Category: June 2016

Colossians 1:18

And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

God’s Word says that Christ is the head and we the church are His body. So Christ and the church are one. Christ and you are one! You cannot say that God sees Christ the head perfect but His body imperfect. Or that Christ is accepted but His body not accepted. The measure of Jesus’ acceptance with God is the measure of your acceptance with God! So it makes no sense to say that the head is well but the body sick, that the head is rich but the body in lack, or that the head is at rest but the body full of stress. What Jesus is before God, you His body are. As He is, so are you in this world! (1 John 4:17)

Today, God wants you to lay claim on Christ being your head. Start believing that all His perfections, and the delight and joy that He brings to the Father’s heart, He has set to your account. And you will begin to realize that as Jesus is a sweet-smelling aroma to the Father, so are you! The more you begin to see that you are one with Christ, the more you will realize that whatever you need right now, He is dispensing to you. If you are sick in your body, Christ your head imparts His health and healing to you. If you lack wisdom, Christ your head freely imparts His wisdom to you. If you have any lack, Christ your head gives you His exceeding riches.

You need to have this revelation, that Christ and you are one. You can never be separated from Christ your head from whom comes all the supply for your body – all the power, wisdom, provision and health. So declare, “As He is, so am I in this world!”

Matthew 8:13

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

What are you expecting God to do for you today? Do you believe that God will respond according to your expectation? When Jairus, distraught at the sickness that was claiming his daughter’s life, fell at Jesus’ feet, he anxiously Jesus to personally come to his house to lay His hands on his daughter so that she would be healed. (Mark 5:23) But do you know that Jesus can heal at a distance? He didn’t need to go to Jairus’ house to heal his daughter. Still, Jesus went and didn’t even rebuke Jairus for his little faith. He met Jairus’ expectation – his little daughter was raised from the dead that day. (Mark 5:41-42)

Why do I say that Jairus had little faith? Because there was a Roman centurion who came to Jesus about his servant suffering at home. He recognized the power Jesus had and asked only that Jesus “speak a word, and my servant will be healed”. (Matthew 8:8) Jesus told him, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” True to the centurion’s expectation, his servant was healed that same hour.

There is no particular level of faith you must reach before God gives you what you are asking for. Your level of faith does not initiate God’s giving. He has already given to you all things that pertain to life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3) His blessings are pressing on you already! Regardless of your level of faith, He will respond. Jairus needed Jesus to go to his house to lay His hands on his daughter, and Jesus did. The centurion only needed Jesus to speak a word for his servant to be healed, and Jesus did. He met both their expectations.

Don’t fix your eyes on how much or how little faith you have. Fix your eyes on the One who loves you, who has already given you what you need. When you come to Him, simply believe that He is waiting to meet your expectation. He will say to you, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.”

John 10:4

And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him…

Have you ever seen a farmer trying to drive a bunch of geese from one location to another? He goes behind the geese, doesn’t he? Compare this to a shepherd who leads his sheep. He goes before them and the sheep simply follow him. Jesus is our shepherd and we are His sheep. He does not drive us, but He leads us. Legalistic people drive others. Jesus leads. He goes in front of us.

In the Old Testament, Jesus led the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. Do you know how Jesus appeared back then? He appeared in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Where was that pillar? It was in front of them. In fact, the pillar of cloud shaded them from the hot desert sun so that they were kept cool during the day. At night, when the desert got very cold, Jesus, the pillar of fire, gave them light as well as warmth. Whether He was the pillar of cloud or fire, He went in front of them.

As long as they followed Him, the Israelites did not have to worry about anything. Jesus took care of all their needs. He gave them water when they were thirsty, and bread and meat when they were hungry. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. They were kept in good health throughout the 40 years of their wandering in the wilderness. Jesus your shepherd wants you to just follow Him. As long as you allow Him to lead you, all your needs will be taken care of. He is your provision, healer, counselor, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification… He is everything you need Him to be!

Ephesians 3:20

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

How much power is working in you right now? God’s Word says that there is “power that works in us”. It is a tremendous power that shakes the heavens and the earth because it comes from the throne of God, “who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think”! The problem is that many of us don’t release that power. God wants us to release that power because there are things that will not happen on earth until we do so. Jesus said that “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”. (Matthew 16:19) What Jesus is saying is that what you permit to happen, heaven will permit. What you disallow, heaven will disallow!

So how do we release God’s power in us? One way is to pray in tongues. When we allow His Spirit to make intercession for us (Romans 8:26), miracles happen. When you pray in the Spirit and release the power that works in you, what you bind on earth will be bound in heaven! When you pray in the Spirit and release the power that works in you, what you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven!

Pray in the Spirit often and see the power within you released and watch miracles begin to happen.

Romans 8:1

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

When you have a plant with sick leaves, it would be foolish to just treat the leaves without knowing the root cause of the problem. Similarly, when “leaves” of sickness, poverty and destructive habits start sprouting in your life, you need to know what the root cause is. Experts will tell you that it could be stress. They may go a little deeper and say that it is fear – fear of the future, of rejection, of loss, of death and so on. But is fear really the root? Or is there something deeper than fear?

The Bible shows us that the most fundamental cause of problems in our lives is condemnation. With condemnation comes fear. Fear then induces stress which brings about the symptoms of the curse. This is exactly what happened to Adam. Long before he faced poverty, sickness and eventually death, he had stress. Because of his sin, God told him, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground.” (Genesis 3:19) Sweat speaks of stress. But before there was stress, there was fear because Adam told God, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:10)

But what made Adam fearful? Adam only feared when, seeing his nakedness, he realized that he had sinned against God. He felt so ashamed and condemned that he hid himself. God then asked him, “Who told you that you were naked?” (Genesis 3:11) There was no one else in the garden other than Adam and Eve, so we know that it was probably the devil who told Adam that he was naked.

Condemnation is the root cause of the symptoms of the curse manifesting in your life. That is why you need to know that at the cross, God took all your sins, put them on Jesus and unleashed the full fury of His wrath against them until Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” All your sins have been completely punished in the body of Christ who was condemned for you. The root cause of all your problems has been dealt with. This means that the devil cannot enforce the curse in your life apart from your receiving condemnation. So come to the place of no condemnation and no sick leaves will sprout in your life!

1 Corinthians 11:29-30

For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.

Have you ever wondered why some Christians are weak and sick, and die young? I thank God that the Holy Spirit gives us the reason as well as the solution. In 1 Corinthians 11:29-30, He tells us clearly that the one reason some Christians are weak and sick, and die prematurely, is that they don’t discern the Lord’s body when they partake of the Holy Communion. Many believers don’t understand that the pierced, striped and slightly burnt bread, which represents the Lord’s body, is for their health and healing. And when they partake without discerning this truth, they partake in an unworthy manner. The reverse is true: If they discern accurately the Lord’s body, then they will be strong and healthy, and live long.

Unfortunately, the church down through the years has misconstrued this teaching and taught that if you have sin in your life, you are unworthy and cannot partake of the Holy Communion. They have turned a blessing into a curse. Because of this, many Christians are afraid to come to the Lord’s table and are therefore robbed of the health-giving power of the Holy Communion. First of all, there is no such thing as a worthy person! The best of us still miss it and fail. So unworthy people are the only people who can partake of the Lord’s Supper. Because Jesus died for unworthy people, He has qualified those of us who take Him as our righteousness to partake of every benefit that He died to give us.

Here is the key, it is not a matter of whether you are worthy or unworthy to partake, but how you partake. Come to the Lord’s table with boldness and partake because Jesus has qualified you with His precious blood. Don’t treat it as a ritual, but release your faith for health and healing as you discern that Jesus’ body was broken so that yours can be healthy and whole today. When you partake focusing on what Jesus did, you are partaking in a worthy manner, and you will not be weak or sickly, or die prematurely!

3 John 1:2

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

Let’s say that you are now in your nineties. Someone comes along and asks you, “Sir, you have been a Christian for a very long time. You have seen much and done much with God by your side. You have prayed all kinds of prayers. So what would you place as top priority when you pray for people?”

I believe the apostle John was asked a similar question and his reply was, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” When the apostle John wrote 3 John, he was already a very old man and probably the only disciple of the original 12 who was still alive. It had been so long ago since he last walked alongside his beloved Lord, and witnessed His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. The apostle John had also leaned on the Lord’s bosom on the night of the Last Supper. And I believe that there on Jesus’ bosom, he must have felt the heartbeat of the Son of God – that loving and compassionate heartbeat which had caused Him to go about “doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil”. (Acts 10:38) In fact, two-thirds of Jesus’ ministry on earth had to do with healing the sick.

And now, nearing the end of his life, and after all he had heard, seen and experienced, the apostle John prioritized, above all things, health as well as holistic prosperity. He said, “I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.” He knew the Lord’s heartbeat. He knew that the Lord wants and will always want these for His people.

Jesus had prioritized divine healing during His earthly ministry. And Jesus, who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), will do the same for you today. His heart still beats for you. He will never miss an opportunity to do good for you, to heal you of your broken body, emotional scars and weary spirit, and to bless you!

Romans 8:11

And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you.

So you are probably one of those people who believe that when you get to heaven you will be completely healed, young, full of energy and in perfect physical condition for eternity. If that is your thinking, you are among the majority the population who thinks the same thing. Although it is a true statement, did you know that when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior you already have all these things from that moment on? That’s right, you are healed, full of energy and in perfect physical condition right here on earth before you even get to heaven. “He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you.” When you accept Jesus, His Spirit (The Holy Spirit) comes and lives within you. And from then on you are now starting your eternal life right here on earth.

So why do some of us not see this manifestation in their lives? Although they believe that God can heal them at any time, they face another problem with their faith, and that is believing that He will do it for them. Most people face the same faith issue. They believe God can heal them in a heartbeat, but they fail to believe that He is willing to heal them.

Remember the leper who fell at the feet of Jesus saying, “Lord, if you are willing, You can make me clean.” He believed beyond any reasonable doubt that Jesus could heal him. But he didn’t believe that Jesus would. So what was Jesus’ response? Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing”, He said, “be clean.” Matthew 8:3 You see the response of Jesus, “I am willing.”

Now you might say that was when Jesus was physically present on earth, but today He is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Though that is true, do you remember what Jesus said to His disciples? But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. John 16:7 That Advocate is The Holy Spirit who is able to be with every believer all the time everywhere. God still heals today even though Jesus is in heaven.

We can see the heart of Jesus in the New Testament through the numerous accounts of healing that He did. Did you know that 2/3rds of Jesus’ ministry on earth was devoted to healing? If you see the heart of Jesus you also see the heart of God the Father. Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.” John 14:9 So this tells us that the Father’s heart is the same as Jesus’ heart and that is He wants you well.

So how do we get the faith to believe that God is willing to heals us and see this healing manifest in our lives? Believe it! You don’t have to have a ton of faith, God will meet you at your level. Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, that if you have the faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20 Do you know how small a mustard seed is? That is a very little amount of faith, but God will meet you there to move mountains if you need it.

Get you heart and mind set on who Jesus and the Father are. Get you mind set that they can and are willing to heal you. Believe it and then speak it into existence by believing and receive your miracle today. “I am willing, You are healed.”

Luke 17:21

“For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

When you were younger, were you may have been scolded for not finishing all your food or leaving the lights on when you left your room? Were you constantly reminded that there are people starving in the world, that electricity costs a lot of money and that money doesn’t grow on trees? Now, do you find yourself telling your child the same things?

We are naturally conscious of lack in this world, but Jesus isn’t. Even in the midst of lack, He was always conscious of abundance. Remember the little boy’s five loaves and two fish? What did Jesus do when these were placed in His hands? Did He say, “What do you expect Me to do with so little?” No, His eyes were not on the natural, the visible, the lack. His eyes were on the kingdom of God where there is always abundance. So in His hands, the little boy’s lunch was multiplied, and 5,000 men, not counting women and children, were fed that day! (John 6:1-13) God doesn’t want you to be conscious of the lack in your natural circumstances. He doesn’t want you to live by how much you earn or how much you have in the bank. Now, I am not encouraging you to spend foolishly beyond your means. I am saying that God wants you to be conscious of the abundance of resources in His kingdom.

You may be asking, “Where is that kingdom?” As long as you have received Jesus as your Savior, that kingdom is in you! Jesus said that “the kingdom of God is within you”. This means that the kingdom of God is not some physical place. It is within you and it is where the abundance of resources are. So if you want to experience abundance in your life, be conscious first of the abundance inside you. Then, what is inside you will become a reality on the outside. God doesn’t want you to be conscious of the lack you see outside you. He wants you to be conscious of the abundance within you because His kingdom is within you!

2 Samuel 9:7

So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”

When the people in the palace heard that King Saul and his son Jonathan had died in battle, they panicked. Fearful that David was coming to seize the throne, and kill all the sons and grandsons of Saul, they ran for their lives. A nurse took Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, and ran. But as she fled, the five-year-old boy fell and became lame in both feet. (2 Samuel 4:4) The poor boy would not have become crippled if they had known that David actually loved Jonathan and Saul, and would have looked after Jonathan’s son because he had made a covenant with Jonathan. (1 Samuel 18:3)

In this story, King Saul represents the human race. He is like Adam who sinned against God and forfeited all that God gave to man. He had the position, but not the power anymore because of sin. Jonathan, who came after Saul, represents Jesus, who came as a human. Jonathan was not like Saul – he was good, just as Jesus is not like Adam – Jesus is the perfect Man. David represents God. So Jonathan’s covenant with David speaks of Jesus’ covenant with God. Mephibosheth represents believers today who are “lame” in some way – sick, depressed, fearful, poor and so on.

Now, Mephibosheth became lame because of bad news that was based on a lie. Many believers today are suffering needlessly because they believe the wrong things about God. They think, “My sin has found me out! God is coming after me!” Well, I have good news for all Mephibosheths: David is not after your life! When David looked for Mephibosheth, it was to show him kindness, to take care of him and restore to him the land that had belonged to Saul his grandfather. Likewise, God is not out to get you. He knows all about your sins and still loves you. That is why He sent Jesus as the payment for your sins. And because of Jesus’ covenant with Him, He says to you, “Don’t be afraid, I will surely show you kindness. I will restore all to you and you shall always eat at My table!”