Faith for Today!
- Grace Linscott
- Aug 26, 2016
- 4 min read
Today, my dad sent me a really good article about healing. It really taught me a lot about my thoughts toward healing as well as what I say out of my mouth. Reading the article made me think about the ministry of Jesus and what He did while He was on the earth.
The gospel of Jesus, or the “good news”, has a lot to do with what Jesus preached. The message of Jesus was salvation. There is no other way to Heaven other than through Jesus Christ. But, it seemed like everywhere He went, His ministry was also healing the sick.
All throughout Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Jesus healed so many people. In Matthew 9:35, it says, “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.”
He offered hope to the sick, the lame, the blind, people with seizures, people with incurable diseases, and a whole lot more. He even told His new disciples in Matthew 10:1, 5-8 to do the same. Read it here:
1Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness
5 Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions: “Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, 6 but only to the people of Israel—God’s lost sheep. 7 Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!
Healing was a part of His daily agenda. Why? People needed something supernatural in their life. What would be the point of serving a god who can’t do anything miraculous? Why would be put our hope to make Heaven but limit what He can do to our physical body? God is all powerful. He is our Creator. Why would we not believe that He has the power to heal the sick when He sent His only son on the earth to do just that.
When He died on the cross, part of that Salvation plan was healing.
1 Peter 2:24 states, “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
It’s like the ministry of Jesus continued on the cross. And when He rose again 3 days later, He went back to His disciples upset because they didn't believe He rose from the dead. Once He talked to them, He told them to continue with preaching good news and healing the sick. Read this:
Mark 16:14-18
14 Still later he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their stubborn unbelief because they refused to believe those who had seen him after he had been raised from the dead.
15 And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. 17 These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages.18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”
Years later, Paul was continuing with Jesus’ ministry of praying for the sick. There are many stories about Paul praying for people and they were healed. Read this story in Acts 28:7-9:
7 Near the shore where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and treated us kindly for three days. 8 As it happened, Publius’s father was ill with fever and dysentery. Paul went in and prayed for him, and laying his hands on him, he healed him. 9 Then all the other sick people on the island came and were healed.
I guess my point in all of this is why do we not believe that the ministry of Jesus continues today? And why do we not believe that He already paid the price for our sickness. It’s up to us to believe that His healing power is moving in us every day. So instead of begging for God to heal me, I should be thanking Him for healing me. I should be thanking God for what He has already done.
In the bible, people were healed in so many ways. Some were healed by the faith of the person who needed it, some were healed by the faith of their parents, and some were healed as an act of obedience. But all of them had one thing in common—faith. And that’s where I am today. I am in faith, not fear. I am in faith, not doubt. I am in faith, not worry. I believe that God is a God of miracles. I believe that God has already healed me. Now, it’s up to me to walk in that healing each and every day. I will not say it’s easy, but that’s what faith is all about--Believing even before you see it come about.
Will you stand in faith with me? Continue to confess that I have 20/20 vision….that I’m that #Onein1Million girl! (Thanks Dad for the article today. You are helping build my faith!)
PS
If you want to read more about healing, check out the link below.
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