Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the NET, netbible.org, all rights reserved)

Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
Matthew 8:7 (emphasis added)

Yeshua (Jesus) wanted to come and help. He was WILLING to go somewhere and heal someone who needed healing. That was the TOTAL and ABSOLUTE criteria Jesus used. They NEEDED healing, He WANTED to PROVIDE healing. Period. There is not ONE instance in the Word (Old OR New Testament) where Yahweh did NOT want to heal. Oh, people’s actions prevented. Unbelief hindered. People chose actions that led to their being cursed or stricken – but God was ALWAYS willing to turn around and heal them IF they repented and got right with Him. NOWHERE in the letters or the Revelation does Jesus OR the Father NOT WANT to heal. It just isn’t in there. They ALWAYS want to heal. They DO NOT change.

Jesus didn’t care if they believed in Him as the Son of God and Saviour of Mankind, the Spotless Lamb of God. Jesus didn’t care if they went to church. Jesus didn’t care if they had been following the Law or not following the Law. Jesus didn’t care if their lifestyle was in line with the Father’s will or not. Jesus didn’t care if they were living in immorality or not. NONE OF THAT MATTERED to their healing. They ONLY had to believe HE COULD DO IT.

Isn’t the rest of that important? Oh yes. Healing is a SIGN, it isn’t the end of anything but sickness. Healing is a sign to the ungodly that the Lord is REAL and the Lord LOVES. Evidence that the LORD is not hampered by the natural realm. Evidence that the LORD is who He says that He is. It isn’t salvation. It isn’t anything but a release from the bondage of sickness. Some freedom from the curse. TOTAL healing is only.

“These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; they will pick up snakes with their hands, and whatever poison they drink will not harm them; they will place their hands on the sick and they will be well”” (Mark 16:17-18). ANYONE who believes has access to these signs. These signs are NOT for those who ALREADY believe, but for those who DON’T believe as evidence that the believers aren’t crazy. The believers already KNOW that Yahweh is a God of WONDERS. The unbelievers do not – yet.

“He is the one who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases” (Psalm 103:3). Jesus is HE. The Father is HE. And they do it by the Holy Spirit. “Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you” (Romans 8:11). The Father raised Jesus FROM THE DEAD. DEAD flesh. DEAD cells. NO breathing. Blood COAGULATED. DECOMPOSITION begun. Yet Yahweh through Ruach Hakodesh put life back in that body. It was renewed, restored, and remade into a living, breathing, speaking, eating, walking body full of LIFE. Jesus was resurrected to LIFE not death.

If the Holy Spirit can do THAT level of restoration, renewal, and remaking, doesn’t it make sense that Holy Spirit can do less than that? If you have eczema, couldn’t He restore your skin to wholeness? If you have asthma, couldn’t He restore your lungs and airways to wholeness? If you have cancer, couldn’t He restore your cells to wholeness? You’re still ALIVE, right? Your body – no matter HOW BAD it is – isn’t in as bad a shape as Jesus after THREE days AND nights DEAD?

As soon as blood circulation and respiration stop, the body has no way of getting oxygen or removing wastes. Excess carbon dioxide causes an acidic environment, causing membranes in cells to rupture. The membranes release enzymes that begin eating the cells from the inside out. Rigor mortis causes muscle stiffening. Small blisters filled with nutrient-rich fluid begin appearing on internal organs and the skin’s surface. The body will appear to have a sheen due to ruptured blisters, and the skin’s top layer will begin to loosen. Stage two of human decomposition consists of bloating to the body. Leaked enzymes from the first stage begin producing many gases. Due to the gases, the human body can double in size, giving it that bloated look.The sulphur-containing compounds that the bacteria release also cause skin discolouration. In addition, insect activity can be present. The microorganisms and bacteria produce extremely unpleasant odours called putrefaction. These odours often alert others that a person has died, and can linger long after a body has been removed. 24-72 hours after death — the internal organs decompose. 3-5 days after death — the body starts to bloat and blood-containing foam leaks from the mouth and nose.

ANY of that happening with YOU? Remember when they were at Lazarus’ tomb? That was FOUR days after he died and they were hesitant to remove the stone because of the stench? That’s because of the decomposition of the body and the proof of how dead the dead guy was. “Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell because he has been buried four days.” Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. I knew that you always listen to me, but I said this for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”” (John 11:39-43).

No one was amazed or believed when the stone was rolled away. We can assume a smell came out of that tomb. No one was amazed when Jesus prayed – they were Jewish and WELL acquainted with prayer (we could learn something from the Jews about that!). When was it that they were shocked, amazed, and believe? AFTER that. “The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.” Then many of the people, who had come with Mary and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in him” (John 11:44-45).

Jesus was in the SAME situation. The BODY was decomposing. But He was RAISED TO LIFE (Romans 6:8-11; Acts 3:15). Who of us alive on this planet is as bad as that? Not cancer patients. Not the leprous. Not the paraplegics. Not those with Covid (short or long). Not those with the flu. Not those with broken or missing limbs. Not those with chronic diseases. Not those with disorders. Not the mentally disabled. Not the physically disabled. Not the emotionally disabled. Not the gender disabled. NO ONE is in as bad a shape as a body dead three DAYS.

“When I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, and the one who lives! I was dead, but look, now I am alive—forever and ever—and I hold the keys of death and of Hades!” (Revelation 1:17-18). Jesus Himself said He was THE ONE WHO LIVES. He ATE FOOD. Not just one piece, but also a little dessert (Luke 24:42-45). You CANNOT say that Yahweh can’t help you unless you are in worse shape than Yeshua was. Since you are NOT that bad, you KNOW that Yahweh WILL help you. You KNOW that Jesus WANTS to heal you. And that – if you let Him – He WILL.

Jesus is persistent. He came and suffered. He was beaten and tortured and DIED for you to get healing. He was bruised. He was beaten. He had four hundred soldiers beating Him. He had people rip out His beard. He had His face spat on. He had more than an inch-long thorns crammed onto His head and into His flesh. He was whipped harshly – they only stopped because He might have died (which was the ROMAN way, not the Jewish way of forty lashes. Jesus took a LOT more than forty.). He had stripes. He had bruises. He was a ragged mass of wounds, inflamed tissue, and ribbons of flesh. And THEN He was crucified. Jesus SUFFERED for you and did not have to. He could have stopped it at ANY point (Matthew 26:53-54). But He DID NOT STOP until it was FINISHED (John 19:30). He was PERSISTENT.

Jesus still is. So is the Father. “The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). They are insistent and persistent, but it is YOUR choice. Will you BELIEVE? Will you have FAITH? Will you ACCEPT what they have finished, released, and are offering to you? You KNOW they can do it because you KNOW what the Father did for Jesus through the Spirit. The same Spirit is in you. Will you LET the Father use it? Will YOU believe, have faith, and receive?

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Exodus 12:13

“The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, so that when I see the blood I will pass over you, and this plague will not fall on you to destroy you when I attack the land of Egypt.” Yahweh is wrathful toward sin (Proverbs 8:13). Yahweh is wrathful toward those who practise unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). Yahweh hates sinners (Psalm 11:5). Sin separates us from Yahweh (Isaiah 59:2). The blood of the LAMB saves us from the wrath of Yahweh. “But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Jesus is the lamb slain in our place for our sin. Jesus IS Messiah.

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

Yeshua is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:16b