019 – Health and Healing

Health and Healing

 

 

 

Drawing from what we have discovered in previous lessons of the “Identity in Christ” series and the “Righteous Living” episode, it is time we put some “doing” to our “hearing”, and some power of faith to our believing.

 

 

But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].

 

James 1:22 AMPC

 

 

This is where we need to ask ourselves if we really believe what we have been learning. Are we willing to persevere, to be persistent, until we see the desired results of our faith filled decrees?

 

 

Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and
do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.

 

James 1:3-4 AMPC

 

 

In the Gospel According to Luke, a lesson begins:

 

 

Also [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up).

 

Luke 18:1 AMPC

 

 

This is a parable of a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. It concerned a widow who kept coming to him and asking for justice to be done in her case. After refusing to do so for a time, he finally relented because he began finding her to be an annoyance. The lesson contrasted the unjust judge with the just Judge, God.

 

 

Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says! And will not [our just] God defend and protect and avenge His elect (His chosen ones), who cry to Him day and night? Will He defer
them and delay help on their behalf? I tell you, He will defend and protect and avenge them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find (persistence in) faith on the earth?

 

Luke 18:6-8 AMPC

 

 

What are the lessons here?

  • God is a just judge
  • He will defend, protect, and avenge His elect
  • He will do so speedily
  • He will do so for those who persistently seek Him
  • He expects to find persistence and faith in His people

 

Are we bold enough to continue crying out to the Judge of all creation? I will lay out my case before the righteous Judge, Christ Jesus. As we discovered in “Who God Says I Am”, all judgment was given to the Son. We also learned that we are His elect, His chosen ones. Are we persistently seeking Him?

 

 

“Just as the Father raises up the dead and gives them life [makes them live on], even so the Son also gives life to whomever He wills and is pleased to give it. Even the Father judges no one, for He
has given all judgment (the last judgment and the whole business of judging) entirely into the hands of the Son,”

 

John 5:21-22 AMPC

 

 

What have we studied lately that is to be used in this case?

  • I am in right standing with God (Romans 5:1)
  • I am a citizen of the Kingdom of God (Ephesians 2:19)
  • I am made complete in Christ, filled with the Godhead (Colossians 2:10)
  • I can draw near to the throne of grace fearlessly, confidently, and boldly (Hebrews 4:16)
  • I am a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16)
  • The Father and the Son have made their home within me (John 14:23)
  • I have been redeemed, through the blood shed by Christ, the forgiveness of my sins (Colossians 1:14)
  • I am born of God, preserved against the evil one by Christ (1 John 5:18)
  • The evil and wicked one has no right to lay hold of or touch me (1 John 5:18)
  • In Christ, God is always with me and wants to provide for my every need (Luke 15:31)
  • The Law of the Spirit of life has freed me from the law of sin and of death (Romans 8:2)
  • I am now free from any condemning charges brought against me (Romans 8:33)
  • God has acknowledged me as His own and has put His seal upon me (2 Corinthians 1:22)
  • Because I am loved by God and I am called by Him, I am assured that all things will work together for good (Romans 8:28)
  • With God being on my side, who can stand against me? (Romans 8:31)
  • God is my Refuge and my Fortress and on Him I will rely, and in Him I will confidently trust (Psalms 91:2)
  • I ask the Lord for the water that He gives that will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:14)
  • I go to Him, that out of my heart may flow springs and rivers of living water (John 7:38)
  • His word sent from His mouth will accomplish its purpose (Isaiah 55:11)
  • In Christ, I am to heal the sick and cast out demons (Matthew 10:8)
  • With His wounds, I am healed (Isaiah 53:5)

 

I have believed these things intellectually as well as receiving them in my heart, my innermost being, in my spirit which communes with Holy Spirit, with God.

 

That said, my conclusion is that being filled with the Godhead and the living waters of Holy Spirit, every cell in my body should be permeated by Christ and the living waters, bringing divine health to my body, of the which the enemy has no right or position to steal it from me. By the work of Christ on the cross, by His stripes, I am healed. I rebuke any sickness and ailments in the name of Jesus, and I expect them to leave me at once.

 

What would this look like if brought in a case against the enemy?

 

 

The Plea

 

Whereas disease and ailments have taken up residency in my body and soul, and it is my wish to evict said disease and ailments from my body and soul, I petition the just and righteous Judge to grant my petition and bring me relief from these attacks of the enemy.

 

 

Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive [for our failures] and find grace
to help in good time for every need [appropriate help in well timed help, coming just when we need it].

 

Hebrews 4:16 AMPC

 

 

The Case

 

Almighty God, You are my healer.

 

 

And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree which he cast into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There [the Lord] made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there
He proved them, saying, “If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God and will do what is right in His sight, and will listen to and obey His commandments and keep all His
statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord Who heals you.” And they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and
seventy palm trees; and they encamped there by the waters.

 

Exodus 15:25-27 AMPC

 

 

This took place three days after the Israelites crossed through the Red Sea where God saved them from the Egyptian army.

 

We see at the end of verse 26 the phrase, “the Lord Who heals you.” This is Jehova-Rapha, the Lord who heals, or, the Lord my health and healer.

  • Jehova: Lord, I AM, the Self-Existent One
  • Rapha: to heal

 

We also see this name of God in Psalms and 1 Peter. The word rapha is used 67 times in Scripture.

 

David sings of the Lord, telling his soul to not forget all His benefits.

 

 

Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases,

 

Psalms 103:3

 

 

Another Psalm sings of the Lord Who is gathering the exiles.

 

 

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds [curing their pains and sorrows].

 

Psalms 147:3

 

 

Peter the Apostle refers to how this was done by Jesus on the cross. Peter also refers to Isaiah 53:5. Peter was writing of the personal example Christ left for us so that we should follow in His footsteps.

 

 

He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree [as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have
been healed.

 

1 Peter 2:24

 

 

Christ Jesus is the Lord Who heals, and by His wounds we were healed.

 

 

The Standing

 

Just a couple minutes ago I listed what we have learned in previous studies that give us “standing” to bring our case before the throne of God. The question for each of us is this, “Have I taken the intellectual knowledge, pressed in to Almighty God with it, and converted it to revelation which now dwells within my spirit?”

 

I come in faith. Let’s remember the working definition of faith in its three parts.

  • To believe that God is who He says He is
  • To believe that I am who God says I am
  • To believe that God will do what He says He will do

Again, this needs to be in our spirit, not merely head knowledge. We need to be willing to stand upon it, firmly holding our ground, regardless of what our physical senses and mind tell us. I believe!

 

 

This is in accordance with the terms of the eternal and timeless purpose which He has realized and carried into effect in [the person of] Christ Jesus our Lord, in Whom, because of our faith in
Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear).

 

Ephesians 3:11-12 AMPC

 

 

 

 

The Desired Resolution

 

Divine health and wellness throughout my life.

 

Is this possible? Sure, why not?

 

It is similar to my thoughts on sinning no more from episode 17, Righteous Living. Each temptation, as I explained, comes one at a time, just as our diseases and health issues are individual, even if we have numerous things going on in our body. We saw that God provided a way of escape with each temptation that came. Here we know that each issue, one at a time, is under the authority of Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord my health and healer, the Lord who heals you.

 

 

My Prayer

 

Learn to build prayers based upon the scriptures. Scripture is truth and brings revelation by the Holy Spirit to our spirit. I crafted my prayer on two things:

  • The answer of Jesus when the disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray
  • The scriptures I studied that brought life to my spirit in this matter

Let’s pray.

 

Father in heaven, holy is Your name. Thy will be done in my life, even as You have written the book of my days. You are the provider of all I need in this life and the life to come. Forgive me of all my sins and shortcomings I pray Thee and help me to walk in the same forgiveness to others. Deliver me from the oppressor and all his works. Lay waste to the plans he has for my destruction.

 

I put all my trust in You, Jehovah-Rapha, my health, and my healer. Because Holy Spirit dwells within me, I expect the rivers of living water to permeate every cell of my body and every aspect of my being. I agree with Your Word that says because of the work of the Son, Christ Jesus, on the cross, I am forgiven and by His stripes I am healed.

 

You, O God, have created me, I am Yours. You have redeemed me, I am Yours. I have surrendered myself to Christ, I am Yours. Since You have chosen and called me, and since You dwell within me, the enemy has no place in me and no power over me. You are my Refuge and my Fortress; in You alone will I trust. How can the enemy stand in Your presence? He cannot! He has no place in me and no power over me. He must leave at once!

 

I am no longer a slave to the law of sin and death, and there is therefore now no condemnation upon me. There is nothing that can separate me from Your love. You have adopted me into your household and have given me the right to be called a child of God.

 

Therefore, by faith, I lay on the shore and dip my feet in the river of living water that flows from Your throne, that it may flow into me and permeate every cell and aspect of my being with the healing power of Your love and the peace that only You can give. Come Holy Spirit, You are welcome here. My desire is to draw so close to You, Lord Jesus, that I can hear Your heartbeat; that I can know your heart in a matter, and that I may have the mind of Christ in a matter.

 

In faith, I reject and rebuke the attacks of the enemy who seeks only to kill, steal, and destroy. I resist the devil and He must flee, in the mighty name of Jesus, my Deliverer, in Whom I trust. I also ask You, Lord, for restoration of what the enemy has stolen, including creative miracles in my body.

 

Amen!

 

 

My Decree

 

By faith and in faith I decree divine health and wellness in my body, soul, and spirit.