Subject: Divine Healing? |
Bible Note: John, I grew up equally Catholic and heathen and was later saved in a Pentecostal service. Now I only call myself a follower of Christ and choose to avoid a denominational tag whenever I can due to the many misconceptions of what Pentecostal and Full-Gospel believers actually believe. Either way, some of what I wanted to say earlier came to me, so here’s some more food for thought and/or study. A lack of faith is not always what keeps people in sickness. Many times it's faith in the wrong things. If you have faith in God that He has the ability to heal you and know that Jesus already paid for our healing as well as our sins then I don't know why you wouldn't be healed. There are other variables, but they need to be examined case to case. One of the biggest problems is that people believe their own symptoms more than God. I have heard many stories where people did not receive healing because they were told, “Rise up and walk.” And they said, “But I can't walk.” And with that attitude they're right. 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For all the promises of God in Him (referring to Christ) are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” Healing was promised to us under the Old Covenant (Exodus 15:26) and we are now in the New Covenant, a better Covenant founded on better promises (Hebrews 8:6). So if Old Covenant people were able to be healed then New Covenant people are definitely able to be healed. Sorry, got of on a tangent there, but it’s all His word so it’s all good. Where was I? Too many people say, “When brother so and so lays hands on me I’ll be healed.” That’s true if they’re looking to God to heal them and not brother so and so. However, as humans we tend to exalt things that ought not be exalted and we begin to confuse big time preachers in with Christ Himself which is idolatry. All it took was for Moses to take a little more time than expected to come back down the mountain and the Israelites lost hope and started making idols (Exodus 32:4). I’ve sighed and shook my head while looking through Musician’s Friend magazine because there’s a T-shirt reading something like “Axe of the Gods” and it has a picture of Jimmy Hendrix playing a ’69 Stratocaster or something. The sin nature in man when not under control can very easily exalt anyone. Look at Luke 11:27-28, a woman began exalting Mary. Also Acts 14:10 is a good example. My point is although Mary or Billy Graham had a divine call on her life they are not to be looked to for help, only as a channel through which the help may come. I’d love to continue our discussion. I have some brushing up to do on healing also. In responding to your post I found myself fumbling through my notes saying, “It’s here somewhere.” And, “what was that scripture reference again?” If you’d like to do so outside of the forum you can e-mail me at greatsantero@aol.com. Jesified |