Amanda BethSharing the Truths Behind the TRUTH

Apr 23rd Monday’s Blog: Is It God’s Will To Heal You?

I am starting a series today on healing. I usually only post on Mondays, but next week I will be taking a four month leave from the internet to work on my next book. I am going to post every day this week. Today and tomorrow I will share what God has taught me about healing and my experiences with it. Wednesday through Friday, I will share guest posts and testimonies on healing. You can follow this link to read all the messages in this series.

I believe this series will be life-changing for anyone seeking God’s will on healing. Please share this series with others by using the share tabs below.

 

DOES GOD HEAL EVERYONE?

Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals ALL your diseases.

Psalm 103:1-3

I am overwhelmed with grief at all the sicknesses and suffering I see around me. But I am even more grieved at the ignorance and lack of belief I see in the body of Christ today regarding healing.

A lot of teachings today don’t support the truth that God heals through His Holy Spirit dwelling in His people, just as His Holy Spirit did through Jesus and His Disciples. Many Christians (including many pastors) believe God chooses who He wants to heal. But in my heart I can’t accept that teaching, because in the Bible Jesus healed ALL who came to Him to receive healing.

“Many followed him, and he healed ALL their sick” (Matthew 12:15).

“…and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them ALL” (Luke 6:19).

“…and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed ALL the sick” (Matthew 8:16).

“…and people brought to him ALL who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them” (Matthew 4:24).

Jesus never said to anyone who came to Him, “I can’t heal you, because it’s God’s will for you to remain sick,” (neither did His disciples). On the contrary, Jesus was quick to respond to those who needed healing (Matthew 8:3).

Isaiah 53:4 says, “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows…” The original Greek word translated in the NIV as “infirmities” in this verse is “choliy,” which means “sickness” (see reference).

If the Bible says Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:7), and if it says He carried our sicknesses, why wouldn’t it apply to us today? Why would God only work His healing power through His Disciples in the Bible, but not through His Disciples today?

I’ve had many experiences with God’s healing. My first experience came shortly after giving my life over to Christ. My daughter was about 6 months old at the time. My husband accidentally left a battery charger with the cord hanging down off his tall dresser. It was about ten years ago, so the battery chargers weren’t thin and light like they are today. My daughter crawled over to the dresser, pulled the cord, and the charger came crashing down and left an indent in her head.

Panicking, I quickly laid my hands on her head and cried out to God to heal her. After praying, I opened my eyes and saw that her head was healed completely. There was no indent, mark or bruise. After that incident, I was filled with faith knowing God heals us.

Through the years, God’s taught me a lot about healing. I don’t have all the answers, but I will share with you what I have learned so far. I want to also encourage you to seek God’s heart and ask Him to show you His will on healing. I’ve heard and read many teachings on this subject. God always leads me to check them with His Word to keep me free from deception. I encourage you to do the same. Don’t just accept every teaching. Seek God’s truth for yourself.

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

Acts 17:11

Through my experience, and God’s Word, I’ve learned several things that can hinder our healing.

UNBELIEF

 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.”

Luke 18:42

Those who didn’t receive healing in the Bible were those who didn’t come to Jesus for healing, because either they didn’t understand, or they didn’t believe. In His hometown, Jesus couldn’t do many miracles because of their unbelief.

Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith” (Mark 6:4-6).

We can’t receive something we don’t believe is available to us. I was talking to a Christian woman recently. She told me her son needs surgery this summer. I said I would pray for his healing. She replied “No, it’s already been diagnosed. They already scheduled it.”

I was shocked that she didn’t even consider it was possible that God could turn things around and heal her son. How could she receive God’s healing if she didn’t believe it?

In Acts 14, before healing a crippled man, Paul observed him intently to see if he had the faith to be healed before commanding him to stand up: “And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked.^ This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, ^ said with a loud voice, ‘Stand up straight on your feet!’ And he leaped and walked”  (Acts 14:8-10).

A couple years ago, my brother and sister-in-law were told that their daughter had cerebral palsy. The doctor scheduled them to see a specialist to confirm this diagnosis. At the time, my niece was 11 months old and still hadn’t been able to stand on her legs. Normally after birth, when you hold an infant up, they stretch their legs out firm. My niece’s legs were like Jell-O. She had no strength in them.

A week before their appointment with the specialist, I noticed my sister-in-law was overwhelmed with grief and hopelessness. I told her not to accept the diagnosis just yet. There was still hope. I told her I saw her daughter through God’s eyes, not through the doctor’s eyes. I told her I saw her as a beautiful, healthy, normal baby, just as God saw her.

I believe that sparked a little faith in my sister-in-law. A few days later her mother was watching her daughter when suddenly she stood firm on her legs. She continued to stand on her legs and even started walking along the furniture. It was a miracle. Everyone was amazed!

My brother and sister-in-law took my niece to the doctor. The doctor was shocked. He said he never witnessed that kind of improvement in such a short time. They also went to specialist to be sure. The specialist couldn’t find anything wrong with my niece. She was completely healed.

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

John 11:40

SIN

…but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

James 1:14-15

Sin doesn’t just affect our spiritual health. It also affects our physical health. When Jesus healed the man at the pool, He said, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you” (John 5:14). Our poor physical health could be a result of our poor spiritual health.

My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.

Proverbs 4:20-22

In the past, God opened my eyes to sin many times through a sickness, either in me or a loved one.

My daughter passed out in my arms when she was two years old and had to be rushed to the hospital. It was the most horrifying experience. I thought I lost her. At the same time, it was also a big awakening. I had been ignoring the Lord’s conviction on a certain sin in my life. I don’t believe God brought the sickness on my daughter, but I do believe He allowed it to open my eyes and turn me from my sin.

 UNHEALTHY LIFESTYLE

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

We can’t test God by purposely doing things that are harmful to our health, and expect Him to always heal us. I read a message by a preacher recently on how Paul instructed Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:23 to: “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your often infirmities” (AKJV).

The preacher suggested that the water was causing the frequent illness, possibly due to contamination. So the preacher suggested that Paul was saying, “Don’t be foolish! If you know what is causing it, stop it!”

My husband recently heard a Christian radio show host use that same verse, and ignore all the many other verses that support healing, to say that God does not heal everyone who comes to Him because Timothy was sick. We can’t take one Scripture and twist it around to support our own beliefs. We must look at the Bible as a whole and seek God for His knowledge, not settle for our own understanding.

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

James 1:5

Sometimes when we are sick, it can also be an indication that we need rest. In our drive-through society, we want a quick fix for everything. We run to the doctors every time we’re sick and expect them to give us a pill to quickly make us better. Those who believe in God’s healing will often run to God and expect Him to instantly heal every cold, flu, virus, etc. I have experienced many sudden healings, but I’ve also had to wait out many sicknesses because my body needed rest.

 GOD’S PLAN

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”

John 9:3

My husband was sick for many years with a stomach ulcer. His sickness affected our lives greatly. The doctors tried everything they could to heal him, but nothing worked. My faith started to wither as I became discouraged and thought my prayers were no longer effective.

God was still faithful despite my struggle with doubt. He eventually led my husband to a natural doctor. The doctor put my husband on a program with natural vitamins and it completely healed his ulcer.

I believe God led us to the natural doctor to teach us to take care of our bodies, and not neglect our health.

I also believe God led us that route in order to help others. Since then, God’s used us to lead many people to natural medicine. My husband recently referred his co-worker’s sister to his natural doctor for an ulcer problem. She is now on the same program he was on.

In the book “The Heavenly Man-The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun,” God delivered many miracles in and through Brother Yun. At one point, he was sick in prison and kept in the hospital for a period of time. He said he believes he wasn’t healed right away to keep him in the hospital to share the gospel. Each time he experienced a delay in healing, there was always a reason, and God always worked it out for his benefit.

AN ATTACK FROM SATAN

A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. … When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

Mark 9:17, 25

My husband and I attended a marriage Bible study at a couple’s home years ago. Shortly before the study began the woman became ill. Despite her illness, she felt led to start the study to help save another couple’s marriage.

The study was going well. We were enjoying great fellowship, and drawing closer to the Lord and our spouses. Then one day, her doctor told her to enjoy her family because she didn’t have long to live.

She was devastated. My heart ached for her and her family. I didn’t know much about healing at the time, but I was confident God wanted her to be healed. So I turned to God and sought His Word. I was determined to find answers to help her. In my heart, I felt the sickness was an attack from Satan and it was not God’s will to take her life that way.

After searching all the Scriptures on healing, and studying how Jesus healed and His disciples healed, I started sharing what I learned with her. She was optimistic at first, until her husband didn’t accept it. He insisted IF it was God’s will, God would heal her. Because of her husband’s unbelief, I called my natural doctor and asked if they could do anything to help her. They were confident they could help her, so I shared the information with her and even offered to pay for her treatment.

But after talking to her husband again, she declined the offer. Because of her poor health, she had to cancel the study. And sadly, a couple from the study divorced shortly after.

Satan will try anything he can to keep us out of the will of God. When I started writing my first book, my family was attacked greatly. It so obvious that even others noticed we were being attacked. One attack was sores all over my kids’ bodies. I tried everything I could to get rid of the sores.

I laid hands on them. I prayed to receive healing. I believed by the blood of Jesus they were healed and even shouted it out loud many times to keep me from doubting. But nothing changed.

I took my kids to the doctors. The doctors couldn’t diagnose the sores. They had no idea what they were. They kept giving us different medicines and creams to try, but they only made them worse. I also went the natural route and spent a fortune trying to get rid of the sores. But nothing worked.

My kids had to have Band-Aids on their sores and wear socks on their hands and feet. They looked like mummies covered head to toe in bandages. After two months of praying, changing bandages daily, applying creams, and forcing my kids to drink nasty concoctions, I realized the sickness was consuming my life. It left me no time to work on my book. At that moment, I knew the sickness was an attack to keep me from the will of God.

I handed the sickness over to God. I told Him I couldn’t fight it anymore. I wasn’t going to let it stop me from doing His will. I took off the bandages, stopped the creams, medicines, and nasty concoctions. The next day, the sores started clearing up. By the following week, the sores were gone completely and they never returned.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

I pray these stories encourage you to take hold of your healing bought to you by the precious blood of Jesus. I heard someone say recently, “Faith trumps facts.” It may be a fact that you have a sickness. But faith can change that fact!

A woman recently told me that she is believing God for the healing of marriage. She said the healing already took place although she doesn’t see it yet. She said she is walking by faith and not by sight.

Believe your healing has already taken place. Put your trust in God. Don’t listen to what others say. Listen to the Holy Spirit. He will guide you into all truth (John 16:13) and lead you to your healing.

Heavenly Father,

We praise You that Your Word is true. If You healed through Your Spirit in Jesus and His disciples, You will heal through Your Spirit in us. We receive Your healing over any sickness or stronghold we are carrying today. We know that healing has been giving to us in our spiritual bodies, let it manifest right now into our physical bodies. Glorify Your Son, Jesus, through Your power flowing through us. Help us with our doubts. If we don’t see the result yet, help us to hold on to your Word and continue believing that You have already healed us. It will manifest!

In Jesus’ Name, Amen!!

 

*All Bible verses are taken from the NIV, unless otherwise noted.