Don’t Miss An Opportunity To Act

Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman you are loosed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hand s on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. -Luke 13:10-13

Jesus called the woman who was bowed over to come to Him. He didn’t walk back to her in the crowd and deliver her miracle to her. Why didn’t He? Why did Jesus make that poor woman come hobbling to Him? It would have been easier for Him to walk to her than for her to walk to Him. After all, she’d been bowed over for eighteen years, and He was healthy.

But Jesus was giving the woman an opportunity to act in faith. How do we know her faith was in operation? Because faith always acts on the Word, and the woman had been hearing the Word.

Look back at verse 10: “And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.” Jesus was always putting something into people to believe. And when they believed and acted on it, they got results.

If the woman had told Jesus, “No, I can’t come to You.” It would have been evident that she wasn’t expecting anything. She wouldn’t have made the difficult effort to come forward if she hadn’t expected to walk back healthy. But this woman was in faith. And when Jesus called her to come forward, she acted on her faith and received her miracle!

CONFESSION:

Jesus calls me to Himself through the Word. He gives me the opportunity to believe Him and to receive from Him all I need. Through Jesus, I am delivered from every yoke of bondage. I am free!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

“Thou Art Loosed!”

Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman you are loosed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.                                                                                                                                                            -Luke 13:10-13

This woman had been bowed over for eighteen years That’s a tough condition—eighteen years of looking at your shoestrings! The woman couldn’t straighten her back and stand straight. She must have been in tremendous pain.

But then Jesus touched her and said, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” Immediately, she was made straight, and she glorified God!

Jesus got her attention with His first words to her: “Woman, you are loosed.” In other words, ”You were set free a long time ago. Now you just need to get rid of the symptoms.” She was the daughter of Abraham. She was loosed, but she didn’t know it.

It’s the same thing with Christians today. The Bible says those whom the Son sets free are free indeed.(John 8:36.)

We’re loosed from all the works of the enemy, whether we realize it or not. But it’s time to act loosed. We were re-created in Jesus to walk free of all sickness and disease, so let’s do that today!

CONFESSION:

Because of Jesus, I am loosed from any infirmity. I am free from all circumstances and symptoms, because I hear, believe and act on the Word.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Take a Stand

Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years… she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. -Mark 5:25,27

The more you consider this woman with the issue of blood, the more you understand that she had to be stubborn. Under the Jewish law, she was considered unclean. When a woman with an issue of blood came out in public, she risked being stoned.

As if that weren’t bad enough, notice whom Jesus was walking with at the time: “And behold, there came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name" (v. 22).

 Jesus was on His way to Jairus’ house to heal his daughter when He perceived that power had flowed out of Him and stopped to find out who had touched Him. As a ruler of the synagogue, Jairus had authority to have this woman stoned.

This woman had to be tenacious, stubborn, resistant to flow. She had to overcome her fear and go against religious leaders.

You know, some ministers say, “Well, you just can’t be healed. God doesn’t do that anymore.” When that happens, people have to override what those ministers are saying about healing in order to receive their healing.

This woman had to overcome unbelief, fear and weakness. She had to decide that no matter what came against her, she was going to receive her healing.

We have to get to that same point and make the same decision: “I don’t care what anyone says. I don’t care what it looks like, seems like, or feels like. I’m taking a stand on God's Word, and that’s all there is to it!"

CONFESSION:

I will not be moved by circumstances or by what others say about my situation. I am moved only by what God’s Word says. No sickness is too hard for my Father to heal. I receive my healing today!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Get Tenacious in Your Faith

Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. -Mark 5:25,26

This woman had tenacity. Tenacity means stubbornness. We have to be stubborn if we are going to walk in God’s best. That doesn’t mean we are to be stubborn with other people, but we must be stubborn in our stand on God’s Word.

Now, tenacity could also be said to mean “resistance to flow.” Many people “flow” with whatever word or wind of doctrine comes along. They say, “The Word says I’m healed, but the doctors tell me there is no hope.” These people are double-minded, flowing back and forth between God’s promises and man’s opinions.

But this woman got tenacious about her healing. She heard of Jesus, and she decided to go the faith route. She’d been to every doctor in the country, and they had probably pronounced her incurable. She didn’t have any natural hope left.

So she decided to flow against natural circumstances. It wasn’t easy to do that, because she was weak, sick and broke. Besides that, she had to flow against a multitude of people crowding around Jesus. She had to press through that crowd until she finally reached Him.

The flow of the natural realm was telling her, “Give up, lady. This won’t work. You’ve tried everything. Remember, the doctor said you can’t make it.”

But the woman got stubborn about it. She wouldn’t flow with what the doctors said. She was tenacious, resistant to flow. She pressed through the crowd, touched Jesus’ garment and was healed.

Thank God for good doctors. But we have the Word of God, which is higher than any other belief, thought or expert opinion. And we need to get stubborn about holding fast to that anointed Word, no matter what it looks like in the natural!

CONFESSION:

I’m stubborn about standing on the Word of God. Circumstances don’t move me. I don’t walk by sight-I walk by faith in God’s Word!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Change the Course of Your Life

Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years…. When she heard about Jesus… -Mark 5:25,27

The woman with the issue of blood had been sick for a very long time. She’d seen every doctor in the country and spent everything she had trying to get better. She desired healing with all her heart, but nothing had helped, she’d only grown worse.

What was the first step this woman took that totally changed her condition? What did she do that set her on a new course toward healing? Mark 5:27 gives us the answer. “When she had heard…”

Nothing happened in this woman’s life until she heard. That may sound like a small thing, but hearing is the biggest factor in changing the course of a person’s life. All through the Bible, we find a direct correlation between hearing and healing.

What did she hear? “When she had heard of Jesus…” In John 1:1, Jesus is called the Word. So when the Bible says, “She had heard of Jesus,” it could just as well say, “She heard the Word.” Psalm 107:20 says, “He sent his word, and healed them…”

Jesus doesn’t dwell among us today in the flesh, but we still have the written Word. As we set ourselves to continually hear the Word, our faith will grow. That’s the first step to changing the course of our lives!

CONFESSION:

Jesus, the Word made flesh, was sent to heal me. The power in God’s written Word heals me as I hear it, believe it and act upon it in faith.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Make Your Miracle Happen!

When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment, for she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Mark 5:27,28

There are three kinds of people in the world: those who watch things happen, those who make things happen and those who wonder what is happening.

Similarly, we have three kinds of people in the body of Christ. First, we have folks who wonder what’s happening most of the time. Then, we have another group of believers who watch things happen. In other words, they watch folks get healed and receive miracles and think, Man, I’d like to get in the middle of that! Oh, I wish God would do something like that for me!

But then there’s the third kind of Christian. These believers are the bunch who make things happen. I don’t know about you, but that’s the group I want to be part of! I don’t want to wait for anything to happen, I want to be out there making it happen!

Some folks say, “Well, that’s pushing God.” No, we don’t push or control God. No one else does. We just act on what He has already said in His Word.

This woman with the issue of blood didn’t wonder what was happening or wait for something to happen. She made something happen with her faith. She didn’t say, “Oh, I wish Jesus would come to my home.” No, she went to find Him.

Everyone else in the crowd was touching Jesus, and power wasn’t flowing into any of them. But this woman didn’t touch Him with her hand only, she touched Him with her faith. Power flowed out of Him into her, and she was instantly healed.

And notice, Jesus not only turned around and commended the woman, but He had her testify before the entire crowd to show how faith works. He tried to help some of the other folks get into faith. If they’d done the same thing this woman had, they would have received their own miracles.

CONFESSION:

I receive from God just as this woman did. I find in the Word that Jesus healed all kinds of sickness and disease. I ask for my healing, touching Jesus with my faith, and I believe I receive my miracle!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Our Faith Plus God’s Power Equals Healing

And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” And He said to her, “Daughter, Go in peace and be healed of your affliction.” -Mark 5:30,34

What was it that made this woman whole? The Bible says Jesus sensed “virtue,” or power, go out of Him at the same time that she felt in her body that she was healed of the issue of blood. (vv. 29,30.) But then Jesus said, “Daughter, your faith made you whole.” So which was it? Did Jesus’ power heal her, or was it her faith?

It was a combination of the two. If He’d said, “Daughter, My power has healed you,” everyone in the crowd could have asked, “Why did Your power heal her and not me? I need a miracle too.”

Jesus answered that question before it was asked. He said, “Daughter, your faith made you whole.” Then everyone knew why she’d gotten healed and they hadn’t.

Jesus’ healing power would have gone into anyone in that crowd who had come in faith. But no faith was involved when the others touched Jesus. Therefore, God’s power wasn’t released on their behalf, and the woman was the only one healed.

Even today we need a combination of faith and power. God’s power performs the miracle, but our faith releases His power to work in our lives.

Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power. (Acts 10:38.) By His power, Jesus healed the woman with the issue of blood 2000 years ago, and His power is still the same today. He will heal us of any sickness, disease or infirmity the enemy tries to throw our way. God’s power is always available to us as His children. It’s just a matter of learning how to tap into that divine source of power by faith!

CONFESSION:

The woman with the issue of blood released God’s power with her faith. By faith I release that same power into my life. God’s power works in me and makes me whole!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Our Faith Releases God’s Power

And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” And He said to her, “Daughter, Go in peace and be healed of your affliction.” -Mark 5:30,34

Jesus didn’t deliver healing to this woman with the issue of blood. He didn’t sovereignly walk up to her and say, “God has chosen to make you well.” No, the woman crept up behind Jesus in the crowd, touched the hem of His garment and was healed. And her great faith drew so much healing power out of Jesus that it stopped Him in His tracks!

Jesus asked, “Who touched Me?” I’m sure everyone thought His question was a little strange because everyone was trying to touch Him. His disciples exclaimed, “The multitude is thronging You! How can You ask, ‘Who touched Me?’”

Then Jesus looked around to find the person who had touched Him in faith. The woman returned to Him, trembling with fear, and told Him what had happened to her. Jesus didn’t rebuke her, instead, He praised her faith.

You see, the woman’s faith released Jesus’ power. And if faith released His power 2000 years ago, our faith still releases God’s power today!

CONFESSION:

God’s power heals all who come to Him in faith. My faith releases His healing power in my life. My faith and His power make me whole!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

June 22

The Touch of Faith

Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well." Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. -Mark 5:25-29

Jesus was walking through the crowd. Everyone in the crowd was pushing toward Him, but no one was being healed. No miracles were occurring, and no power was flowing out of Him.

Suddenly Jesus felt power surge out of Him. (v. 30.) He stopped and said, “Who touched My clothes?” His disciples replied, “Everyone is touching You!” But Jesus recognized a different touch. It wasn’t the physical touch He sensed; it was the touch of faith.

Why was this woman the only one in the crowd who was healed? Jesus answered the question in verse 34: “And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you whole, go in peace, and be whole of your plague.”

The rest of the crowd had come wondering what was going to happen and thinking, Well, I’ll give this Jesus fellow a try. But this woman had come in faith; she had known what would happen when she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment. She had come believing and expecting—and, therefore, she received!

CONFESSION:

I am thoroughly convinced that I can touch Jesus with my faith just as the woman with the issue of blood did. My faith draws that same healing power out of Him and healing is what I receive!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

“Be It To You As You Desire”

Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. -Matthew 15:28

Did Jesus say, “Oh, woman, great is your faith. Let it be to you as God wills”? No, He said, Let it be to you as you desire”! –and her daughter was made whole. You see, this woman’s will was involved.

Sometimes people don’t set their wills into action as they try to get healed. They hope and pray that their faith works. But if they don’t receive their healing in a certain time frame, they go another direction. They find it easier to keep an alternative route open rather than to hold fast to their stance of faith.

But this woman set her will in motion. She willed to get her daughter healed, and there was no alternative way.

She came to Jesus and said, “My daughter is severely demon possessed.” Jesus didn’t speak a word to her. She fell down and worshiped Him, and He said, It’s not right to take the children’s bread and cast it to dogs.”

But the Syrophenician woman said, “Well, even the dogs get the crumbs that fall off their masters’ tables.” She called Jesus her Master. She wouldn’t let anything defeat her—not humiliation, pride or anything else. She was going after healing for her daughter no matter what it took!

We need to realize that God has provided healing for us and then make a bold stance of faith. We can set our wills in action by saying, “I’m going after my healing, and I’m not quitting until it’s manifested!” When we get that stubborn and tenacious in our faith, we’ll see results!

CONFESSION:

Such a high price was paid for my healing that I refuse to go without it. I know what is mine by faith, and I will not quit until it manifests in my life!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Healing—The Children’s Bread

But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” -Matthew 15:26

The Syrophenician woman wanted healing for her daughter. Jesus called healing “the children’s bread. If healing was the children’s bread back then, it is still the children’s bread today.

Who were the children back then? The lost sheep of the house of Israel. Who are the children today? These Scriptures tell us:

            The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we ae the children of God.

                                                                                                          Romans 8:16

 

            Behold, what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called the sons of God…                                                                                           1 John 3:1

 

            But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.                                                John 1:12

 

We are the children! Healing is our bread! We have been grafted into God’s family through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Through the new birth, we are now new creatures in Christ, the children of God.

Psalm 37:25 says, “I have been young, and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” We don’t have to beg for bread, because the bread belongs to us through Jesus Christ. It is part of our redemption, our covenant, our inheritance in Christ. God doesn’t want us begging for healing, because healing belongs to us!

CONFESSION:

Jesus called healing the children’s bread. I qualify for that bread, for I’m a child of God. I don’t beg for healing; I receive it now because it already belongs to me!

 

It Pays to Persevere

Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master’ table.” Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. -Matthew 15:25-28

Under similar circumstances most of us would have given up, but not this woman. First Jesus ignored her; then He said to His disciples, “I’m not even sent to help her.” Still, “she came and worshipped him, saying, Lord help me.” This Gentile mother wouldn’t leave Jesus alone!

Then Jesus told her it wasn’t right to take the children’s bread and give it to dogs. Jesus called her a dog! Most of us would have gone home angry. But look what she told Jesus: “Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’ table.”

You may have thought she responded that way because of her humble attitude, “O Lord, just give me one of the crumbs from Your table!” But she was really saying, “Lord, I don’t need the whole loaf. Give that to the children, although most of them won’t take it. Just give me a crumb. I know what Your bread will do.”

She was not talking about how much humility she had; she was talking about how powerful Jesus’ bread is! She was saying, “Call me anything you want to, but heal my daughter.”

Then Jesus told her, “With faith like that, you can have anything you want.” Jesus had taken this woman to the limits, and she’d passed the test. He knew her faith would turn His power loose.

Great faith always takes God at His Word, and that’s what this Gentile woman did. It paid to hang on and refuse to give up, because she received the answer she’d come for: Her daughter was made whole!

CONFESSION:

I hold fast to God’s Word with tenacity until my healing is manifested. I refuse to give up because I know that God’s Word works!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

What Is “Great Faith?"

Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire".  And her daughter was healed from that very hour. -Matthew 15:28

Jesus said the Syrophenician woman had great faith. If she had faith under the old covenant, we surely ought to have faith under the new covenant.

What made this woman’s faith great? She put so much confidence in Jesus’ Word that she came for healing for her daughter—and didn’t even bring the daughter with her. In essence, she said to Jesus, “You just say the word, and my daughter will be healed.”

In Matthew 8:6-8, a Roman centurion displayed that kind of great faith. He came to Jesus and said, “My servant is at home sick.”

Jesus answered, I will come and heal him.””

He said, “No, I’m not worthy that you should come under my roof. If you’ll just speak the Word, my servant will be healed.”

Many people in the Bible operated in faith: the ten lepers (Luke 17:12-19), the nobleman at Capernaum whose son was sick (John 4:46-53) and, of course, Abraham (Rom. 4:19). They all operated in faith, saying, “Whatever You say, Lord, we'll believe it. We take You at Your Word. We don’t need goose bumps; we don’t need burning bushes. You say it, and we’ll go our way believing.”

Great faith always takes God at His Word. That’s why, in Mark 11:24, Jesus said, “When you pray, believe the answer has been granted to you, and you will have it!”

CONFESSION:

The written Word is God’s word to me today. I believe, I receive and I go my way praising and thanking God for my answer. I have great faith because I take God at His word!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

A Gentile Woman’s Great Faith

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.” But He answered not a word, and His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master’ table.” Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. -Matthew 15:22-28

If anyone had a right to give up, this woman did. Her daughter was oppressed by an evil spirit and desperately needed to be set free. But this woman was a Syrophenician, a Gentile; she didn’t have a covenant with God.

Even so, this Syrophenician woman came to Jesus, the healer and source of power, and cried out for help. At first, Jesus ignored her. Then He turned to His disciples and said, “I’m not sent to help her anyway. I’m sent to the lost sheep of Israel.”

I used to read this Scripture passage and think, why did Jesus harass that poor woman? But Jesus didn’t harass her. He located her to see if she was in faith. God showed Him. But Jesus knew that if the woman came in faith, she could get results even though she had no legal covenant with God.

This woman didn’t quit. Hope would have given up, but her faith held on. And as a result, her daughter was made whole!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Healing Comes With Forgiveness

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son your sins are forgiven you.” -Mark 2:5

Jesus wasn’t known for being a diplomat. He wasn’t on the earth to please man. He was here to please God. He really didn’t care what men thought, as long as He was pleasing to God. So, knowing He would be in trouble with the religious leaders, He looked at the paralyzed man and said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

All through the Bible, forgiveness of sin and physical healing have always been a package deal. Jesus wasn’t trying to make those religious leaders angry; He was trying to prove a point to them. So, Jesus gave them an illustrated sermon. He preached, and then He demonstrated His point. He said, “If I say you’re forgiven, it means you’re also healed.”

Back then, people thought Jesus could heal but couldn’t forgive sins. Today most people believe Jesus can forgive sins but can’t heal! The truth is that during Jesus’ ministry on earth He could do both, and today He can do both. He never turns anyone down for either forgiveness or healing.

Some people ask, “If I’m sick in my body, does that mean I’m not forgiven of my sins? No, if you’ve made Jesus Lord of your life and received forgiveness for your sins, then healing belongs to you whether you know it or not. You may as well reach out and take hold of the blessing that’s rightfully yours!

CONFESSION:

God has provided forgiveness for my sins and healing for my physical body. As surely as I know He wants me forgiven, I know He wants me well.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Two Inseparable Blessings

“Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk” -Mark 2:9

Forgiveness of sins in the new birth belongs to everyone. But we’ve tried to make healing a different matter, saying, “You never know whom God will heal.” We’ve taken what God put together in the Atonement and made them two different subjects.

But when Jesus went to the Cross, He took our sin, iniquity, sickness and disease. Forgiveness and healing were purchased together at the Cross, and we can’t take them apart.

Forgiveness and healing are not even two different subjects. Healing is nothing more than the new birth affecting the human body. Certainly, sin takes a toll on the human body. You’ve probably looked at someone and thought to yourself, Boy, that person has lived a tough life! You were saying that the person’s sinful lifestyle had an adverse effect on his body.

Well, if sin can have an effect, righteousness can have an effect as well. When the new birth, which takes place in the inner man, works its way to the outer man, the results are strength, healing and health.

You may ask, Why haven’t strength, healing and health worked their way to my outer man before now? Well, perhaps you have not been thinking, believing, and talking in line with God’s Word.

Jesus told the religious leaders, “I’ll prove to you I can forgive your sins by telling a sick man to get up well.” Then He turned to the sick man and said, “Get up and walk.” The man got up and walked away completely whole!! This miracle proved Jesus’ case, because forgiveness of sins and healing always go together in the kingdom of God.

Whom does God want healed? Anyone who is forgiven. Who is forgiven? Anyone who has received Jesus as Savior. Healing belongs to every believer because forgiveness and healing always goes hand in hand.

CONFESSION:

God’s Word says that both forgiveness and healing are available to me through the new birth. I believe the Word, so I walk in the fullness of all its benefits!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Healing – Proof of Jesus’ Power to Forgive

“Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk”? “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins –He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” -Mark 2:9-11

What proof could Jesus give the religious leaders that the paralyzed man’s sins were forgiven? Jesus knew exactly what proof to give them. He said, When I finish here, you’ll know the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.

Jesus wasn’t just speaking to the man on the stretcher; He was talking to the whole group. Then He told the paralyzed man, “Arise, and take up your bed, and go to your house.” Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all; so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” -Mark 2:12 (NKJV)

Jesus said, “I’ll prove to you that I have the power to forgive sins. I’ll tell this man to get up and walk, and he will do it!” He did, and they were all shocked!

If the religious leaders had been as knowledgeable about the Scriptures as they were about their traditions, they would have jumped up and exclaimed, “Jesus is the Messiah! He is the One we are looking for! Remember, these were the Old Testament scholars—Pharisees and doctors of the law. They should have known that every time God gave them a picture of the Messiah’s crucifixion in the Old Testament, two things happened. People were forgiven of their sins and healed of their diseases.

How does that help us? Well, we know forgiveness and healing were always given together under the old covenant. That assures us that as children of God under the new covenant, physical healing automatically belongs to us!

CONFESSION:

Under the old covenant, healing and forgiveness were connected. I live under a better covenant based on better promises, so forgiveness and healing are still available to me. I am both healed and forgiven!

 

Forgiveness and Healing—A Package Deal

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts. “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” -Mark 2:5-7

The paralyzed man needed to be healed, but Jesus didn’t say, “Get up and walk.” Instead, He told the man his sins were forgiven. That presented a problem to the religious leaders sitting there in that house. They didn’t believe that Jesus was God manifest in the flesh, so they didn’t believe He could forgive sins.

But Jesus was proving something to us through this incident. He was making the point that forgiveness and healing go hand in hand. When we receive one, the other belongs to us as well.

Mark 2:8 says, Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves.” Then Jesus asked the religious leaders, “Which is easier to say; ‘Your sins are forgiven,’’ or ‘Take up your bed and walk?”

That didn’t make sense to me for a long time. Then I saw it. It’s so simple. Jesus was saying, “It doesn’t matter which one I say. If I say, ‘Get up and walk’ that means you’re forgiven. If I say, ‘You’re forgiven,’ that means ‘Get up and walk.’ The two always go together. Once you have one, the other automatically belongs to you. It’s a package deal!”

CONFESSION:

I’m forgiven! I’m healed! Healing belongs to me as surely as forgiveness does. Both are included in my covenant with my heavenly Father.

 

Bring Them to Jesus

Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” -Mark 2:3-5

You can see in this passage of Scripture one of the differences between faith and hope. Four men carried this man to where Jesus was. But the building was so full that they couldn’t get him in.

Now, hope would have said, “Well, we tried, but we couldn’t get our friend to Jesus. We might as well go home.” Hope will go just so far and quit. It says, “Well, I tried that faith business, but it didn’t work.” Then it will give up and throw in the towel.

But faith won’t quit! It has tenacity. It says, “Let’s go up on the roof. We aren’t quitting now!”

Faith digs its heels in and says, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Tim. 1:12). It says, “I’m not moving! I know what the Word says. I know healing belongs to me, and I’m not going without it! I believe the Word of God. Who cares what I feel like?”

So the four men took the roof apart, probably making a big hole in it. Then they lowered the man into the room right in front of Jesus. Jesus had been teaching for some time and hadn’t yet seen a spark of faith. But now He was seeing faith come through the roof! And when Jesus saw the men’s faith, their friend was healed!

No one likes tests and trials, but that’s the atmosphere in which faith thrives. In the midst of a trial, faith has to flex its muscles and grow. Our heads may give us trouble during those hard times. But if we’re really in faith, we won’t quit!

CONFESSION:

Jesus bought and paid for my healing, and I have it by faith. I persistently walk by faith regardless of my feelings or circumstances. In Jesus’ name, I am healed!

 

MINISTRY IN HONDURAS

It is my honor to lead a team to LaCeiba, Honduras this week to serve our missionaries Allen and Vicky Skelton. We will be teaching, playing and enjoying over 200 children during this week. I am also going to minister to women with the theme, “Walking with Jesus.” Please pray for our team this week.

Deborah

 

Call On the Mercy of God

Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."

“And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” -Mark 9:17,18,22

In this Scripture passage, a man brought his son to Jesus’ disciples and asked them to deliver his son from the seizures he was experiencing. The father said to Jesus, “An evil spirit is causing my son’s condition. I asked Your disciples to cast it out, but they couldn’t.”

Then the disciples brought the boy to Jesus, and the man said, “If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

The man called on the compassion, or the mercy, of God. When you call on the mercy of God, you are calling on His very nature. He is the God of mercy. He is the God of compassion.

In Matthew 20:30, two blind men called on Jesus. They cried out, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, son of David.” The disciples and the people in the crowd tried to quiet them down, but they kept crying, “Have mercy on us. O Lord, son of David.”

Jesus didn’t say, Do you want your sight?” He didn’t say, Do you want your healing?” He just asked, “What would you have Me do?” You see, the blind men in Matthew 20 and the father in Mark 9 called on Gods nature. So Jesus responded, “I’m at your disposal. You called on the nature of God. Whatever you need, want or desire is yours because you’ve called on His nature to receive your answer. I’m here to meet your needs.” And the blind men received their sight!

CONFESSION:

My God is full of mercy and compassion. His nature is to give life, to save, to heal, to help, to deliver. I call on His compassion and mercy and by faith receive the healing He has provided for me.

 

Jesus Is the Healer

And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.

Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation. How long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me."

And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. -Matthew 17:14-18

Some people have said, “I’ve been to every preacher in the country, and I couldn’t get healed. It must not be God’s will to heal me. The father in this account in Matthew 17 could have come to that same conclusion. After all, he’d taken his son to Jesus’ own personal trainees! All of the disciples had prayed for his son, but the boy wasn’t healed.

However, instead of concluding that it wasn’t God’s will to heal his son, the father took the boy to Jesus and explained, “I brought my son to Your disciples, and they couldn’t heal him.”

Jesus didn’t turn to the man and say, “Well, it must not be the will of God then.” He said, "Bring the boy to Me." You see, the man had taken his son to the wrong person to begin with. He’d tried to get the disciples to heal the boy, when Jesus is the healer.

I believe this proves something to the Church today. Jesus was the will of God in action. And when no one else could help that boy, Jesus revealed God’s will by setting him free. Jesus didn’t say, “Take him to My disciples. He said, “Bring him to Me.”

Some people don’t receive their healing because they are trying to find some man to heal them. No man has the power to heal. Thank God for the ministry gifts and special anointings that operate in the Church today. But Jesus is the power behind those ministry gifts. He alone is the healer!

CONFESSION:

Jesus is my healer. I come to Him in faith and I am confident that I am healed!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999