Healing
Healing of both physical and spiritual sickness is an important part of Christ's ministry. It's in the Bible, Matthew 4:23, TLB. "Jesus traveled all through Galilee teaching in the Jewish synagogues, everywhere preaching the Good News about the Kingdom of Heaven. And He healed every kind of sickness and disease."
Physical healing is not the most important gift God can give. It's in the Bible, Matthew 9:2, TLB. "Soon some men brought Him a paralyzed boy on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the sick boy, 'Cheer up, son! For I have forgiven your sins!"
Physical healing takes place because God wants to heal us spiritually. It's in the Bible, Matthew 9:6, NIV. " 'But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins' Then He said to the paralytic, 'Get up, take your mat and go home.'"
Spiritual healing is provided by Christ's death for our sins. It's in the Bible, Isaiah 53:4-5, TLB. "Yet it was our grief He bore, our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, for His own sins! But He was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was chastised that we might have peace; He was lashed—and we are healed."
Healing miracles validated the ministry of the early church. It's in the Bible, Acts 5:16, TLB. "And crowds came in from the Jerusalem suburbs, bringing their sick folk and those possessed by demons; and every one of them was healed."
While miracles are a sign of God's ministry, one needs to be alert, for Satan can perform miracles too. It's in the Bible, Revelation 16:14, NIV. "They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle of the great day of God Almighty."
The miraculous never cancels the need for personal faith. It's in the Bible, John 20:29-31, TLB. "Then Jesus told him, 'You believe because you have seen Me. But blessed are those who haven't seen Me and believe anyway.' Jesus disciples saw Him do many other miracles besides the ones told about in this book, but these are recorded so that you will believe that He is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that believing in Him you will have life."
Obeying God's instructions brings healing. It's in the Bible, Exodus 15:26, TLB. "If you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and obey it, and do what is right, then I will not make you suffer the diseases I send on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you."
God can provide healing for terminal illnesses. It's in the Bible, Psalm 107:20, TLB. "He spoke, and they were healed—snatched from the door of death."
The prayer of faith, symbolized by anointing with oil, brings healing. It's in the Bible, James 5:14-15, TLB. "Is anyone sick? He should call for the elders of the church and they should pray over him and pour a little oil upon him, calling on the Lord to heal him. And their prayer, if offered in faith, will heal him, for the Lord will make him well; and if his sickness was caused by some sin, the Lord will forgive him."
