Who initiated the Healing?
Filed under: Healing, Receiving from God, The Gospels, faith, scriptures
When we look at the healing ministry of Jesus in the Gospels, we will soon notice that in some of the accounts of people being healed, Jesus mentioned the person's faith as being involved, while in other accounts, no mention of faith is made at all.
This has caused confusion in the church, as some teach we need faith to receive healing from God while others strongly oppose this, claiming we do not.
In the previous post we mentioned a new mp3 teaching I have put on our website that studies this issue in depth, helping us to fully understand when faith is REQUIRED for healing and when it is not.
To add to this teaching, I have now uploaded a page to our wesbite which lists the healings in Jesus' ministry by category of 'who initiated the healing' – In other words, who made the initial approach, was it Jesus going to the sick person, or the sick person coming to Jesus.
This simple division between the various healings in the gospels shows a very interesting pattern, as you will notice.
The healings that Jesus initiated – going to the sick person -do not reference faith, while those that were initiated by the sick person going to Jesus do.
By studying healing in the Gospels from a point of view of 'who initiated the healing' we can see a very interesting pattern which helps us see when faith is required for healing and when it is not
I encourage you to listen to the accompanying MP3s which look into the doctrine behind this.
MP3 – Healing by faith or not? Part 1
MP3 – Healing by faith or not? Part 2
Does healing require faith or not?
Filed under: MP3s, Receiving from God, The Gospels, faith
If you spend time reading the Gospels in the Bible, you will notice that sometimes when people were healed in Jesus' ministry, He commented on their faith. At other times faith was not present, or referred to in the account.
This has sparked debate in the church about whether faith is necessary in receiving healing or not.
Some choose to go with the scriptures where faith was NOT an issue in the healing and they use these scriptures to try to 'disprove' that faith is a necessary factor in healing. Others hold strongly to the scriptures where faith IS pointed out as the determining factor in the person receiving healing.
The problem is the Bible shows both, and we are not supposed to be picking and choosing the bits of the Bible we want to listen to, or the bits that 'prove' our doctrine. Nor are we supposed to be setting one scripture against another, trying to prove that because we can find a scripture which says 'one thing' we can 'write off' a scripture which someone else uses to show another thing!
That is NOT how we are to approach interpretting the Bible, but it often happens like that.
There have been times when I have been trying to help a person receive healing and I point out a particular scripture which shows faith as a factor in receiving healing, and the next thing, they jump quickly in to point out a scripture which they feel contradicts the one I have used, where the person received and faith is not mentioned
To be honest, we should be looking at how all of these passages fit together and endeavouring to understand why the Bible shows the 2 different sides, how they work together in the over all healing ministry, and how to know which applies in specific situations.
I have just uploaded 2 MP3s onto our website which look at this issue and I believe clearly show how to understand the Bible on this issue. The Bible shows a very specific factor that determines which approach to healing is needed in a particular situation and should solve the questions people have about whether they really do need faith or not to receive.
These 2 MP3's are actually only 1 teaching session split over 2 MP3's, so it will only take you an hour to go through them and find the Bible answers to this issue.
The MP3's can be found here:
Healing – By faith or not by faith? Part 1
Healing – By faith or not by faith? Part 2
There is a handout which goes with these teachings, listing who in the Gospels initiated the healing
Other great teaching MP3s can be found at: free_bible_teaching_mp3_downloads
The God who can turn any situation around
God is the God who can turn any situation around
Jeremiah 32:17
:17 'Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.
I love that: There is nothing too hard for God! He is limitless in power and ability, there is nothing he cannot do. Things that look impossible to us, are nothing before Him. There is no sickness too great, and no problem to overwhelming that my God cannot overcome. He IS The Almighty God.
When we study the Gospel accounts of healing, one of the things that really stands out to me is how many of these people faced desperate situations. They were right at the end of all hope when they came to Jesus and they walked away free!
The Woman with issue of blood:
Mark 5:25,26
:25 Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years,
:26 and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.
The Nobleman’s son was ‘at the point of death…’
John 4:47
:47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
Peter’s wife’s mother had a ‘great / high fever’ – Luke 4:38
There was the Paralytic man borne by four who could not walk by himself, The Lepers who were outcasts of society, the blind, the deaf and mute.
The Centurion’s servant was ‘sick and ready to die..’
Luke 7:2
:2 And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die.
Jairus’ daughter was ‘…at the point of death…’ and in fact died before Jesus arrived to her, He had to raise her from the dead!
Mark 5:22-23, 34-35
:22 And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet
:23 and begged Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live."
:35 While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?"
:36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid; only believe."
At was probably the darkest hour of this man’s life - when he received the news of the death of his daughter - Jesus encourages him to believe, not be afraid!
Only someone who knows that this is not over could encourage like that. Most would simply sympathize with his loss, and try to comfort him, but Jesus knew it was not over, faith had already been released when the man declared in verse 23, ‘come and lay your hands on her, that she may be healed…’ and Jesus was already on the task. Jesus encouraged this man not to give up, but to stay in faith and see this through to God’s victorious outcome. It is never too late for God.
The Syrophoenician woman’s daughter was ‘…severely demon possessed…‘
Matthew 15:22
:22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed."
There were those who had been in their condition for many, many years and no one had been able to help them.
- Woman with the Issue of Blood – Mark 5:25 12 years
- Woman with spirit of infirmity – Luke 13:11 18 years
- Man borne blind – John 9:1 30+ years
- Man at the Pool – John 3:5 38 years
- Cripple at the gate Beautiful – Acts 3:2, 4:22 40 years
When they came into contact with Jesus, they were set free! God turned it around for them and God can turn it around for you
What can we learn from this?
That there is nothing that is past God being able to help. Nothing has gone ‘too far’.
When Lazarus was dead and in his tomb, Jesus came on the scene and said, ‘Take away the stone’ (John 11:39)
‘I am no through here yet!’ is what He was declaring!
Often when we face challenges, we roll the stone of hopelessness and despair in front of the situation and give up all hope that it can change, but Jesus is saying to us, ‘Move that stone out the way, I can still do something’!
We are not to give up hope, we are not to think there is nothing that can be done, God is the God who can change anything and turn any situation around, even when doctors have given up all hope and say there is nothing that they can do, Jesus is The Great Physician who CAN do!
He can do what is needed, He can do what is necessary. When we put our faith In Him, He can turn it around.
There is however one vital lesson we can learn in this area from the ministry of Jesus, and that is:
When the challenges come, and we get desperate, it is not our desperation that moves God to move for us, it is our faith. The people who came to Jesus in desperation had to be redirected into faith before He could help them.
The Nobleman’s Son (John 4:46-54) was focused on the challenge, Jesus talks to him about believing, and redirects his attention, so that he goes away focused on faith in Jesus Words, not his crisis.
The Father of the Epileptic boy in Mark 9:20 – 27 cried out to Jesus in desperation, and the boy even has an epileptic fit right in front of Jesus, but Jesus is not moved by the chaos, he turns to the Father and begins to coach him in believing. Redirecting his desperation into faith before helping him.
Desperate circumstances make us cry out in desperation, but faith in God is what causes Him to move in the most impossible circumstances. The world is full of desperate people whose circumstances are not changing, but the Bible tells us that faith is the victory that overcomes the world and all things are possible to him who believes. Faith is the key to bringing change to desperate circumstances, allowin God's power to move in those circumstances
Mark 9:23
:23 Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."
1 John 5:4
:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith.
No matter what you are facing, put your faith and confidence in the God who can turn it around.
Nothing is too hard or impossible for him. He can and will turn your situation around and bring you out on top, giving you the victory
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