Fear No Fear

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

When the woman saw that she could not escape notice, she came trembling and fell down before him. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed.
Luke 8:47 (emphasis added)

The autobiography sections of bookstores are always full of stories. Some of them bad, but most of them stories of hope and dreams and getting what you’ve always wanted. The health and lifestyle sections are full of celebrity written (or endorsed) cookbooks, exercise books, business books, Do It Yourself Like I Did books, and probably a dozen other times. The Western ideal of success is underpinned by the stories of those who succeeded before our time. We are encouraged to dream like they did, work like they did, produce like they did, and climb the ladder of success like they did. We follow celebrity lives and dream by example.

Is healing for today? That is a question that keeps getting kicked around and around and around and around. But it doesn’t NEED to be. If we all did as this woman did, there would be NO question. If we did like the celebrities do, there would be NO question. If all those who get healed speak it out, the idea that you can get healed by Jesus would get SERIOUS traction in this world. Imagine the people who would end up getting exposed to the Gospel message if they were coming to get healing? What humanity needs is the Word of Faith – that is, the Word about Trusting Jesus. “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we preach), because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation” (Romans 10:8-10). THIS is the Word of Faith. THIS is what they need to hear. But what will get them through the door?

A lot can do it. A friend’s invitation. A parents. A siblings. Maybe they heard rumours about something (like the bible says you can be prosperous, for example). Maybe they know some believers and want to see what their deal is about. There are a LOT of reasons that someone can walk through the door. Everyone is different, so they are attracted by different things. But there is ONE THING that every single human being on this planet wants: health. It is a UNIVERSAL desire. A UNIVERSAL dream. And it is a UNIVERSAL draw. Every time. No one WANTS to be sick. Everyone WANTS to feel well. Normal. Whole. Yes, we accept limitations and injuries. But we all WANT that feeling of complete and total wellness. If we could spread the word that it is possible in Jesus, don’t you think that they would come in droves just for that? And sit through any talk necessary to have a shot at it?

“As the sun was setting, all those who had any relatives sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus. He placed his hands on every one of them and healed them” (Luke 4:40). They heard about the healing and they brought ALL their relatives no matter WHAT they were sick with. “The whole crowd was trying to touch him because power was coming out from him and healing them all” (Luke 6:19). They KNEW about the power and could FEEL it coming out of Him. Why? “They came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases,” (Luke 6:17). They came to HEAR Him. AND to be healed. These two things go together. If we want healings, we need to preach the Word. If we want new people to preach the Word to, we need healings. The one goes with the other. “Then they departed and went throughout the villages, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere” (Like 9:6). Proclaim Jesus and healing follows. It is because when we celebrate Jesus with true heart-felt worship, the Holy Spirit arrives and unleashes His power.

I’m not going to point fingers. I don’t really care who is doing what, as long as they are doing it at the behest of Adonai. I am NOT QUALIFIED to speak about anyone or to look into anyone’s business. I am ONLY qualified to look into my own life. Speak about my life. Investigate my life. And THAT is what TESTIMONY is. A testimony is a firsthand authentication of a fact. It is an outward sign and an open acknowledgment. It is the declaration of firsthand experience that what happened to the speaker can happen to ANYONE. That is what your testimony is. It is the two-fold acknowledgement that Jesus did it for YOU and He will do it for ANYONE who trusts Him.

This woman in today’s verse had not gone to a service. She had not listened to preaching. She hadn’t attended Sunday School. We don’t know if she knew the bible stories. We DO know that she heard about Jesus. We can assume she heard that people touched Him and got healed (it happened before this – Luke 6). We know she decided in her heart that she WAS going to be healed by TOUCHING Him. We know she went to find Him and TOUCHED Him and was healed. And we know that she spoke it out to the crowd and TESTIFIED that it had happened. In two other places (Matthew 14:34-36; Mark 6:56) people sought to do the same – and in both those places this even had already occurred (Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34). She TESTIFIED and people both believed and tried to copy her. There was a response to her testimony.

Why don’t we have a stereotype that when you go to church you get healed? We have a stereotype that if you get healed you’ll go God-crazy. You’ll abandon your friends, stop listening to music groups, stop drinking, and go to church seven days a week. You’ll be a Holy Roller. You see that picture portrayed in entertainment from the Ten Commandments to The Simpsons. You know what you DON’T see? Healed believers. You don’t see people going to church and walking out whole and well. You don’t see groups of believers who do NOT get sick, who do NOT stay sick, and who do NOT experience un-wellness for ANY length of time. We really should.

People ARE getting healed, but they are being ignored, mocked, or denied. Someone gets healed and others rise up and say it is a trick. A sham. You see THAT portrayed so frequently in entertainment that it is almost a GIVEN. But people ARE getting healed. Are they talking about it? Are they spreading their testimony? Are they encouraging others to get well too? Are they bringing to church every member of their family who is sick or diseased no matter how severe? Are the churches saying ‘Healing is Now! Come get healed this Sunday!’ Where is the TRUST in the Word that we as a church body SHOULD have? I don’t know and I can’t give commentary on it because I am ONLY qualified to speak about ME.

I know that I have NOT always said this. I know that I have NOT gone knocking on doors and asking if anyone inside needs healing? Can you imagine that? Instead of going around knocking on doors and giving a tract, going to a house and saying ‘Hello. We’re going around today healing people. Is there anyone here we can pray for? Anyone here need healing?’ Yet we COULD! It is our Word-given RIGHT. “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). That’s JESUS talking! That’s JESUS sending out His disciples. We are NOT the Twelve, but we ARE His disciples. This is for US. We QUALIFY. We are to go and DO IT. Not PRAY for it. Not BEG Him for it. Go CLAIM it and DO IT. That is a level of TRUST that we don’t all have. But if we were to honour Jesus and His Word and do what it says, that level of TRUST and WORSHIP THROUGH ACTION that it shows, the Holy Spirit WILL show up and do the work. WE don’t heal by mechanism. That is Holy Spirit. He is the one in us doing the work. But we RELEASE it by the AUTHORITY we have in and from Jesus Messiah, Son of Yahweh God.

“He sent them an assuring word and healed them; he rescued them from the pits where they were trapped” (Psalm 107:20). “He is the one who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases,” (Psalm 103:3). “My child, pay attention to my words; listen attentively to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; guard them within your heart, for they are life to those who find them and healing to one’s entire body” (Proverbs 4:20-22). Jesus was the WORD made flesh (John 1:14). “When it was evening, many demon-possessed people were brought to him. He drove out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. In this way what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled: “He took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.”” (Matthew 8:16-17). “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up—and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (James 5:15). The Complete Jewish Bible has James 5:15 reading “The prayer offered with trust will heal the one who is ill–the Lord will restore his health; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.“

Do you TRUST your testimony? It could help someone else realise what it is THEY could also walk in. Do you TRUST the Word? Because the Word says healing is ours. The Word says we have the RIGHT and the Anointing and the instruction to heal. We can heal those we come across. In grocery stores. In malls. In restaurants. In hospitals. In our homes. Wherever we are, whatever we are doing. We can TRUST the WORD and the Words of Jesus and HEAL. The Holy Spirit in us will rise up, responding to the TRUST in Jesus that we are using, acknowledging who Jesus is and what He did, and the power of the Father will flow through Him (and through you).

The more real and honest testimony we give about what Adonai has done will help other people see that they too can have it. The more trust we demonstrate on a day to day level, the more we help other people who are watching us to see that we believe and live according to the Word. Don’t believe a thin chef, don’t take financial advice from a poor man, don’t use a mechanic whose vehicle won’t run, and don’t accept the word on healing from anyone who has NO testimony. That isn’t to say that they are perfect in every way (physical, spiritual, and mental), but if they have ZERO evidence that Adonai moves today, they don’t have revelation that is worth healing.

I haven’t yet raised the dead and I have never walked on water, but I have seen the power of Yahweh work around and through me. I have a witness of the reality of angels and the spiritual realm. I have a testimony of the saving, nurturing, correcting, and guiding that Adonai operates in. I have a testimony. I am not making things up. If you choose to trust the Word based on what I have said, you can be sure that the WORD will work. I might miss something, but I testify to you now that the WORD is TRUTH. Verbatim. It is as true and trustworthy now TODAY as Yahweh was before creation was created.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Psalm 22:20-21

“Deliver me from the sword. Save my life from the claws of the wild dogs. Rescue me from the mouth of the lion and from the horns of the wild oxen. You have answered me.” The enemies of Yahweh have no lasting harmful power. The devil HAD that power because it was handed to him by Adam when Adam trusted the devil over Yahweh (Genesis 3). It was prophesied by Adonai Himself that the devil would BRUISE Messiah, but not be able to KILL Messiah. “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15). Jesus went through the crucifixion, but Jesus did NOT STAY DEAD. He BROKE the power of death. He died and He LIVES. Jesus IS the Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

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

Matthew 16:16b