Divine healing. Is it real or not? The Bible says that God and Jesus are our healers. Why, then, don't we believe it?
Preachers don't talk about it in the pulpit. Sunday School teachers don't discuss it. Our parents didn't teach it to us either, prefering to instill in us that when one is sick he must see a medical doctor and let the doctor and medicine do the healing. My mother led me to believe that faith healing is a hoax and a downright lie, and such folks who preach it are only out to get your money. I found out in recent years that mother was wrong.
I grew up in the Bible belt of Arkansas, and the church I was a member of when I was growing up never mentioned healing. It was though it didn't even exist in the Bible. And, when anyone prayed for a member of the congregation who was sick, the tone was always, "Lord, if Thou Wilt, make Brother So-and-so well." They had it all wrong. They should have been praying, "Lord, we know You're the healer, and that it's always been Your will to heal, and we declare physical healing for our brother in Christ."
If you will read The Bible through and through, you will clearly see that divine healing is in every single book, from Genesis to Revelation. It wasn't just something that Jesus did to prove He was the Christ...and that miracles would make believers out of everyone who saw them. Miracles have been a way of life since the beginning of time, and I'll quote you a few scriptures to prove it.
God Himself was the healer under the old law. In Exodus 15:26, God says, "If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you." Exodus 23:25 states, "So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from the midst of you."
My very favorite healing scripture shows how loving and wonderful our God is to us. Psalm 103:2-5 says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul. And forget not all His benefits. Who forgives ALL your sins. Who heals ALL your diseases. Who redeems your life from destruction. Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies. Who satisfies your mouth with good things. So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." Note that God states here that He heals ALL our diseases, not just one or two of them. At the same time He forgives ALL our sins, not just a few of them. And to top that off, He redeems our lives from destruction by the devourer (the devil.) If you believe in God and Jesus, you have a Biblical right to expect God's promises here to come to pass for you too.
Jesus spent His entire ministry on this earth teaching and healing. He healed because it was God's plan and not for His personal glorification. Jesus was ALWAYS WILLING to heal. He was never too busy that He wouldn't take the time necessary to heal someone needing a healing along his path.
Jesus NEVER said things like this:
"You don't believe in God so I can't heal you."
"Your faith isn't strong enough to deserve a healing."
"You are too bad a sinner for Me to heal you."
"I'm in a hurry right now, but I'll be back through here next week and I'll heal you then."
"I'll consider healing you, and I'll get back to you on my decision."
Jesus didn't ask any questions. He healed and healed and healed. It made believers out of some people who saw His miracles, but others hated Jesus even the more. Because He performed some miracles on the Sabbath, which was God's Holy Day, some folks came to literally despise Him and they plotted to kill Him. Jesus came close to being stoned after one such miracle, but Jesus told the angry crowd, "Whoever is without sin, let him pick up the first stone." Jesus was always on the move, going from town to town and from country to country. He healed everyone along His way that needed healing. While no one disputes the fact that Jesus performed a lot of miracles, did healings continue after His crucifixion and He ascended into Heaven?
The answer is yes. Miracles were just beginning in Jesus' life. Jesus gave his 12 disciples (apostles) the power to heal and cast out demons. Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him, committed suicide and that left 11. Paul replaced Iscariot as the 12th apostle. In Luke 10:1, Jesus appointed seventy others and gave them the power to heal the sick. This means that, after Jesus went to Heaven, there were 82 men left behind on the earth to heal the sick and cast out demons. 82 healers!!!
My brother told me a few years ago that healings stopped after Jesus went to Heaven. He hasn't read his Bible, because they certainly didn't stop. Divine healings were a way of life in the early church, and there's no reason to think they aren't still being done today.
Hebrews 13:8 says that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." It was ALWAYS His will to heal while on this earth, and it is still His will to heal today. God hasn't changed. Jesus hasn't changed. Do you believe it?