Category: Blackboards

John 11:40

Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

God, who parted the Red Sea, rained manna from heaven, caused the walls of Jericho to fall, shut the lions’ mouths, healed the sick, raised the dead and calmed the sea, still performs miracles today. However, some Christians doubt that God wants to work a miracle for them today. They believe that there were miracles when Jesus walked the earth, but they think that the day of miracles is over. And they talk about how everything will be perfect one day in the sweet by and by. But God wants us to know that He is still the God of miracles today.

Martha was like one of those Christians. She wondered if Jesus could perform a miracle when her brother Lazarus died. By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, Lazarus had already been dead for four days. So she thought that Jesus was four days too late. That is why she said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:21) And even when Jesus said that Lazarus would rise again, she said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” (John 11:24) Martha believed that Jesus could perform miracles in the past and would do the same in the future, but she did not believe that He could give her a miracle when she needed it right then. You see, Martha was someone who lived wishing that the past could be changed and believing that the future would be better. But she did not believe that the “I Am” was there to meet her present need.

Today, God stands at the point of your need. What miracle do you need from Him? Believe that He is still the same miracle-working God today. Believe that you will see the glory of God. Believe and you will see your miracle!

Matthew 8:3

Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Most of us are familiar with the healing of the leper in Matthew 8. It is a beautiful account of God’s willingness to touch and heal the sick, no matter how unclean they may be.

Whenever we doubt God’s willingness to heal us, we should listen to the words of Jesus again: “I am willing; be cleansed.” He is the same yesterday, today and forever! Since the Bible is clear about God’s willingness to heal, why do we still have problems with our health? Why do we still experience symptoms in our bodies? I believe that the answer is found in what Jesus told the leper to do next. He told him to go and show himself to the priest. (Matthew 8:4) This was the law then for lepers who were healed. (Leviticus 14:2-3) And he was to hear the priest pronounce the word “clean” over him. (Leviticus 14:7)

You see, as believers, when we received Jesus, His blood cleansed us from sin as well as sickness. (Isaiah 53:4-5) But we keep hearing people pronounce sin, sickness, poverty and death over us. We keep hearing people tell us that we are unclean, undeserving, poor, weak, and that it is only natural that we grow old and sickly, and die. God is waiting for a priesthood that will rise up and pronounce His people clean!

Who are the priests today? You and I! In fact, we have more authority to pronounce good things than the Levitical priests of the Old Testament. They were just priests. But we are king-priests by the blood of Jesus! (Revelation 1:5-6) Where the word of the king is, there is power. (Ecclesiastes 8:4) And by the word of a priest, every controversy and every assault shall be settled. (Deuteronomy 21:5)

God has cleansed you, so pronounce yourself clean! Right now, put your hand on your heart and pronounce good things over yourself. Say, “I pronounce myself clean, righteous, healed, whole and abundantly supplied by the blood of Jesus!” By your word as a king-priest, every assault against you shall be settled!

Proverbs 19:12

The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

The Bible tells us that the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8) But have you ever wondered why he acts like a roaring lion? It has something to do with a lion’s roar. In the Bible, the roaring of a lion speaks of the king’s wrath – “The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion”. So when the devil walks about like a roaring lion, he is trying to give you the impression that the King is angry with you. And when you believe that God is angry with you, the devil knows that he has got you. When you think that God is angry or displeased with you, you will not be confident of His love toward you. Instead, you will expect and fear punishment from Him. And you will want to stay away from Him because you do not wish to incur His wrath any further.

But the truth is that God is not angry with you, even when you fail or blow it, because all your sins have already been judged in the body of His Son at the cross. As the Lamb of God, Jesus became your burnt offering. That is why He said, “I thirst.” (John 19:28) Those who heard Him say that at Calvary that day thought that His thirst was physical. Actually, His thirst was spiritual because He was being “burnt” by the fire of God’s wrath. He was being judged for our sins. His body exhausted all of God’s wrath until every claim of God’s holiness was satisfied and His wrath appeased! Now, there is a law called “the law of double jeopardy”, which states that the same crime cannot be tried twice. Today, the fire of God’s wrath will never fall on you as a believer because it has already fallen on His Son at the cross. He judged your sins then, but in the body of His Son.

So right now, you are not under the King’s wrath but His favor. And His favor rains down on you like dew on the grass every morning!

Hebrews 10:2

…For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.

What are you more conscious of today? Your sins or the fact that you have been forgiven? If you find yourself more conscious of your sins, you need to be more conscious of Jesus and His finished work. The Lamb of God has taken away all your sins at the cross, so count on the fact that you are a forgiven child of God!

No matter what has happened or what you have done, God wants you to know that because of His Son’s finished work, He will be merciful to your unrighteousness, and your sins and lawless deeds He will remember no more. (Hebrews 8:12) That is why you should not be conscious of your sins. In fact, when you are sin-conscious, the devil will bring in condemnation, and the more you receive it and condemn yourself, the more you will find yourself unforgiving toward yourself and even others.

Something happens when you believe that you are forgiven. That is why God says to you, “I want you to believe that all your sins I will remember no more. I want you to believe that you are My child enjoying My mercy and that you can always count on My forgiveness.”

Remember that all your sins have already been paid for by Jesus on the cross. And the more you count on the fact that you have the Father’s forgiveness and that He does not condemn you because of Jesus’ finished work, the more sin and its effects – sickness, hatred, lack and so on – will lose their grip on you. You will find yourself walking in a greater measure of God’s grace and blessings!

Exodus 14:15-16

And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it”…

The problem with the body of Christ today is not that we are not praying using our authority. We are praying desperate prayers. We are praying, “God, help… God, please… God, do something…”

You might have even prayed a couple of these types of prayers yourself. God does not want you to pray pleading prayers all the time. He wants you to use the authority He has given you to pray powerful prayers, to boldly command and to “stretch out your hand” and see miracles happen.

When Moses stood before the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army in hot pursuit, the Bible tells us that he cried out to God. But God told him, “Why do you cry to Me?” There is a time for you to cry out to God and there is a time for you to use your authority. God told Moses, “Tell the children of Israel to go forward. But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it.”

The “rod” you have today is the name of Jesus. As you command in Jesus’ name, your “sea” will open and you will go on dry ground through the midst of your problem.

Do you realize that Jesus did not say, “Go and pray for the sick”? He said, “Go and heal the sick.” (Matthew 10:8) So stop pleading and asking all the time, and start using the authority you have in Christ.

Jesus told the church, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore…” (Matthew 28:18-19) God wants you to go and use the authority that He has given you. And as you go, miracles will flow!

Exodus 3:14

And God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”

Whatever your challenge is, whether physical, emotional, financial or marital, the great I Am declares to you: “I am to you what you need Me to be.”

Do you need healing? He says, “I am the Lord who heals you. (Exodus 15:26) And as you believe Me, you will see your healing manifest thirtyfold, sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Are you groping in the dark, not knowing what to do? He says, “I am the light of the world. (John 8:12) When you walk in Me, you will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Are you looking for a way out of a bad situation? He says, “I am your deliverer. I will reach down from on high, take hold of your hand and draw you out of the deep waters.” (Psalm 18:2, 16)

Are you wondering if there is more to life than merely existing from day to day? He says, “I am the resurrection and the life. (John 11:25) I came to give you life. And where there is life, there cannot be death. You will have life and life more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

Are you fearful of what is ahead of you? He says, “I am the good shepherd (John 10:11), who leads you to pastures of tender, green grass and waters of rest. You will not suffer lack.” (Psalm 23:1-3)

Are you confused by the opinions and reports of man? He says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. (Revelation 1:11) I have the final word in your life. The doctors do not have the final word. The experts do not have the final word. I have the first word and the last word in your situation.”

Do not be fearful of the problems you face. The great I Am declares to you, “Fear not! For I am to you what you need Me to be!”

Matthew 26:26

…”Take, eat; this is My body.”

Can you imagine Jesus being sick, nursing a cold or fever while He walked on earth? No, our Lord Jesus was never sick! He was vibrant, full of life and full of health. When He told His disciples, “Take, eat; this is My body”, they could practically visualize what it meant because they had lived and walked with this Man. They had seen people without hands or feet made whole when they touched His body. (Matthew 15:30-31) Even His clothes were soaked with His health! A woman who had a bleeding condition for 12 years – no doctor could cure her – was healed immediately when she touched the hem of His garment. If the hem of His garment was soaked with His health, vibrancy, energy and divine radiance, how much more His body!

You know, some of the most encouraging verses in the Gospels are these: “And as many as touched Him were made well” (Mark 6:56), for “power went out from Him and healed them all”. (Luke 6:19) That is our Jesus!

The Bible says that they put sick people along the streets, and Jesus walked around, touched them and healed them. Wherever Jesus walked, whoever He touched, He healed. Picture this: A trail of people. Those in front of Jesus are lying down, but those behind Him whom He has touched are leaping with joy and following Him! That is how Jesus healed the sick.

So that night, when He said, “Take, eat; this is My body,” as He broke the bread and gave it to His disciples to eat, they knew what it meant. They were probably thinking, “We are going to ingest His health into our bodies!”

That is what you must believe when you partake of the Holy Communion. It is not just a ritual or symbolic act. No, you must believe that He is the true bread from heaven who took your cancer, diabetes and heart disease, so that you can have His supernatural health! And when you eat of His broken body with this revelation, you will have life in abundance and the health of the Lord!

Mark 11:24

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

God’s Word tells us that we can have what we ask for in prayer – by simply believing that we already have it! As you are praying, know that you already have your answer or breakthrough – “believe that you receive them”. The Bible also tells us that we already have whatever we are praying for because we are already blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)

And you are in Christ the moment you received Him as your Savior. So when you pray, you are actually releasing your faith to lay hold of what you already have in Christ. And as you keep saying that you already have it (Mark 11:23), you will see the manifestation of it in the natural realm.

Sometimes, the symptoms of a sickness or lack may return and you think that you still have not received your blessing. That is the time to release your faith and declare that you already have it. You are not confessing to get it. You are confessing because you already have it in Christ!

The Bible tells us that Christ is in us. (Colossians 1:27) This means that right now, your healing, wellness, family’s well-being and everything your heart desires are in you. So say, “I have everything I need in Christ right now!”