It has been two years since I was in the Hospital for sixteen days. I want to give God all the glory for bringing myself and my wife through a difficult time. (See the blog”My Story“). He is faithful to His Word. Although I’m still on dialysis three times a week we are seeing God’s hand at work in our midst. We are trusting in God’s healing power every day. That by the stripes of Jesus we were healed. (1 Peter 2:24). Remembering God’s faithfulness is such a key to enduring patience. The Bible tells us “Through faith and patience we receive the promises of God” ( Heb 6:12). This patience is forbearance and endurance. It is a never-give-up attitude in the promises of God! My wife and I believe strongly in Divine Healing. We can testify to God’s healing power in our and our children’s lives. We do thank God for the Medical profession. We are not against doctors or medicine. Our attitude of faith is to trust God first, to seek Him first and if necessary seek out the medical profession. 2 Chronicles 16:12-13 (NKJV)-12 And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease, he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians.13 So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign. I’m confident Asa would have been healed if he sought the Lord. God still had a covenant of healing with His people. Healing is God’s idea. We are not trying to convince God. He is trying to convince us!
Why do I still believe in Divine Healing?
The Bible tells us that “out of the mouth of two or three witnesses let everything be established.“(Matt 18:16, Deut 19:15). I will give you more than three!
The first witness is God Himself: Exodus 15:26 (NKJV)-26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.” The Hebrew Word is Raphah, properly to mend (by stitching), i.e. (figurative) to cure :(cause to) heal, physician, repair, × thoroughly, make whole. This is not a reference to spiritual healing. Genesis 20:17 (NKJV)-17 So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; It is the same Hebrew Word Raphah. It means physical healing. God’s redemptive name is Jehovah Raphah! He is the Lord who heals our bodies and saves us from spiritual death!
In the creation story, the Garden of Eden there was no sin, poverty, sickness, or disease. It was a perfect environment. He provided all that they needed. Everything that God created He said was good.Genesis 1:31 (NKJV)-31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Adam was to live forever but due to the fall, he died spiritually. He died at the age of nine hundred and thirty. The Bible doesn’t tell us how he died. Sickness and disease is a form of death, the fruit of sin. Romans 5:12 (NKJV)-12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. God did not create sickness or disease. In the garden was the Tree of Life, not death. He created a body that could live forever. After the Fall of Adam death reigned. Sin, sickness, disease, and poverty reigned. The good news is that God is still a healing God. When sin abounds, much more does grace abound through Christ. Romans 5:17 (NKJV)17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.). The grace of God has provided healing for our bodies as well as forgiveness of sin. He wants us to reign over sickness and disease. God did not put a time limit on His covenant of grace. He is still the same healing God, the forgiving God. Exodus 23:25 (NKJV)-25 So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you.
The second witness is King David in Psalm 103:1-4 (NKJV)-1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies. Not only does God forgive all of our sins but heals all of our diseases. The word heals is the same Hebrew Word “Raphah.” King David was speaking prophetically of what the Lord Jesus would accomplish in redemption for us at the cross. To redeem us from spiritual death, poverty, sickness, and disease. To redeem us from the curse of the Law. (Gal 3:13). God would no longer cause you to sin as He would cause you to be sick or diseased in your body. God didn’t make you sick so Jesus could heal you.
A third witness is the prophecy from Isaiah concerning Jesus. Isaiah 53:4-5 (NKJV)-4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. Again the Hebrew word is Raphah. Matthew’s gospel gives a commentary on this verse: Matthew 8:16-17 (NKJV)-16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.” This shows us that Isaiah’s prophecy wasn’t just talking about spiritual healing but physical healing. The Word took or bare is the Greek word bastazō:- the idea of removal, to lift, literal or figurative (endure, declare, sustain, receive, etc.):- bear, carry, take up. The Hebrew word borne is: nāśāʾ: (Isaiah 53:4-5)-A verb meaning to lift, to carry, to take away. The Hebrew Word for griefs is: ḥoliy: (Isaiah 53:4-5) –A noun indicating disease, sickness, malady, anxiety, or calamity. It denotes some kind of illness ( 1 Kings 17:17, 2 Kings 1:2, a serious illness). It indicates an illness that is strong or hangs on. ( Deut 28:59). The Hebrew word for sorrows is mak̠ʾôb̠: referring to pain, suffering, and sorrow. Jesus provided physical and emotional healing for us. Jesus carried, and it means to bear the load of sickness and disease. He lifted and carried it away from us. He bore our sins to give us eternal life. If He did all this, why do we bare or carry it? Hebrews 12:2-3 (NKJV)-2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. Sickness and disease are never a blessing. They can cause premature death, financial hardship, depression, and hopelessness. It is not God’s will! 3 John 1:2 (NKJV)-2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. If it was God’s will for sickness and disease why go to the hospital, and take medicine to get better? We are told to submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee! (James 4;7). We can’t be passive towards sickness and disease. We need to actively fight against it, to resist it in Jesus’ Name and it will flee!
A fourth witness is the Ministry of Jesus as we saw in the above verse. Acts 10:38 (NKJV)-38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Also in 1 John 3:8b (NKJV)-8 For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Here we learn who is for healing and who is behind sickness and disease. Again we see this in Luke’s gospel: Luke 13:16 (NKJV)-16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound--think of it–for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” This verse makes it clear who the author of sickness and disease is. It is Satan, the devil. It is oppression and bondage. John 10:10 tells us that it is Satan who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus has come to give us life and life more abundantly. The scriptures are very clear that Jesus came to do the will of God. He never operated independently from His Father. He told Philip,” If you seen me you have seen the Father.”(John 14:9). To know the will of God is to look at the ministry of Jesus. He always did the will of His Father.( John 5:19, John 5:30 John 12:49). Healing is God’s will for everyone, anytime and anywhere!
Jesus never said no to anyone who needed healing. He healed all that came to Him. He didn’t question why they were sick or if they were saved. He didn’t have them fill out a prayer card or state their family history or if they were under a generational curse. He didn’t ask them to get their life right before he would heal them. He never asked if they were in sin. He never said it wasn’t their time yet, you’ll have to wait. He never said I will heal you but you have to learn this lesson first. Look at Matthew 8:16 (NKJV)-16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. The Bible records at least twenty-three separate individual healings as well as a multitude of people. Jesus was fulfilling the prophetic words of Isaiah hundreds of years before he came. John 5:36 (NKJV)-36 But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish–the very works that I do–bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. Healing is a heavenly divine work that is available to those in need of healing. God hasn’t changed His mind about healing.
You might say that was then. Jesus doesn’t heal today.
What about these verses:
- Hebrews 13:8 (NKJV)-8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
- Malachi 3:6 (NKJV)-6 “For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
- Psalm 89:34 (NKJV)-34 My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.
- James 1:17 (NKJV)-17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Is salvation still available for people? The Bible says yes. Whoever calls upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved! (Acts 2:21). If salvation is still available so is healing. It is part of the Atonement. The Greek Word for saved is sōzō and it means to save, i.e. deliver or protect:- heal, preserve, save, do well, be (make) whole. Romans 1:16 (NKJV)-16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. The Greek Word for Salvation is sōtēria and it means to rescue or safety (physical or morally) :- deliver, health, salvation, save, saving. 2 Peter 1:3-4 (NKJV)-3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Sickness and disease is a form of corruption. God has given us all things that pertain to life. It is the power of God not only for salvation but healing as well.
A fifth witness is the lives of Jesus’s disciples. Matthew 10:1 (NKJV)-1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. Mark 3:14-15 (NKJV)-14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,15 and to have power (authority) to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: He also sent out the seventy: Luke 10:1 (NKJV)-1 After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. They too would bring God’s healing message: Luke 10:9 (NKJV)-9 And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ Jesus also commissioned His believers who would later follow Him. Mark 16:17-18 (NKJV)-17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” We are to bring God’s healing grace to the world. Healing is part of the Kingdom of God. There is no sickness or disease in heaven. Matthew 6:9-10 (NKJV)-9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. God’s will on earth is wellness, healing, and wholeness. Why would the early disciples bring healing if it wasn’t God’s will?
Sometimes God allows sickness and disease.
No, the Church allows it. We allow it. That is a hard but true statement. There is no redemptive purpose in sickness and disease. God doesn’t use it to teach us something, make us more holy, or humble us. He has given us His Word (2 Tim 3:16). The problem is never with God. He gave us Jesus! He gave us authority over the enemy. He gave us authority over sickness and disease. (Luke 10:19-20). He gave instructions to the Church on how to deal with sickness and disease. James 5:14-15 (NKJV)-14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. It seems James is saying there shouldn’t be anyone sick among these believers but if there is let them follow these instructions. Notice they can be healed and forgiven. The Local Church should be a place where we minister and heal the sick.
Why people don’t receive healing is the million-dollar question.
I don’t have all the answers but there there are some reasons. It can be because of ignorance, or the lack of correct teaching on healing. Not knowing how to receive healing. Some may think it is not God’s will or that He is trying to teach them something. Others may feel if God wants to heal me, he will. I have nothing to do with it. Then some feel they are not worthy of healing or they deserve to be sick because they caused the problem in the first place. All of these reasons are based in unbelief. In the ministry of Jesus unbelief was the only hindrance to healing. Mark 6:5-6 (NKJV)-5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching. The answer to unbelief is the Word of God! The biggest hindrance to Healing is believing there’s a hindrance to Healing. I think at times we are spending too much time on the why and not enough time on the person of Jesus, the healer.
What about in the Old Testament when God put sickness on people?
Let’s look at these scriptures: Deuteronomy 32:39 (NKJV)-39 ‘Now see that I, even I, am He, And there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand. And in Hosea 6:1 (NKJV)-1 Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. Finally, Deuteronomy 28:59 (NKJV)59 then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues–great and prolonged plagues–and serious and prolonged sicknesses. In the Old Testament, sickness and disease were never a blessing. It was a curse. It was a judgment upon sin. The writers of the Old Testament believed in the sovereignty of God in that He controlled everything. That he was the source of everything. God is sovereign, He is in charge but He doesn’t control everything. He has given man free will. They in the Old Testament didn’t have full or complete knowledge or revelation of Satan, the devil. We do see Satan mentioned in the Old Testament in several places. Especially in the book of Job. (We must take our theology from Jesus and not from Job.) Yet, everything has changed because of what Jesus did on the cross and the New Covenant. Jesus became sin for us. He took the judgment and wrath of God upon Himself. He bore our sicknesses and diseases. He redeemed us from the curse of the Law that resulted in sickness and disease.(Gal 3:13). Jesus defeated Satan and delivered us from the powers of darkness. Sickness and disease don’t have a right to stay in our bodies. Colossians 1:13 (NKJV)-13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. If God is still putting sickness on people then Jesus was operating against the will of God in healing people. Let’s focus on Jesus, the healer.
A sixth witness is from Church history. From the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost to the present time. Do we see miracles, and healings in the Church Age? Acts 5:14-16 (NKJV)-14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed. We see this as part of the good news of the gospel. God was still healing people. Also in Acts 14:7-10 (NKJV)-7 And they were preaching the gospel there.8 And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked.9 This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed,10 said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked.
The Healing Revival 1947-1958. “Scores of healing evangelists traversed America and went into the entire world praying for the sick.” Notable names like Oral Roberts, Jack Coe, A.A.Alen, and many others. Later on Kathryn Kulman-60’s through 70’s, T.L. Osborne, Lester Sumrall. Benny Hinn and others in the 70’s through the present. Signs, wonders, miracles, and healings. There are too many to mention that brought God’s healing message. It cannot all be lies. Mark 16:20 (NKJV)-20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. (John 14:12).
The seventh witness. The God-breathed inspired Word of God ( 2 Tim 3:16). 1 John 5:9-10 (NKJV)-9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son.10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. Jesus is the living Word made flesh and dwelt among us. ( John 1:1, John 1:14) Also in Numbers 23:19 (NKJV)-19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? God would not lie about providing healing for people. Jesus responds to the religious leaders of His day. John 10:37-38 (NKJV)-37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” One of those works was healing.
It comes down to the reality of whether we believe or don’t believe the Word of God. Whether we will walk in faith or not. Whether we will be influenced by God’s Word or influenced by religious traditions where some say miracles, healings, signs, and wonders are not for today. It is the traditions of men that make the word of God of no effect. (Mark 7:13). Our theology, doctrine, or teaching must be based on scriptures and not on personal experiences. Yes, we understand some people never get healed just as some people never get saved. It doesn’t change the promises of God. The truth of God’s Word.
In conclusion, I laid out seven witnesses of why I still believe in “Divine Healing.” Healing is God’s idea. Whether healing is manifested in our bodies or not doesn’t change the truth of the Word of God. Just because someone doesn’t receive Christ, doesn’t change the fact that God loves them, made provision, and wants them saved. 2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV)-9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. We can choose to believe or not believe. God hates sickness and disease and what it does to people’s lives. Jesus paid the price for our healing. We have a covenant right to be healed and whole physically and emotionally. Why? Because he loves us unconditionally. What earthy father would not want to see his children well? Matthew 7:11 (NKJV)-11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Healing is God’s idea and it is a good thing. If you need healing put your faith and trust in Jesus! Be fully convinced that it is God’s will for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to receive. Mark 11:24 (NKJV)-24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
In Christ’s Love;
Brent and Linda Bushen
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