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FAITH

THE CROSS

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FAITH

THE CROSS

In 1 Corinthians 1:18 it says, "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." Let us never let the preaching of the cross become foolishness to us neither let it become a stumblingblock, as it was to the religious Jews. In verse 23, it says, "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness." At the time of Paul's writings, "the Jews, the religious leaders," taught the letter of the law, and not the spirit of the law. In 2 Corinthians 3:6 it says, "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." The Greeks were those who did not know God. They worshiped many gods. To them the preaching of the Cross was foolishness.

But what about us, who are Christians, born again of the Word and the Spirit, living under a new and better covenant? Are we still being deceived, not recognizing the Cross? Are we being destroyed for a lack of knowledge?

Let us come to the knowledge of the cross; what it is, and what it means. Let us take a quick look back in the Old Testament at some of the types and shadows of the cross. The LORD spoke to Abraham in Genesis 15:5 saying, "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be." The seed the LORD is speaking of are those who are in Christ (Gal. 3:16,17). In Genesis 22:17 the LORD again mentioned the covenant to Abraham referring to the stars of heaven. The stars in heaven are a type and shadow of those who are "born again from above," born of the Spirit (John 3:6). In Genesis 15:13, the LORD promised Abraham that He would deliver the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt after about four-hundred years.

Let us remind ourselves, that the LORD is not slack in His promises. He keeps His Word and performs that which He promises. So now, let us look to that deliverance from bondage in Egypt. Egypt, being a type and shadow of the world. Pharaoh being a type and shadow of Satan who held "God's people" in bondage. Notice, it was the LORD'S chosen people, "the children of Israel in Goshen" that were slaves to Pharaoh, not the Egyptians. Today, Christians are being held in bondage of sin, sickness, and disease. The Cross is for Christians to be set free...

The beginning of the deliverance of God's children started in the book of Exodus. The LORD had appeared to Moses asking him to go before Pharaoh (Ex. 3:10). When Moses and Aaron went before Pharaoh, they said unto Pharaoh, "Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go..." (Ex. 5:1).

In Exodus 4:2-4 the LORD had spoken to Moses telling him to take the rod that was in his hand and cast it on the ground. As Moses did, his rod turned into a serpent (a type and shadow of Satan--also a type and shadow of the end of Satan's power).

Then in Exodus, when Moses and Aaron were before Pharaoh, the LORD instructed Moses to have Aaron "take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent" (Ex. 7:9). When Aaron cast Moses' rod before Pharaoh it turned into a serpent.

Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.

For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods (Ex. 7:11,12).

This is a type and shadow of what happened on the Cross of Calvary. On the Cross Jesus swallowed up all our sins and iniquities, all our sickness and diseases.

Now let us go to Exodus, Chapter 12. In Exodus 12:1,2 it says,

And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

This was to be the day of a new life for the Children of Israel. It is a type and shadow of a new freedom for Christians who look to the Cross. For the Children of Israel, a lamb was to be chosen. On the evening of the Passover the lamb was to be slain. Exodus 12:7 says, "And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses..." The body of the lamb was to be eaten (Ex. 12:8,9). Verse 11 says, "And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover." Verse 13 says, "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt."

This is all a type and shadow of what God was about to do for us on the Cross of Calvary. The blood was for our deliverance and protection. We are delivered from sin by the blood of our LORD Jesus Christ. The body was for the healing of our physical bodies. (1 Peter 2:24).

When the Children of Israel obeyed the words of the LORD, they were delivered and protected (saved), by the blood and the body of the lamb. The King James Bible tells us in Exodus 12:37, that there were six hundred thousand men besides children. Psalms 105:37 says, "there was not one feeble person among their tribes." The body of the lamb was for the healing of their bodies. Because they obeyed the LORD, not one person left Egypt with sickness or disease in their bodies.

They were delivered from the bondage of Egypt following "the Passover," which was the night the body of the lamb was eaten and the blood was placed on the door posts.

Now, consider this: If the type and shadow of the body and the blood of the lamb could save (deliver and protect) the children of Israel, how much more can the body and blood of our LORD Jesus Christ save (deliver and protect) us today? Do not we have "a better covenant, which was established upon better promises" (Heb. 8:6)? Christians today, if they apply the body and blood of Jesus to their lives, they will be delivered from all the works of the devil.

Let us go a little further into the wilderness. In Numbers 21:5,6 the children of Israel spoke against God and Moses . . . Verse 6 says, "And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died." When the people come to Moses to pray for them, verse 8 says, "the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live." Again, this is a type and shadow of the Cross of Calvary. When the children of Israel looked upon the fiery serpent on the pole, they lived. The curse was broken, and they did not die.

In John 3:14,15, Jesus said,

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

When Christians look to the Cross, for what it stands for which is deliverance from the works of the devil, they will live and not die. Their sins will be taken away, their sickness and diseases will disappear. The powers of Satan will be broken by the power of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The type and shadow of the serpent on the pole in Numbers 21:6 came into fulfillment when Jesus went to the Cross for us. When Jesus was nailed to the Cross and raised up on Calvary (where He died for our sins and took upon Himself all our sickness and disease), we were set free. Satan's powers were broken, and the captives to sin, sickness, and disease were set free.

Yet, we must not forget, those in the wilderness who did not "look upon the serpent on the pole" did not live. Only those who looked on the serpent on the pole lived. Therefore, it is necessary for Christians to study the New Covenant and do what it says.

The types and shadows of the Cross, and the Cross of Calvary are referred to in Romans 10:9, saying, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." The word "saved" means delivered and/or protected.

We confess with our mouth, the LORD Jesus, Who went to the cross for us. In doing so, we must keep in mind why He went to the cross for us. What He did for us when He went to the cross.

In John 14:30, Jesus said to His disciples, "... the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." Satan had nothing on Jesus. He was without sin or iniquity. Therefore, 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." God laid all our sins and iniquities, all our sicknesses and diseases upon Jesus when He went to the cross. Jesus bore them for us, that we could be free.

This Jesus did before He died on the Cross. Therefore, when we confess that God hath raised Him from the dead (Rom. 10:9), we are also confessing what Jesus did for us on the Cross before He died. Hebrews 13:20 speaks of when God raised Jesus from the dead. It says, "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant." God brought Jesus back from the dead "through the blood of the everlasting covenant." All our sins and iniquities were paid for by the blood of the everlasting covenant. The same blood that Jesus shed, cleansed Him and Us from all OUR sins. He took our sins upon Himself, and He was cleansed from OUR sins by His OWN BLOOD!

When we believe in our heart that God raised up Jesus from the dead, we must also believe that all our sins and iniquities, all our sickness and diseases were laid upon Him before He died. When He was raised up from the dead, He was free. By His resurrection from the dead "we also are FREE." He bore our sins for us, and took upon Himself all our sicknesses and diseases.

Romans 10:8-13 is for christians, just like the type and shadow of the Children of Israel, who were God's chosen people. As a type and shadow, the LORD chose the children of Israel already in Abraham. It was first to Abraham that the LORD said,

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice (Gen. 22:17,18).

The children of Israel were first chosen by the LORD in Abraham, then confirmed in Isaac, and Jacob. By this we see it was "the LORD" that chose the children of Israel, "in Abraham."

Because the LORD chose the children of Israel to be His own, He would not, and did not, forsake them. The LORD kept His Word and delivered them from under the power of Pharaoh (a type of the devil, who kept them in bondage). When the LORD delivered the children of Israel from the power of Pharaoh, He also set them free of the powers of Satan by bringing them forth without one feeble one among them.

Consider this, the type and shadow of the body and blood of the Lamb at Passover did set the children of Israel free of bondage to Pharaoh and free of sickness an disease. Then, when Jesus came and ministered to the children of Israel before His death and resurrection, He healed them of every manner of sickness and disease. He healed all that came to Him for healing. Not one person who came to Jesus for healing went away without being healed.

Jesus was operating under the Old Covenant, therefore we could say Jesus was healing by the type and shadow of His own death and resurrection, before He died. If the "type and shadow" of Jesus' death and resurrection could produce healing for them, how much more can the actual death and resurrection of Jesus produce healing for us today? They were under a covenant that was looking forward to the cross. We are under a covenant that is after the Cross. We are under a "new and better covenant" than they were. Cannot our covenant, "sealed with the blood of the everlasting covenant" do as much for us as it did for them? Surely, God does not have more respect for those before the Cross than He has for us today!

At the time of the Passover, The LORD received them under His protection, by a cloud in the day and pillar of fire at nigh. By this they were saved (delivered and protected) from Pharaoh and the elements of this world all throughout the years in the desert.

Now, the LORD chose the children of Israel in Abraham. Ephesians 1:4 tells us that God "chose us in Christ Jesus," from before the foundation of the world. God choosing us in Christ is not a type and shadow, but the real thing. We are "true children" of God in Christ Jesus.

Would not God, do more abundantly for us, who are His "true children," than what the LORD did for those He chose in Abraham? Surely, God is not a respecter of persons. What He did for the children of Israel at the Passover, He will surely do "more abundantly" for us, who are His true children. We have a new and better covenant than the children of Israel, based upon better promises, sealed with the precious blood of the everlasting covenant (Heb. 8:6, 13:20).

When we remember the blood of the New Covenant we must be mindful of why the blood was shed. It was for our sin and iniquities. The blood is to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. To benefit from the shedding of the blood, we should look at a type and shadow of the ways of God.

God is now, that is, God is eternal and operates without a time element, such as hours, days, week, etc. God looks at the conditions now, and responds to the "present conditions."

Back in the book of Judges, Samson was called of God to deliver the children of Israel from the bondage of the Philistines (Judges 13-16). When Samson was not in sin, the power of God was there to deliver him and the children of Israel. But when Samson was in sin, there was no power to deliver him.

In Judges 16:3, Samson was in sin with a harlot until midnight. It says, "And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron." It was after Samson left the bed of sin that the power of God came upon him and he carried away the gate of the city.

The power of God is with His Children to break all the powers of the enemy. But, we should not be living in sin and expecting the power of God to set us free. Repentance and confession of sins, sets us free of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). When we are cleansed by the blood, and walking in righteousness, the power of God is here to save us.

Therefore, we must remember the blood in our confession that God has raised up Jesus from the dead (Rom. 10:9). It's the blood that was shed before Jesus died, that is the atonement for our sins. In 1 John 2:1,2 it says,

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

And he is the propitiation (atonement) for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

When we understand that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us (Heb. 7:25), and He is also the atonement for our sins, we should go back to 1 John 1:7-9 and do what it tells us there. It says,

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The blood of the everlasting covenant, which is the blood of Jesus Christ, can set us free of sin and death. The body of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary can set us free of sickness and disease. All of Satan's powers were broken on the Cross of Calvary. We must believe the Word of God concerning the Cross of Calvary. Do not let it become foolishness to you, neither a stumblingblock, as it is to some.

Believe the gospel of the Cross. "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." (Mark 9:23). Romans 4:18, speaking of Abraham says, "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be." Then in Romans 4:21 it says of Abraham, "And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform."Are we fully persuaded that what God did for us on the Cross of Calvary, applies to us today? Do we believe? Then let us walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).

At this time, let me suggest a sample prayer which Christians could pray every day. A prayer where we first praise and worship the Father for Who He is and what He has done and is doing today. Once we have praised and worshiped our Father, then we confess our sins and receive forgiveness for all unrighteousness. Once all our sins are forgiven we continue to praise and worship Jesus Christ. Next we acknowledge the Holy Spirit for Who He is and ask His help in everything. Then we continue to pray in the Spirit that God may do in our lives according to His perfect will.

Sample Prayer:

Thank You, heavenly Father;

Father, I thank You that You are my Father.

I thank You for Your plans from before the foundation of this world.

You chose me in Christ Jesus to be one with You for eternity.

Your Word has gone forth into this world, and it shall not return unto You void.

You've chosen me, heavenly Father, to be Your very own.

You dwell within me, and I am Your child.

Your Word is true, heavenly Father, You have spoken it into this world

As it is recorded in Your precious book.

You have told me in Your Word, that if I would confess my sins

You would be truthful and just; You would forgive me of my sins and You would cleanse me from all unrighteousness.

Father, I confess that I have sinned,

(Confess all known sins, as sins against God).

Father, I have said things I should not have said,

I have done things I should not have done.

I have not done all things according to Your Word.

I thank You for Your forgiveness, because of Christ Who dwells in me,

His righteousness is my righteousness.

I thank You, heavenly Father, that You have forgiven me,

and cleansed me from all unrighteousness.

I praise You, heavenly Father, that Your Word is true.

I thank You for the Lord Jesus Christ

Who You sent into this world To be my Lord, and Saviour.

He dwells in me and I am one in Him.

Lord, I thank You, that You came into this world.

You fulfilled all righteousness for me.

You did all things according to the will of Your Father.

You shed Your blood on the cross for the forgiveness of the sins of all souls.

You gave Your body for the healing and resurrection of my body.

You gave Your life that You could live Your life in me.

I am one in You, Your Father is my Father.

I thank You, Lord Jesus, that You sit at the right hand of the Father making intercession for me.

Your prayers are answered that our Father's will is done

Because You intercede for me.

I thank You that Your Spirit dwells in me, making me one in You.

I thank You for the Holy Spirit, Whom You have sent from the Father

To be my Helper, Guide, Comforter, and Teacher.

Holy Spirit, I thank You for helping me and guiding me, comforting and teaching me.

Holy Spirit, help me today, in everything I do.

Help me to pray in the perfect will of our Father.

Help me to pray for those in authority and all those over me.

Help me to pray for kings and leaders of the world,

That they come to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and receive Him as their Saviour.

Help me to pray for those who do not know Jesus

that they receive Him as their Saviour.

Help me to pray for those in the body of Christ

Who are under attack by Satan,

That they be delivered, and set free and move in the glorious wonders,

By the power of the Spirit.

Help me in everything, Holy Spirit.

Help me to pray in the Spirit, in the perfect will of my Father.

Guide me in every thing I do.

Speak to me from my spirit.

Show me things to come.

Give me wisdom, knowledge, and discerning of spirits that I know the things that are of God,

That I can do the things that my Father would have me do.

Help me to walk in the Spirit, that my Father is glorified,

That Jesus is raised up,

That all things be accomplished according to the will of my Father.

I thank You today, Holy Spirit.

For Your help in everything I do.

Help me now, Holy Spirit, To pray in the spirit to my heavenly Father in His heavenly language:

That His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give me the words to say,

Help me to pray whatever is the mind of the Spirit of Christ in me

That the body of Christ can perform whatever is the desire of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Who is our head over His body here on earth.

Holy Spirit, I yield over to You, to give me the words to say

In that heavenly language of my Father.

Thank You for Your help,

In Jesus' name.

Continue to pray in the Spirit until you have peace and joy in your spirit; for the kingdom of God is "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17).

FAITH FOR HEALING

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1).You can't see faith, therefore, faith is the evidence of things not seen.

Faith does not work according to what you see. You see sickness. You see disease. You see manifestations of sickness or disease. You see infirmities. But faith removes what you see. It disappears when faith acts.

Faith is action. Faith causes those things that be not to come into existence. Faith causes those things that are seen to disappear. They must leave when faith acts upon them. When you put your faith to work, they must leave. They have no choice for faith takes over and they must go.

Living faith always works. Dead faith does not work. Dead faith does not act like living faith. Dead faith waits for something to happen, looking to see if something happened. Living faith happens. It's there, its working, its completing that which faith is applied to.

Faith is not always an instant manifestation. But faith works, and continues to work as long as we do not waver. Doubt and unbelief can cause faith to die. Dead faith will not work. It has no power to accomplish that which faith is needed for. The power is in living faith.

Faith is believing we already have that which we cannot see. We have it. It's ours, even though we cannot see it. We may not feel like we have it. But, we do have it, by faith. By faith, it will manifest in it's own time. Not always according to our time, but according to God's time.

Faith comes from God. Therefore, God determines the time the manifestation comes. Our faith brings the manifestation, and God determines the time when it will manifest in the natural.

Believe you are healed, even though you are in pain. Faith does not say there will be no pain before healing is complete. Faith removes pain in God's time. Pain or no pain, faith still works and is working. Faith works before pain, faith works during pain, faith works after the pain is gone. Pain does not stop faith, faith stops pain.

Faith is from God. God is light. Pain is from this world. Pain is darkness. Light puts out darkness. Darkness cannot put out light. Faith overcomes, and is never overcome by anything else. As long as we live by faith, nothing can overcome us. We overcome by our faith.

It takes faith to overcome. "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4). We are born of God, we overcome the world and everything in the world by our faith.

Believe, even though you are in pain. Keep on believing, keep on acting on your faith. It's the believing that drives out the pain and brings forth the manifestation of health.

Unbelievers say, let me feel the pain leave. God says, believe and I will remove the pain. Believe first, then God will remove the pain. Believe and do not doubt the Word of God. God's Word says, "by His stripes you are already healed." Believe and then you will receive. Believe while the pain is still there, keep on believing even if there is still pain and God will take the pain away.

The LORD said, "I am the LORD that healeth thee" (Ex. 15:26). The LORD gave us His Word, and His Word will not fail. When ever we speak according to the Word of God it will not fail. Feelings cannot change the Word of God. The Word of God works regardless of how we feel.

Living faith is believing without being able to feel. We receive according to our faith, not our feelings. Don't look for feelings, look for the manifestation of faith. Faith is believing in spite of feelings. We simply believe we have received before there is any change in how we feel. We continue to believe even though there is no change in how we feel.

The apostle John wrote,

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him (1 John 5:14,15).

We know we already have whatsoever we ask of Him. We know it, it's not a question if we have it or not. We know we have it. Because we asked according to His Word.

Mark 11:24 says, "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Believe you have them first, then you shall have them. "And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform" (Rom. 4:21).

Faith always works according to the Word of God. The Word of God and God are the same. We know God through His Word. His Word never changes, therefore when we believe His Word we are believing God. When we believe God, His Word brings into being that which we believe.

God cannot change. His Word cannot change. Therefore, when we believe His Word, that which is not of God must change. What God has said in His Word will come to pass. Nothing can stop the Word of God for nothing can stop God.

Never stop believing the Word of God for it cannot change. But, when we believe the Word of God whatsoever is not of God will change. No matter what the circumstance, the Word of God will bring all things into agreement with the Word. When we agree with God, we become what God has planned for us. God's plan for us is that we overcome whatsoever is not of God. We do this by faith in the Word of God.

Healing comes according to the Word of God. God never promised instant healing, even though there are many instant manifestations of healing. In Mark 16:17 it says, "And these signs shall follow them that believe..." Then in Mark 16:18 it says, "...they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." The word "shall" always indicates "future tense," that is, sometime in the future. It could be instant and it could be years later. There is no time element attached to the word "shall."

In Genesis 15:4 the LORD promised Abraham a son. It was many years later that Abraham finally had Isaac. Abraham waited a long time before the Word of the LORD came to pass. Yet, he believed the LORD and it was counted unto him for righteousness (Gen. 15:6).

FAITH WORKS

In my own life, there was a time that I had a growth on my finger. It was there and growing for about two weeks. One day, I was praying in the Spirit, while driving down the road, and out of my spirit came these words, "why don't you curse the roots on that growth and command it to die and fall off"? I immediately cursed the roots in Jesus' name and commanded them to die and the growth to fall off.

It seemed as though nothing happened when I prayed. The growth was still there. I couldn't see any change. For weeks I continued to change the band-aid I had been putting on it to protect it. One thing I noticed after a week or so, was that it didn't get any larger. It stayed about the same size.

About a month later, as I was changing the band-aid, the growth fell off. It come off with the band-aid when I removed it to put on a new one. The words I spoke that day while driving down the road caused the growth to die. It did fall off after about a month. There was not even a mark where it had been.

There was a time when I broke my toe on a Saturday afternoon in a downtown apartment building. I drove home, took off my shoe and saw the swelling, the black and blue coloring of my foot. I felt the pain. When this happened my mind began to receive thoughts from the devil. I knew it was broken. I had experienced a broken bone in my body years ago. The pain of a broken bone is different than that of a sprain or torn ligament.

The thought came to me, "I had better go to the hospital and get it x-rayed, to be sure the bone was in the right place." The second thought that went through my head was, "when I do that the doctor will cut out the front of my shoe and put a bandage on my toe, and I will go around like that for about six weeks." Then the Spirit of God rose up within me and said, "you don't have to do that, by His stripes you are healed, He bore your sickness and infirmities, tell the devil to take a jump." Immediately I said, "Devil get out, I don't need this and you can't put this on me, by His stripes I am healed." "Jesus Himself took my infirmities and bare my sickness, so you can go take a jump. Thank you Jesus."

All this time I was alone in the house. I spoke words out-loud to the devil and I confessed before God my healing. Then I took a shower, dressed up, and went out for lunch. The thought again came to me to go to the hospital and have an x-ray, but then I said within myself, "why should I spend God's money for something I didn't need. God's Word is true and I am healed."

That day my foot was very sore but I kept on going. The person I went to lunch with said to me, "Merle, you should have stayed home, and not be walking around on that foot." I just said, "Don't worry about it, it's Ok."

The next day the soreness left. It was Sunday and I went to Church. On Monday evening I showed my foot to those at my house who were there for a share group meeting. All we could see was one red spot and a blue stripe mark where the break had been. Praise the Lord for His Word! By Tuesday all was back to normal, no red spot, no blue stripe.

On Friday, I showed my foot to a nurse friend of mine. I told her what had happened the Saturday before and how the foot came back to normal in three days. She said, "It had to be God, for in the natural it would take ten days to two weeks before the black and blue would be gone."

Another time, my son was helping me move a heavy piece of equipment from the third floor of a building to the basement. He was on the upper end and I was on the lower end. He felt he had to try to do the heaviest part because he was a lot younger than I was.

As we were going down the steps, he tried to hold back on the weight so it would be easier for me. In doing so, he pulled his back and the pain became almost unbearable. We did finish taking the unit to the basement.

As soon as we finished, I said to him, "Jim let me pray for your back." When I prayed, I commanded every bone, muscle, and ligament to be whole in Jesus' name. After praying for him, I told him, "every time you feel like there is pain, tell the devil to get out, for by Jesus' stripes you are healed." I told him, "every time any thought comes to your mind concerning your healing, always say, "by Jesus' stripes you are healed."

I didn't say anything to him any more concerning the pain he had or the healing he received. About a week later I asked him, "Jim, how is your back"? He said, "Dad, it is healed, I don't have any pain or any other symptoms. It's just as good as new."

That happened many years ago and he still does not have any problem with his back. I know the devil tried to get Jim to admit that there was pain right after we prayed. In most cases, that is when the devil tries his best to steal a persons healing. That is the most important time to resist the devil, the pain, and all symptoms in the name of Jesus. Just because their still seems to remain some pain, that doesn't mean a person is not healed. But, if you do not resist the devil, he will keep trying to steal your healing.

There are many times when we pray for others. They may be in great pain. Just because the pain doesn't leave immediately, that doesn't mean God's Word does not work. Satan will do all he can to stop a person from receiving healing. He works through the minds and the bodies of people to keep them in pain and torment. Sickness and disease are Satan's tools to stop Christians from flowing with God, to steal and destroy the lives of many Christians.

Patience strengthens faith. James said,

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing (James 1:3,4).

Your reward always comes after you have done your part. When you resist the devil, using the Word of God, you will receive the full manifestation of your healing.

Many times, I have prayed for others who were in pain. After praying, I usually tell them, "every time you think you feel pain, always say, 'by Jesus' stripes I am healed.'" Those who do this usually call back in a day or so and tell me of the good report, "all pain is gone, everything is healed."

We need patience to continue to build up our faith. Each time the devil tries to inflect us with sickness or disease, or even injury, resist the devil, using the Word of God. The more we resist the devil, using the Word of God the stronger our faith will be.

Many years ago, my son got into an automobile accident. Another vehicle pulled out in front of him while he was traveling about 40 miles per hour. The car he was driving was a small car, with no frame. The car was totaled out by the insurance company, beyond repair.

When his car hit the other car, the impact caused the steering wheel to push into his chest, pinning him between the steering wheel and the seat. He was driving my vehicle at the time, and didn't know if he should go to the hospital or stay with the vehicle until they got in contact with me. So, he stayed with the vehicle, even though he was in pain.

The other passenger was taken to the hospital for a checkout. When he finely got in touch with me, he asked me? "Dad, should I go to the hospital?" I asked him, what for? Then he told me that his chest was in pain, and it was black and blue. Now, just for those who think they have "bulldozer faith," I knew in my spirit that Jim could believe for his healing. So, I said, "Jim, did you pray after you got hit?" He said, "Yes, Dad." I them told him, "if you prayed then tell the devil to take a jump, for by Jesus' stripes you are healed."

About two weeks later I asked Jim, how is your chest? He said, "Dad, all the black and blue is gone, and I have not had any pain for over a week." It wasn't instant healing, with no pain, no black and blue. But, God's Word does work, if we will believe and resist the devil when he comes to steal our healing.

Time has nothing to do with faith. Faith works according to God's timing, which is eternal. There is no beginning and no ending to God's time. He was, He is, and He always will be. Therefore, faith should never be subject to time. Faith works regardless of how much time it takes.

Once we act upon our faith, by believing and confessing according to the Word of God, it will accomplish that which we say, as long as we do not waver or doubt. Wavering and doubt can stop faith. But knowing that faith does not operate according to time, we can stand in faith until the manifestation comes. It doesn't make any difference how long it takes. God's Word cannot fail. It will accomplish that which we speak in faith, if we do not doubt, waver, or draw back.

Never stop confessing "By Jesus stripes I am healed"! Make this confession every time the thought comes to your mind concerning healing for your body. Don't let religious people stop you from holding fast to your confession. Hebrews 10:23 says, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised.)" The word "profession" means confession. You must continue to confess that by Jesus stripes you are healed. You may have to confess this one-hundred times a day. That's ok, don't stop confessing, for God is faithful and will set you free.

Satan stops our faith from working by putting thoughts in our minds contrary to what we have faith for. We must reject all thoughts that do not agree with our faith. We must hold fast to our confidence, and never waver (Heb. 10:35).

HEALING BY HIS WORD

What Jesus did for us on the Cross was already declared done from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8, Isa. 46:9,10). Therefore, already in Proverbs 4:20-22 it says,

My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

For they are life unto those that find them, and health (healing, medicine) to all their flesh.

The Word of God is healing and medicine to all our flesh. Those who will believe it, will benefit from doing what the word of God tells us to do, especially here in Proverbs 4:20-22. Do not let the Word of God depart from our eyes, and keep the Word of God in the midst of our heart. When we do that, the Word of God will be healing medicine and health to all our flesh.

We need to consider what it is saying here. This implies continuous speaking of the Word of God, just as a person take medicine. Many times a day, even in the night hours. Keep taking the same medicine over and over again, day and night. If we do that, it will be health to all those who do it.

Praise God, it works for those who will do it. When all the symptoms of arthritis came upon me, I kept speaking the Word against it. I kept saying, over and over, day after day, "by Jesus' strips I am healed." This I would do for weeks on end. Then for years the symptoms would be gone. Years later, they would come back again and again I would keep saying, "by Jesus' strips I am healed." this started already before I was born again. That is over twenty some years ago. I still do not have any arthritis, for the Word of God is healing and medicine to my flesh and bones.

The Word works for anyone who will use it according to what is says. "Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart" (Prov. 4:21).

If you keep your eyes on the Word of God and keep the Word of God in your heart, it will work for you. You do not necessarily have to speak the Word in English. It works by speaking in unknown tongues also.

In May of 2002, I was driving my car, taking two other people home. All the way to their house I was praying in the Spirit. I had another person with me while driving back to where I lived.

I had just gotten on the freeway, traveling 65 miles per hour, when sharp pains started to come from my heart. It was like lightening, sharp and repeated. It continued to get worse and worse.

The person who was with me was also filled with the Holy Spirit, and knew what the Spirit revealed to her. I said to her, "I think I am getting a heart-attack." She said to me, I know. She was already praying in the Spirit. Both of us kept praying in unknown tongues. We did not pray in English, only in unknown tongues. Although, in our minds, we spoke healing and commanded the pain to leave.

For about five minutes, the sharp pain continued to increase. Then it started down my left arm. My left arm started to get numb and I pulled off the freeway. I asked the person with me to do the driving, while we both kept praying in tongues.

About five minutes later, the pain all left and I felt fine. That happened between six and seven in the morning. All day I was fine, no pain, no numbness in my arm. Then about midnight, the pain started again, just like the first time. I just started praying in tongues again and went to bed praying in tongues. Within about fifteen minutes all the pain was gone and I went to sleep. I did not have any sharp pain in my heart since that day. Although, for about three or four days, I could feel a spot in my upper left chest that felt like someone had hit me there. That was in May of 2002. I have never had any symptoms like that since that time.

The Word of God works, even when you pray in unknown tongues. It's the speaking of the Word that causes the power of God to bring healing to our flesh. When a person speaks in unknown tongues, they are speaking the Word of God. That is the important part, speaking the Word of God out of our mouth.

Don't let those who teach that if you claim your healing more than once you are not speaking in faith! That is ignorance gone to seed. The Word of God teaches us to keep speaking the Word of God day and night. To Joshua, the LORD said, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success" (Josh. 1:8). To prosper and have good success would include that you be in good health. The Word of God is health to all our flesh.

Instant healing is fine, and it is wonderful to see God heal instantly when we pray. But, God never promised us instant healing. But He did promise us healing by continuously speaking the Word of God from our mouth out of our heart.

We get the Word of God into our heart by speaking and hearing, then when we speak the Word of God it becomes health to all our flesh.

I like what I heard of another Christian, who was an evangelist. He said, as a child his parents always taught him that, whenever he got hurt or felt pain, to say, "by Jesus' stripes I am healed." One time he was getting ready to fly his small airplane to a meeting. His wife was up in the tower making the final arrangement for talk-off. He was by the airplane making the final check out. In doing so, he turned the engine over by pulling on the propeller. But, he forgot to take the wire off the magneto, and the engine fired and started to run.

The propeller hit him on the side of his head, over his eye, cutting deep into his face. His nose was cut almost totally off, just hanging by a small amount of skin. His left shoulder, arm, and leg were also hit. He was knocked to the ground, bleeding, and in great pain. He tried to say, "Oh, it hurts"! But, the only words that would come out of his mouth were "by Jesus' stripes I am healed"! Every time he tried to say, "Oh, it hurts"! The only words that would come out of his mouth were "by Jesus' stripes I am healed"!

He learned from a child to speak the Word of God over any sickness, disease, or injury. What he learned got into his heart, and out of his spirit he spoke healing, by Jesus' stripes.

To make a long story short, they took him to a hospital and at first the X-rays showed that there were broken bones and his nose was completely removed from it proper location. Along with his wife and other Christians, they keep speaking the Word of God over his condition. A second set of X-rays showed no broken bones, and all that was necessary was to sew his nose back in place. Within six hours after it happened, him and his wife were in their airplane flying to their meeting.

Speaking the Word of God, over and over is medicine and produces health to all our flesh. Never stop speaking the Word of God concerning healing for your body. It is medicine to your flesh and health to your physical body.

Healing was complete on the Cross. There on the Cross, Jesus bore all our sickness, and diseases, along with all our infirmities. This includes anything that is not healthy in our physical bodies, they were all paid for and belong to us as our inheritance.

A sister in the LORD was walking down a sidewalk one winter day. There was ice on the sidewalk and she slipped and fell. As a result, she ended up with a hairline fracture in one of her bones. She is a Christian, and believes in healing by the Word of God. She did not go to a doctor at the time, just believed in her healing.

About two weeks later she was still in pain, her leg was turning black and blue and getting stiff. So she went to a hospital and it checked. The X-rays showed a hairline fracture. The doctor gave her some medicine for pain and told her to stay off the leg as much as possible. By the end of that week she could hardly stand the pain. She went back to the doctor, and this time she was given another prescription for pain. Then she was told that she needed to see a therapist and get some therapy to keep her leg from getting stiff. She was told that if she didn't get therapy on her leg it could be stiff the rest of her life.

The next week she was at my house. She had a little dog she was raising and house training. That day her leg was so painful and stiff she had to sit on a foam rubber pad about four inches thick, with her leg straight out. She could not bend her leg.

Earlier in the day I talked with her and told her about a man I new who was bed-ridden for over a year. When he read Mark 11:23, 24, and decided in himself he would believe what it says, regardless of how he felt: he told the LORD, he believed he was healed regardless of how things looked, or how he felt. Then he took a-hold of the bed post and started to pull himself up, out of bed. His legs were like ropes, they just dangled off the side of the bed. He kept pulling himself up. When his feet hit the floor, strength came into his legs. He stood up for the first time in many months and was healed.

He had been in bed for many months, because he did not believe he was healed before he saw the evidence. I told this sister in the LORD that and then I left the room to do some work.

Later that day I came back into the room where she was and she asked me to get into the Word of God with her. I didn't know what she wanted to read or study, so I said to her, why don't you read out-loud, one of the new books I am writing and I will listen for any mistakes I may have made in typing it.

She read the whole book through, sitting on a chair with the four inch foam pad on the seat, and her stiff leg straight out in front of her. When she finished reading the book, I said, I have to go and do some work and I left the room.

I came back about an hour and one-half later and there she was bending down normally, putting dog food in a dish. I looked at her, and in excitement said, "hey your bending your leg." She said to me, "yes, it's healed, no pain, no stiffness"!

When she decided to act upon the Word of God and believe she was already healed, the LORD took away all the pain and stiffness. It took a week or two for all the black and blue to leave her leg. But, all that pain and stiffness was gone in a matter of seconds. Once she believed the Word of God and acted upon it, believing that which was not healed, as thought it was healed, all the pain and stiffness left. When she got up off the chair and began to walk normal, the LORD took away all pain and stiffness.

Many Christians are in bed, in wheel chairs, using crutches, etc. not believing in the Cross for their healing. It's because they don't believe before they receive they are still in their condition. The healing comes after they believe "without any evidence in the natural, that they are healed." But, if they would do like the man at the pool of Bethesda in John 5:8,9 or the man sick with the palsy in Matthew 9:6,7, and get up and walk, they would experience the power of God, and healing will take place in their bodies. The Word of God is true. "By Jesus' stripes we are healed" (1 Peter 2:24). It's our mind that receives thoughts that are not in agreement with the Word of God that keeps us from walking in health.