The same love [God the Father] has for the Beloved, Jesus, he has for us.
And this unfolding plan brings him great pleasure! (Ephesians 1:6 TPT)
Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:5 NIV)
There was once a group of friends who tore apart a roof so their paralyzed friend could be healed by Jesus.
Tear off the roof
The King’s in the house
Just get me to Jesus
I don’t care how
I don’t have to wait to get the healing
I gotta faith without a ceiling
So tear off the roof
‘Cause the King’s in the house*
There was once a woman with an issue of blood who had been an outcast for 12 years but was healed by Jesus.
I didn’t come here to hide in the crowd
I’m pressing through to you
I don’t care how
Reaching out my hand to get the healing
I’ve got a faith beyond the bleeding
‘Cause I didn’t come here to hide in the crowd*
There was once a man lying by a pool who had been crippled for 38 years but was healed by Jesus.
There’s power in the presence
Power in the blood
Power in the name of Jesus
He has more in the hem of His garment
Then the camp of the enemy*
Have you noticed that there’s not just one way that Jesus uses to heal people? Sometimes he does something active, like spit on a blind man’s eyes. Sometimes he just asks a question or commands the person to get up and walk – and they do! Sometimes he is seemingly uninvolved; he tells the bleeding woman that her faith has healed her. In every case the point is that JESUS does heal. He may use a variety of different approaches, but it is God who does the healing.
What if a person is healed through surgery or other Western medical means? Then God did the work through the medical professionals.
What if a person is healed through chiropractic or Eastern medicine? Then God did the work through those practitioners.
What if a person is healed in a way that doesn’t seem like anything you’d ever expected? Then God did the work in mysterious (to us) ways.
I believe the loving, creating, God of the universe wants us to be healed – physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally – and he gives us physical, social, and spiritual tools to do that healing. I know that modern Western medicine can be used to physically and mentally/emotionally heal people. But I have seen people healed spiritually, mentally/emotionally, and even physically because of the faith and prayers of people. Sometimes we may shy away from “unusual” methods of healing because they don’t fit our worldview or expectations. Because there have been (and will be) many “quacks” who have promised healing but couldn’t deliver, we must also be wise and discerning. God may choose to use many methods or items in healing, but the enemy of our souls will scheme to use those same things to trip us up. (As a contemporary example, perhaps medical marijuana is something that has provided pain relief and even healing to one person. Yet, to another person that same substance has become an addiction, enslavement, and a soul-tie.) Jesus warned us that the spirit behind something makes all the difference: The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10 NKJV)
The enemy of our souls will twist and warp anything that was good to serve his purposes, but he will never want us to live a healed, healthy, and abundant life. We are warned that our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Contrast that to God’s blessings and magnificent heart for us. Through the healing grace of Jesus Christ, the abundant love of God, and the rich fellowship of the Holy Spirit we can know the Hope, Healing, Love, Peace, Joy, and Abundance that God offers us.
Have you seen healing in your own life or in the lives of those around you? I have. I’m continually amazed at the ways God chooses to use to heal people, and I’ve seen so many modern examples in our church body. Babies in the womb diagnosed with a plethora of problems that are now fully healthy. Men with decades of pain from injuries that have no more pain. Women with soul ties and generational curses that have been freed from that bondage. Is our church special? Yes, and no. We just believe that God will heal, and then we trust and have faith, pray, and watch it happen. God can do this work in any body of believers that are led by Holy Spirit.
Why do I bring all this up? I was listening to a passionate new song about healing, and drawn into the stories represented in the song. I strongly invite and encourage you to check out Brandon Lake’s song “Tear Off the Roof,” with video footage from The Chosen series. When you see the faces of those who Jesus healed, you know that:
There’s power in the presence
Power in the blood
Power in the name of Jesus
He has more in the hem of His garment
Then the camp of the enemy
Jehovah-Rapha,
Thank you for your heart to heal all those who are wounded, broken, ill, or otherwise not living the Abundant Life you call us to. Give us the faith, courage, and trust we need to cry out to you for healing, and then use whatever methods you need to bring us back to full health and full energy. Protect us from the enemy of our soul who pushes us toward discouragement and despair, confusion, and sin. Bring us deeper into your the shelter of your arms of love, show us your heart of grace, and give us sweet fellowship with Holy Spirit so that we can know the fullness of the blessings you have for us, we pray in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. (John 5:2-9-ESV)
And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. (Matthew 9:20-22 ESV)
Some men brought a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They tried to take him into the house and put him in front of Jesus. But they could not find a way to get him into the house because of the crowd. So they went up on the roof. They made an opening in the tiles and let the man down on his stretcher among the people. (They lowered him in front of Jesus.). When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Sir, your sins are forgiven.” The experts in Moses’ Teachings and the Pharisees thought, “Who is this man? He’s dishonoring God! Who besides God can forgive sins?”
Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said to them, “What are you thinking? Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” The man immediately stood up in front of them and picked up the stretcher he had been lying on. Praising God, he went home. Everyone was amazed and praised God. They were filled with awe and said, “We’ve seen things today we can hardly believe!” (Luke 5:18-26 GW)
As they came to Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus. They begged Jesus to touch him Jesus took the blind man’s hand and led him out of the village. He spit into the man’s eyes and placed his hands on him. Jesus asked him, “Can you see anything?” The man looked up and said, “I see people. They look like trees walking around.” Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes a second time, and the man saw clearly. His sight was normal again. He could see everything clearly even at a distance. (Mark 8:22-25 GW)
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14 NIV)
Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8 NIV)