TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 24TH FEBRUARY 2023)
“He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him.
Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy].
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.” Isaiah 53:3-6 AMPC
WELCOME TO THE 55th DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS!
It is another weekend made possible by the LORD. Week in and week out we have been seeing His faithfulness and marvelous deeds. Our lives are Testimonies of His mercies, forgiveness, compassion and peace.
Indeed, there is no God like this God; who rides the Heaven to help His people. We have been beneficiaries of the help He offers unconditionally. We sleep and wake up each morning because He keeps watching over us.
The Bible says the keeper of Israel, does not sleep or slumber. He watches over us with a tender care.
Its been 23 days today since we started a 28-day journey of faith with the Cry of the Spirit on supernatural living. The supernatural life in a wicked world, is not an option but a necessity.
The greatest harm on earth is caused by supernatural forces. For instance, if you see things through the lenses of the supernatural, you will discover that most of those who die in our hospitals, are not usually killed by the diseases that took them there but the devils behind the diseases.
I think, we should share something about medical care, divine healing, and divine health today. I guess it will help us. We cannot talk of the supernatural of God, without talking about its role in helping us fulfill our days through medical care, divine healing and divine health.
It is therefore important that we look at the role of the supernatural of GOD, and how it helps us to facilitate our freedom from diseases.
The Bible says;
“And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.” Deuteronomy 7:15 NKJV
THIS IS ONE OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THE BIBLE THAT REVEALS THE WILL OF GOD FOR OUR HEALTH.
It also reveals the ability of the supernatural of GOD to take away diseases. The other revelation we see here, is the revelation that presents diseases as instrument of correctional judgment on the wicked.
It made it clear that diseases can be God’s punishment on those who hate the righteous. That is why it is very expensive to hate those God adjudge righteous before Him. He can place a disease on people for hating them.
When a disease breaks out because of GOD’s correctional judgment, or because of His punishment on those who hate the righteous, the only way people can be healed will not be through medical care. It will be through deep repentance and confession of sins.
That is why the Bible says;
“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16 NKJV
If medical care will be required, it will be after God has released mercy upon the fellow in the spirit realm. That is when whatever the doctors may do will work. Understand that no medical care will result in healing, if the judgment of GOD is still speaking against the fellow in God’s court of divine settlement.
One ancient king God used disease to judge what he did was King Uzziah. The Bible says;
“But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the LORD his God by entering the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.
So Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him were eighty priests of the LORD—valiant men.
And they withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed! You shall have no honor from the LORD God.”
Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the incense altar.
And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he was leprous; so they thrust him out of that place. Indeed he also hurried to get out, because the LORD had struck him.
King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house, because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD. Then Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.” 2 Chronicles 26:16-21 NKJV
WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS KING WAS PATHETIC.
That is why you do not grandstand when God confront you of your evil, maybe using His servants.
If the king had not become furious, if he had repented, maybe he would have been spared for entering into kingdom responsibilities that were not meant for him. But his pride did not let him do the right thing. Like Lucifer, he left his own domain and decided to ascend to domains meant for GOD’s priests.
The judgement was the disease that broke out and killed him.
God do use diseases to judge people of wickedness and correct others for their wrong doings. He still does that today, because I have met people with diseases that were products of divine judgment and punishment.
But it is important to understand that God has a plan for our physiological or health life. That plan is not to put diseases on us, but to heal us of all diseases. He said in another scripture;
…… “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.” Exodus 15:16 NKJV
He will never put diseases on those who do what is right in His sight, give ear to his command or pay attention to them, and keep His statutes. He will rather take away diseases from them whenever the laws of nature, the mismanagement of their health, or demons put diseases on them. His Supernatural, will always be available to take away the diseases, without collecting money from them, or using what the men and women of the dark supernatural, use.
Friend, it is very important that we understand God’s plan for our health life. There are four parts in the plan. The first part of the plan was established before the fall of man.
THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONLY PLAN IF MAN HAD NOT FELL. I CALL IT THE TREE OF LIFE PLAN.
The next was seen after the fall. I call it the medical plan. Ordinarily, medical care should cure most of the diseases people suffer. The reason is because, from the day man fell and lost the Garden, God made herbs or medical care, the natural solution to all diseases. He said to Adam (mankind) “And you shall eat the herb of the field.”
That is why He facilitates medical inventions and discoveries.
When I hear Christians saying, “my faith will not allow me to go to the hospital” or “I will not take any medical treatment, it will be an act of doubt” I shudder. I see ignorance on display. Many do not even understand what faith is.
Receiving medical attention or taking proper medication properly, has never hindered God from healing anyone. It has rather, facilitated the healing of many. The reason is because medical care was created by God Himself (after the fall), to be the natural way of dealing with man’s diseases and illnesses.
So, you will be destroying God’s plan for your health, if you allow your spirituality move you against medical care.
I cannot forget the story that was told of women of God in the 1970s who made a decision against medical care, due to what she called faith. She fell sick and she was urged to go to the hospital, but she declined saying God will heal her. If there was no money or good hospital, then one would have said she took the right decision. Some people who had her kind of illness got healed after submitting to proper medical care.
Sadly, as she was waiting on God to heal her, she died and was buried.
Friend, God will never support you, if you go against His plan for your health. Proper medical care and maintaining personal hygiene, are the first solution He proffered, so long as dealing with our diseases and illnesses is concerned. You see that in the Garden of Eden and on the health laws He gave to Israel.
All of them points to the facts that, proper medical care and personal hygiene, remains God’s perfect natural plan for our health lives.
ANY FAITH THAT TELLS US OTHERWISE IS FAKE, AND WILL KILL YOU.
The next part of God’s plan for our health, was revealed in all the healing miracles He has performed in Human History. I call it, the divine healing plan. This is not a natural plan, this is a supernatural plan; and we are limiting ourselves to the supernatural of GOD.
The dark supernatural also heals but the devil has no free lunch. So, even if he gives you freely, there is a hidden cost, or consequence buried there. We have said, if we allow the devil to manifest in our lives as God, we will begin to share in the curse of God placed upon His life.
God’s supernatural plan for us is divine healing. What is divine healing?
Divine healing, is God’s supernatural act that resolves a physical, emotional, or spiritual sickness or disease. There are several examples of divine healing in the Bile. The healing of Naaman’s leprosy in 2 Kings chapter 5, was divine. No medical care would have done that.
The healing of the women who bled for 12 years was divine. We have seen such healing in our Church, the Cry of the Spirit ministries, so many times. No medical care would have done that. Personally, I was healed of Asthma and a stuttering problem. No medical care would have done that for me at the time they happened, especially for the Asthma, because of the severity of the problem.
I have seen GOD heal people of Cancer, high blood pressure, Arthritis, skin diseases, eye diseases and etc. Divine healing has saved many lives, even where there was abundant medical care.
Someone may want to know, if one can still take medication, while praying and believing God for healing. Well, from personal experiences, medical care cannot stop divine healing. When engaged, divine healing either take care of what medical care failed to handle, or helps in perfecting what medical care may be handling.
Taking proper medical care, and praying for divine healing can go hand in hand. In such circumstances, medical care will take care of the natural, while divine healing will take care of the supernatural. Do not forget, one of the laws of the supernatural of God that says, “the supernatural needs the natural for it to move.”
THE PURPOSE OF DIVINE HEALING IS ACTUALLY TO TAKE CARE OF ANY SICKNESS OR DISEASE WHOSE CAUSE OR ORIGIN IS UNKNOWN.
Though it can take care of illnesses whose cause or origin are well known, divine healing primarily is the most effective way of dealing with sicknesses and diseases, whose cause or original, are unknown.
Divine healing is GOD’s way of demonstrating His love towards suffering humanity. It has its foundation in what Jesus did on the Cross. Our devotional text says;
“He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him.
Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy].
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.” Isaiah 53:3-6 AMPC
If you look at this scripture, you will realize that Jesus was sown as a seed by God, to bring us a harvest called redemption. That is why He was called “the Seed of the woman” in Genesis 3. The destiny of a seed is death. It has to die to bring forth fruits.
So, Jesus died, and divine healing is one of the fruits He brought.
As the seed of the woman, He was sown into the earth in death, and resurrected on the third day, with all the fruits, like a plant shot from the grown. As Seed, He bore our griefs or sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses, and carried our sorrows and pains of punishment.”Hallelujah!!”
That is why we do not need to sow any seed to be healed or delivered. In fact, if you sow any other seed, you prevent the healing power of Christ from resolving your health issue. You will tap into the dark supernatural.
One of the laws of the supernatural of God says, “the gift of God cannot be bought with money.” When we come back tomorrow, we will pick up from there.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Shake yourself from the dust; arise, sit [erect in a dignified place], O Jerusalem; loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion.
For thus says the Lord: You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” Isaiah 52:2-3 AMPC