TODAY’S DEVOTION (THURSDAY 21ST DECEMBER 2023)
“Now Elisha [previously] had become ill of the illness of which he died. And Jehoash king of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen of it!” 1 Kings 13:14 AMPC
WELCOME TO THE 355TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS.
We give GOD the glory for being our guide and shield for these 355 days of the year. We give Him grace for watching over us and feeding us. We thank Him for speaking to us about His ways, especially through this platform.
We also thank Him for keeping us healthy. With just 10 days to go, according to the Gregorian Calendar that we use in numbering our days, we really owe Him a lot of thanks.
Today, we will be looking at matters of our physiology; our health.
One of the most important things you must understand is this, sickness was not God’s original intent for anyone. In simple terms I am saying, being sick is not the will of God for your life. It has never been.
Yes, our faith could be tried through disease the way it happened to Job, and wicked people could be punished by God using diseases, like it happened to the Egyptians, being sick is not God’s plan for your life.
The Bible says in Exodus 15:26, “I am the LORD that healeth thee.” It did not say, “I am the LORD that made you sick.” God does not make people sick. It is sin and rebellion that makes people sick.
I want to reiterate again that He could use sickness to afflict the wicked like He did to the Egyptians in Bible days; they caught boils, and etc. but He is not the author of illness.
The eating of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil by Adam and Eve, cut mankind off from Immortality and gave way for us to be sick.
WHICH ALSO OPENED THE DOOR FOR SIN AND SATAN TO BE ABLE TO MAKE US SICK.
That was why, when Adam was on God’s side in the Garden of Eden, he was never sick. But when he took side with the devil through the fall, he lost immortality over time and expired out of diseases.
Today, a lot of things have been introduced into the human race that make people sick; both the righteous and the wicked.
Loosing that glory environment in Eden was a terrible loss because it was a loss of access to the tree of life, which mankind was eating. Fruits from that tree made man immortal in the garden of Eden. All these scriptural truths reveal to us what we may call, the Origin of sickness and diseases.
The origin of sickness and diseases tells us why some of us are sick and diseased.
Today, many are becoming sick for not knowing, others become sick for their very unhealthy eating habits, they eat things that shuts down their systems or create cancer cells in their bodies. Some are becoming sick for not managing their bodies well. While some other are becoming sick for taking side with the devil.
When we take side with the devil, His demons can attack our bodies and make us sick. We can also be sick because we are going through a trial of faith, or have come to the end of our days on earth, like most of our Bible fathers were.
Our Devotional text presented the life of one of our Bible fathers. It says;
“Now Elisha [previously] had become ill of the illness of which he died. And Jehoash king of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen of it!” 1 Kings 13:14 AMPC
Let me make something clear here. There is a difference between the illness of the righteous, and the illness of the wicked. In this scripture, we see one of the reasons for the illness of the righteous; the fulfillment of his or her days.
Elisha fulfilled his days, he was on his way out of this realm, to the eternal realm, and his body felt the impact. That is what happens to the righteous sometimes. When you see faithful people die out of diseases, it could be because they have fulfilled their days.
IT IS NOT AS A RESULT OF HIDDEN SINS, LIKE THE FRIENDS OF JOB THOUGHT, OR SOME SPIRITUAL ATTACKS.
There are illnesses that happens when we become old because the body has exhausted its ability to live in this world, and there is no medical care that can restore it. Even God will not heal it because precious in the sight of our LORD is the death of His saints.
This Bible truth must be understood.
However, it is important to note that, the origin of diseases teaches us that if we do not eat the right things, if we mismanage our bodies, sow to please our flesh, or take side with the devil, either by living a life of sin or becoming rebellious to the ways and will of God for us, we may become sick and diseased, and even die premature.
That was why Apostle James wrote and said;
“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
In this scripture, we see sickness sourced in sin and rebellion, and healing sourced in repentance, or in confession of sins in repentance.
When taking sides with the devil through sin, rebellion, entering into evil covenants, or getting involved with the abominable and demonic, is responsible for someone’s disease or illness, healing will only come when the person renounces the hidden things of darkness, even as the person is exposed to medical care.
The events of the last few years has taught the wise some things. If you recall, you will realize that of late, some dark men and women of God died mysteriously and prematurely. Why? They used dark powers in ministry.
I want to submit to you that, using dark powers in ministry is very dangerous. Dark powers in ministry, are the powers and manifestations of Satan as the old serpent, who turns himself into an angel of light in the house of God.
THIS IS ONE MANIFESTATION OF SATAN YOU SEE IN THE LIVES OF MOST END TIME PROPHETS PEOPLE TAKE AS SERVANTS OF GOD!
When a preacher is using dark powers in ministry, a lot of weird things will be happening in your life, as you submit to his or her anointing or sit under him or her. There are those who see such preachers in their dreams coming to sleep with them, and fill them with dark things.
After a while, some become sick, and if they do not leave that church or ministry, they will even die.
One of the reasons preachers who use dark powers die suddenly is this; the snake spirit using the person to heal, deliver people, and build a large followership will one day turn to eat up his or her health, and eventually take his or her life away in the middle of his or her days.
The only way out is confession in repentance as the Book of James said; which in their case, will involve a public renunciation and denunciation of the dark powers they have used. But many cannot do that because it will lead to great losses, hence dying suddenly.
It is such deaths that the Bible call wormwood or the water of gal. There is so much about our health that we will still need to talk about tomorrow.
As we bring this to a close, I want to submit to you that God’s original plan for our health was immortality. That is why when we die in Christ, that plan can still be fulfilled. Bible prophecy has it that we are going to return with the LORD to reign in a new heaven and a new earth with bodies that cannot die.
That is what the Bible call the blessed hope.
So, I want to encourage us that no matter the diseases that touch us on this side of eternity, our future will be great. We are destined to live in a realm where there will be no more sicknesses or diseases.
May the LORD continue to keep us in the faith till we fulfill our days! Amen.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR US TODAY!
Then he showed me the river whose waters give life, sparkling like crystal, flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb
Through the middle of the broadway of the city; also, on either side of the river was the tree of life with its twelve varieties of fruit, yielding each month its fresh crop; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing and the restoration of the nations.
There shall no longer exist there anything that is accursed (detestable, foul, offensive, impure, hateful, or horrible). But the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall worship Him [pay divine honors to Him and do Him holy service].
They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.
And there shall be no more night; they have no need for lamplight or sunlight, for the Lord God will illuminate them and be their light, and they shall reign [as kings] forever and ever (through the eternities of the eternities). Revelation 22:1-5 APMC