But
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin,
our injustice, our wrongdoing]; the punishment [required] for our
well-being fell on Him,
and by His stripes
(wounds) we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
05/23/2019
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Today we will be studying some of the
different reasons {WHY} sickness and disease
are able to reign in our bodies, even when we are followers of Jesus Christ. Out
of the many reasons we will be looking specifically at 8 different reasons. I
pray this devotional will bring comfort to those who question {WHY} God would allow sickness and disease to
remain in this world.
1.
So the works of God might be displayed
In Psalm 119 we learn that it is best to glorify the
Lord God through all the afflictions in your life. Notice how going astray from
God brings on affliction in your life and how obedience to God’s Word brings
you through the afflictions in verses 67, 71, and 75.
And great crowds came to Him,
bringing with them the lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they
put them down at His feet; and He healed them. So the crowd was amazed when
they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the
blind seeing; and they praised and
glorified the God of Israel. Matthew 15:30-31
A woman [in the crowd] had
[suffered from] a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much [suffering]
at the hands of many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was not
helped at all, but instead had become worse. She had heard [reports] about
Jesus, and she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His outer robe. For
she thought, “If I just touch His clothing, I will get well.” Immediately her
flow of blood was dried up; and she felt in her body [and knew without any
doubt] that she was healed of her suffering. Immediately Jesus, recognizing in
Himself that power had gone out from Him, turned around in the crowd and asked,
“Who touched My
clothes?”
His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in around You [from all
sides], and You ask, ‘Who touched Me?’” Still He kept looking around to see the
woman who had done it. And the woman, though she was afraid and trembling,
aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him
the whole truth. Then He said to her, “Daughter, your faith [your personal trust and
confidence in Me] has restored you to health; go in peace and be [permanently] healed from your suffering.” Mark 5:25-34
While He was passing by, He
noticed a man [who had been] blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi
(Teacher), who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”
Jesus answered, “Neither
this man nor his parents sinned, but it was so that the works of God might be
displayed and illustrated in
him. John 9:1-3
2.
So God’s followers know God will work
through their sickness to give them strength and increase their faith and trust in Him
Paul had a problem with his eyesight that
God never healed {Galatians 4:13-15; 2 Corinthians 12}. When Timothy was sick, Paul told him to
drink wine (not go to a healing service) {1 Timothy 5:23}. Paul says that he had a thorn in the flesh which he prayed for God
to remove over and over again, but God never removed it {2 Corinthians 12:7}. Job suffered because God had a whole
bigger purpose for him than mere comfort on this planet. And Job’s suffering
was not the result of a lack of faith {Job 38:1-42:17}. Often God chooses to heal! But sometimes He teaches us more and
draws us closer when we walk with Him through the suffering. When we experience
such blessing, it is important that we run to God and not away from Him in the
midst of the storm {Psalm 31 MSG}.
3.
Satan and his demons
In Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39 we read how Jesus delivered
a man from a “legion” of demons returning him to his right mind. The people in
that region were more upset about the pigs that drowned themselves because the
demons that came out of the man went into them than they were happy to see the
man freed from demonic possession. The people asked Jesus and his disciples to
leave so they got back in their boat and left. The man who had been possessed
went home and proclaimed all the great things that Jesus had done for him
astonishing everyone. From John
10:10 and 1
Peter 5:8 we learn that the enemy of
God {Satan} is always lurking about looking for those he can manipulate because
it is his desire to destroy the one thing that is so precious to God, His
creation mankind.
When they approached the
crowd, a man came up to Jesus, kneeling before Him and saying, “Lord, have
mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic (moonstruck) and suffers terribly; for he
often falls into the fire and often into the water. And I brought him to Your
disciples, and they were not able to heal him.” And Jesus answered, “You unbelieving and perverted
generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you?
Bring him here to Me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was
healed at once. Matthew 17:14-18
Then
a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He
healed him, so that the mute man both spoke and saw. All the people wondered in
amazement, and said, “Could this be the Son of David (the Messiah)?” But the
Pharisees heard it and said, “This man casts out demons only by [the help of]
Beelzebul (Satan) the prince of the demons.” Knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom that is divided against itself is being laid waste; and
no city or house divided against itself will [continue
to] stand. If Satan casts out Satan [that is, his
demons], he has become divided against himself and disunited; how then will his
kingdom stand? If I cast out the demons by [the help of] Beelzebul (Satan), by whom do
your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I
cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you [before you expected it].
Now Jesus was teaching in one of the
synagogues on the Sabbath. And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had
an illness caused by a spirit (demon). She was bent double, and could not
straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are released from
your illness.”
Then He laid His hands on her; and immediately she stood erect again and she began glorifying and praising God. But the leader of
the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in
response, “There are six days in which work ought to be done; so come on those
days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” But the Lord replied to him, “You hypocrites (play-actors,
pretenders)! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey
from the stall and lead it away to water it? And this woman, a daughter (descendant) of
Abraham whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been
released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” Luke 13:10-16
4.
Lack of knowledge
There are those times when people just get
sick because of the sin Adam brought into this world. Then there are other
times people get sick from their lack of knowledge that it is their sin that is
causing them sickness. People who have not yet accepted the Lord Jesus Christ
and even some that have get sick from generational curses brought on by their
ancestors.
Therefore My people go into
exile because they lack knowledge [of God]; and their honorable men are famished, and their common people are parched with thirst.Therefore
Sheol (the realm of the dead) has increased its appetite and opened its mouth
beyond measure; and Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude,
her [boisterous] uproar and her [drunken] revelers descend into it. Isaiah 5:13-14
My people are destroyed for
lack of knowledge [of My law, where I reveal My will]. Because you [the priestly
nation] have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you
from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law
of your God, I will also forget your children. Hosea 4:6
Then the Lord passed by in front of him, and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and
gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth
(faithfulness); keeping mercy and
lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; but
He will by no means leave the guilty
unpunished, visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers upon
the children and the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations [that
is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers].” Exodus 34:6-7
5.
Disobedience
Consequences of Disobedience - Deuteronomy 28:15-68
When Jesus saw their [active] faith [springing from confidence in Him],
He said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Mark 2:5
Is anyone among you suffering? He must pray. Is anyone joyful? He is to
sing praises [to God]. Is anyone among you sick? He must call for the elders
(spiritual leaders) of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him
with oil {which symbolizes the presence of God} in the name of the Lord; and
the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise
him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess
your sins to one another [your false steps, your offenses], and pray for one
another, that you may be healed and
restored. The heartfelt and
persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put
into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous
power]. James 5:13-16
Here in James 5 we learn the importance of prayer and how
powerful prayer can be in one’s life. In verses 15-16 we see two miraculous things happen we the
elders pray: the sick person
is saved, and the sinner is healed. One would expect the sick person to be
healed and the sinner saved; but James is drawing a connection between the
person’s sickness and sin.
Jesus
warned the man who was healed at Bethesda: “See, you are well again. Stop
sinning or something worse may happen to you” {John 5:1-14}. In 1 Corinthians 11:23-30 we learn that anyone who partakes of the Eucharist
{the Lord’s Supper} with an impure heart is guilty of sin which will cause them
to become weak, sick and even death. Instances of
sin-prompted sickness are meant to provoke repentance.
6.
Walking according to the flesh
Once a person has given their
life to Jesus Christ they become a new creation {2
Corinthians 5:17-21}. In Romans
6 we learn that once we have been forgiven of our sins it is then up to us
to discontinue committing those sins. We must walk HABITUALLY in the newness of
life we have been given and abandon our old ways.
When we were living in the flesh [trapped by sin],
the sinful passions, which were awakened by [that which] the Law [identifies as
sin], were at work in our body to bear fruit for death [since the willingness
to sin led to death and separation from God]. Romans 7:5
For those who are living according to the flesh set
their minds on the things of the flesh [which gratify the body], but those who
are living according to the
Spirit, [set their minds on] the things of the Spirit [His will and purpose]. Now
the mind of the flesh is death [both now and forever—because it pursues sin];
but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace [the spiritual well-being that
comes from walking with God—both now and forever]; the mind of the flesh [with
its sinful pursuits] is actively hostile to God. It does not submit itself to
God’s law, since it cannot, and those who are in the flesh [living a life that
caters to sinful appetites and impulses] cannot please God. Romans 8:5-8
But I say, walk habitually in the [Holy] Spirit [seek
Him and be responsive to His guidance], and then you will certainly not carry
out the desire of the sinful nature [which responds impulsively without regard
for God and His precepts]. For the sinful nature has its desire which is
opposed to the Spirit, and the [desire of the] Spirit opposes the sinful
nature; for these [two, the sinful nature and the Spirit] are in direct
opposition to each other [continually in conflict], so that you [as believers]
do not [always] do whatever [good things] you want to do. But if you are guided
and led by the Spirit, you are
not subject to the Law. Now the practices of the sinful nature are clearly evident: they are sexual
immorality, impurity, sensuality (total irresponsibility, lack of
self-control), idolatry, sorcery, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger,
disputes, dissensions, factions [that promote heresies], envy, drunkenness,
riotous behavior, and other
things like these. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those
who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:16-21
7.
Lack of sanctification
Because Jesus Christ died on the Cross for ALL our sin and sickness we
should rejoice in the FACT that through His loving action we can now be
justified {declared free of the guilt of sin}. Even knowing this humankind
still chooses to continue in sin rejecting the sanctification through the blood
that was shed for them.
But
God clearly shows and proves
His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died
for us. Therefore, since we have now been justified [declared free of the guilt
of sin] by His blood, [how much more certain is it that] we will be saved from
the wrath of God through Him.
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His
Son, it is much more certain, having been reconciled, that
we will be saved [from the consequences of sin] by His life [that is, we will
be saved because Christ lives today].Not only that, but we
also rejoice in God [rejoicing in His love and perfection] through our Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received and enjoy our reconciliation [with God]. Therefore, just as sin
came into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to
all people [no one being able to stop it or escape its power], because they all
sinned. Sin was [committed] in the world before the Law [was given], but sin is
not charged [against anyone] when there is no law [against it]. Yet death ruled
[over mankind] from Adam to Moses [the Lawgiver], even over those who had not
sinned as Adam did. Adam is a type of Him (Christ) who was to come [but in
reverse—Adam brought destruction, Christ brought salvation]. Romans 5:8-14
For He has rescued us and has drawn us to Himself from the
dominion of darkness; and has transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption [because of His sacrifice, resulting in] the
forgiveness of our sins [and the cancellation of sins’ penalty]. Colossians 1:13-14
Finally, believers, we ask and admonish you
in the Lord Jesus, that you follow the instruction
that you received from us about how you ought to walk and please God (just as you are actually doing) and that you excel even more and
more [pursuing a life of purpose and living in a way that expresses gratitude
to God for your salvation].For you know what commandments and precepts we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.For
this is the will of God, that you be sanctified [separated and set apart from
sin]: that you abstain and back
away from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to control his own body
in holiness and honor [being available for God’s purpose and separated from
things profane], not [to be used] in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do
not know God and are ignorant
of His will;and that [in this matter of sexual misconduct] no
man shall transgress and
defraud his brother because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just
as we have told you before and solemnly warned you. God has not called us to
impurity, but to holiness [to be dedicated, and set apart by behavior that
pleases Him, whether in public or in private]. So whoever rejects and disregards this is not [merely]
rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you [to dwell in you and
empower you to overcome temptation]. 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
Abstain from every form of evil [withdraw and keep away from it]. Now may the God of peace
Himself sanctify you through and through [that is, separate you from profane
and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged—consecrated to Him—set
apart for His purpose]; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete
and [be found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.Faithful
and absolutely trustworthy is
He who is calling you [to Himself for your salvation], and He will do it [He
will fulfill His call by making you holy, guarding you, watching over you, and
protecting you as His own]. 1 Thessalonians 5:22-24
8.
Separation from God
We are ALL born separated from God because
of the sins of Adam [the very first human God created] {Genesis 3:22-24}. Adam and Eve knew they had sinned against God when they ate of the
forbidden fruit so they hid themselves from God [the first ever separation from
God] {Genesis 3:7-10}.
Do not withhold Your compassion and
tender mercy from me, O Lord; Your lovingkindness and
Your truth will continually preserve me. For
innumerable evils have encompassed me; my sins have
overtaken me, so that I am not able to see. They are
more numerous than the hairs of my head, and my heart
has failed me. Be pleased, O Lord, to save me; O Lord, make haste to help me.
Sin creates a sense of estrangement from
God, leaving a tarnishing film on a person's mind. Paul reminds Titus, "To
the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving
nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are
defiled"{Titus 1:15}.
Sin perverts the mind so that one does not look at life in the same way as
before. Jeremiah 6:15
describes a sickening end to repeated sin:
“Were they ashamed because they had committed disgusting and vile things? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not even know how to blush [at their idolatry]. Therefore they will fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them and they will be overthrown,” says the Lord.
Finally brothers and sisters in Christ
Jesus I pray that you will strive to keep yourself free from the bondage of sin
which separates you from God. Just because we have ALL been justified {freed
from the bondage of sin}; we do NOT have the freedom to continue living in sin
{Romans 6}.
Remember Jesus said that in this life we
will have troubles; however He overcame as our example so we can rest assured
He will help us get through whatever we are going through, which includes
sickness in our bodies {John
16:33}. Praise the Lord!
I pray this helps you better understand {WHY} people are NOT ALWAYS HEALED… It is the will
of the Father that we PROSPER and BE IN GOOD HEALTH; the one CONDITION for this
to happen is that YOUR SOUL MUST BE PROSPERING [Spiritually] {3
John 1:2}.
Forever in Christ Jesus service,
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