That’s why Jesus came; to destroy the works of darkness (1 John 3:8), abolish the requirements of the law (Colossians 2:14), take away the curse (Galatians 3:13-14), and instead of that sin/ death experience, He introduced the grace/life way of living (Romans 5:20-22, John 10:10, 1 Corinthians 15:22).
I remember when I got born again; June 1993 at one of the branches of Deeper Life Bible Church, Nigeria. It was my first time at the Church, a friend had invited me for their regular Sunday service. There was a talk on the importance of choosing heaven over hell; talk about a broad way that leads to hell and a narrow path which leads to heaven. Yours truly didn’t want anything to do with hell, so off to the front roll I marched as soon as the alter call was made for people to make a decision for Jesus. I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ; hell lost a soul; Heaven’s gain….
As I think about my spiritual rebirth day, I am reminded of the process that brought me to my current spiritual status of being alive in Christ. Having heard the message on salvation as was preached that day (deliverance through faith in Christ Jesus), the expected response from me was to confirm my believe by simply walking down the aisle towards the Preacher, who led me to confess the ‘sinner’s prayer’.
Twenty-eight years later, even with a little stormy time along my walk, my salvation status hasn’t changed; I know that I am born again. I received my salvation that day, and that hasn’t changed.
Unknowing to me, the only good thing about that day wasn’t that I got born again, no, I was also delivered from the curse (Sickness, Poverty and spiritual death), because the same sacrifice that bought my salvation also bought my healing.
Bartimaeus son of Timaeus was a blind roadside beggar. On this particular day when Jesus walked out of Jericho, Bartimaeus didn’t want alms, he’s learnt how to ASK and RECEIVE gifts through the years. Today, he wanted a different kind of gift;…. healing for his eyes. All attempts by bystanders to stop him proved futile. In the end Jesus connected with his faith, his sight was restored. Bartimaeus RECEIVED his sight, ….just like that. He believed Jesus could heal him, he asked for his healing and he got it.
“Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.“
Mark 10:52 NKJV
Do you believe Jesus has healed you? And if I may kindly ask; ‘have you received your healing in the same way that you received your salvation?‘
Healing confessions are no good if we lack the conviction that we are already healed. Our confessions and partaking in communion do not in themselves bring healing, they are ways in which we further proclaim and maintain that we are healed.
Someone asks; ‘Grace, I am currently taking medications for a health condition, do you advice me to discontinue?’
Not at all, drugs or not, the truth remains that Jesus bought our healing. As Jesus would say…..’believe comes before seeing‘. So believe and receive.
By His Stripes I am healed.
Lord I believe that by the Stripes of Jesus I was healed. I receive my healing, and I declare that I am working in it everyday.
Thank You Lord!!
Now let’s assume that you owed someone $20,000 and you couldn’t see how you’d offset that bill for the rest of your life. Now assume again, that a good Samaritan, a philanthropist, someone who has amassed a lot of wealth generously offers to pay off your debt, and does so. Suddenly you are debt-free. Is it likely that you’d go back to your previous creditor asking to remain a debtor to him? Unlikely.
Healing confessions are no good if we lack the conviction that we are already healed. Our confessions and partaking in communion do not in themselves bring healing, they are ways in which we further proclaim and maintain that we are healed.
l am who God says I am. And everything He says about me is GOOD. I am a Good thing
l am who God says I am. And everything He says about me is GOOD. I am a Good thing
The fiery flamed throne in Heaven is exclusively reserved for the ONE whose appearance is like jasper and a sardius stone, whose garment is as white as snow and hair like pure wool. He is the Ancient of Days.
Surrounding His fire-wheeled throne is rainbow, glowing as emerald, the fully-eyed restless 4 living creatures having eyes of a lion/eagle/calf/man, and a sea like crystal at the porch. {Revelations 4; Daniel 7}.
Another group of thrones, 24 in number, are occupied by the 24 Elders graced in white robes and golden crowns, they bow repeatedly to the ONE on the throne at the sound of ‘Holy’ chants by the 4 living creatures and countless number of angels {Revelations 4; Daniel 7}.
The Lion and the Lamb is in the midst of them all, once He looked slain, slain for mankind, He became the Redeemer from sin and the curse, an everlasting redemption He purchased with His own blood, paving the way for mankind to become kings and priests to the ONE seated on the throne. Now He sits fulfilled, satisfied and rested, at the right hand of the Ancient of days, as High Priest and Advocate, patiently awaiting the coming of His Everlasting Kingdom where He will reign as King with His Own; those He bought with His precious blood {Revelations 5; Daniel 7}
Heaven is compartmentalized, there is a hierarchical structure in Heaven, there is orderliness and excellence in Heaven, but Heaven is not divided.
Heaven is not divided in its mission and vision to unite man to God, to restore fellowship between God and man, to give man uninterrupted access to His God and Maker.
Heaven is not divided in bringing the fallen man to repentance, in making disciples of all men, in equipping and gifting the saints for the maturity of the Body of Christ.
Heaven is not divided in soul-winning, Heaven is not divided in water-baptism, Heaven is not divided in pouring out the Holy Ghost to as many as receive Christ is Lord.
Heaven is not divided in converting Saul into Paul to achieve purpose. Heaven is resolute about its vision- Fellowship between God and Man.
Little wonder then that when the disciples of John the Baptist; his stooges and underlings, lacking knowledge of the overall goal and focus of Heaven appeared divisive, ignorantly attempting to disrupt the established pattern for achieving the purpose of Heaven, Jesus looked the other way.
“The Pharisees heard that Jesus was winning and baptizing more disciples than John. (Actually, Jesus himself did not baptize anyone; only his disciples did.) So when Jesus heard what was being said, he left Judea and went back to Galilee”
John 4:1-3 GNB
John the Baptist knew his mission, handed to him from Heaven. He knew Jesus and His mission to redeem man from sin and the curse.
Jesus also knew John the Baptist and what role he was sent to earth to fulfill, there was a level of understanding between the two, but not among the disciples.
The disciples were earthly beings, earthly-minded, insisting on maintaining earthly hierarchical structures, patterns, traditions and doctrines.
“And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”
John 3:25-26 NKJV
What were the possible concerns of John’s disciples?…….
John the Baptist gave them a response;
“John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” You yourself bear me witness that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. John 3: 27-29. NKJV.
John was clear about one thing; roles were assigned from Heaven for the overall good of mankind. Jesus’ appearance and work were John’s testimony that his mission has been accomplished, his work was done, he has delivered on his given mandate. John was joyful with Jesus appearing on the scene, not intimidated and afraid.
According to John, what his disciples should be looking out for is an assurance that truly Jesus was the expected Messiah, not that ‘people went from him to Jesus‘;
“For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.” *Summary: the words of God keeps pouring out of whom he sends. 🙂
John 3:34 NKJV.
As seen in John 3: 27-29, John the Baptist was completely subservient to the Christ, no rivalry, no competition.
However, he knew the mandate he received, he knew his role and position, he knew that ‘he was sent‘ for a specific purpose….not exactly to serve under Jesus, a different purpose for the overall good of mankind.
“John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” You yourself bear me witness that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatlybecause of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. John 3: 27-29. NKJV.
John was not arrogant, Jesus didn’t think he was. Jesus’ rebuke of John was towards his display of unbelief and uncertainty about Him being the Christ.
According to Jesus, John should have known better by the outcome of His ministry; there was no division, the mission was the same- redemption of man and restoration of fellowship between God and Man {Matthew 11:2-10}.
John should have been guided by God’s spirit as seen in Luke 11:17;
“But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.”
But Alas, John the Baptist was of the Old Testament, needing both salvation, water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Ghost himself. 🙂
If you are reading this and you have been born into the Kingdom of God by your acceptance and proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, whatever your gifting is, whatever your calling is, keep it lined up with the vision of Heaven – to bring every man to repentance and to make disciples of all men {Matthew 28:19; 2 Peter 3:9}.
Avoid meaningless segregation, the types that brew division and disharmony. Just like Jesus, walk away from divisions commonly brought about by traditions and doctrines of men, being reminded always of Mark 9:40; “For he who is not against us is on our side“. NKJV.
Serve with your graces and gifting in the local assembly where The Lord plants you, stay committed to your calling.
If you are still unsure about your gifting, ask The Lord to show you, to lead you.
It’s all about the Father’s Business. There is so much work to be done. The time is now. Every one has a role to play and no role is too small.
Welcome back!
This is the 4th part of this blog post series.
So far we’ve said that God is interested in having His children stay physically healed and He made adequate provision for this. Secondly, healing is first spiritual but should manifest physically. Thirdly, Jesus’ pain, agony and death wasn’t just a spiritual experience, he took it all in His body.
In the last part, we considered 5 reasons Christians experience symptoms of sickness.
In this part, as promised, I answer the question; ‘Grace, where is my healing? I am a Christian, filled with the Holy Ghost but I have symptoms in my body, where is my healing?
As already discussed, we were/are healed. Our default state is that of being healed. The fact that sickness and disease pop up in our bodies does not change our healed status any more than an accidental sin changes our salvation status. Our salvation is eternal (Hebrews 9:12), so is our healing. The fact that we experience physical symptoms of sickness in our mortal bodies, does not negate the truth of our healing.
If we ever wake up to a strange symptom in our body, we must remember that our healing is in His Word and By His Stripes.
In His Word;
The Word is life to all our flesh. To experience healing through His Word, we read, study and meditate on it day and night (Joshua 1:8). We speak and confess the Word (to ourselves and others), we lay hands (on ourselves and others) as we proclaim the Word, we command sickness and disease to leave in the name of Jesus.
By His Stripes;
We established earlier that Jesus received the stripes, bruises and wounds on His physical body. If we are healed by His Stripes, then our healing is also in His Stripes.
“and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “take, eat; this is My Body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me” 1 Corinthians 11: 24 NKJV.
Every time we partake of the Lord’s Table, we symbolically take in healing from His Broken Body (His Stripes). Little wonder Jesus recommended we partake as often as possible.
The price Jesus Christ paid for sin and sickness is irrevocable. It was also the ultimate price; total and complete. He paid it once!! The power of God is within us. Healing is within us. We are healed.
So if you are born again, but you are experiencing any symptoms in your body, there are 2 things you have to be consistent with as you walk in your healing.
1. The Word
2. The Communion.
Thank You Lord for Your Word.
Thank You for Your Body.
I declare that by Your Stripes I am healed.
Amen!
To learn more about our healing benefits in Christ Jesus, follow this link to my book, “When The Doctor Says No” available online at https://www.amazon.com/When-Doctor-Says-No-Word/dp/1704859166/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7
The Book is available in two formats; kindle and paperback. It is also available for order online from all amazon market places, meaning that the Amazon shop in your neighborhood should be able to supply you.
So far we’ve said that God is interested in having His children stay physically healed and He made adequate provision for this.
Secondly, healing is first spiritual but should manifest physically.
Thirdly, Jesus’ pain, agony and death wasn’t just a spiritual experience, he took it all in His body.
We ended the last part with a promise to search the scriptures for answers to this question: ‘Grace, I am a Child of God, but I still have symptoms of sickness and disease in my body, where is my healing?
The answer to this question is actually the thrust of this series. I am as interested in it as you are.
But before we get into that, I believe it is pertinent to first answer the question of; ‘Why do Christians experience sickness at all? We are Children of God, saved, righteous, filled with the Holy Ghost, healed by His Stripes, why do we still fall sick?’
Well, I searched the scriptures, and found 5 possible reasons why a Christian may fall ill.
We are spirit beings but communicate with the world around us through our body. Our hands, feet, brain, eyes, ears, etc are various parts of our body which help us function on earth. God told Adam, ‘I give you the earth and all that is in it, use it for your good and remember to ‘tend and keep it’. We must make efforts to tend and keep our physical bodies. We should give more attention to ensuring it stays protected and preserved. We should eat right; God recommends more of plant-based food (Genesis 1:29 & 2:16), get some exercise, take advantage of the ‘little’ profit exercise gives the body (1 Timothy 4:8), manage your emotions (longstanding anger and bitterness can be detrimental to health) and get good rest.
Talking about Rest, I believe Christians need to give more time to rest. God Almighty rested on the 7th day, the whole day. He created the world in six days and rested on the 7th. Simple arithmetic just tells you that for the 144 hours God worked, He got 24 hours rest. And I mean rest from all work (whether secular or kingdom work). God is wise, spirituality is His domain. So do not confuse the need for rest with not being spiritual or not maximizing grace. I have come to see that sometimes, the remedy for some illnesses is sleep….Long deep sleep! It gives your body time to recover from tear and wear then you can work again. Get your 7th day rest 🙂
2. Sin brought sickness:
Deuteronomy 28 lists sickness as one of the curses of the law, a penalty for not keeping The Lord’s commands. There is a link between sin and sickness.
In John 9:3-4 Jesus told His disciples this;
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him…….” NKJV.
And if we remember well, almost every time Jesus healed someone he leaves them with an admonishment ‘go and sin no more‘. The good news for us as Christians is that we are carriers of the righteousness of God {through Christ} and we have the Whole Armor of God to keep well kitted at all times.
3. The devil is on a mission to keep Christians oppressed and depressed;
John 10:10a tells us this much
“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy..” NKJV
Thank God Jesus stripped him of all powers and gave all power to us. Our victory is in the name of Jesus Christ through faith in God’s Word.
4. Set up for God’s glory:
Going by Jesus’ response in John 9:3-4 above, some challenges can come to us (from the enemy) but end up as a set up for God’s glory; revealing the power of God to heal, save and deliver to, the us and other brethren.
5. Misuse of the Lord’s Supper;
“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.” I Corinthians 11:29-30 NKJV.
I never understand how Christians comfortably harbor unforgiveness for so long. Truth is; feelings of anger, hurts and even envy come to everyone irrespective of level of spirituality, question is; ‘how do you handle them? That’s one way to measure the depth of your spirituality. Do you push them aside quickly or do they continue to define your relationships?
Jesus discourages service in His name while there is unsettled dispute between brethren. He says keep your service and sacrifice; I don’t need it. It is more important to Me that you’re living at peace with all men:
“leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
Matthew 5:24 NKJV
Clearly, Jesus gives higher priority to mercy, forgiveness and love than giving, service and sacrifice (Luke 11:42).
Remember the 2 greatest commandments?
“Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Matthew 22:37-39 NKJV
And 1 Corinthians 13 says all spiritual giftings and manifestations amount to nothing without love.
Love is the greatest of all!
Loving God is actually much easier than loving man. God is love Himself. He gave His Son to die for sin even before we knew we were sinners. He supplies all our needs. He protects us, etc etc. So we shouldn’t only be boasting about our love and reverence for God, we should boast more our love walk.
But man? he is inherently and desperately wicked ?. Having a preference to retaliate, cause harm, etc. (Jeremiah 17:9). That’s the natural man!
The rebirthed man is different because He has God alive in him. He reflects the life and Love of God.
He can love the unlovable man just the way God loves. That is agape.
I love how Galatians sums up the entire commandment of God;
“For the whole Law [concerning human relationships] is fulfilled in one precept, “You shall love your neighbor’ as yourself [that is, you shall have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit].” But if you bite and devour one another [in bickering and strife], watch out that you [along with your entire fellowship] are not consumed by one another.”
GALATIANS 5:14-15.
If it still takes you a long time to push hurts and bitterness aside, work on it. But while you sort these out, steer clear of The Lord’s Table. Why eat yourself to weakness, sickness or death? 🙂
So, these are some of the reasons Christians become sick.
The good news is; you may become sick but you don’t have any reason to stay or remain sick because Jesus Christ paid the eternal price for sickness and disease. We are/were healed by His Stripes. That healing is available and accessible always
We should constantly work at taking care of our physical bodies, stay clothed in the whole armor of God, remain conscious of our righteousness in Christ and steer clear of The Lord’s Table if we have to.
In the next part, we’ll answer the question of ‘where is my healing?’ 🙂
To learn more about our healing benefits in Christ Jesus, follow this link to my book, “When The Doctor Says No” available online at
The Book is available in two formats; kindle and paperback. It is also available for order online from all amazon market places, meaning that the Amazon shop in your neighborhood should be able to supply you.
Stay Blessed & My love always.
Welcome back! Trust you had a good week…. 🙂
This is the second part of this series. As a way of introduction, I am providing answers to some fundamental questions about healing and salvation.
God is interested in having His children stay physically healed and He made adequate provision for this. Secondly, salvation is not only spiritual; a spiritually born person who feeds well {on the Word} eventually exhibits traits of the spirit physically. In the same vein, and because healing and salvation come as one package, healing is first spiritual but should manifest physically.
We have 2 reference scriptures for this series;
1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV)
“who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness- by whose stripes you were healed.”
Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
To formally commence our learning on the subject ‘By His Stripes‘, we first provide some basic definitions; look again at the Isaiah 53:5; we see ‘bruised’, ‘wounded’ ‘stripes’.
As used in the reference scripture, ‘stripes‘ mean; a bruise, a wound from a stripe, to beat to pieces, crush, smite, humble, oppress.
‘Wound’ is an injury to a living tissue caused by a cut, blow, or impart, which typically cuts or breaks the skin.
‘Bruise‘ is an injury that appears as a discolored area of skin on the body.
What do we see here?
These descriptions point to a physical, bodily experience. Yes, Jesus definitely felt the spiritual and emotional weight of crucifixion, but reality remains that He was physically tortured.
His body was cut. The stripes were not imaginary; he was lashed so much that His skin broke. The nails pierced His skin as they passed through His hands, and the spear certainly pierced his skin.
1 Peter 2:24 says; He bore our sins in His own body.
Jesus’ pain and agony wasn’t just a spiritual one. He took it all in His body, so that my body can stay healed, intact, unbroken.
Sickness was part of the curse. Jesus paid the price and bought my eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12). I shouldn’t be thrown into prison for the same offence more than once.
Sickness came as punishment for sin. Jesus paid fully for it. I needn’t pay again.
My healing was bought complete
My healing is spiritual
My healing manifests physically in my body.
Someone asks; ‘Grace, I am a Child of God, but I still have symptoms of sickness and disease in my body, where is my healing?
Let’s search the scriptures together for answers….
Join me next time.
To learn more about our healing benefits in Christ Jesus, follow this link to my book, “When The Doctor Says No” available online at https://www.amazon.com/When-Doctor-Says-No-Word/dp/1704859166/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7
The Book is available in two formats; kindle and paperback. It is also available for order online from all amazon market places, meaning that the Amazon shop in your neighborhood should be able to supply you.
Love always.
