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Light Blogging Ahead…

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I fell in love with blogging a few years ago and still do to this very minute. For a guy who really didn’t like to write or read much, I must say, I’ve come a mighty long way. I’ve had a wonderful two or more years writing this blog. But I think this is the time for me to say good-bye to something I love doing, for something I love even more – my family.

To my readers and friends, I would like to say thank you so much for a great time of friendship and encouragement. My life is better because of your articles, friendship and prayers. If The Lord wills – “I’ll be back.” But for now I must say goodbye and God bless! your friend and brother Walter.

Strong Finish: Part 1 Strong Family

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The graveyard is the riches place on earth, because it is here that you find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were ever sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because some one was too afraid to take that first step, keep with the problem, or decide to carry out their dreams.
-Les Brown

What’s your hope and dream for your family?

How determined are you to see it come to fruition?

Every family needs Jesus as foundation of their home. Every family has to have a sense of mission and purpose at the heart of the home. Every family needs to have love, integrity and a good and balanced work ethic at the center of their lives. The lack of these qualities and a misguided sense of purpose have thrown many families in a downward spiral, failing to finish stronger than they started.

A lot of families are running after too many things that really don’t matter. They’ve forsaking the things that really do. As a result,

ministers, business and career minded men and women alike are leading successfully in ministry, and the marketplace, but failing miserably at home and in their relationships.

  • What would it profit a minister to lead successfully in the ministry, yet fail at home?
  • What would it profit a business man to lead successfully at his work, yet fail at home?
  • What would it profit a career minded woman to successfully thrive in the marketplace, yet fail at home?
Nothing! It profits nothing, but a dysfunctional family, distant and angry children, a broken marriage, and a lonely future. This is not to say that leading a busy life will necessarily bring all this doom and gloom, but an unbalanced busy life, a misguided busy life will bring harm to your family.  Joshua leaves a lasting legacy for us to emulate:

Joshua/ family

“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
 
Joshua was a man of God who finished strong as a family man. He managed to lead millions of Jews, fight wars, yet, lead at home. In our society today, we have developed an either or mentality when it comes to leading a life in and outside the home. But Joshua had obviously learned to lead exceptionally well both at home and at work.
  • he was in the mix
  • he build his family on firm godly foundation
  • he guided his family to stay true the what was most important
  • he emphasized service to both God and men
  • he established what was most important to him and to God
  • he communicated a vision to follow God and led his family to do the same even if the world around him didn’t
What a blessing to know, at the end of your life, you have led an honorable life both at home and at work, laid a strong foundation for the family, and leaving a lasting legacy. We need to pray for this every day of our lives, and take concrete steps toward finishing strong. It doesn’t matter if you are a christian leader, a business man or a career minded woman. I understand this is challenging, but all of us, at some point, will have to deal with the misguided decisions of our children. Don’t blame yourself for their choices, but:
  • Lay the right foundations
  • Learn from your mistakes
  • Do the right thing
  • Draw strength from The Lord
  • Put Jesus at the center of your lives
  • Invest time in your family
  • Believe for the return of prodigal sons and daughters.
  • Pray for miracles, and
  • Trust the God will be true to his promises

It doesn’t matter where you are on this journey, what matters is you are on it, and you’ve made up your mind. What matters is that you are serving your family, trusting that you are doing the right thing, believing that God’s promise for your kids will come to pass, and boldly praying  “as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” I know this can happen – because nothing is impossible with the Lord.

All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. (Isaiah 54:13 ESV)

Bitter Free

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How do you react to grumbling and criticisms? Do you react in the same negative spirit? Do you feel the need for revenge and payback? I personally think it is a test of character when others slander and are judgmental of us. Character is not only how we act but how we react to people who hurt us – especially those we call brothers and sisters in Christ.

I have been in situations in my life and ministry when I literally felt my heart descend into a dark and bitter place because of how others treated me. But The Lord has taught me and has given me tools to keep me from bitterness. I tweeted about this sometime ago:

So what’s up with this verse? How can this verse help deal with the hurt and pain that come from the people we  love and gladly serve. In this post I share two simple ideas to help keep us from a place of bitterness. Samuel said,

“As for me, I vow that I will not sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. I will teach you the good and right way.

We’re called to two things in this verse:

  • Commit to pray for those who hurt us
  • Commit to teach those who hurt us

The hardest thing to do is to pray for people who don’t like you, could care less about you and are mean-spirited toward you. It’s even more difficult to preach or teach to these same people without being bitter toward them in your sermons. Our calling is to pray for the people of God, and not punish them for their sins toward us. We easily fall into sin when we fail to do the first thing – commit to prayer. You will never fulfill the second part of this calling if you fail to obey the first. A lot of pastors use their preaching as pay back to mean-spirited church folk. I have done that before and it is wrong.

The point here is not to teach them in a sermon, but to live out the gospel’s power through godly character:

  • Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you
  • Be angry and sin not
  • Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath
  • give no opportunity to the devil
  • Let the peace of Christ rule your heart
  • cast all your anxieties and care upon Jesus – He cares
  • Do good to those who hate you
  • Put on love, compassion, meekness, kindness, humility and patience
  • Turn the other cheek when they revile you
  • Go the extra mile when they could care less about you.
  • Forgive those who hurt you

You make things worse by trying to scold them in your teaching. God has provided a better way – heartfelt and sustained prayer, relentless and courageous love. They are not necessarily easy to pull off, but once you step out in faith, God meets you at the point of your need. I urge you to pray hard for those who hurt you until the love of Jesus comes bursting out of your heart. When that happens, it will be easier to feed them when they are hungry or give them something to drink when they are thirsty, look them in the eye and say I love, hug them, smile at them and love on them. That’s how you stay bitter free.

I will never be the same: The impact of a selfless mother

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I remember the gifts you extended to total strangers

The food you made us set aside for anyone who would come asking

How house maids became sisters and guys who just came for job opportunities became brothers

I remember the displaced families of 30 men, women and children

With whom we equally share our food and house when war raged on the country side

I remember when you chose to put us in private schools

Depriving yourself of fun, fancy clothes and shoes

How every day you went to work and came right back home to be with us

I have seen your tears, and your generosity, not only to us, but for total strangers

Even though I should be the one calling and texting you, you beat me to it every day

Thank you – I will never be the same. You’ve taught me what it really means to be selfless

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

With much love – Walter

What’s in God’s Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth?

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What’s there in the Bible? It is a dangerous question. We might do better not to come too near this burning bush. For we are sure to betray what is—behind us! The Bible gives to every man and every era such answers to your questions as they deserve. We shall always find in it as much as we seek and no more:

  • high and divine content if it is high and divine content that we seek
  • transitory and “historical” content, if transitory and “historical” content that we seek
  • Nothing whatever, if it is nothing whatever that we seek.

The hungry are satisfied by it, and to the satisfied it is surfeiting before they have opened it. The question, “What is in the Bible?” has a mortifying way of converting itself into the opposing question, “Well, what are you looking for, and who are you, pray, who make bold to look?” (Karl Barth, “The strange new world in the Bible.” Cited from Gregory Alan Thornburry)

So, what’s in God’s Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth? What might you find? You will find:

A Revelation

The revelation of God. Revelation that 
    pulls our lives together

A Signpost

The signposts of God, Signpost that are clear
    and point out the right road.

A Map

The life-maps of God. Maps that are right,
    showing the way to joy.

A Compass

The directions of God. Directions that are plain
    and easy on the eyes

An Anchor

God’s reputation. A reputation that is twenty-four-carat gold,
    with a lifetime guarantee.

A Double Edged Sword

The decisions of God. Decisions that are correct
    down to the nth degree.

God’s Word is better than a diamond,better than a diamond set between emeralds. You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring, better than red, ripe, sweet strawberries.

God’s Word:

warns us of danger

directs us to hidden treasures

accentuates hope in our lives

gives us a clean the slate, so we can start the day fresh

keeps us from stupid sins

leads us to the heart of Jesus

offers us salvation, redemption and the forgiveness of sins

promises eternal life – immorality…

Your word oh Lord is in my mouth; these are what I chew on and pray over every day of my life. I will never be the same!

 

Psalm 19 (The Message)

Karl Barth quote

5 demons you will have to fight as long as you are married

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I believe in happily ever after. But the road to get there is not necessarily paved with gold. “Any mature, spiritually sensitive view of marriage must have at its foundation, mature love and not romanticism.” True marriage thrives on a willingness to work hard and a resolve to fight for all the promises that marriage holds. In this post, I highlight five obstacles to happily ever after:

1. Unhappiness

A sense of happiness is very essential to the overall health of your marriage. Without it, the doors swing wide open to infidelity, anger, and divorce. The problem with happiness though, it comes and it goes. Finding a way to bring it back by intentionally working on the things that make you happy is key to a successful marriage. Gary Thomas asked a very powerful question in his book Sacred Marriage that I think is a starting point to understanding happiness in marriage. He asked, “What If God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy?” I believe if we are seeking holiness in our marriage it will produce the happiness we so deeply long for. In fact, I insist here that pursuing holiness in Christ is the key to finding happiness in every area of life.

2. Preconceived Notions

It is painful and frustrating to know that your spouse has a preconceived idea about you. They hold a false perception about you, your leadership style, decision-making process, parenting skills, work ethics, choices, friendships, handling of conflict and communication style that can destroy your relationship. You get to hear it when there is a fight. No matter how much they say they didn’t mean what they said, you get to know what they really think about you. They take something you did or said in the past to define who you are in the present and decide what you are going to do in the future. But it is important to unconditionally believe in one another, speak the truth to one another and give each other the benefit of the doubt before making assumptions.

3. Greener grass syndrome

This one is a very dangerous problem that many couples deal with no matter where they are in their marriage. We all tend to imagine how great things would be if we were on the other side of the fence. The way to defeat this is to remember that the “greener grass syndrome” is just an illusion. The root of this problem is lust and greed. Lust never satisfies. It is full of empty promises. It leaves you wanting and lusting after more. It is important to intentionally and continually nurture your relationship so that it thrives and brings the deep satisfaction you can find nowhere else.

4. Un-forgiveness

Un-forgiveness, in my estimation, is the most stubborn and difficult problem to conquer in a relationship. It’s like a wound that didn’t properly heal and every new offense is like a knife piercing the scab off that wound. If there is any time you are going to need a supernatural intervention in your marriage it is when you need to give or receive forgiveness. So, draw strength from The Lord, give it away liberally. With the measure you give it, it will be given back to you.

5. The little foxes

These are the little things we do to each other every day that adds up over time. Selfishness, disrespect, inattention, unkindness, impatience, grudges, resentments, rudeness, arrogance and lack of trust will destroy a marriage in the long run. But Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Your marriage can thrive; you can have a happily ever after. Are you willing to fight for it?

If you need prayer or somebody to talk with… we are here!

Jesus and Children: 10 Bible Verses into His thinking

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Children have access

“Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” And he laid his hands on them and went away.” Matthew 19:13-15

Childlike faith and kingdom access

“And said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3

Revelation is not too deep for Children

“In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” Luke 10:21

Children deserve good gifts

“What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:11-13

God’s jealous protection of children 

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.” Luke 13:34
 
He is a Father to the fatherless 
He is a Defender of the weak
He is an advocate for the least of these
He execute justice for the fatherless

Out of the mouths of babes

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” Matthew 21:15, 16

Generational Curses vs Generational Blessings

“And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Matthew 27:25

Generational curse work only on subsequent generations of children who continue to hate God up to the third and forth generations. But that curse is broken, up to a thousand generations upon children who lay their lives under the precious and powerful blood of Jesus.

Wrath reserved for those who harm children

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” Mark 9:42

Look around. See the horror children go through at the hand of men. They will not go unpunished. We must never think that God has turned a blind eye to the evil mistreatment to these little children. Wrath is reserved for those who harm children. 

Childlike Fellowship Illustration

“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me. Matthew 18:2
 
Did you know that your attitude toward children is an illustration to your relationship to your Heavenly Father? Jesus tells us that receiving and welcoming children paints a picture about our fellowship with the father. 

Children gone wild

“And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.” Mark 13:12
 
Jesus acknowledges that the time will come when children will rebel and walk away from the faith they once embraced. All we can do is pray and continue to stand on his words that “he will turn the father’s heart to the son, and bring healing and salvation back in their lives.

Divine Healing Is an Integral Part of the Gospel

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The ministry of both Jesus and the apostles gives evidence that divine healing was integral to the proclamation of the gospel message. It was an important witness to Jesus as the revelation of the Father, the promised Messiah, and the Savior from sin (see John 10:37,38). The Bible shows a close connection between the healing ministry of Jesus and His saving, forgiving ministry. His power to heal was actually a witness to His authority to forgive sins (Mark 2:5–12). Frequently the gospel writers testify that His healing miracles parallel His preaching of the gospel, both being the purpose of His ministry (Matthew 4:23; 9:35,36).

People came from all directions both to hear Him and to be healed (Luke 5:15; 6:17,18). He never turned any away but healed all varieties of sicknesses, diseases, deformities, defects, and injuries (Matthew 15:30,31; 21:14). He also delivered people from demons and the problems they caused (Matthew 4:24).

Jesus recognized that sickness is ultimately the result of the fall of humans into sin, and in some instances may be linked to specific sin (John 5:14) or to the activity of Satan (Luke 13:16). He recognized also, however, that sickness is not always the direct result of specific sin (John 9:2,3). There were times when it was rather an opportunity for God to be glorified (Mark 2:12).

Miracles of healing were an important part of the works God sent Jesus to do (John 9:3,4). This is in line with the Old Testament revelation of God as the Great Physician, the Lord who heals (Exodus 15:26; Psalm 103:3, where the Hebrew participles used in both cases indicate it is God’s nature to heal). Jesus’ ministry showed that divine healing is still a vital part of God’s nature and plan.

Healings also helped to identify Jesus as the promised Messiah and Savior. Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53:4: “Surely he took up [lifted and took away] our infirmities and carried [as a heavy load] our sorrows.” (“Infirmities,” choli, is the same word used of physical sickness and disease in Deuteronomy 28:59,61; 2 Chronicles 16:12; 21:15,18,19; Isaiah 38:9. “Sorrows,” makob, is the same word used of physical pain in Job 33:19.) Matthew, in the account of Jesus’ healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, sees this
Isaiah passage fulfilled in the healing ministry of Jesus: “This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases’ ” (Matthew 8:17).2

Isaiah also ties the sufferings of the Servant to the provision of salvation, a ministry fulfilled by Jesus (Isaiah 53:5,6). His sufferings were for our sins and lead to our peace with God: “And by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). The Isaiah context and the reference to it in 1 Peter 2:24,25 emphasize especially the healing or restoration from sin. However, in view of the emphasis on physical sickness in Isaiah 53:4, it is clear that these passages teach that the gospel to be introduced by the Suffering Servant, Jesus, includes healing from both the spiritual and physical effects of the fall of the human race into sin recorded in Genesis 3.

When John the Baptist was imprisoned, he questioned whether Jesus was actually the promised Messiah or just another forerunner like himself. Jesus responded by calling attention to His messianic works that linked miracles and the preaching of the gospel to the poor (Matthew 11:4,5). Again, healing was an important witness, an integral part of the gospel (Isaiah 61:1,2; Luke 4:18; 7:19–23).

Divine healing continued to be an integral part of the gospel through the ministry of the apostles and the Early Church. Jesus sent out the Twelve and the Seventy-two to preach and to heal the sick (Luke 9:2; 10:9). After Pentecost “many wonders and miraculous
signs were done by the apostles” (Acts 2:43). Luke wrote the Book of Acts as an extension of the story of what Jesus did and taught, not only through the apostles but through a Church filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1,8; 2:4).

The working of miracles, including divine healing, was not limited to the apostles. The promise of Jesus was to all believers (John 14:12–14) who would ask in His name (that is, those who recognize His authority and conform themselves to His nature and
purposes). God used deacons such as Philip to preach and heal (Acts 8:5–7) and an otherwise unknown disciple, Ananias, to bring healing to Saul (Paul) (Acts 9:12–18).

The gospel message includes the provision of spiritual gifts through the Holy Spirit to the Church, among which are the gifts of healings (1 Corinthians 12:7). All of these gifts, including that of healing, continue to edify or build up the Church and offer hope to every
believer. Moreover, James asserts that healing is a normal aspect of the regular meetings of the Church. Whenever the community of faith is gathered, anyone who is sick may request prayer for healing (5:14). We are assured that divine healing is an ongoing manifestation of the gospel in the current day, and will continue until the return of Jesus.

Source: A/G Position Papers

Divine Healing Is a Gift of God’s Grace for All

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Just as salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8), so all God’s blessings and gifts
are ours by His grace, or unmerited favor. They cannot be earned or deserved. It should
be noted that instead of demanding healing from Jesus, the New Testament records that
people came asking for His compassionate ministry. They did not look on healing as their
right, but as a gracious privilege extended to them.

That we cannot earn God’s blessings, including divine healing, should make us realize
the importance of cultivating our life in the Spirit, for the Spirit will “give life to your
mortal bodies,” and that is our real hope (Romans 8:11). In fact, even though outwardly
we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16).

It is this inner renewal that makes us best able to have the faith to receive the gift of
divine healing. To the woman healed of her twelve-year-long bleeding, Jesus said, “Your
faith has healed you” (Mark 5:34). Paul at Lystra, when he saw that listening to his
preaching had brought faith to be healed into the heart of a cripple, commanded him to
stand up (Acts 14:9,10). Faith is seen also in the Roman centurion who recognized the
authority of Christ’s word for the healing of his servant (Matthew 8:5–13) and the
Canaanite woman who believed in Jesus for the healing of her daughter (Mark 7:24–30;
Matthew 15:28).

That divine healing comes through faith is further confirmed by the fact that unbelief
hindered its reception at Nazareth (Mark 6:5,6) and at the foot of the Mount of
Transfiguration (Matthew 17:14–20). James 5:15 promises that the prayer of faith offered
for the sick by the elders of the church will make the sick well and the Lord will raise
them up.

Faith, then, receives healing through the simple Word of the Lord. But Jesus did
not turn away from those who had little faith or who did not seem to express any faith at
all. Those who are sick often find it is not easy to express faith, and Jesus did a variety of
things to help them. Some He touched (Mark 1:41; 8:22), took their hands (Mark 1:31;
Luke 14:4), or laid His hands upon them (Mark 6:5; 8:25; Luke 4:40; 13:13). Others He
helped by a variety of acts, some of which called for faith and obedience on their part
(Mark 7:33; 8:23).

Faith, however, had to be in the Lord, not in the means used to help them express their faith. This seems to be the reason for the great variety of means used, lest people get their eyes on the means rather than on God. Faith is trusting the all-wise, all loving and all powerful God to respond to the cries of His creation in His own way.

The promise “anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing” is closely
connected with prayer, asking in Christ’s name (John 14:12–14; 16:23,24). The usage of
the name of Jesus is not a formula that can be used by humans to coerce the response of
God. His name is the revelation of His character and nature, which we have in us only if
we abide in Christ and His words abide in us (John 15:7). As a consequence of this, His
will becomes dominant in our lives, conforming our will to His. Thus, our requests in His
name are increasingly according to His will, opening the avenue for His responding to
our prayers.

The revelation of God as “the Lord, who heals you” (Exodus 15:26) cannot be limited to
Israel. The healing of the centurion’s servant and the daughter of the Canaanite woman
show that healing is the privilege of Gentiles also. In fact, there is healing for all who
desire it and will respond to Jesus. There is evidence that God’s gift of healing can even
be experienced by one before their sins have been dealt with, as in the case of the invalid
at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:2–9,14).

Belief in divine healing neither opposes nor competes with medical doctors. The
knowledge and skills of this profession bring help to many. It is true that the Bible
condemns King Asa because “even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord, but
only from the physicians” (2 Chronicles 16:12). But Asa had already sought for help
from Syria in an act of unbelief and disobedience, refusing to rely on the Lord (2
Chronicles 16:7). The issue for which Asa is judged is not that he sought help from
physicians but that he refused to seek the Lord

When the woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years was healed, Mark
records that “she had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent
all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse” (Mark 5:26). If it was wrong for
her to go to physicians, this would have been the perfect place for Jesus to have said so,
but He did not. Instead, He accepted the faith she expressed and commended her for it.

Jesus also sent the ten lepers whom He healed to show themselves to the priests (Luke
17:14). Under the Law the priests were in charge of diagnosis, quarantine, and health
(Leviticus 13:2ff.; 14:2ff.; Matthew 8:4). Thus Jesus recognized that human
diagnosticians have their place.

Through the skill and training of physicians recoveries and restorations do occur, a truth
that does neither refutes nor diminishes the belief in divine healing. We rejoice should
God, who is the source of all healing, work through the doctors, give thanks to them for
their dedication, and offer continual praise to God. With all their learning, training, and
skill, doctors are still not the last word to be uttered in diagnosing human maladies. We
steadfastly look to God who is more than able to bring healing even in situations deemed
to be hopeless.

Source: A/G Position Papers

Divine Healing Will Be Fully Realized When Jesus Returns

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We are living at present between the first and second appearances of Jesus Christ. At His
first coming He provided, through His life, death, and resurrection, atonement for sin and
its consequences. In this era divine healing, a gift of God’s grace, is seen as a proleptic
expression of the complete redemption of the human body. At His second coming what
was begun will be brought to completion—salvation from sin and all its effects will be
realized. In this period of the “already and not yet” some are healed instantly, some
gradually, and others are not healed.

The Bible indicates that until Jesus comes we groan because we have not yet received the
full redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:23). Only when the dead in Christ rise and we
are changed do we receive the new bodies which are like His glorious body
(1 Corinthians 15:42–44,51–54). Even followers of Christ groan and travail in pain like
the rest of creation, waiting patiently for the fulfillment of our hope (Romans 8:21–25).
In that the human body is described by Paul as a “temple of the Holy Spirit” (1
Corinthians 6:19), we must care for it and avoid that which would abuse it. But, no matter
what we do for this body, no matter how many times we are healed, unless the rapture of
the Church intervenes we shall die.

The promise and reality of divine healing does not rule out suffering for the sake of
Christ and that of the gospel. We are expected to be prepared to follow His example
(Hebrews 5:8; 1 Peter 2:19,21; 4:12–14,19). Nor are we to look to divine healing as a
substitute for obedience to the rules of physical and mental health. Jesus recognized the
need of the disciples to get away from the crowds and rest awhile (Mark 6:31). Jethro,
Moses’ father-in-law, advised him to delegate some of his responsibilities so that he
could stand the strain of leading Israel (Exodus 18:17,18).

Neither is divine healing a means of avoiding the effects of old age. Moses did retain a
clear eye and his natural strength until the day of his death (Deuteronomy 34:7), but this
privilege was not granted to King David (1 Kings 1:1–4). The gradual breakdown of old
age, pictured so graphically in Ecclesiastes 12:1–7, is the common experience of
believers as well as unbelievers. Healing is still available to the aged, but the part that is
healed usually continues to age like the rest of the body. We do not yet have the
redemption of the body.

It is possible that the refusal to alter one’s lifestyle to accord with biblical principles
could hinder healing (John 5:14). While the amount of faith is not always, as noted
above, determinative, if one does not believe that divine healing can occur, it might not.
We must also be open to God’s will and activities, always designed by His love and for
our good, understanding that they are beyond our immediate ability to understand. He is,
by healing us now and by not healing us, moved by His great compassion, desiring that
we be drawn increasingly closer to Him.

We recognize that there have been abuses regarding divine healing. Excessive claims and
unfounded judgments are offered by some. But we must not let that cause us to retreat
from a positive proclamation of the truth of the Scripture. Peter and John were able to say 7

to the lame man who was to be healed, “What I have I give you. In the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, walk” (Acts 3:6). May we, too, remain committed to the reality of the
power of God to effect divine healing.

In humility we confess that we do not understand all that pertains to divine healing. We
do not understand fully why some are healed and others are not, any more than we
understand why God permitted James to be martyred and Peter delivered (Acts 12:1–19).
Scripture makes it clear, however, that our part is to preach the Word, expecting signs,
including divine healing, to follow. Finally, at the Lord’s return, “when the perishable has
been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality” (1 Corinthians
15:54), the full realization of divine healing will have come.