Both Frank and I come from a background in which we didn't believe it was God's will to heal everyone. We've been on a steep learning curve over the past 6 months, learning that it is indeed God's perfect will for each one of us to be healed. I had previously thought that sometimes it was God's will for us to suffer, but that is not the case.
God's will toward us is always good. If we are ever in question of what God's will is, we have to look no further than the life of Jesus. Hebrews 1:3 tells us that, "Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature." And Colossians 1 :15 tells us, "He is the image of the invisible God."
Jesus is the exact imprint of God's nature, and he is the image of the invisible God. What do we see Jesus doing? Healing everyone who asked him, and many more who didn't ask. He was always willing and never said "No." We don't see him saying that God is using sickness to build character in their lives or to discipline them for a season. He always had compassion and always healed. And, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. So whatever we saw Him do while He was here on earth: That is the same thing He is willing to do today.
The enemy comes only to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came that we might have life and have it to the full. Jesus= life. Satan= disease and death. When we see disease and sickness, we are looking at the handiwork of Satan. Is God still sovereign? YES. But God put some rules in place when He put Adam in the garden. Just like gravity is a rule of nature by God's design, it is by God's design that we, humans, as co-laborers with Christ, are the ones who are responsible to defeat the enemy and eliminate disease. Did Christ defeat the enemy at the cross? YES. But the Bible says that Satan is the god of this world. It is our job to walk out in history what has already been accomplished in eternity. Sadly, when we don't do our part, the world suffers, and so do we.
And then there's the Lord's Prayer: "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven." We know that Heaven is pristine--no sickness, disease, pain, suffering or death. Jesus told us to pray that His will would also be done on earth just as it is in heaven, When we layer this verse on top of John 10:10 (Jesus came so that we could have life and have it abundantly), clearly it is God's will to heal us here on earth. Galatians 1:3-4 says that Jesus came to deliver us from this present evil age. It's in marked distinction from I Thessalonians 1:10 which describes Jesus as delivering us from the wrath to come. As much as Jesus cares about our eternal destiny, He also cares about our lives here and now! This, too, is good news!
This has dramatically influenced the way I pray. For instance, I John 5:14 says "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him."
This is why it is critical for me to know God's Will. So I can pray with confidence, expecting Him to do exactly what His Word says He will do!
Another important Scripture is Mark 11:23-24: "Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." When I am praying, how can I not doubt, unless I know for certain I am praying in line with the will of God?
There's so much more, but rather than me writing it all out, I'm going to share the books and videos that were instrumental in teaching me about God's nature, character, and his will here on earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment