But he (Christ) was wounded for our transgression, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. (Isa. 53: 5)
 
 
In Mat. 8: 5-13, we read the account of a military commandant, (a personality in the military world) with Christ whose servant was ill of convulsion – palsy.
His (humility) and faith in the spoken Word got him the miracle of healing he desired from the Lord.
His quick understanding of spiritual authority drawn from experience by his military position was so fascinated to the Lord that his faith was commended as so great, not even in Israel could such be found.
 
Power of faith is operational and activated by the spoken Word – speaking or confessing the Word of life (written Word) by laying claims to the benefit of redemption. This is a point of paramount significance if we are to enjoy divine health and healing when we are constantly affirming and appropriating the redemptive work personally into our health and that of loved ones when Himself took my infirmities (sickness) and bare our diseases. Mat. 8: 16-17
 
The Devil wants you to say that you are sick, though that’s exactly what you’re seeing, feeling and experiencing in your body.
The law of faith by the Lord requires you to speak or say that the chastisement of your peace was upon him, by His stripes, you were healed. 1 Pet. 2: 24.
 
Persistence confession of this Word shall bring healing into your life or that of loved ones, but the rapidity of its manifestation depends on the measure of your faith in the living Word. As long as you do not doubt in your heart, but shall believe that those things you say shall come to pass, you shall have them. Mk. 11: 23-24.
If we can believe God for forgiveness of sins and salvation, we should believe him for divine healing and health and many other blessings accomplished through redemptive work. Keep binding that sickness and disease. Start speaking the Word….by Christ stripes I were healed, by Christ stripes you were healed….that sickness shall have no choice than to leave your body as you take the written Word into account believing its testimonies. Praise God!
 
Divine healing is a provision and every believer’s right, benefit, and inheritance included in the redemptive deal and package.
Sicknesses, diseases, and death are the spiritual side effects of the fall from the Garden of Eden and the curse from it.
Jesus died to redeem us from the curse of the law.
He redeemed us from all its physical and spiritual consequences.
If our sins are forgiven, we shall be healed of our sicknesses. God forgives all our sins in Christ Jesus and heals all our diseases by him (Ps. 103: 3).
 
It is God’s perfect will for us to prosper in all good endeavours and activities, to be in good health, even as our soul prospers.
It is part of the abundance of life offers and given by Christ to all that shall come and call on him by faith for salvation.
Physical healing is what the Lord calls ‘the children’s bread’.
It is our essential right and covenant privilege to be strong and healthy all the time.
Is there any sickness or incurable disease which the Lord cannot heal? There is none. All things are possible to him that believes.
 
It is commonly said that health is wealth ‘. . . and the Lord shall bring health and cure, and shall reveals abundance of peace to his children’ (Jer. 33: 6).
If we are walking daily in obedience to his Word, the Lord shall take good care of us and see to it that we are kept in sound mind and in good form to do his will and to help others.
 
How can we evangelise and help others when we ourselves are unhealthy, falling down today and rising up tomorrow?
It is the good and perfect will of God for us to be mentally and morally strong, physically and spiritually fit, going about the Lord’s business. When the Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, none was feeble (sick) among them. They were without complaints of ill health, until they walked out of God’s counsels.
 
I will strengthen them in the Lord and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the Lord. (Zech. 10: 12)
 
The Israelites came out of Egypt, without anyone sick among them, but as sin came in, they became physically weak and sick.
God therefore made a covenant and demanded obedience as a condition for good health if they want to live well, long and walk with him.
 
Thus at first, we see from the scriptures that disobedience to God’s Word can bring chastening by sickness and other grievous physical problems into man’s life if the sin is not confessed and forsaken.
 
So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.
And the people murmured against Moses, saying, what shall we drink?
And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them;
And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee. (Exod. 15: 22–26)
Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:
And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.
And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee. (Deut. 9: 12–15)
 
An unforgiving spirit is a serious issue with the Lord. You must learn to forgive always and at every moment, even before your offenders realise and admit their faults. While you stand praying, the first thing to say before the Father is your willingness to forgive your offenders so that your sins might be forgiven as well and your prayer be not hindered by bitterness and an unforgiving spirit.
 
A woman came for counselling in our church’s office at Turin some years back. After the narration of her problems, all that I heard or received for her from the Lord was for her to forgive and she shall be healed and restored. She narrated how her husband had abandoned, betrayed, and left her for a young girl. She said that she would never forgive such a man and even cursed him. Her case became compounded when she came to worship the following Sunday as she realised that her long-time friend with whom she had grown up, but for some reason they were no more getting along together, was serving as an usher in the church.
 
She came back to see me the following Tuesday that she would not be coming to our church again because of Sister Kate, her childhood friend. I reminded her of the Lord’s condition for her healing and solutions to her problems – to forgive. She insisted and was adamant not to forgive either her wayward husband or Kate. ‘Don’t keep resentment and malice for your husband’s action and for the old problem with Kate,’ I advised, but she would not listen.
She stopped coming to our church as promised, but four to five months later, I learnt that she had collapsed and died from an argument and strife which ensued between her and her Italian husband.
Thus she died without obeying the voice and instruction from the Lord, to meet her Lord in the spirit of bitterness and a spirit of unforgiveness.
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. (Heb. 12: 15)
 
The Lord commands, ‘Forgive, and you shall be forgiven . . . if you from your heart forgive not, neither shall your heavenly Father forgive you.’ In some cases as our Lord was ministering healing to the sick, he first pronounced forgiveness of sins and then ministered healing. The two go together. Forgive, be forgiven, be healed, and get to heaven! Mark. 2: 5.
 
Secondly, an improper and imbalanced way of life can cause sickness either by careless living or eating habits. Too much sugar, salt, and oil should be avoided for a healthy heart and life.
Much fat is not good for the goodness and soundness of the heart. A sound heart is the life of the flesh (Prov. 14: 30).
Make choice of your food and make your diet balanced by eating at least two or three fruits per day. A merciful man does good to his own soul, but he that is cruel troubles his own flesh (Prov. 11: 17). Take your time to eat and eat well but not overeat. Also, men will praise you, when you do well to yourself (Ps. 49: 18).
 
Having regular exercise for a specific period of time (fifteen to thirty minutes) every day can be helpful. Bodily exercise profits little: but godliness is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
Daily exercise is needed in order to utilise the macronutrients within our body to their fullest potential. Exercise regulates insulin and increases human growth hormone and also testosterone. Exercise increases body strength. Exercise increases endurance to withstand stress. Exercise promotes a healthy clean mind. Exercise vitalises your cells and keeps the pathways of your body clean and moving efficiently. Exercise will help with depression. With exercise you are bound to have a better memory and a wonderful health.
 
Physical exercise is neither a sin nor worldliness; neither should it be abused to lead to both. This does not mean that a child of God should dress to the gym in a sexually seductive way like the uncircumcised in heart (worldly people) whose understanding is darkened. It is better for a believer to have exercise equipments at home for daily regular exercise to keep him fit.
 
Thirdly, depression, anxieties, cares, and a worried mind can cause heartbreak, high blood pressure, insomnia, and sudden death in any man or woman, be it a believer or an unbeliever.
As beloved children, we are being warned not to be careful for anything, but in everything by prayer, supplications, and thanksgiving, our requests should be made known unto God; and his peace, which no human understanding can grasp, shall keep our minds and hearts through Christ Jesus.
Adverse situations must not cast you down.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me, hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, [who is] the health of my countenance, and my God! (Ps. 43: 5)
 
A spirit of self-pity must be resisted. Ask the Lord to anoint you with the oil of joy and gladness for mourning, putting on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, as you walk daily and constantly in the fruit of God’s spirit – joy. Praise and thank the Lord for every situation. Rejoice in the Lord always. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dried (sicken the health) the bones (Prov. 17: 22).
 
Fourthly, the Devil may attack, oppress, and afflict people with sickness through his various agents and weapons of witchcraft, accidents, inexplicable and non-diagnostic infirmities. Have you not read how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good, healing all that were oppressed of the Devil, for God was with him! (Acts 10: 38).
 
When you discern any fired arrow of sickness through dreams or whatever, send it back to the sender instantly and fast a day or two against such if need be, pleading the blood of Jesus and anointing yourself with oil in Jesus’s name.
Fifthly, if you’re not sleeping enough because you have a compulsive and unrelenting need to work (workaholic), then you may suddenly break down – nature cannot be cheated. Try to sleep enough as much as possible.
Finally, if a child of God covers his sin and hypocritically takes the bread and wine (body and blood of Jesus) in the Lord’s Supper, he has eaten damnation to his soul.
If you eat and drink the table of the Lord unworthy, it may lead to physical weakness, sickness, and untimely death.
 
For he that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many (died) sleep. (1 Cor. 11: 27−32)
 
Self-examination is required before partaking on the table of the Lord.
It should never be taken in the leaven of hypocrisy, malice, and wickedness.
 
Purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth. (1 Cor. 5: 7−8)
 
We must always plunge ourselves into the fountain open for sin and for uncleanness before we sit at the table of the Lord’s Supper or else we shall be asking for trouble.
 
Who is eligible to eat the Lord’s Supper?
Every man and woman, washed in the blood of the Lamb, having repented of their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and personal Saviour (in fellowship with baptised believers, not with fornicators, adulterous, or polygamous believers, smokers, drunkards, unrepented and unconverted sinners).
 
How oft should we eat the Lord’s Supper?
There is no specific time limit or day to observe the Lord’s Table. The Lord’s command was that as often as we do it, we are announcing his death until he comes back again. This means that the Lord’s Supper can be taken daily, if we so desire (when we come together).
It can be taken every Sunday, if we are to follow the example of the early church and of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, who always gathered on the first day of the week to break bread and to celebrate the risen Christ.
The Lord’s Supper can be taken once in a month, or once in three months according to our understanding of its spiritual bond, efficacy, and allowance, for we draw life, strength, and consolation from it as we partake and reflect on the great work and sacrifice, the suffering and the victory, deliverance from sin and death, and the hope which is laid up for us in heaven ‘. . . except you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of man, you have no life in you’ (John 6: 53).
 
The Lord said, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord’s death till he comes.
Note: The intensity of our love and affection for the Lord becomes the driving force and motivation of our appetite and thirstiness to the table of the Lord, the preparation and reverence with which we accord it, in the celebration and appreciation of our redemption and redeemer.
 
When we know that we must be at the King’s table and courtyard to worship, celebrate and dine with his Majesty, we are necessitated to put certain restrictions upon ourselves so that we do not attend before the Lord with distraction and leaven, neither with any uncleanness.
 
And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten; it shall be burnt with fire: and as for the flesh, all that be clean shall eat thereof.
But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, that pertain unto the Lord, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.
Moreover the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable unclean thing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which pertain unto the Lord, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. (Lev. 7: 19–21)
 
Jesus is our peace offering and our Passover.
We must keep our body pure and cleansed from all the filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
 
We must put difference between the clean and the unclean, between the holy and profane.
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor. 6: 9–11)
 
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