Psalm 103:3 Who heals all your diseases.
Throughout the Word of God we find lists of things. One of the firsts is the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20:3-17) In the New Testament we find many lists including the list of the Fruit of the Spirit, (Galatians 5:22-23) and how people will be in the last days. (2 Timothy 3:1-5) God prioritizes His lists putting the greatest, most important or most dominant thing, first.
The 103rd Psalm is a list of the Benefits of having faith in God. For the past couple of days we have been discussing the first and most important Benefit on the list: Forgiveness. The second Benefit listed is Healing. That’s right, God listed Healing as the second most important Benefit for us.
While most Christians believe God for Forgiveness, few believe Him for Healing especially in the Western world where medicine is readily available. Throughout the New Testament we read of the many times Jesus healed people. One of my favorite stories is found in the 5th Chapter of Mark. Here we find a woman who had an issue of blood. She had been bleeding for twelve years. This woman had spent all her money on doctors to no avail. She heard Jesus was coming to town and she BELIEVED He had the Power to heal her.
A great crowd of people gathered around Jesus that day and that woman was among them. She KNEW if she could just touch the hem of His Garment, she would be healed. She wasn’t supposed to be there, but she went anyway. Somehow, she made her way through the massive crowd of people to where Jesus was. She reached out in shear faith and touched His Garment. In that instant, the bleeding stopped! She knew it would and it did. (Mark 5:25-34)
It was her faith in Jesus that healed her and Jesus told her so. “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.” (Mark 5:24) It is interesting to note that as this story begins she is referred to as “a woman.” She was just another woman in the huge crowd of people. However, her display of faith in Jesus elevated her position from a woman to daughter. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26)
Last year we had a group of women here on retreat. Among them was a beautiful young woman from Nigeria. She was now living in America and married to an American man. I asked her how she liked it here and her response amazed me. She answered, “I live in fear here in America.” What? When I questioned her fear she responded, “I’m afraid I will lose my faith.” Why? “Because in Nigeria we have to live by faith. Faith is all we have. Here in America we don’t need faith. We have doctors, hospitals and medicine everywhere. In Nigeria, if we get sick and do not have faith, we die. If we have faith in Jesus, we are healed. He is our Healer and we know it.”
Do you have the faith to be healed? More on this tomorrow. Until then, examine your faith in Christ.
Faith in Jesus will.……….turn the tide………..in your life.
I believe, Doreen
