He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Mark 15:16-18
Conveniently, many scholars say this passage is not in "the earlier manuscripts," shedding serious doubt, if not total disbelief that these are actually the words of Jesus. Notice I say "conveniently."
Who gets the most benefit from these words not being the words of Jesus? Satan of course. Demons would love us to doubt these verses, so that the works of the devil, namely sickness and death, can be easily dealt out by Satan, the murderer himself.
Who else benefits from the sick not recovering, or from new tongues being spoken? More importantly than this, who else benefits from the Name of Jesus having no power to perform any of these things as a confirmation of the gospel. That is what these verses all boil down to after Jesus ascended: In the Name of Jesus, signs will follow those who believe in Him, signs of the truth of gospel of Jesus Christ. One of those signs is the sign of healing.
If you are a believer, and though you may not have the spiritual gift of healing, (as I myself do not,) to a limited sense you can still lay hands on the sick, and they will get well. I'll show you how. (click HERE for part 2)
Friday, February 21, 2014
The 3 TRUTHS About How JESUS STILL HEALS TODAY (PART 3)
JESUS WAYS HAVEN'T CHANGED
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Mark 2:1-5
A paralyzed man couldn't possibly make it to Jesus on his own, no matter how much faith he had. But his friends could do it, so much so that they opened a roof and just put the man in front of Jesus. They would not take no for answer. But before we look at how Jesus' ways haven't changed, we must look at this.
There is a dangerous witchcraft like lie in the church today in some circles. It falls into the "name it claim it/word of faith" kind of teaching. It goes something like this: "You speak things that are not as though they were." They're dealing with the idea of believing God keeps His promises before you see the results, which is a legitimate act of faith. But this faith in God's promises does not mean we flat out lie.
Use the paralyzed man brought to Jesus by his friends as an example. This man didn't "claim" healing before it happened. This would be a lie. He couldn't go out and say, "Jesus said I could walk," while still lying on his bed of paralysis. After Jesus forgave the man's sins, so that all who watched would know that Jesus has authority to forgive sin, Jesus said,
I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” Mark 2:11-12
Jesus didn't say, "Now you're already healed. Start praising God until your healing is 'manifest.'" The man and his friends didn't go out and say, "Praise God everybody, our brother can walk. He's just waiting for his healing to 'manifest' in the 'natural." This is foolishness and it dishonors God. When Jesus said, "Get up," the man could get up right then and now.
Jesus is unchanging.
Jesus' mission hasn't changed.
Jesus' ways haven't changed.
And what are the ways of the Healer?
He actively, literally, and physically heals those who actively, literally, and seek physical healing from Him.
This may happen a number of ways:
1. Jesus, or those who heal in His name, simply speak a word and it happens. "In the name of Jesus, be healed." And they are literally healed.
2. Some lay hands on the sick and the sick literally and physically recover.
3. Elders may use oil to anoint the sick person, and the sick person will literally recover from sickness.
4. Some may pray the "prayer of faith," as James also said.
5. Some may have a demon cast out that was the cause of sickness.
6. And some people simply go directly to Jesus Himself in private prayer, and Jesus Himself answers their prayers and heal them.
Jesus was not locked into a healing formula, because He was not a warlock or sorcerer simply using The Bible as His manipulative magic book.
He is the same compassionate and merciful healer He was yesterday, and as He forever will be.
His mission is still the same: To go around doing good and heal all who are oppressed of the devil.
His ways have not changed: He actively goes around doing good and healing for those who actively seek Him out to be healed.
click HERE to finish "Three Ways to See Your Spiritual Gift."
Three Ways to See Your Spiritual Gift (Part 2)
- We took a detour from part 1 of "Three Ways to See Your Spiritual Gift." click here to read it.
- We took this detour to examine one spiritual gift in particular: The Gift of healing. click here to read it, and to connect what was said about healing to the three ways to see your spiritual gift.
IMPERMANENT SITUATIONAL GIFTS
I do not have the gifts of healing, or miracles. I very much want the gift of healing because it seems to be the gift I have least experienced or seen, and one I strongly believe in. Yet I don't have it. But this is what I do have: an obligation to seek supernatural healing according to the book of James, and the command given for when believers are sick. Now when I pray the prayer of faith for supernatural healing, I an obeying God, whether healing happens or not. Just as I'm obeying God when I share the gospel, whether the person gets saved or not.
In a sense, we have an obligation to do what all of the gifts do. Let's use the 9 spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 as examples.
Though we don't all pray in tongues, we can and should all pray "in the Spirit." We don't all prophecy, but we do all share what God has told us. We don't all have the words of wisdom or words of knowledge as spiritual gifts, but we can and should all receive wisdom and knowledge directly from the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge. We don't all have the gift of discernment, but we are commanded to be watchful and test the spirits. We are not all healers, but we can all pray for people to be healed in Jesus' name, and people get healed when needed. Every prayer is asking for a miracle, even though we don't all have miracles as a spiritual gift. And all of us live by mountain moving faith, even though we may not have the gift of faith.
Having considered the three ways to see your spiritual gift or gifts, I come to this conclusion:
The Spirit gives us gifts according to His will, which will also encompass our passions and desires, so that you already have all the gifts the Spirit wills to give you, but you may not be experiencing all of them. When you have the desire for a "new gift," it's really a gift you already had that you are discovering through a desire. I believe we all have permanent gifts, and that we all have the ability to pray in every situation according whatever need is before us.
I see this as the balance of the three views, and I also wrote a book that you can read as a spiritual gifts manual.
Go to the site below and get it for yourself. May God bless you in all that you've read, and in reading my book if the Spirit leads you to.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
The 3 TRUTHS About How HEALS JESUS TODAY (Part 2)
Don't miss all of this please. The man by the pool wanted help into angelically stirred water. SO DID MANY OTHERS THERE.
Now Jesus Himself, the man whose healings have become famous all over Jerusalem and even in surrounding regions, was standing right there. But the man who wanted help getting into angelically stirred waters, AND ALL THE OTHERS FIGHTING TO GET IT, put all of their confidence in this brief moment of angelic visitation. They did not put their confidence in Christ Jesus, who would be with them for about 3 more years.
Jesus didn't heal everyone in Jerusalem because like the man at the pool, everyone didn't WANT Jesus to heal them. He doesn't violate our wills or our faith. Again, again, again, EVERYONE who came to Jesus, NOT AN ANGELICALLY STIRRED POOL, was healed by Jesus.
Some would say "Well what if they wanted to come to Jesus for healing and they couldn't?"
Impossible.
I'll show you how.
click HERE for part 3:
The 3 TRUTHS About How HEALS JESUS TODAY (Part 1)
Before I finish writing about the Spiritual Gifts as a whole, I have a revelation from the Spirit to you about one of the gifts: The Gift of Healing. This revelation will set you free from fake healers, and help you to find the true Healer, Jesus Christ, and those who are truly blessed with the gift of healing.
There are three things you need to know about how Jesus heals you today:
1. Jesus is unchanging.
2. Jesus' mission hasn't changed.
3. Jesus' ways haven't changed.
JESUS IS UNCHANGING
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8
How did Jesus respond to sick people? He was compassionate towards them. He never turned any one away who came to be healed. He responded to their belief, their faith, their desperate trust in Him, and only Him, to heal them.
Some say, "Jesus didn't heal everyone in Jerusalem, or go into all of the Jewish hospitals and empty them. He didn't heal the man by the pool stirred by angels." These ignore two things the Bible does say, and these two things are connected deeply to whether Jesus heals everyone who comes to Him.
1. We don't find one scripture where a sick person came to Jesus, openly or secretly, and didn't get healed. He didn't turn anyone away. Even a persistent Gentile woman received healing from Him. He is a compassionate healer who will heal those who come to him.
2. Jesus asked the man at the pool stirred by angels a significant question:
When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" John 5:6 Emphasis mine
Why would Jesus ask the man this question? Shouldn't it be obvious? But look at the man's answer, and hear the answer to two questions posed by the skeptical:
"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." John 5:7
Notice the man didn't answer Jesus' simple yes or no question: "Do you WANT to get well?"
The answer should have been, "Yes Jesus, I want to get well." Or "No Jesus I don't." But instead, his answer was contingent on whether SOMEONE would help in in the pool WHEN THE WATER WAS STIRRED.
click HERE for part 2
There are three things you need to know about how Jesus heals you today:
1. Jesus is unchanging.
2. Jesus' mission hasn't changed.
3. Jesus' ways haven't changed.
JESUS IS UNCHANGING
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8
How did Jesus respond to sick people? He was compassionate towards them. He never turned any one away who came to be healed. He responded to their belief, their faith, their desperate trust in Him, and only Him, to heal them.
Some say, "Jesus didn't heal everyone in Jerusalem, or go into all of the Jewish hospitals and empty them. He didn't heal the man by the pool stirred by angels." These ignore two things the Bible does say, and these two things are connected deeply to whether Jesus heals everyone who comes to Him.
1. We don't find one scripture where a sick person came to Jesus, openly or secretly, and didn't get healed. He didn't turn anyone away. Even a persistent Gentile woman received healing from Him. He is a compassionate healer who will heal those who come to him.
2. Jesus asked the man at the pool stirred by angels a significant question:
When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" John 5:6 Emphasis mine
Why would Jesus ask the man this question? Shouldn't it be obvious? But look at the man's answer, and hear the answer to two questions posed by the skeptical:
"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." John 5:7
Notice the man didn't answer Jesus' simple yes or no question: "Do you WANT to get well?"
The answer should have been, "Yes Jesus, I want to get well." Or "No Jesus I don't." But instead, his answer was contingent on whether SOMEONE would help in in the pool WHEN THE WATER WAS STIRRED.
click HERE for part 2
Three Ways to See Your Spiritual Gift (Part 1)
As a Christian you have supernatural power. Every one of you who believes in Jesus. This is by the will of the Holy Spirit, as it is written,
It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
1 Corinthians 12:11
Yet some believe that the Spirit gives believers gifts in one of three ways:
1. You receive only the spiritual gift, or gifts, the Spirit wants you to have, and no more.
2. You may receive new gifts over time, based on maturity or your own desire.
3. You receive gifts on a situational basis, according to whatever is useful at the moment.
PERMANENT GIFTS
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues ? Do all interpret? 1 Corinthians 12:29-30
Paul compares the spiritual gifts to body parts. And of course body parts are permanent. So from this perspective, when God gives us gifts by His Spirit, they are just as set in place as your eyes and ears. Paul encourages believers to value the uniqueness of their gifts, and the value of gifts they don't have. Yet he also encourages something else.
NEW GIFTS
Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:31
Though the Spirit gives the spiritual gifts according to His will, and though the gifts are compared to permanent body parts, Paul says we can desire greater gifts. He says those with tongues can pray for the gift of interpretation. He urges believers to not only pursue love, but to desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
So it is possible to receive new gifts...according to the Spirit's will. Which suggests to me that if you desire a new gift, what you are really desiring is a gift you already have, but that the Spirit hasn't yet revealed. But does he do this on the basis of need, so that none of us really have any set gifts, but can be given a needed gift at a needed moment? (To be continued...)
It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
1 Corinthians 12:11
Yet some believe that the Spirit gives believers gifts in one of three ways:
1. You receive only the spiritual gift, or gifts, the Spirit wants you to have, and no more.
2. You may receive new gifts over time, based on maturity or your own desire.
3. You receive gifts on a situational basis, according to whatever is useful at the moment.
PERMANENT GIFTS
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues ? Do all interpret? 1 Corinthians 12:29-30
Paul compares the spiritual gifts to body parts. And of course body parts are permanent. So from this perspective, when God gives us gifts by His Spirit, they are just as set in place as your eyes and ears. Paul encourages believers to value the uniqueness of their gifts, and the value of gifts they don't have. Yet he also encourages something else.
NEW GIFTS
Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:31
Though the Spirit gives the spiritual gifts according to His will, and though the gifts are compared to permanent body parts, Paul says we can desire greater gifts. He says those with tongues can pray for the gift of interpretation. He urges believers to not only pursue love, but to desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
So it is possible to receive new gifts...according to the Spirit's will. Which suggests to me that if you desire a new gift, what you are really desiring is a gift you already have, but that the Spirit hasn't yet revealed. But does he do this on the basis of need, so that none of us really have any set gifts, but can be given a needed gift at a needed moment? (To be continued...)
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Is Your Faith Real? (Part 3)
In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. Job 12:10
Have you ever had surgery, or been put under anesthesia? If there is a moment that your life is in someone's hands, it's then. You are totally at the mercy of the doctor.
But this state is the Christian life. Not just in tragedy. In reality.
As believers we by definition must believe God to bring about His will and glory in our lives.
I know this for myself.
I'm in Key West Florida because God wills it. How do I know? There came a point where my wife and my first born son had to move out of the apartment we were in. It was going to be condemned. We had to go. So at this point I ask God to show us His will: Key West or somewhere else. During this time a new apartment complex was being built. A lottery was being done to determine who would live in these nice affordable brand new apartments. So I prayed, "God, if you want us here, then pick us in the lottery."
Over 300 people put in numbers. We were number 14.
I then prayed for the job God wanted me to have and received God's promise that I would indeed receive the job for which I was applying. He told me the process by which I would get the job, and sure enough, God's word came to pass.
Since then, numerous doors have opened and closed, and God has delivered me from trials and troubles so obviously that I know He is with me. Looking back over my life I see how dependent on Him I really am.
Do you see the same as you think back over your Christian life? Do you see that you couldn't be where you are if it wasn't for God?
Have you ever had surgery, or been put under anesthesia? If there is a moment that your life is in someone's hands, it's then. You are totally at the mercy of the doctor.
But this state is the Christian life. Not just in tragedy. In reality.
As believers we by definition must believe God to bring about His will and glory in our lives.
I know this for myself.
I'm in Key West Florida because God wills it. How do I know? There came a point where my wife and my first born son had to move out of the apartment we were in. It was going to be condemned. We had to go. So at this point I ask God to show us His will: Key West or somewhere else. During this time a new apartment complex was being built. A lottery was being done to determine who would live in these nice affordable brand new apartments. So I prayed, "God, if you want us here, then pick us in the lottery."
Over 300 people put in numbers. We were number 14.
I then prayed for the job God wanted me to have and received God's promise that I would indeed receive the job for which I was applying. He told me the process by which I would get the job, and sure enough, God's word came to pass.
Since then, numerous doors have opened and closed, and God has delivered me from trials and troubles so obviously that I know He is with me. Looking back over my life I see how dependent on Him I really am.
Do you see the same as you think back over your Christian life? Do you see that you couldn't be where you are if it wasn't for God?
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