Keys to Healing - Part 3
Key #8 - Debunk the lies that keep people from getting healed
Paul's Thorn is a big argument used to prove their theory that God will allow a person to have a sickness for the glory of God. Look carefully at the context and what it is actually saying, and you see that (a) this was not a physical sickness but rather a messenger of Satan, and (b) it involved persecution and distresses which we were never promised deliverance from here on earth:
"And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12:7-10 KJV)
The story of Job is another common argument, but then again, we have to look closely at what was really going on. First, none of the physical problems Job had was purely physical, but caused by demons. Secondly, Job did not have a covenant with God concerning his healing. Third, Job saw God as a God who gave and took away, and later on in the book of Job, we find that God rebuked him for his way of thinking (Job 38:2) and Job repented for his foolish rants about the nature of God (Job 42:3). We like to quote Job's foolish rants as if they were scripture, and it just goes to show everybody how little we really understand the story of Job. That is wrongly dividing the Word of God and it has cost many people dearly because of the twisted picture of God which was fed to them from the pulpit. That makes me mad!
What about the man born blind? Let's take a close look at this passage:
"And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work." (John 9:1-4 KJV)
First of all, I believe the punctuation marking was wrong. In the original manuscripts, where were almost no if any punctuation marks used. Notice that they did not ask Jesus why the man was born bind. If that ask Him that question, we could see Jesus answering it with something like, "God made him that way for His purposes." So what question was Jesus asked? "Who sinned?" What did Jesus answer? "Neither him nor his parents sinned." That's where I think there belongs a period, instead of a colon. The next thing Jesus said didn't really answer the question they asked, and I believe starts an entire new train of thought. Then Jesus goes on to say that the works of God must be made manifest in this man's life, for the works of God was the very purpose of Christ coming to this world. What were the works of God that Jesus manifested in this man's life? His divine healing. God wanted his body HEALED. God didn't put sickness on him so he could be taught something. Jesus' only intent in this passage was to get the man healed, because it was the works that He came to do.
We are called to rightly divide the Word, and I honestly don't think the common interpretation of this passage lines up with the rest of scripture. Is it like the loving nature of our heavenly father to cause a man to suffer from blindness his whole life? Is that something you would ever do to your child? Then why on earth do we pin this terribly selfish thing on our heavenly Father? That just doesn't line up with the nature of God. This is one of those verses that doens't make sense when lined up against the rest of the Bible, and therefore our interpretation of it should be questioned.
If you still don't agree with me, I want to point out that God got glory by HEALING the man, not letting him take his sickness to the grave. The glory God got out of the situation was in the miracle that happened. Many people use this verse to undermine the healing ministry, then wind up never getting healed.
Also notice that Jesus said that it was the works of God which must be manifested in Him. The work of God was HEALING!! It was not to teach him something, it was not to make him stronger, it was to get this man healed and physically whole! That was the WORKS OF GOD that Jesus was talking about!! This man did NOT have a sickness given to him to teach him something or to make him a better person. EVEN IF this sickness was given to him by God, it was for the purpose of showing the people that God wants to heal them!!
Then there's the story of Lazareth, where Jesus could have came sooner and healed him but decided to wait until he died, then came and rose him from the dead. Lazareth's healing was delayed for an greater miracle. Again, people quote this passage to undermine the healing ministry, then end up taking their sickness to their grave. Next time I see somebody dying of a sickness and somebody uses this passage, I'd like to see them raise the person from the dead after they've went on. THAT was what happened in this story in the Bible!
On top of all that, what did Job, the man born blind, and Lazareth have in common? None of them had a covenant with God which included their healing, as we do today. They were all sick under the Old Covenant, before the New Covenant was established. Remember, if God withholds a piece of the covenant for His sovereign purposes, it makes His promises unreliable and His integrity a farce. Either healing is part of the atonement or it isn't.
A religious belief system is a poison to our faith in the real things of God, such as healing. Why is it that in the early church and in other third world countries, healings and deliverances are easy to come by? Over in third world countries, the ministry of healing and deliverance are easily manifested. It's easy to see the blind eyes opened, deaf ears hear, and many get healed in Jesus' name. Yet in America, it's like pulling teeth. Do you know why? It's because of the dead religion that we've been fed over the years. Over there, if you tell them that God is a good God, then that's all they know about God. If you can get a person to really "get it" that God loves them as much as He loved Jesus, it's easy to get them to receive the things God has for them! But here in America, religion had poisoned our faith in the goodness of God. Religion has told us that God uses sickness to teach us things, or that He might just kill us like He did Aunt Betty who died of a terrible cancer. Religion has told us that God just might put poverty on us to keep us humble, when the Bible says the exact opposite (see my teaching on Biblical Prosperity)! You cannot trust somebody who you aren't sure is looking after your best interest, and this is the very reason why Satan, through dead religion, has taught us some terrible things about God, so that our perception of His heart toward us is poisoned.
Then we believe lies such as "in God's time" when God's time for Aunt Betty never came, and many of us never will. Many times when a person believes that, they never get healed, the doctor bills mount up, and we start to feel like God really doesn't care. That's the image of God that we get when we believe in the flesh. Just as we can walk in the flesh, we can also believe in the flesh! Believing in the flesh is a result of trying to reason away failed healings, and calls God's Word and His integrity a farce. We need to stop looking at what happened to Aunt Betty and start believing what the Word has to say. We don't know why Aunt Betty died of cancer, but we're awfully quick to blame God for her death when she didn't get healed. This is believing in the flesh.
When we believe all these wrong things about God, it makes it nearly impossible for us to receive from Him. God's Word tells us that he who comes to God must not waiver like the wind, but be in faith and believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him:
"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." (James 1:6-7 KJV)
"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6 KJV)
And what does James tell us concerning the prayer for healing? It's called a prayer of FAITH! It's a prayer where you are going to God with faith, knowing that it is His will for your healing:
"And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." (James 5:15 KJV)
Key #9 - Deal with unhealthy emotions that invite infirmities
Anytime somebody is seeking a healing, it is a good idea to check for unforgiveness, as it is often found behind most types of cancers and numerous other diseases. Whenever a sickness is held up by unforgiveness, you aren't dealing with a purely physical problem, but rather an issue with the tormenters (demons) which Jesus warned us of in Matthew 18:
"Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." (Matthew 18:21-35 KJV)
All sicknesses coming out of unforgiveness (and there are many of them) are indeed spiritually rooted. We are required to forgive those who offend us, which is very important to our emotional, spiritual, and physical health.
What exactly does it mean to forgive? To forgive does not mean to trust. If a person was raped, nowhere do we find in scripture that they are required to put them self in a vulnerable position with that person ever again. While trust can be rebuilt, it may never happen and that is okay. What forgiveness is, is letting the poison out of our heart which we hold against them. The feelings of hate may not go away right away, and require emotional healing to be resolved. But we must purpose it in our heart to forgive them because Jesus requires that of us. Make the decision to forgive, and then seek emotional healing so that you can be healed of the wounds that still remain.
Various things in our lives will cause emotional wounds. Things like rejection, abandonment, abuse, trauma, etc. will create wounds which cause feelings of fear, resentment, jealousy, anger, unforgiveness, and such. These things by themselves are hard on our systems, but they can also invite in spirits which inflict our bodies with various infirmities. Diabetes is often found to be rooted in rejection. Lupus is often found to be rooted in self-hate. Cancer is usually rooted in unforgiveness. There is a really good book called A More Excellent Way by Henry Wright which goes all into the spiritual roots of many diseases. It has a wealth of information on the subject and is a must-read book for anybody in the healing or deliverance ministry!
Getting to the root of the problem often requires emotional or inner healing ministry, where the person goes back to the point of pain and forgives and releases it to Jesus. We need to forgive, but often that alone doesn't heal the wound that was left. This is where emotional healing is so important. Dealing with the wounds that brought in the infirmity spirits is crucial to getting a person truly free from the spirits which enter in through emotional wounds.
