The Path of Healing
The Path of Healing Following the path of healing through the Bible
gives us great insight into what is still available for us as we walk
with Jesus. There are many examples of healing and various ways that
people have been healed according to the Bible. The great news is that
healing is still available to us today. “Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, today, and forever.” Heb 13:8. The list of God’s miracle
touch upon mankind throughout the ages is a testimony of His great
love and compassion for His people. In Isaiah 53:5 we read that God
sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins and sicknesses that we might be
healed. The healing path begins in the first book in the Bible. In the
book of Genesis we find Sarah, Abraham’s wife, who desperately wanted
to have a child and was promised by God to have one. Ge 17:18, 19. The
Lord healed Sarah of being barren in her old age, way past the age of
child bearing, and gave her a son. Ge 21:1-7. There probably aren’t
many women who would like to experience that miracle at ninety years
old. Ge 17:17. I remember being sent to a barren woman who desperately
wanted to have a baby. Because of a severe car accident she was unable
to carry a child. But God gave me a word for her that she would indeed
have a child. The next year she had a beautiful little girl. In Exodus
15:26, God declares that He is the Healer of His people. “……I am the
Lord that healeth thee.” The translation of that word Healer actually
means Physician, declaring a continuing action on God’s part to be our
Healer and Physician. The book of Numbers tells us about leprosy
coming on Miriam because of her speaking against Moses. Moses
interceded for Miriam and God’s compassion is shown to a repentant
Miriam when she is healed of leprosy. An interesting thought is God
allowed a dreaded disease to come upon Miriam when she sinned, but
after Moses interceded for her and she repented God healed her. Nu
12:1-10; 12:13; 12:15. In I Kings the man with the withered hand was
healed. I Ki 17:17-24; 13; 4-6. In 2 Kings, King Hezekiah was healed
of a terminal illness. He pleaded with God for extra time and God
added fifteen years to his life. 2 Ki 20:1-6. The Lord showed King
Nebuchadnezzar what was coming upon him because of his pride. He lost
his mind and ate grass like an animal. Seven years later God healed
and restored him. Dan 4:l1-4. In the New Testament Jesus healed
Epilepsy, Dropsy, the deaf and mute, Palsy or paralysis, chronic
hemorrhage, the demonized, withered hands and deformities and the
blind, among other things. He restored an ear that was cut off, and
raised the dead. There are 484 verses in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
that testify to the healings of physical and mental illnesses, more
than enough to establish that healing was a large part of Jesus’
ministry. Hedi Baker, a modern day missionary in Africa, goes to
villages and asks who is deaf when she enters a new village. She prays
for that person to be healed and they are! Then she preaches salvation
to them and many are saved. At a church in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho a few
months ago a blind man was healed. Two and a half years ago I was
healed of Lyme’s disease. God spoke in a still small voice and said,
“I am going to heal you.” He did and I am well. Jesus ministered to
the whole person. He preached forgiveness of sin and healing. At times
He healed them first and then forgave their sins. Lu 17:9; John 5:14.
At other times their sins were forgiven first and then they were
healed. Mr 2:1-12. Jesus ministered healing in public, in groups, in
the synagogue, in homes, on the streets, at funerals, in graveyards,
at the temple, at mealtime gatherings, in route to other destinations,
in gardens, in open meetings, by pools, on hillsides, in boats, etc.
He moved in various ways to bring healing. At times He called the sick
to Himself, at times they called for Him, some had faith, and some
folks had none. Some He touched, but for others He spoke the Word,
Some He required obedience while others He required none. The path of
healing begins with a repentant heart, and coming into right
relationship with God and man. Draw near to God. Isa 57:18, 19. When I
lay dying in a hospital with a ruptured appendix God spoke quietly to
me about a matter I was holding against a brother in the Lord. I
immediately repented and let that matter go. In four days I was out of
the hospital. To be forgiven you must forgive. You cannot hold unto
any unforgivemess. Mt 6:14. Following the path of healing you come to
the laying on of hands and anointing with oil by the elders. Mr
16:17-18; Mt 10:1, 7, 8; Ja 5:14-16. One of the young men in our first
church broke his arm and called for the elders to come and pray for
him. The men arrived to find Carl’s bone clearly broke with the bone
protruding against his skin. The men anointed him with oil and prayed
the prayer of faith and before their eyes Carl’s arm was healed as the
bone moved back into place. Look to Jesus for the stirring of the
waters for healing. Joh 5:4-8. Whenever you hear of a true move of
God’s healing go there. Years ago Kathryn Khulman moved dynamically in
the gift of healing, it was a gift from God. I Cor 12:9. People came
from all over the world and thousands were healed in her meetings. A
woman in one of our churches had a son she dearly loved. Scott was
diagnosed terminal with a rare form of cancer. Within days of his
dying his mother and some friends carried her son into a Morris
Cerullo meeting that was going on in Sacramento where thousands were
in attendance. Scott was barely able to sit in the chair towards the
back. During that meeting Morris stopped his preaching and pointed his
finger to the back at Scott and said, “Young man God is healing you,
stand up and receive your healing.” Scott’s mom urged Scott to stand
though he was in terrible pain. He stood and was miraculously healed.
When you meet a godly man on the path who gives you a word from the
Lord walk in obedience as Namann did. Though he saw no purpose of
washing in the Jordan River seven times, but he did what the man of
God said and was healed of leprosy which was incurable at that time. 2
Ki 5:14. The man with the withered hand is another example of healing
being released through obedience. Mr 3:1-5 On the path some are
carried on the faith of others such as the man who was carried to the
top of the roof where Jesus was ministering. His friends carefully let
him down in front of Jesus and he was healed. Mr 2:3-11. Others are
healed because of their own faith such as the woman with the issue of
blood who took hold of the hem of Jesus’ robe. Mt 9:20-22 And the
blind beggar Bartimaeus who “began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou
Son of David, have mercy on me.” Mr 10:47. Sometimes it is a
combination of the faith of others and your own faith. There is no set
method for healing, but there are clear components on the path through
Scripture that every person who is in need of healing should be open
to trying. There are many more examples of healing in the Bible for I
have only given you a few to point the way for you. Healing is the
work of Jesus on earth, and continues through the power of the Holy
Spirit. After being healed many times, in many ways and witnessing
many others who have been healed, I can testify that God still heals
today. Heb 13:8. “He is the Lord who heals us.” Ex 15:26 .
ODE TO LEGION.... Better than...The pit! SSSScccractchhh... The sound
of the old, beaten, weather worn, wooden boat, as it pulled up into
the sand like a dull ax dragging across concrete. The sun was just
starting to show it''s light through the dark, angry looking clouds
that surrounded this old vessel, on yet another foreign shore. Almost
surreal, yet, nothing extraordinary, about this landing at all, just
another old boat, meeting another destination. The first man to step
out of the beaten boat, looked and acted like He didn''t really belong
in an old boat like that. The first thing to actually touch down,
lightly on the moist soil was a sandal, not a boot, not a bare foot,
but a sandal as the waves licked at the heel of his feet. There was
more, much more about this man that didn''t seem to look at all like a
fisherman. He wore a robe, a dirty, slightly torn, white robe that had
been turned a bit yellow with wear and had green scuffs on it as if
this man, sat in the grass a lot. Yet there was something about this
man, something that nobody could quite put their finger on. At least
that''s how it felt. He was determined, yet gentle. Confident, yet,
acting as if He''d just came from a poppers house. Then, the other men,
one at a time stepped off of the boat. Most looked like real
fishermen,dirty, smelling of bait and fish, unkempt hair, beards full
of food crumbs and God only knows what else. some looked like tax
collectors, crafty, not to be trusted, like they were hiding something
Still others wore no hat, at least not one to be seen. No profession
to be labeled as they stepped onto the shore, just plain ordinary men.
They did however have ONE thing in common... They all followed this
man with the robe very reverently, almost hesitantly, yet, oh so eager
to just be with Him. They never really spoke to the man with the robe
unless He spoke to them first, and even then, it was most apparent
that they weighed their words very carefully. As if they were afraid
that what they said would be construed as stupid or that they would be
corrected. You could see the adoration and total respect that they had
for this filthy robed man. If nothing else, just by the look in their
eyes. There was one, maybe two, who would actually look Him in the eye
as He spoke. The acted like...Like....He was...GOD? That was the
really odd part. This man, we''ll call Him, "their leader", for
simplicity sake, claimed that HE WAS GOD....Yet, He also claimed that
He was "The Son of Man". Again, another riddle, a puzzle if you will.
One thing was for certain however. These men who followed, twelve in
all, believed He was. They actually believed Him when He claimed to be
God, and somehow also believed Him when He said that he was the son of
man. Truly baffling, amazing! The power that this man had over the
twelve who followed so carefully in His footsteps. Then, after a brief
walk, (as if going to market to buy fish), this "son of man", stopped
and said, "we''re here!" Nobody said a word, except the grungy old
fisherman. He said, "we''re where my Lord? We''re...in... a graveyard?"
That is in fact, exactly where they were, surrounded by ancient,
crumbling tombstones, and pieces of flowers left long ago by somebody
who had no doubt, paid tribute to a lost loved one...And what was THAT
SMELL? Filthy, rotten, stench? It smelled like...Pig shit! Their
motionless, almost timeless stance in this death trap was suddenly
broken! LOUDLY AND VIOLENTLY, as a wild man, I mean a complete and
total lunatic came screaming at them, with the look of pure, mad,
hatred! Not only in his eyes but his entire body reeked of violent,
unrestrained HATRED! For no apparent reason it seemed. This screaming
lunatic of a madman was, buck ass naked, covered in scars and freshly
opened wounds covered every inch of his filthy, blood soaked body.
Even his hair and his beard were filled with mats of dried, clots of
blood, snot, dirt and ...scum. SCUM, is the only word that accurately
described this mans face. The twelve, were terrified. You could see it
in their eyes. You could see it in the way that they were all trying
to force themselves to NOT RUN AWAY! Feet stepping aimlessly, here,
then there, all the while their eyes, and in fact, their heads were
turning back and forth from the madman, to the direction of the boat,
to the leader, back to the mad man, and so it went for what seemed
like an eternity....Nervous, and scared as hell! Some of them were
actually to the point of uttering wordless shouts of desperate FEAR!!
The leader, however, just stood their, motionless, like a gentle, yet
stern statue, as this monster came screaming viciously straight toward
them. Stumbling and falling, then getting up with even more
determination to run straight through them and rip them to pieces with
his bare hands! Except, in reality, one hand had a huge, sharp stone
in it, and everybody knew, all to well, what this beast meant to do
with that stone... Then, something completely and totally unexpected
happened. This stark raving mad man, stopped and just looked the son
of man in the eyes. His gaze was somewhere between confused, thankful,
fearful, yet totally at peace as he ...DROPPED TO HIS KNEES!? The
twelve were astonished, calming down, trying to comprehend what had
just happened, as this self proclaimed God, just stood their and
looked the wildman as one would look at a once beautiful, now
withering flower, and...What on earth is THAT SMELL? Then something
even more outlandish happened, something that took these still shaken
twelve completely by surprise. This bloody, filthy mad man spoke,
instead of screaming like a man possessed. He said, "We know who you
are Yehashuah Hoopsistis... Have you come to torment us ahead of our
appointed time?" Which made no sense, because, if there was such a
thing as an ''appointed time'', how could this leader do anything about
that? Then, calmly, as if talking to a little orphan girl, the leader
said, "Tell me your name". First the naked mad man growled, and
snarled, just for a moment, then, as if compelled by God Himself, the
man violently said, "WE ARE LEGION...FOR WE ARE MANY!!!" The
twelve...took a step back. The leader? He just stood their as to say,
"That''ll do, now...hold your tongue!" The really odd thing was, (aside
from the fact that everything transpiring be
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