19 says that the Lord sat down at the right hand of God and verse 20 says the Lord worked with them confirming the Word with signs following. The Lord is seated at the right hand of God but He is confirming the Word by the Holy Ghost that is at work in us. He is working with us by virtue of His Spirit working in us.
The reason people aren't healed today as they were when Jesus and the Apostles were doing it is because there weren't preachers and church leaders telling people that it was not so; That Christ doesn't heal people anymore or that healing stopped when He died. In other words, people are bombarded today with doubt and unbelief from church leaders so therefore it creates an atmosphere of doubt and unbelief, because of that, people have to be taught how to receive from the Lord. During the time Jesus and the Apostles were ministering people came to the meetings expecting to receive therefore they were never disappointed. The farther you are removed from an event, the less light you have. Meaning we are about 2000 years removed from the time Jesus walked the earth so we are desperately in need of faith teaching that will prepare us to receive from the Lord. Without faith you cannot please God and what-ever is not of faith is sin. Hebrews 11:6 and Romans 14:23 respectively.
posted by FAITHMAN at 3:43 PM
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