He sent His Word and He healed then of all their destructions!

O give thanks to the Lord , for He is good; For His compassion and lovingkindness endure forever!  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,  They wandered in the wilderness in a [solitary] desert region; And did not find a way to an inhabited city.  Hungry and thirsty, They fainted.  Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He rescued them from their distresses.  He led them by the straight way, To an inhabited city [where they could establish their homes].  Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, And for His wonderful acts to the children of men!  For
Lord , for He is good; For His compassion and lovingkindness endure forever!  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,  They wandered in the wilderness in a [solitary] desert region; And did not find a way to an inhabited city.  Hungry and thirsty, They fainted.  Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He rescued them from their distresses.  He led them by the straight way, To an inhabited city [where they could establish their homes].  Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, And for His wonderful acts to the children of men!  For He satisfies the parched throat, And fills the hungry appetite with what is good.  Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He saved them from their distresses.  He sent His word and healed them, And rescued them from their destruction.  Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, And for His wonderful acts to the children of men!  And let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, And speak of His deeds with shouts of joy!
Psalms 107:1‭-‬2‭, ‬4‭-‬9‭, 
🏹
Background:
✅'Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He saved them from their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, And rescued them from their destruction.'
Good morning and God's blessings. I have been making the case through a number of reflections I have shared recently that God's designated pattern for ministry if genuinely modelled has consistently resulted in healing, miracles, deliverance or Supernatural intervention in Bible days . It was the case with the Prophets in the Old Testament including Moses,Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel‼
✅In the New Testament Jesus Christ Himself was the living example of this performing miracles as He did❗
✔He raised the dead including Lazarus who had been dead for four days :
 So then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.  And for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”  So when Jesus arrived, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away; Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give to You.” Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise [from the dead].” Martha replied, “I know that he will rise [from the dead] in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “ I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, relies on) Me [as Savior] will live even if he dies;  and everyone who lives and believes in Me [as Savior] will never die. Do you believe this?”  She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed and continue to believe that You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of God, He who was [destined and promised] to come into the world [and it is for You that the world has waited].”  When Jesus saw her sobbing, and the Jews who had come with her also sobbing, He was deeply moved in spirit [to the point of anger at the sorrow caused by death] and was troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said, “Lord, come and see.” So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him [as a close friend]!” But some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the blind man’s eyes, have kept this man from dying?”  So Jesus, again deeply moved within [to the point of anger], approached the tomb. It was a cave, and a boulder was lying against it [to cover the entrance]. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be an offensive odor, for he has been dead four days! [It is hopeless!]” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe [in Me], you will see the glory of God [the expression of His excellence]?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes [toward heaven] and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.  I knew that You always hear Me and listen to Me; but I have said this because of the people standing around, so that they may believe that You have sent Me [and that You have made Me Your representative].” When He had said this, He shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”  Out came the man who had been dead, his hands and feet tightly wrapped in burial cloths (linen strips), and with a [burial] cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and release him.”  So then, many of the Jews who had come to [be with] Mary and who were eyewitnesses to what Jesus had done, believed in Him. But some of them went back to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
John 11:14‭-‬15‭, ‬17‭-‬18‭, ‬21‭-‬27‭, ‬33‭-‬34‭, ‬36‭-‬46 AMP
 ‼It was a result of the miracles of Jesus Christ that the religious leaders decided to kill him:
very modern progressive leaning church has been powerless to resist this onslaught because of a theology which probably no longer believes in or advocates for Divine intervention!
‼No Persecution? ❗Yippee❗👍🏿.But what was it that triggered persecution in the time of Jesus?
1⃣So the chief priests and Pharisees convened a council [of the leaders in Israel], and said, “What are we doing? For this man performs many signs (attesting miracles). If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our [holy] place (the temple) and our nation.”
John 11:47‭-‬48 AMP.

❌ On that occasion it was triggered by raising of Lazarus, a man from the dead after four days.
❌ The religious leaders wanted to put a stop to the advancement of Jesus' movement and they alleged that doing so was in the national interest. This they reasoned would prevent the Romans from taking over what little they had left of their civic and religious life free of Roman control.
❌In our contemporary church, where healings and miracles in Christ are not celebrated and where the emphasis is on inspired preaching without producing proof, many things including the supernatural of God have been subsituted away from church life❗How? You may be asking❗
❌ In response to you I will say that suffering is no longer associated with being arrested and detained for healing the sick as happened to the early church! Instead the emphasis is on patiently enduring sickness, often at the expense of the ministry of healing because WE COULDN'T POSSIBLY KNOW THE WILL OF GOD UNDER SUCH MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES COULD WE?
❌The subject of Paul's thorn in the flesh is ofren brought up Through the use of one remote scripture in which Paul the apostle did not experience an instant intervention in answer to prayer a theology of sickness and suffering has been assemblied⁉Folks want to issue a rationale for notvperservering in prayer because they might be resisting God or going against His plan❗
✅In the synopsis of  the minstry of Jesus Christ as recounted in the goodnews of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, He remained on a constant trajectory to deliver those suffering from the affliction of sickness and diseases and different forms of 'destruction'‼
‼Destruction is what sickness and disease is!
❌It is Satan's advance oppression of an individual or groups of people with a view to hurrying them into the grave of an early death.
2⃣‼The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].
John 10:10 AMP‼
‼These are the words of Jesus the Christ‼Do they sound like a shallow health gospel ⁉
3⃣The one who practices sin [separating himself from God, and offending Him by acts of disobedience, indifference, or rebellion] is of the devil [and takes his inner character and moral values from him, not God]; for the devil has sinned and violated God’s law from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
1 John 3:8 AMP
✅Jesus Christ was focused on the destruction of Satan's works. He was on a mission to destroy every attempt of the kingdom of darkness to afflict, oppress and condemn humankind‼
‼Not once did Jesus compromise on His mission‼
✅Jesus Christ exercised perfect compassion towards the sick and dying and yet HE DISPLAYED NO ACCOMODATION AND NO TOLERANCE FOR THE SICKNESSES AND DISEASES THAT AFFLICTED THEM‼
✅He DROVE out the evil beings behind their afflictions‼Jesus Christ stopped at nothing in His quest to HEAL, DELIVER AND TO REVERSE THE EFFECTS OF SICKNESS AND DISEASE‼

🏹Conclusion:
In order to recover lost territory and begin experiencing the healing ministry of Jesus once more in the church, we need to ABANDON, RENOUNCE AND PART COMPANY WITH THIS DOGMA, THAT PLACES SICKNESS AND AFFLICTION AS A PROCESS TO BE ENDURED‼
❌We need to develop a healthy hostility against sickness and if we do, our churches would be filled to overflowing with a waiting list just as our hospitals are‼
✅No one who steps in a hospital has any doubt that Doctors,Nurses, Clinical staff 
are on the warpath against illnesses.
✅They send you home mainly after they have RIDDED you of your illnesses.
✅When they fail to do so, they take specimens, which their biomedical scientists and radiographers and other specialists investigate until they come out with a solution‼👍🏾
✅They have been researching solutions or the cure for nearly all forms of human diseases‼
✅These human investigators of the medical and Clinical profession dedicate decades of their lifetime to finding a cure.THEY DON'T JUST ROLL OVER AND THROW UP THEIR HANDS SAYING: Que sera sera‼Whatever will be will be‼
‼Clinicians do not necessarily construct a defeatist medical ideology based on their past failures to find a cure‼No‼They keep at it until they find a cure‼THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH MUST THEREFORE CARE ABOUT SICK PEOPLE AS MUCH AS DOCTORS, NURSES AND ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS DO‼
✅Keep praying and trusting God to heal the sick UNTIL PEOPLE BEGIN TO EXPERIENCE HEALING‼
✅Do not quit believing God heals, simply because a loved one or someone you care about failed to get healed‼Let's learn what we can from that tragedy or the loss and perservere(to be contd)

Modelling Ours after The Miracle Ministry of Jesus

Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them out ahead of Him, two by two, into every city and place where He was about to go. He was saying to them, “The harvest is abundant [for there are many who need to hear the good news about salvation], but the workers [those available to proclaim the message of salvation] are few. Therefore, [prayerfully] ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.  Whenever you go into a city and they welcome you, eat what is set before you;  and heal those in it who are sick [authenticating your message], and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’   “Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented and changed their minds long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes [to show deep regret for sin]. The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like [a flash of] lightning.  Listen carefully: I have given you authority [that you now possess] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and [the ability to exercise authority] over all the power of the enemy (Satan); and nothing will [in any way] harm you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice at this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”
LUKE 10:1‭-‬2‭, ‬8‭-‬9‭, ‬13‭, ‬17‭-‬20 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/luk.10.1-20.AMP
🏹Background:

❌Some have argued that miracles and healings are not needed! They illustrate with scriptures such as the ones in which Christ decries the unbelief of towns even after he has demonstrated his miracle working power.

✅Indeed miracles do not convert people. However signs and miracles have been the pattern God has used. They are testimony of God at work and serve as a point of future reference for God! In the text Jesus  refers back to those miracles He performed as EVIDENCE that HE HAD PROVIDED CLEAR PROOF HE WAS AT WORK IN A VISIBLE TANGIBLE WAY!  The unbelieving world cannot discern the Lord by a spiritual revelation as a believer will do. Because the reasoning of the unbelieving world is still under the  dark influence of the powers of darkness, until the Holy Spirit shines the light of the Gospel in the darkness. But even whilst in our darkened unbelieving state before  repenting from sin and surrendering to Christ a miracle provides the evidence which we can relate to as a non believer! We  are able to handle and observe a miracle in the visible material world. IT PROVIDES A HIGHLIGHT OR AN ADVERT SUCH AS AN ADVANCE NOTICE OF AN EVENT WOULD! A MIRACLE SIGNPOSTS US TO THE LIVING WORDS OF JESUS!

 ✔The apostles and the early church of Jesus actually prayed for signs and miracles to occur.Note the following  verses in the book of Acts. Bear with me for having posted large portionsoof scripture to help a reader with the context of what I am sharing:

1. And now, Lord, observe their threats [take them into account] and grant that Your bond-servants may declare Your message [of salvation] with great confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders (attesting miracles) take place through the name [and the authority and power] of Your holy Servant and Son Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they were meeting together was shaken [a sign of God’s presence]; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness and courage.

ACTS 4:29‭-‬31 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/act.4.29-31.AMP

A Twentieth and Twenty First Century Cerebral Faith of No Miracles!

✅The Apostles, disciples and the early church continued to minister healing and miracles: after Jesus' statement earlier  cautioning about false miracle performing teachers.
‼The disciples were either flagrantly being disobedient to the will of Jesus the Christ or their interpretation of the word of Jesus was different from a very modern 20th and 21st century interpretation which completely patterns ministry with no emphasis on miracles.

1⃣A sense of awe was felt by everyone, and many wonders and signs (attesting miracles) were taking place through the apostles.
ACTS 2:43 AMP
https://bible.com

2⃣When they had put the men in front of them, they repeatedly asked, “By what sort of power, or in what name [that is, by what kind of authority], did you do this [healing]?” Then Peter, filled with [the power of] the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people [members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Court], if we are being put on trial today [to interrogate us] for a good deed done to [benefit] a disabled man, as to how this man has been restored to health, let it be known and clearly understood by all of you, and by all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you [demanded be] crucified [by the Romans and], whom God raised from the dead—in this name [that is, by the authority and power of Jesus] this man stands here before you in good health.
ACTS 4:7‭-‬10 AMP

3⃣saying, “What are we to do with these men? For the fact that an extraordinary miracle has taken place through them is public knowledge and clearly evident to all the residents of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But to keep it from spreading further among the people and the nation, let us [sternly] warn them not to speak again to anyone in this name.” So they sent for them, and commanded them not to speak [as His representatives] or teach at all in the name of Jesus [using Him as their authority].
ACTS 4:16‭-‬18 AMP

4⃣More and more believers in the Lord, crowds of men and women, were constantly being added to their number,  to such an extent that they even carried their sick out into the streets and put them on cots and sleeping pads, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on one of them [with healing power]. And the people from the towns in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing the sick and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.  But the high priest stood up, along with all his associates (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy and resentment. They arrested the apostles and put them in a public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, and leading them out, he said, “Go, stand and continue to tell the people in the temple [courtyards] the whole message of this Life [the eternal life revealed by Christ and found through faith in Him].” When they heard this, they went into the temple [courtyards] about daybreak and began teaching.  N ow when the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), even all the council of elders of the sons of Israel, and sent word to the prison for the apostles to be brought [before them].
ACTS 5:14‭-‬21 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/act.5.14-21.AMP

🏹
✅The early church faced suffering and persecution from religious people. They were the same group of people, Pharisees and Sadduccees , who had opposed Jesus Christ.However beyond the EXEGETICAL TECHNIQUES they employed in questioning the ATTESTATIONS JESUS CHRIST MADE TO DEITY, THEY WERE PRIMARILY OPPOSED TO THE MIRACLES HE PERFORMED! BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST MADE IT VERY CLEAR THAT THE MIRACLES HE PERFORMED WAS PROOF OF WHAT HE ATTESTED TO BE TRUE!THAT HE IS THE SON OF GOD, A TRUTH HE WOULD NOT DENY AND HE POINTED TO HIS WORKS(THE MIRACLES HE PERFORMED) AS ONE PROOF!

 🅰The Pharisees were opposed to the miracles of Jesus mainly because they did not accept His Deity or the claims He was attesting to. Their rejection of the miracles of Christ was based on the link that Christ made between His miracles and HIS ATTESTATION TO DEITY! But from a perspective of believing in the supernatural they were open to God's intervention in the affairs of men! They were renown for their strict adherence to a lot of manmade tradition.

So the chief priests and Pharisees convened a council [of the leaders in Israel], and said, “What are we doing? For this man performs many signs (attesting miracles). If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our [holy] place (the temple) and our nation.”
JOHN 11:47‭-‬48 AMP
 🅱The Sadducees were known to be quite wealthy. They were concerned with the preservation of their nation from destruction by the Romans.The Chief Priest in Jesus' day was reportedly a Sadducee. They did not believe in angels and in the resurrection from the dead. Placing this into context it is clear why the religious leaders had issues with what Jesus Christ represented! If Jesus Christ was indeed who He claimed to be, then they knew it was only a matter of time when they had to make a decision about whether they were willing to believe Him or not! THEY CHOSE TO REJECT HIM AND TO DESTROY THE EVIDENCE BY KILLING HIM THROUGH THE HANDS OF ROMAN HITMEN WHO DID THEIR HITJOB IN BROAD DAYLIGHT!

On that day some Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection [of the dead], came to Him and asked Him a question,
MATTHEW 22:23 AMP

✅Instead of swearing His disciples into secrecy about miracles, by and large He encouraged them to actually expect thwJesus Christ before His ascension had INSTRUCTED His followers to await God's Divine Empowerment before proceeding into the fulfillment of His great commission to preaching the gospel.

He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.  But you will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses [to tell people about Me] both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:7‭-‬8 AMP

✅This event occured on the day of pentecost

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place, and suddenly a sound came from heaven like a rushing violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. There appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were being distributed [among them], and they rested on each one of them [as each person received the Holy Spirit]. And they were all filled [that is, diffused throughout their being] with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (different languages), as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out [clearly and appropriately].

Acts 2:1‭-‬4 
✅The purpose of Pentecost was to empower the apostles and the church of Jesus Christ to be a dynamic witness of a risen Lord and a soon coming King Jesus Christ.
‼This is the illustration which Peter the Apostle of Jesus Christ gave on that day! In support of the principle that the gift of the Holy Spirit was 🅰For everyone who repents turn from sin and becomes a follower of Jesus Christ. 🅱They were to be baptised to declare their new found faith in Jesus Christ and Committment to doing His will.🆑They would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
‼This promise is a timeless promise. To be of benefit to subsequent generations of believers in Christ

God raised this Jesus [bodily from the dead], and of that [fact] we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this [blessing] which you both see and hear. Therefore let all the house of Israel recognize beyond all doubt that God has made Him both Lord and Christ (Messiah, Anointed)—this Jesus whom you crucified.”  Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart [with remorse and anxiety], and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what are we to do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways, accept and follow Jesus as the Messiah] and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ because of the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise [of the Holy Spirit] is for you and your children and for all who are far away [including the Gentiles], as many as the Lord our God calls to Himself.”

Acts 2:32‭-‬33‭, ‬36‭-‬39 AMP


✅PENTECOST UNDERESTIMATED is to limit the Gift of the Holy Spirit to giving teachings, sermons and messages under divine inspiration!
✅PENTECOST UNDERESTIMATED is to limit it to our nice bible study programmes.
✅Jesus Christ paid the price with His life, the ultimte Price in order for HUMANKIND TO ACCESS  MORE OF GOD'S GRACE THAN JUST NICE INSPIRATIONAL MESSAGES‼
✅PENTECOST UNDERESTIMATED is when our faith poses NO RISK OF HOLDING US ACCOUNTABLE FOR GIVING PROOF THAT JESUS CHRIST IS INDEED RESURRECTED!

🏹CONCLUSION:
A modernist hermaneutic approch to Christian Faith is to provide historical and archaelogical accounts in support of Jesus Christ historical existense to those in doubt of the validity of the Bible. This is wonderful and it has it's place in Christian teaching‼BUT THE BIBLE MODEL FOR PRODUCING PROOF OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION IS BY YIELDING TO HIM, LETTING HIM  WORK THE WORKS OF GOD THROUGH HUMAN INSTRUMENTS‼The works of God Jesus did and needs to continue doing are miracles. In Apostle Peter's words Peter's words :
“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man accredited and pointed out and attested to you by God with [the power to perform] miracles and wonders and signs which God worked through Him in your [very] midst, just as you yourselves know—
Acts 2:22 AMP
(To be continued)

Healing in the Jordan pt2

Then He said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.  But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was closed up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;  and yet Elijah was not sent [by the Lord] to a single one of them, but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.  And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and not one of them was cleansed [by being healed] except Naaman the Syrian.”  As they heard these things [about God’s grace to these two Gentiles], the people in the synagogue were filled with a great rage; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the crest of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to hurl Him down the cliff. But passing [miraculously] through the crowd, He went on His way.
LUKE 4:24‭-‬30 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/luk.4.24-30.AMP

Background

Jesus Christ was introduciing a radical shift in the thinking of His fellow Jews, gathered on that occasion in the synagogue! He was daring them to believe that God had revealed Himself through one of their own! A family they were quite well acquainted with! That the oldest son of that family was the long awaited jewish Messiah they had all been expecting. The one their ancestors had expected for centuries! His fellow hometown folk were not quite ready to jump on his bandwagon yet!Even if Jesus was clearly being elaborate in sharing from the scripture and building a very solid case about why this was so, even if He had clearly illustrated from scripture why this was so, they were not ready to acknowledge the truth!

But they were prepared to protest His audacity! The audacity to suggest He was someone other than the carpenter's son! What they were prepared to do was to stop Him! They attempted to execute this in the most brutal way! They sought to do it in the most violent way they knew which was to turn  nearly'murderous towards Him'! It is amazing how we sometimes react when something is shared that we aren't prepared to accept!
We often respond from our entrenched and our longheld dogmatic positions! We are very often  prepared to undermine the 'messenger' and to go for any flaws in their personal life rather than face up to the fact that there may be some truth principle in what they are sharing!

Years ago a pastor friend named Godwin observed me using my prescribed inhaler for the symptoms of asthma.  He asked me about seeking God for healing from the condition which I suffered with at the time. I was crossed with him that he would even think that God would heal asthma in the 20th Century.  By then I had been doing my Nursing Training for sometime and had began to question certain convictions I had previously held about healing.  As a result of what I thought I  witnessed from others who had exhibited a really poor defence of healing I had decided that no one got healed of Asthma.
  in the 20th century.THAT BECAME MY DEFAULT POSITION AND MY DEFENSE UNTIL GOD SHATTERED THROUGH MY OWN PHYSICAL HEALING FROM ASTHMA IN 1995!

The irony is that  I was visiting with my friend Godwin the weekend I experienced healing from Asthma, and I also had the opportunity to acknowledge to him that I had previously  been wrong in presuming that God did not heal of asthma in the 20th Century.

Jesus Christ had told one of his disciples Thomas, 'Blessed is he that does not see and yet believes. (John 20:29).That is still true about our lives today. We ought to trust the Lord through the evidence of His word first before we experience healing first hand.!

On another occasion whilst watching Christian TV, i had witnessed a youngman testifying that he had been healed from a condition which was associated with breathing difficulty.I struggled with believing that particular testimony because it had not been my personal experience up until that point..This was because although I had witnessed several healings first hand whilst ministering to individuals who were healed I had developed a mental block associated with  not trusting God for my own healing. Infact I was hesitant about asking God for my own physical healing from Asthma, due to the fact that i had accepted the condition as hereditary. Atleast one other member of my family suffered from that condition.

How do we eventually become entrenched in our position about a subject based on our experience? Well there are a number of factors that can lead to that. 

1. Conditioning through Education: Initially I had had doubts that healing occurs because my personal experience of healing up to that point mostly involved others getting healed when I ministered to them. I had not experienced healing personally, the way others had. Subsequently , I had learnt a lot more about Asthma as a  medical condition during my nursing training. During my nursing trsining I became more and more that the best I could do is to manage the condition. This was a gradually deviation from a previous position that healing was atleast a possibility. Also within   the period of my nurse training I became a captive audience hearing constantly aboutf the virtues of medical science as the main answer to human health ailments.Note, I appreciate medical science and all the great advances and fantastic results from its rightful application. However our particular education programme resulted in  quite a bit of conditioning  too which had unintended consequences in my case atleast. Through the knowledge I gained, perhaps even because of the professional training as a whole I began to have doubts about  God's healing in answer to prayer..

If your  doubts about healing in answer to prayer are partly fuelled by your educational research you may identify with me. But whatever positiont you take on this issue do stay with me through the rest of this series on healing. Because just like the jews embarked on a journey with Jesus, which did not take overnight to arrive at a destination of faith and believing  we won't get there either in the shortterm

1.  2. Peer Pressure and People Pleasing:  We often uphold certain beliefs and positions publicly although privately you could refer to as secret disciples of Jesus😁!. Jesus had many secret disciples who missed out on the experience of real action! There are fewer benefits to being a secret disciple but you are still a disciple so you can be credited for that! However, a secret disciple usually lacks the kind of defining commitment which is required in order to experience a certain dimension of God's dealings with us. So what I am suggesting is that you start with your family. Let them know that you believe and take a stand for Godly positions. Be open about your believing to the degree that you can be held accountable for what you believe.When we have taken a stand on our belief in healing and in miracles we would be held accountable as believers in the manifest presence of a risen  saviour and Christ.

In conclusion, I will like to extend an invite to you to join me in prayer about a need you may have. The passage in Luke 4:24-30 which I began with,  highlights the categories of individuals who mainly received God's intervention. There were people whom God sent the instrument tof healing to like the widow of Zidon, whom Elijah was sent to.  There were  others  who initiated a request for healing from the Lord as Naaman the Syrian General had done. These are the main two categories who experienced healing or miracles in the Bible.

Majority of the people were healed because they made a request. But some were also healed because of the Sovereignly of the Lord God. At times they were spontaneous occasions that created  the opportunity by leading a human vessel to them either in person or via a point of contact.Through that point of contact they were able to release their faith towards God.

Sometimes we delay the experience of healing because we do not pray for a divine appointment to occur and we do not request for healing. When I got healed in 1995 it occured to me that many from within the Christian community whose hospital i served in had been praying for me. However, when  I got healed i realised perhaps I could have been healed sooner if only I had dared to ask God.Although I had not been asking God, something happened spontaneously whilst I was in an environment of healing
You have got to be in that environment through reading this reflection. Let us pray:
Father, in Jesus name I pray for my brother and my sister and ask you to bring them into an experience of your presence. Give them the healing they require, make them feel your touch and we thank you for answered prayer, Amen.
God bless you and we will continue with the next reflection on another occasion.

Healing in the Jordan Pt 1

The Arameans (Syrians) had gone out in bands [as raiders] and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman’s wife [as a servant]. She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master [Naaman] were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would heal him of his leprosy.” Naaman went in and told his master [the king], “The girl who is from the land of Israel said such and such.” Then the king of Aram (Syria) said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel (Jehoram the son of Ahab).” So he left and took with him ten talents of silver and 6,000 shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.  So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stopped at the entrance of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.” But Naaman was furious and went away and said, “Indeed! I thought ‘He would at least come out to [see] me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place [of leprosy] and heal the leper.’ Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus [in Aram], better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. Then his servants approached and said to him, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he has said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean?’ ” So he went down and plunged himself into the Jordan seven times, just as the man of God had said; and his flesh was restored like that of a little child and he was clean.
2 KINGS 5:2‭-‬5‭, ‬9‭-‬14 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/2ki.5.2-14.AMP

🏹BACKGROUND:

🏹 Naaman the Syrian general's healing was a true manifestation of the power of God‼
🔑His ONLY ROLE in the experience was   obedience to the instructions of the prophet Elisha who was at the time God's instrument for bringing about his healing.
But oh how general Naaman struggled with the very simple instruction. He was used to accomplishing great tasks. However, God through His prophet Elisha chose the most badic task for him to accomplish.

This is characteristic of healing which involves the supernatural intervention of  our Sovereign God to heal sickness and disease. There are examples of this happening in scripture and when they do, it is often linked to geographical locations and human instruments who had been consecrated to God for that purpose. But God is not limited to a few methods either!However there is a regular repeat of the above two examples in both Old and New Testament scripture.

This isn't an indication that God is discriminatory.

1.Geographical or Physical Location:

When a place is dedicated and then Consecrated to God for a purpose, He honours that dedication and Consecration by manifesting His glory. In 2 Chronicles 7:1-4 King Solomon begins by dedicating a newly built temple for the Lord God of Israel, which became a centre of Worship for the nation of Israel.

2. Individuals dedicated and Consecrated in Service to God:

Jesus Christ commissioned His disciples in in service tbat would send them all over the world (Luke 24:49).However He firstly instructed them to dedicate themselves in seeking God and awaiting His Divine Enablement. This He promised would occur via receiving the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
Another example occurs in Acts 13:2' While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
🌎When one individual responds and is consecrated to God, and remains dedicated in His service to God the Lord honours this by using Him or Her as a vessel of honour.NOTE THAT IT IS GOD USING AN INDIVIDUAL AND NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND.
🔥The Covenant of Consecration is violated when the individual or corporate body begins to treat lightly what God has confirmed.
🔥Sometimes our own neglect of this walk of consecration and the fact that we allow others to violate or defame what  we have consecrated to God can be a reason for the Lord withdrawing His blessing. As a result  we are no longer glorious used by God and we would certainly decline in our effective serving.

🔑Elisha had undergone a period of being dedicated first (1 Kings 19:6) and subsequently Consecrated to God whilst his mentor Elijah was still in prophetic office. As a result,  when the occasion arose in which an individual had a need for healing, God was able to find an available instrument in the prophet Elisha.Elisha received a supernatural manifestation of God's  gift of healing which was complemented by a word of wisdom or direction. Please read the entire account if you have skipped over it‼

🔑

A Few Comments before we resume Naaman's story:

Supernatural manifestations of faith can also be received as a gift of the Holy Spirit(1 Corinthians 12:9).
🔑This supernatural gift of faith is evidenced usually through a corporate body: Acts 4:32,33 and within such a Spiritual climate there are results including:
 ✔healing miracles in answer to prayer‼
✔Folks unashame about identifying with the Supernatural of our saviour Jesus Christ.
✔He being God who is the same yesterday today and forever.
✔Some of this includes being literalists in their interpretation of the miracles in the Bible😁👍🏾
✔They believe in the creation story and do not exhaust their ability to trust God by questioning the words of  our heavenly father to point of contradiction and unbelief🤔❓❓❓

I AM NOT SUGGESTING WE GO ABOUT OUR FAITH AS INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE GULLIBLE AND PRONE TO BELIEVING EVERY LIE. BUT I AM THINKING MORE ABOUT CHILDLIKE FAITH! A BIT LIKE WHAT MARY DEMONSTRATED WHEN THE ANGEL GABRIEL ANNOUNCED THE BIRTH OF JESUS TO HER

🤔In Luke 1:38(Mary was perplexed as she attempted to figure out how the words of the angel could reach fulfillment she was willing to atleast trust God)
🙄Luke 1:18(Zechariah on the other hand was dismissive of the miracle of giving birth to a child in Old age).

🌎NOW LET'S RETURN TO OUR  MAIN ILLUSTRATION BASED ON THE HEALING OF A SYRIAN GENERAL FROM LEPROSY.

🔑Naaman's story began on a positive note of trust, daring optimism and hope. Simply taking the words of a Hebrew slave girl literally and seriously enough to make the journey to Israel in search of a healing.

🤔Imagine if Naaman had been dismissive of what the Hebrew servant girl had said?He certainly would N-E-V-E-R have made that journey!
😢Even though Naaman got as far as the prophet Elijah's compound, His mindset or outlook on things nearly cost him his miracle.
Unfortunately our position on issues, oand sometimes our biases often prevent us from experiencing God's best! This is particularly true regarding healing.
🌎I have observed that biases and prejudices are a major obstacle to experiencing God's healing virtue.
🌎Naaman was asked to wash in the Jordan river. He preferred the rivers in Syria and so he took offense at being given that intruction.
🌎We ought to be mindful of the trap of wanting healing on our own terms!IT HAS GOT TO BE GOD LED,GOD FOCUSED AND CHRIST CENTRED!
🌎The great thing about Naaman was that he was surrounded by individuals who genuinely cared about his welfare. Beginning from the slave girl  of his wife, his wife herself, to his advisers. Naaman's boss, the King of Syria cared about him too.
🌎It is great if we have family and friends and colleagues who care about our welfare enough to encourage us, not to give in to our biases or our egos👍🏿🤲
🌎However, we also have a responsibility to listen to helpful and godly advice and not turn inwards when we receive counsel that goes against the grain of entrapment! The entrapment of our prejudices!

Conclusion:
There may be a lot more at stake than tfeeling we have hurt our pride.Hurting the 'insular' pride of our cultural biases? Or the bruising of our egos?
In order to experience God's best and His healing virtue to get rid of our diseases we need to function within this framework of His consecration and Divine order! I cannot be precriptive here.
✔Perhaps it involves attending a proven miracle healing service. Of course one that is Christ centred and Scripturally founded. ✔Perhaps there is an individual used in the ministry of healing whom God can use to be blessing to you.
 It can happen provided we bypass our prejudices. May be we do not like their delivery style! COULD THAT BE OUR JORDAN?.
I have an example of my own healing in 1995. Evangelist John Raphael spoke with a heavy accent not unlike my oWn. But he was different. I did not like the way he spoke. He came across to me as overly confident.Inspite of my biases God chose to use him for my healing. He did not have to pray for me. I got healed just sitting in the back row of the .
Dear friend or family, I hope you have been blessed by this part of our reflection. Please let me hear from you and do share a prayer request for our prayer network. God bless and have a wondsrful day(to be contd)