There is
Salvation,
Healing, Deliverance, Protection, and Blessing
Regardless of whether you have
never read the Bible, read it cover to cover, or may be just part of it; this
book is written for you. I pray that the Holy Spirit will quicken your heart as
you read.
by Allan Eich
For
God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,
that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John
3:16)
Most people would say the most famous and quoted scripture verse in the Bible is John 3:16. It is usually one of the first Bible verses taught in Sunday school. If you have watched professional football on TV then you probably noticed a fan holding a sign that reads -- John 3:16. Of all the Bible verses, this single verse probably best describes the essential message of the Bible. The words in this verse were spoken by Jesus and thus they have the power to convey the important message of life. This verse says that God, the Creator of the universe, loves us.
God loves you and me so much that He gave His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for us so that we could be forgiven for our sins and have eternal life. This is an awesome and marvelous message that is available to all who call upon the name of Jesus to be their personal Lord and Savior. Even though this is the greatest gift, there is even more that God has for us through His Son’s sacrifice on the cross. In addition to the wonderful gift of forgiveness and eternal life; there is also the power for healing, deliverance, protection, and blessing. Through Jesus we can be healed physically, mentally, and spiritually; we can be delivered from oppression and addiction; we can be protected from harm and blessed beyond imagination.
The best word that describes what Jesus did on the cross for us is “sozo.” The New Testament part of the Bible was written in Greek and the Greek word “sozo” is interpreted to mean to save, to heal, to deliver, to protect. “Sozo” is found in the New Testament over one hundred times. When we read about being saved, being healed, being made whole, being delivered from demonic possession, being protected; the actual original word in Greek is “sozo.” I have to admit that I don’t know Greek or any other language other than English. In fact, in high school I did rather poorly in my foreign language classes. However this Greek word, “sozo” is the most wonderful word and best describes what Jesus has provided for us.
If we return to the John 3:16 passage and read the next verse, we will find the word “saved” which in the Greek language is “sozo.”
For God did not
send His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save (sozo) the world through Him. (John 3:17)
What does it mean to be saved? Each one of us has made mistakes in life, and we will undoubtedly make more mistakes. We are all guilty of sin, which is following the wrong path away from God. Not one of us is perfect; we all make mistakes. Therefore we are all guilty of sinning and thus judgment for our actions. However, if we repent of our sins and believe in our heart that Jesus died on the cross for our sins; we can be forgiven. By receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are saved and given the gift of eternal life with Him through His grace and mercy.
Salvation is having a personal relationship with God. A fundamental step in getting to know God is reading His Word -- the Bible. Reading the Bible builds faith. Faith is trusting in the Lord. Here is how I as a pilot, look at trusting the Lord and reading the Bible.
I have always wanted to be a pilot. I started taking flying lessons at age fifteen before I learned to drive a car. I was an Air Force pilot for six years and an airline pilot for the next twenty years. I started to teach flying in college as a flight instructor and later became an instructor/examiner in the US Air Force and with my airline. The number one rule that is taught while flying on instruments in bad weather is: “Don’t panic. Trust your instruments, not your feelings.” Flying by the feelings in your body in bad weather can lead to disaster. Incorrect senses in our inner ear which provide a sense of balance will cause vertigo. A pilot with vertigo (spatial disorientation) who is flying in the clouds may feel like he is in level flight yet he may be in a graveyard spiral. As a result, pilots are trained to ignore what they feel and trust their flight instruments. Reading the flight instruments in a plane is very much like reading the words in the Bible. As a pilot, you must trust what read on your instrument panel, not what you feel. Like a pilot, a believer must read their Bible and trust what they read, not rely on what they feel. Trusting in God’s words in the Bible are especially critical during the “bad weather” times in our lives. When you go through that bad weather, remember to trust in God. Read His words and don’t rely on your feelings.
In the next several pages, we will
look at trusting in the Lord and committing to Him. I will share our testimony
and further explain the phrase “being saved”-- the salvation message. Then we will look at the healing,
deliverance, protection, and blessing that is available for us through Jesus
who died on the cross for us.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own
understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
(Proverbs 3:3-6)
This is a short story and testimony of events and miracles that changed our lives. My name is Allan and my wife’s name is Susan. I am an airline pilot who was raised as a Protestant (Presbyterian) and my wife is a nurse who was raised as a Catholic. We dedicate this testimony to our Lord Jesus Christ, who loves us all.
Our story begins in the fall of 1996 when I was asked to teach a Bible Study class on the book of Revelation in our Presbyterian church. During that particular time in my life, I had not been reading the Bible regularly and my prayer time involved only an occasional prayer before bed. However as I prepared for teaching the Revelation class, I started to get back into Bible Study and started praying regularly. Wonderful things started happening, which is not unusual when you read the Bible and pray regularly. God started to show me things through coincidences. Coincidences are occurrences that happen by accident but seem to have some connection to each other. But these occurrences were not by accident - God was causing them. My wife, Susan, refers to these events as “God-cidences.” Perhaps you too have experienced “God-cidences” in your life.
Several “God-cidences” occurred for me during and after the
Revelation Bible class. For example, on Sunday morning, Susan and I were
driving to church and I told her that several weeks ago I believed that God was
only occasionally involved in our daily lives. I would have guessed that
perhaps 10% of the time God was guiding us and the other 90% of the time the
events in our lives just happened by chance. Now, however, my attitude had changed,
and I believed that I had the numbers reversed. It may be more accurate to say
that God was involved in 90% of our lives and that only 10% of the time things
were by chance. I mentioned to her that the phrase “small world” implied
coincidence, but I didn’t believe in mere coincidence any more. To me the
phrase “small world” now meant that God was involved in our lives and that He
was making things happen. God is in control and He has a plan for each one of
us. I continued to talk with my wife about the phrase “small world” until we
arrived at church. The church service began and it was just a few minutes into
the sermon when the minister stated, “Oh, isn’t it a small world?” Throughout
the sermon he continually used that “small world” phrase just as Susan and I
had done while driving to church that morning. It is a small world and now
when I hear that phrase, I know that God is doing something and we need to take
notice because He is involved in our lives.
After the church service I noticed a display of free
pamphlets near the church library. The pamphlets covered various subjects such
as communion, baptism, and the Holy Spirit. Our church rarely talked about the
Holy Spirit. I knew the Father as the Creator and the Son as Jesus, but I
didn’t know very much about the Holy Spirit. So I took a pamphlet about the
Holy Spirit home and read it. It talked about the way that the Holy Spirit
works within us to comfort, guide and teach us. The Holy Spirit can help us
with relationships with others, help us to pray, and empower us with gifts to
help others. The pamphlet listed the fruit
of the Spirit (characteristics of the
Spirit) which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal 5:22).
Later that evening, Susan and our kids went to the church
for a senior high youth program. I was not usually involved with this youth
program because of my weekend schedule as a pilot. After a little while, Susan
called from the church saying that the regular youth teacher had to leave and
asked if I would come to the church and finish the lesson. I replied that I
would be right over. I picked up the pamphlet about the Holy Spirit and prayed
that I didn’t know what their lesson was about tonight but that we might talk
about the Holy Spirit. Our church rarely teaches on the Holy Spirit and I
wanted to share with the kids what I had just learned about the Holy Spirit and
the fruit of the Spirit. As I entered
the classroom, I was amazed that the teacher who I was replacing was listing
the fruit of the Spirit on the blackboard: love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I had no doubt about this connection or
God-cidence. I knew that I was there to
continue this lesson for the Holy Spirit. God does show us things, sometimes through God-cidences. So many
times we miss noticing those events or we just casually ignore them. We need to watch for those God-cidences and
“small world” happenings because usually God is showing us something.
Several days later, in the Revelation Bible Study class, a member of the class whose name is Richard asked what it meant to be “born again.” He questioned the meaning of being “born again” and told the class that he had always felt that he knew God during his whole life. Richard said that if someone had followed God’s laws, been an active member of the church including work as a deacon and elder, and led a good life; then why would there be a reason to be “born again?” The terms “born again,” “reborn” and “spiritual rebirth” didn’t make any sense to him. Richard made the statement that he believed Jesus to be God’s son and saw no reason to be “born again.” Various class members commented on Richard’s question, but I failed as the teacher to provide Richard with a meaningful answer about being “born again” and salvation. During the next week, I would be led to a better understanding of salvation so that Richard’s question could be properly answered.
Over that weekend, I was called out to fly a trip to
After returning home, I told my wife about all that had
happened in the
The next morning, I called and visited several people to learn more about being “born again.” One of the friends that I turned to was Irma who runs an outreach rescue ministry in the inner city. She helps people turn away from alcohol, drugs, and crime then turns them towards the Lord. She helped me understand the meaning of being “born again.” Later that night, at the Revelation Bible Study class, I explained to about twenty-five fellow Presbyterians that God had told Susan to tell me that I needed to properly answer Richard’s question about being “born again.” This was an unusual thing to say in our church, but the class accepted my explanation and everyone, including Richard, listened carefully to the salvation message. That night Richard told his wife that for the first time in his life, he knew what it meant to be “born again” and how to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Four days later, on Sunday, November 10th, I discovered the
reason for having to talk about being “born again” with Richard. To our
surprise, Richard died suddenly of congestive heart failure. God loved him so
much that He sent other people into his life so that Richard would know the
most important message in life, the message of salvation, before he died. From
that experience we all learned about being born again including me. Thankfully
Richard had received Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior before his death and
is now with the Lord.
The Message
I want to share with you what I have learned about being
born again. The phrase “born again” comes from the beginning of the third
chapter of the gospel of John in the Bible. This is what Jesus tells a man
named Nicodemus:
I tell you the truth; no one can
see the
We are all born physically once, but we must also be born of
the Spirit to see the
For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son,
that who shall ever believes
in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
The word “believes” is a very powerful word that can mean different things to various people. For example, what do I mean when I say that I believe that Jesus Christ is God’s son? Perhaps a different perspective would provide a better understanding of the word “believes.” Consider the statement that Satan believes (knows) that Jesus Christ is God’s Son. So what is the difference between Satan believing and us as Christians believing? The difference is that even though Satan knows and believes that Jesus Christ is God’s Son, he does NOT ask and accept Christ into his life. It is one thing to believe something with just our mind; and it is a completely different thing to believe with our heart (your spirit). Anyone can believe with their mind, including Satan. The important difference is that we can ask and accept Jesus into our lives. In the John 3:16 passage, the word “believes” means that we trust Christ and ask Him into our lives and commit to Him as our Lord and Savior. Once we ask and accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we are saved (salvation) and are given eternal life. Jesus was born into this world for us. He died on the cross as the sacrificial lamb (the Lamb of God) so that we could be forgiven for our sins. This is what John the Baptist said when he saw Jesus coming toward him,
Look the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)
Sins are the things that we do wrong that cause us to be apart from God. It is by God’s forgiveness (grace) that we can be saved through Jesus Christ, our Savior (the one who saves us). We have all sinned, none of us is perfect. So God gave us a Savior who takes away our sins. We can NOT work our way to Heaven with just good deeds. We are saved through Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross. If we could just lead good lives to save our selves then why did Jesus die on the cross? Reason: God’s grace and mercy. Jesus paid the price for our sin. Being “saved” or being “reborn” is a phrase that means we trust, ask and accept Christ into our lives and that we are spiritually reborn. This is the beginning of a personal relationship with God. At first, we may not experience “lights from heaven” but our lives will change as we walk and talk with Him.
A personal relationship with God means that we talk to Him in prayer and know Him through the Bible but most importantly that we love Him. Jesus tells us the greatest commandment is to love God:
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the first and greatest
commandment. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as
yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments. (Mat. 22:37)
What does it mean to love God? Consider the following analogy. How would you feel if you asked someone to marry you and this was their reply: “Yes, I’ll marry you, but I don’t want any of the heart-felt emotion of love. I just what to be practical and logical. I will work with you faithfully, take care of the house with you, and help you raise a family. I will serve you, but don’t ask me to have an intimate personal relationship with you or to love you.” That is not the type of relationship that most of us would want nor is it the type of relationship that God wants with us. God wants our love more than anything else we could possibly give Him. Then, because we love Him, we will serve Him. Our faith must go beyond what we believe; it must be a dynamic part of all that we do. Our salvation does NOT depend on our good works; however through our relationship with the Lord good works should be a result.
Consider our Heavenly Father’s relationship with us as we have a relationship with our own children. As parents what we want most from my own children is their love. There isn’t really anything that they could do or give us that we could not do or get for ourselves. What we really desire is their love. Our children could serve us but actually care less about us or even hate us. They could just serve us so that we will feed them and buy them things. But what we really want from them is their love, not just their service. God is our Heavenly Father and He wants our love more than anything else that we could possibly give Him.
Instead of finding God with just your hands or mind, come to Him with all your heart. Come to the Lord with an open, surrendered, childlike heart and ask to become closer to Him. Christian faith is all about love. It is NOT about being religious and following certain rules. If you go to a church that is wonderful but just going to church doesn’t necessarily mean that you have accepted the Lord with all your heart. Christian faith is all about having a personal, loving relationship with God. It is about a first time commitment (accepting Him as our Savior) and a life time relationship (following Him as our Lord). Salvation is God’s gift to us, but we need to each accept that gift individually. We accept His gift with a prayer and by asking Jesus to be our Savior and Lord.
All who call upon the name of the
Lord will be saved. (Acts
The Rev. Billy Graham’s book, The Holy Spirit, offers
these words under the title of “How to Become Born Again”. “How do you accept
this gift? Acceptance is by a simple act of faith in which you say ‘Yes’ to
Christ. If you have never accepted Christ into your life, I invite you to do it
now before another minute passes. Simply
tell God you are a sinner and you are sorry for your sins. Tell Him that you
believe Jesus Christ died for you, and that you want to give your life to Him
right now to follow and serve Him as Lord the rest of your life.” A prayer from
your own heart is the best, but this is an example of such a prayer:
Dear God,
I confess that I am not perfect and that I have sinned. I repent of my sins and ask you to forgive me and change me. I accept Jesus Christ into my life and believe in my heart that He is my Lord and Savior. I commit my life to you. I ask for the Holy Spirit to be with me and guide me…
Talk to Him. He loves
you. Ask Him into your life and love Him with all your heart. Ask & Love.
Read His book. It is the
number one best seller. Find other Christians who love the Lord.
There is nothing
more important in your life than having a relationship with God.
Share the message.
ARE 4/2005
Scripture
to Mediate Upon
God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. We know that we live in Him and He in us, because He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. (1 John 4:8-16)
Chapter 3
The New Testament part of our English Bibles is a translation of the original scrolls that were written in Greek about 2000 years ago. “Sozo” is the Greek word that means to save, to heal, to deliver, to protect, and to bless. This word is so important because it shows what Jesus has provided for us. You have probably heard the phrase that “Jesus Saves.” Well, the word “saves” in Greek is “sozo.” We will see that this one single word describes the wonderful things that Jesus provided for us by His death on the cross. I will use the eighth chapter in the Gospel according to Luke to illustrate how the word “sozo” is used in the scripture. Notice in this one single chapter how the word “sozo” is used to mean to save, to heal, to deliver, to protect, and to bless. Therefore Jesus’ sacrificial death provides not only spiritual salvation and eternal life; but also physical and mental healing; deliverance from demonic oppression and possession; protection against the storms of life; and the removal of the curses against us thus providing blessing.
Here is a preview of the stories in
Luke chapter 8 and how the word “sozo” is used. In the parable of the four
soils, Jesus talks about being “saved spiritually” or salvation, which is the Greek
word “sozo.” In the story of Jesus calming the storm, his disciples cry out be
“physically saved” or rescued from the storm. Again, the original Greek word
for being rescued is “sozo.” When Jesus
delivers the man from the legion of demons, the words “the possessed man had been cured”
literally is translated to mean “sozo.” When the woman touches Jesus’ robe and
she is instantly healed, the word “healed” is actually “sozo.” When Jaruis’
daughter is raised from the dead by Jesus, the phrase “she was healed” is
translated from the word “sozo.” The miraculous
power of Jesus on the cross is summed up in a single word -- “sozo.”
This miraculous powers of healing, deliverance, protection, and
blessing are available to us today, just as salvation or being born again are
available now. Jesus saves (sozo).
This chapter is a good example of the story of Jesus’ ministry and his message. Since there are several important themes in this chapter, we will review this chapter more thoroughly. The chapter begins with by identifying some of the followers of Jesus.
The Good News
Jesus traveled about from one
town and village to another, proclaiming
the good news of the
Notice that in addition to the twelve men, there are several women who are with Jesus as well. Jesus’ followers were not only men, but women as well. In fact, one of those women who is mentioned is Mary Magdalene. She was the first person to see Jesus at the tomb on the day of His resurrection. It wasn’t Peter or John who first saw Jesus, -- it was Mary Magdalene. This is significant since women were not treated equally with men during that time. Yet, she was the one who Christ first appeared after his resurrection from the dead. Jesus didn’t first appear to a great king, but to a common woman who believed. So no matter who you are, Jesus can reveal himself to you just as He did to Mary. Never underestimate God’s love for you.
While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming
to Jesus from town after town, He told this parable: "A farmer went out
to sow his seed. As he was
scattering the seed, some fell along the
path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some
fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had
no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and
choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and
yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown."
The parable of the four soils is found not only in Luke 8:4, but also in Matthew 13:1 and Mark 4:1. Parables compare something familiar to something unfamiliar. Parables compare the known to the unknown. Many times parables compare something in the physical world to something in the spiritual world. Jesus taught in parables to compel the listener to think and to conceal the truth from those who are too stubborn or prejudice to hear what is being taught. In the parable of the four soils, we see that Jesus is talking about four different people and how they respond to God’s message of the good news. It may also be a parable about just one person and four different phases or times in his or her life.
When He said this, He called
out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." His disciples asked Him
what this parable meant. He said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the
In this passage, Jesus tells us to listen carefully. He quotes one of the most famous prophets in the Old Testament -- Isaiah. This passage comes from Isaiah, Chapter 6, verse 9-10 where the Lord says: "You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused (hardened); they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”
Some people hear only with their
ears; some listen with their minds to find reasons not to believe; and others
listen with their heart because they have faith and truly want to grow with the
Lord. As we continue to read this chapter, ask the Lord to give you faith to
spiritually see, to spiritually hear, and know in your heart that His words are
true. Also keep in mind the last sentence -- that those who want to see, hear,
and understand - - they would be healed.
This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the
word of God.
Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then
the devil (Satan) comes and takes away the word from
their hearts, so that
they may not believe and be saved (sozo -- salvation).
Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.
The seed that fell among thorns stands for those
who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries,
riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.
(Mark
But the seed on good soil stands for those with a
noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by
persevering produce a crop.
There are four choices available to us when hearing the word from God:
"No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts
it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can
see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and
nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore
consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever
does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him."
Allow me to repeat part if this scripture again - -“consider carefully how you listen.” This means that we are to listen in faith that God is speaking to us. I believe that explains the next sentence which at first may not sound correct. Let me paraphrase -- Those who have, will be given more; those who do not have, yet they think they have, even that will be taken away. It sounds like the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer. I believe that is the correct interpretation but it is not about money; it is about faith. Those who have faith and use it, get more faith. Those who do not have faith will continue to be poor in faith. Therefore we should listen in faith and use our faith or it will be taken away.
Now Jesus' mother and
brothers came to see Him, but they were not able to get near Him because of the
crowd. Someone told Him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside,
wanting to see you." He replied, "My mother and brothers are those
who hear God's word and put it into practice."
Mathew
One day Jesus said to his
disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got
into a boat and set out. As they sailed, He fell asleep. A squall came down on
the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
The disciples went and woke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to
drown!"
In Matthew
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. "Where is your faith?" He asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him."
Notice the phrase “save us” from
Matthew
Lord, Help (Sozo) Me
I remember a time when I cried out,
‘Lord, help me.” It was in April of 1971
when I was taking one of my first solo flights and almost my last. I know the
month because pilots are required to keep a log book of their flying times and
I still have my first log book. I had
soloed a Cessna 150 airplane at the age of sixteen on
The next day, my flight instructor sent me out to the practice area by myself to do some air work such as stalls. A stall is a maneuver that pilots practice that involves raising the airplane’s nose (angle of attack) to stall the wing so that it stops creating lift. A stall is not about the engine stopping, it is about reducing the lift on the wing. Once I flew into my practice area, I set up to practice stalls. I reduced my airspeed and raised the nose to enter the stall. Once the pilot hears the stall warring in the cockpit and feels the buffeting on the wings; he recovers by lowering the nose while keeping the wings level and adding power. But it didn’t happen that way when I did it by myself.
When I felt the buffeting from the stall, I used the yoke (steering wheel) in an effort to keep the wings level instead of using the rudder pedals with my feet. I didn’t know that moving the yoke and ailerons on the wing were ineffective. The correct way to keep the wings level was to use my feet on the rudder pedals. As the airplane started to roll, I added full power as I was taught and then tried to lower the nose. But the torque from applying the power turned the airplane upside down and I entered into a spin. I had never seen a spin much less had any idea how to recover from one. The plane was spinning rapidly to the left with full power and pointed down toward the ground. To put it mildly, I was in a lot of trouble.
If you have ever been in a life and
death situation, you may recall that time seems to slow down as your mind
wonders on odd thoughts. I recall thinking about our normal family dinner at
God then planted a thought in my mind. “Allan, you are pointed at the ground with full power, why not reduce the power to idle and you will live longer.” So I complied and reduced the power to idle. Now I was getting close to the ground and so I let go of the yoke (steering wheel) and surrendered the airplane. That turned out to be exactly what I need to do, because after I reduced the power and let go of the yoke, the airplane stopped spinning and recovered by itself. I didn’t know that it would do that, but God did. I didn’t know to reduce the power and just let go. Airplanes are designed to want to fly, not spin. (The aeronautical technical term is “dynamic stability.”) I got back up to a safe altitude and returned back to the airport. God saved (sozo) me. Many times when we are faced with problems, the answer is to let go and let God handle it. Surrender it to Him. When I took my hands off the controls and surrendered the airplane to Him, the spinning stopped.
So that I don’t get one scared
about flying, let me explain that I was a sixteen-year-old student pilot and I
had some poor flight instruction. I would recommend that anyone interested in
learning to fly, find a good instructor.
I later became a flight instructor at
They sailed to the
region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from
Here the word “sozo” means to deliver from demonic possession. If there is any doubt about there being a devil and demons, then consider this passage. This man was not just mentally unstable, he was possessed and Jesus allowed the demons to go into the pigs. Some people think that there is no demonic possession, just mental health issues. If that were true, why did as many as 2000 pigs rush down a steep bank into a lake and drown when confronted with Jesus? Remember that Jesus also mentions the devil by name in the parables of the four soils. More information concerning demons and deliverance will follow in a later section.
Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed Him, for they
were all expecting Him. Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with Him
to come to his house because his only
daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. (In Mark -- “Please come and put your
hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”)
As Jesus was on his way, the
crowds almost crushed Him. And a woman
was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one
could heal her. She came up behind Him and touched the edge of his cloak, and
immediately her bleeding stopped. "Who touched me?" Jesus asked. When
they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and
pressing against you." But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know
that power has gone out from me." Then the woman, seeing that she could
not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all
the people, she told why she had touched Him and how she had been instantly healed. Then He said to her,
"Daughter, your faith has
healed you (sozo -- healing). Go in
peace." (The King James
version says ‘made whole”-- healed).
While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the
house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," he said. "Don't bother the
teacher any more." Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, "Don't be
afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” (Sozo -- resurrection
power) When He arrived at the house of Jairus, He did not let anyone
go in with Him except Peter, John and James, and the child's father and mother.
Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. "Stop
wailing," Jesus said. "She is not dead but asleep." They laughed
at Him, knowing that she was dead. But He took her by the hand and said, "My child, get up!" (In
Mark – in Aramaic “Talitha koum.”) Her
spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them
to give her something to eat. Her parents were astonished, but He ordered them
not to tell anyone what had happened.
Notice the faith of the woman with the issue of blood who believed (knew in her heart) that if she just touched Jesus, she would be healed (sozo). Also notice the faith of the ruler of the synagogue when he fell at Jesus' feet and said, “Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” This leader had no doubt that through Jesus, his daughter could be healed. When the little girl was healed (sozo) and rose from the dead, notice that Jesus surrounded himself with only believers. It was just Peter, John, James, the father, and mother who were permitted to witness the event. There is tremendous power in falling at His feet and surrendering to God. By trusting and believing in Him, miracles do happen.
A Mother’s Surrender
I recall a time when my own mother faced a very difficult time in her life when her youngest child almost died. My brother was about two years old when he suddenly got sick. The doctor said it was just the flu and she shouldn’t worry. Several days had passed and my baby brother was still not eating and started to have difficulty breathing. My parents took him to the hospital where tests were done to find the problem. However the doctors could not find the problem. My brother’s health was failing and he started to have convulsions. They put him on oxygen. Later, the doctors told my parents that my brother would not survive the night. My mother watched her baby boy on the hospital bed as his little body tossed violently against the restraints. It was too difficult for her to watch her son’s struggle. She felt helpless. She cried out to the Lord and told him that this situation was unbearable. Her prayer was that she could no longer handle this situation and asked the Lord to carry this burden. She told the Lord that her baby was in his hands. She surrendered her child to the Lord.
Within a few minutes of my mother’s
prayer, a young intern came into the room and said that he wanted to do some
tests. From those tests, the intern
discovered that my brother was diabetic.
Insulin was administered and he survived the night. My mother believes that God answered her prayer
for her son when she surrendered the situation to Him. My brother was healed (sozo) by God through a
young intern. Today he is happily married and has two adorable children. Faith is surrendering to God and trusting in
Him. It doesn’t mean that all of your
problems will be solved the way that you expect; but it does mean that God is
with you and loves you. He has a plan for your life even if you don’t see the
real ending yet.
We have found that the word “sozo”
means not only to “save,” but also to protect, deliver, and heal. It was also
used for salvation in the parable of the soil where the Devil steals the word
away so that they may not believe and be saved. It can mean to protect or
rescue from harm such as the story of Jesus calming the storm. Sozo can mean to deliver from being possessed
and oppressed such as the story of the man and the legion of demons. It can mean to heal, like the story of the
woman was healed by touching the hem of the robe of Jesus and the resurrection
healing power of the young daughter. Therefore through Jesus who died on the cross
for us, we can overcome life’s problems and obstacles. The
miraculous power of Jesus on the cross is summed up in a single word -- “sozo.” This word is used in the New Testament more
that one hundred times to describe the saving, healing, delivering, protecting,
and blessing power that is available to us through Jesus Christ.
The word sozo is at the very heart of who Jesus is. Before his birth,
an angel appeared to Joseph and told him to name the new son – “Jesus” because
He will save (sozo) his people from sin. The name Jesus in Hebrew is actually “Yeshua” which means “the Lord saves.”
Scripture
to Mediate Upon
She
(Mary) will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus
(Yeshua),
because
He will save (sozo) his people from their sins.
(Matt
Who Christ Is
In the last chapter, we focused on the word “sozo” from the New Testament which describes what God has done for us through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. Through God’s love and sacrifice, we can receive salvation, healing, protection, deliverance, and blessing. Now, let’s turn to the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament. Many people believe that Isaiah is probably one of the greatest Old Testament prophets. Isaiah is quoted at least 50 times in the New Testament and he is quoted many times by Jesus. In fact, recall that in our last chapter on Luke (chapter eight), Jesus refers to Isaiah’s words concerning hearing and understanding.
Isaiah prophetically writes the
last 27 chapters of the book of Isaiah about 150 years before it actually
happens. He foretells the future of
The Bible -- 66 Books Isaiah
-- 66 Chapters
A fascinating parallel can be made between the Bible as a whole and the book of Isaiah. The Bible has 66 books and the book of Isaiah also has 66 chapters.
Law and Judgment Old Testament books 1 thru 39 Isaiah chapters 1 thru 39
The first 39 books of the Bible
make up the Old Testament which is the law and judgment. Likewise, the first 39
chapters of Isaiah generally deal with the sins of
Restoration and Jesus New Testament books 40 thru 66 Isaiah chapters 40 thru 66
The last 27 books of the Bible are the New Testament which bring a message of forgiveness and grace through Jesus. Likewise, the last 27 chapters of Isaiah prophetically tell about with the future Messiah – Jesus who brings forgiveness and grace.
In the last 27 chapters, Isaiah
writes about
Isaiah 40, which parallels the beginning of the New Testament, contains this verse -- A voice of one calling in the desert: “Prepare the way for the Lord.” (Isaiah 40:3) This Old Testament verse is quoted at the beginning of the New Testament in Matthew 3:3 with this reference to John the Baptist preparing the way of the Jesus. Just as Isaiah 40 foreshadows the beginning of the New Testament, so does the last chapter of Isaiah relate to the last book of the New Testament. The book of Revelation tells about a new heaven and new Earth just as the last chapter of Isaiah. (Isaiah 66:22 and Revelation 21:1)
Isaiah also prophetically tells about Jesus in the exact middle of the last 27 chapters which is related to the New Testament. Between chapter 40 and chapter 66, is chapter 53 of Isaiah. Just like Jesus is the center of the New Testament, Isaiah places Jesus in the center of his prophetic chapters. It is here that we will see that the cross is the center of all of God’s provision. The middle verse -- verse six of this middle chapter summarizes the New Testament -- LORD has laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity (rebellion and sin) of us all. God has provided one answer to all our problems. The answer is Jesus and what He did for us on the cross.
Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed our
message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2He grew up before Him
like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or
majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire Him.
3He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with
suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we
esteemed Him not.
4 Surely He took up our infirmities
(sickness) and carried our sorrows (pain),
yet we considered Him
stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced for our transgressions, He
was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has
turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity (rebellion) of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open his mouth; He was
led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so He did not open his mouth. 8By oppression and judgment He was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression
of my people He was stricken. 9He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death, though He had done no violence, nor was any
deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the
LORD's will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his
life a guilt offering, He will see his offspring and prolong his days, and
the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 11After the suffering of his
soul, He will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my
righteous servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. 12Therefore
I will give Him a portion among the great, and He will divide the spoils with
the strong, because He poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with
the transgressors. For He bore the sin of many, and made intercession
for the transgressors.
Authentication
Authentication is a word that I
first learned while flying as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. As a pilot, I
flew C-141 Starlifters and we would travel all around the world. I was blessed
by having the opportunity to visit many counties in
So can we authenticate that the passage in Isaiah 53 is really talking about Jesus? Yes!
Jesus himself authenticates Isaiah 53 in Luke 22:3, when he quotes verse 12 of Isaiah 53.
Jesus quotes Isaiah 53 and says that this was written about Him. Jesus authenticates Isaiah 53. Jesus was numbered with the transgressors despite having a sinless life. He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity (rebellion) of us all. His life is a guilt offering. He will justify many and He will bear their iniquities. He was pierced for our transgressions and was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him. He took up our infirmities (sickness) and carried our sorrows (pain). By his wounds we are healed.
The
cross is a divine transfer in which all the bad things due to our sinfulness
came upon Jesus and the good things that belonged to Him became ours. What is the sin that we commit? It is not just
breaking the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament (Exodus 20). Sin is not necessarily committing a terrible
crime. Sin encompasses pride in self instead of being humble and acknowledging
that God blesses us daily. Sin is complaining like the generation of Israelites
who never entered the promise land. Sin is being critical of others and “seeing
the speck in their eye when there is a plank in our eye.” (Mat7:3-5)
I
mention these sins because these are some of my own faults -- being prideful,
complaining, and being critical of others.
Let’s
define sin more precisely. Sin could best be described as failing to give God
His rightful place in our lives. After
all, if God was the center of our lives, would we want to do any thing that
displeases Him? Perhaps the greatest sin of all could be described as disbelief
-- not believing and not trusting in God. After all, disbelief in God is the only
unpardonable “sin.” Jesus says that all
sins can be forgiven except grieving the Holy Spirit which is failing to
believe and have faith in Him.
Everything we will ever need whether spiritual, physical, emotional, or material has been provided by the cross. Jesus on the cross said “It is finished,” meaning it is totally complete. Everything that we need is given by God in the sacrifice on the cross. That sacrifice unlocks all the treasures of God’s provision. The perfect sacrifice -- completely perfect, nothing omitted. The cross is the center of all of God’s provision. Consider this fact -- the life of the Son of God (God himself) is more than a sufficient atonement for all of mankind. All the evil that is due to us, came upon Jesus; so that all the good due to Jesus, earned by His sinless obedience, might be made available to us. This is God’s grace and mercy.
Grace -- getting what we don’t deserve (forgiveness).
Mercy -- not getting what we deserve (judgment).
God has given us the key of grace
and mercy through Jesus, to unlock the door for salvation, healing,
deliverance, protection, and blessing.
Scripture
to Mediate Upon
He (Jesus) took up our
infirmities (sickness) and carried
our sorrows (pain)…
He was pierced for our
transgressions, He was crushed
for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has
turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on Him
(Jesus) the iniquity of us all.
He was cut off from the land of the living; for
the transgression of my people He was stricken.
The LORD makes his life a guilt
offering,
By his knowledge (by knowing Him), my righteous servant will justify many,
and He will bear their
iniquities.
He poured out his life unto
death, and “was numbered with
the transgressors.”
For He bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the
transgressors.
Jesus took our sin, so that we can be made righteousness. (based upon
2 Corin. 5:21)
In Isaiah 53:6 it says that we all, like sheep, have gone astray (sinned). Each of us has turned to his own way and the LORD (God) has laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity (sin and rebellion) of us all. Jesus took upon Himself all the sins of the world -- past, present, and future. Jesus became sin on the cross for us. In Second Corinthians 5:21, Paul says that God made Him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us.
Here is how I came to better
understand this concept. Several years ago, I had a layover in
I must admit that at that time, I
didn’t have a good explanation for him, but now I do. Through out Jesus’ ministry, He had
fellowship with the Father. Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing. But
during those last few moments on the cross, the Father departed from Jesus --
his beloved son, so that all the sins of the world would be place upon Jesus.
Jesus became sin. In fact those are the words used in 2 Corin.
God made Him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin
for us,
so
that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corin. 5:21)
Jesus became sin. Sin is contrary to the nature of God. So God the Father departed, leaving Jesus to become our sin. For the first time, Jesus was alone and suffering the weight of all our sin. Jesus then announces, “It is finished” and dies. I believe our sins killed Jesus. He sacrificed himself for you and me. It wasn’t really just the Jewish leaders or the Roman soldiers who killed Jesus; it was all of us. A better way to state this is to say that Jesus died because of me. That makes it personal. When a person can admit that their sins killed Jesus then they truly understand what it means to have Jesus as their personal Savior. Jesus willingly laid down is life for me and the rest of mankind. All the sins of the world were placed upon Him. His death was the sacrifice or the atonement for our sins, so that we can be forgiven.
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous(Jesus) for the unrighteous (us),
to bring you to God. (1 Peter 3:18)
During the last supper, Jesus said,
“This
is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness
of sins. (Matt 26:28) This is a clear message that a new covenant
for the forgiveness of sin was through his sacrificial death on the cross.
Jesus was made sin with our sinfulness, so that we can be made righteous
with His righteousness.
Jesus was punished, so that we can be forgiven.
Isaiah 53:5 said that He (Jesus) was pierced for our
transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that
brought us peace was upon Him. In other words, our sin was placed
upon Jesus so that we would have peace (forgiveness) with God. As long as our
sin is not forgiven, we can not have peace with God. God will not make peace with
sin. Sin must be dealt with. In order to have peace with God, there must be
judgment and punishment. Jesus took the judgment and punishment for us by His
grace and mercy. Here are two New Testament passages that emphasize this theme:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. (Rom 5:1-2)
In Him we have redemption (being bought back) through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace. (Eph 1:7-8)
Isaiah 53:10 says that His (Jesus) life is a guilt offering. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world through his sacrificial death. (John 1:29) Jesus was punished so that we can be forgiven.
Jesus died so that we can have eternal life.
Jesus died on the cross so that we
have eternal life. He willingly
sacrificed His sinless life for our sinful lives so that we would have eternal
life. Isaiah 53:8 said that He (Jesus)
was cut off from the land of the living (died); for the transgression (sins) of
my people, He was stricken (killed).
Here are some scriptures that emphasize that believing what Jesus did on the cross results in eternal life.
For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:40)
Jesus
said to her (Martha), "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and
whoever lives and believes in me will never die. (John 11:25-26)
Jesus was wounded so that we can be healed. (1 Peter 2:24)
Isaiah 53:4-5 says that that He (Jesus) took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows (pain/diseases)… and that by his wounds, we are healed. In the New Testament, Isaiah 53 is quoted in Mathew 8:17:
When evening came, many who were
demon-possessed were brought to Him, and He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to
fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
"He (Jesus) took up our
infirmities and carried our diseases."
On a side note: In some other
languages such as Greek, a tree means a live tree and/or a dead tree (wood or
lumber). They make no distinction between the fact that it is a living tree or
a piece of lumber. So the term “tree” here refers to the wooden cross.
The key point is that through Jesus’ work on the cross, we are healed. Notice the tense in the scripture above -- by his wounds you have been healed. Jesus already healed you by his sacrifice on the cross, just like He forgave your sins. The next chapter we will deal more with healing.
Jesus took our curses so that we can receive blessings. (Galatians
3:13)
Jesus became a curse so that we would receive blessing. Paul writes in Galatians 3:13 that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree (or cross)." Here we see that on the cross Jesus became a curse for us; He took upon himself our sins and the curses that were against us. In exchange for Jesus taking our curses, we received the blessings that rightfully belonged to Him.
Isaiah 53:11 says that He (Jesus) will bear their iniquities. Iniquities are not only the sins of rebellion, but also the consequences or curses that they bring. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us so that blessing would come to us. Many Christians believe in blessings, but what about curses? We bless our food, we bless our families, and we bless others when they sneeze. “God bless you.” But are there curses too? The Bible uses the word bless or blessing over 400 times (excluding where it means happy or fortunate) and uses the word curse over 200 times. Thankfully blessings out number curses two to one. Blessings result from hearing God’s voice and doing what He says. Curses result from doing things without hearing God’s voice and not doing what He says.
Blessings and curses usually are not limited to an individual, but usually extend to families, tribes, and nations. Once released, blessings as well as curses tend to continue for generations. Consider the passage from the Ten Commandments:
And God spoke all these words:
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of
If there are any doubts about the fact that God gives blessing and curses, read Deuteronomy, chapter 28. The entire chapter deals with blessings due to obedience and curses due to disobedience. Another important passage is found in Deuteronomy 30:19-20:
This day
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death,
blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your
children may live and that you may
love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to Him.
God gives us the opportunity to receive blessings through Jesus, but there are also opportunities that that may lead us to curses as well. Therefore we know that according to the Bible some curses may come from God, but what are some other sources. One of the most common sources of curses originates from our-selves. How do we curse ourselves?
First, we must keep in mind that
words have power. God’s words are so powerful that He spoke the universe into
existence. In Mathew 12:36, Jesus said,”I
say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it
in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your
words you will be condemned." Think about some of the words that
we speak that result in curses upon ourselves. How many times have you heard
someone say the phrase, “I can never do anything right!” It is a curse that
they are pronouncing over themselves that they will never do anything right. Or
consider the parent who uses this phrase over their children by saying, “Can’t
you ever do anything right, you are so bad!”
Don’t speak those curses. Speak the positive, not the negative. Speak
life, not death. I am NOT saying that
every problem we have is the result of a curse, but I am suggesting that you
consider that sometimes it may be the cause.
Here are some common phrases that can invoke a self curse and cause
problems.
Some phrases that can cause curses:
“This is driving me crazy” or “I just can’t take it any more”
“Whenever someone gets sick, I catch it too” or “I’m so sick and tired of…”
“I never have any money” or “I can never afford anything”
Results in financial
problems.
“It always happens to me” or “I’m just clumsy”
Results in being
accident prone.
“Over my dead body” or “I’d rather die than…”
Here
is a list of some of the causes of curses:
Now some people may think that fortune telling is not so bad. But consider the source of fortune telling. It is sometimes a hoax, but sometimes it operates from a source that is not of God. There are demons (fallen angels) and they do talk to those who are willing to listen. But some people say, “Well, I just like to have my fortune told for fun. I don’t really believe it.” Well, whether they mean it or not, they are opening a door to the demonic. The Bible tells us not to be involved with these things.
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. (Deut 18:10-11)
Whether we like it or not there are curses, but these curses can be broken because of what Jesus did on the cross. Jesus became a curse, so that we receive blessing. Here are seven guidelines that can be helpful in being released from a curse. It is only a guideline, NOT a formula or a procedure. But it should help open some possibilities that perhaps you may want to consider.
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (sozo). For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved… "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (sozo)." (Rom 10:9-13)
Tell God the mistakes (sins) that you have made and tell Him that you want to be forgiven. Tell Him everything. He already knows everything that you have done. He is just waiting to hear you confess it.
3. Claim
forgiveness of all sins
If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. In other words, don’t let pride get in the way of admitting that you are a sinner just like everyone else.
4. Forgive all other people who have ever harmed or hurt you
See the Lord’s Prayer in Matt 6:12-15
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our
debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil
one.
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
After all, if we truly believe what God has done for us by forgiving our sins; how can we not forgive what someone else has done to us? Unforgiveness is a weapon used against us. Don’t let it fester and cause you pain. Release it to Jesus and take it out of your heart. Also see the parable concerning unforgiveness in Matthew 18:21 concerning the unforgiving debtor. Renounce the curse by forgiving the person.
5. Renounce all contact with the occult
Ask God to show you anything offensive to Him in your past. Sometimes we take pledges or get involved with ungodly things as teenagers, so repent and renounce any past contacts with the occult.
6. Pray for release
By hanging on a cross, Jesus took upon Himself all our curses. We don’t earn it; we just receive it by God’s grace and mercy. The prayer may sound some thing like this --“Dear God, I ask you to release me from every curse over my life in the name of Jesus.”
7. Receive by faith
Faith means that God promised it, so you have it. We will talk more about faith in a later chapter.
Keep in mind that these guidelines would be difficult to do without the help of the Lord. So ask Him to help you. Once you have asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, He will always be with you to help you.
Always Blue Skies Above
Do you know that every day is a
sunny day? Pilot’s know that it is
possible to find the Sun even if it is cloudy and rainy. As a passenger in an
airliner, you have probably noticed that once you get above the clouds; it is
sunny. In order to find the Sun, all you
have to do is climb higher. Most of the clouds are within a few miles of the
atmosphere. Usually an altitude of 37,000 feet (7 miles) gets you above the
weather and in the Sun. So once you get
above the clouds, it is sunny as
You can leave the depression behind and praise the Son who loves you so much that He gave His life for you. You have a choice. You can leave the clouds and the rain behind. Just leave it and climb higher. It is so easy even a child can do it. Just think about your Savior and praise His name. Don’t focus on the rainy day; focus on what really matters. Love the Lord with all your heart. When you are in love, nothing else really matters. Climb higher. Seek the Son. He is always there even if it is raining on the ground. There are always blue skies above.
Scripture
to Mediate Upon
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. (Heb 13:5)
A Focus on Healing
In the introduction to this book, we began with the most popular scripture in the Bible -- John 3:16. We then looked at the next verse and later learned the Greek word -- “sozo.” From that single word we discovered all the things that Jesus accomplished for us on the cross - salvation, healing, protection, and deliverance (which is a release from a curse), thus a blessing.
Now let’s look at the verses just
before John 3:16. Keep in mind that Jesus is having a conversation with
Nicodemus and tells him that no one can
enter the
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave his
one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have
eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save (sozo) the world
through Him.
(John
3:14)
I was puzzled for several years why
in the middle of these important key passages concerning being “born again”
there was this one sentence talking about Moses and a snake. To find the answer
to that question we need to refer to Numbers 21:4-9. In this Old Testament passage, the Israelites
are complaining against God about their conditions. How many times are we guilty of complaining
about our circumstances? Complaining is a sin. It means that we are not
happy with what God has provided for us. Complaining is focusing on the
negative instead of appreciating the positive.
Many times when someone is complaining it means that they want something
else. They are coveting. That is a word
that I learned when I memorized the Ten Commandments in Sunday school. “Thou shall not covet” (King James version
Exodus
Now back to Moses and the snake story. Since the Israelites are complaining, the Lord sent venomous snakes among them. The snakes bit the people and many of them died. So Moses prayed and the Lord responded by saying to make a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then anyone who is bitten by the snakes can look at the bronze snake on the pole and live. So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
Now I could understand this passage if a lamb was placed on a pole as a foreshadowing of the Lamb of God -- Jesus. In other words anyone who looked up to the Lamb of God -- Jesus on the pole (cross) would be healed and live; but using a snake made no sense to me. In fact, a snake to me usually represents evil so why put a symbol of evil on a pole and look up at it? Then the Lord revealed to me why He had them use a snake. The snake was evil; in fact it represented what was hurting the people. The snake represented their complaining to the Lord and their mistrust in Him. As a foreshadowing of future events, the snake represented our sin and curses. When Jesus was on the cross, He became sin and became a curse just before He died. When Jesus died on the cross, He took upon himself all the sins and curses. Those sins and curses were placed on the cross just as the snake (which symbolized the curses) was placed on a pole. So when we look at Christ on the cross in faith we are released from sin and curses and are thus healed just as the Israelites looked at the snake on the pole, they were healed and lived.
Thus far, we have seen that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and that we are healed. Healing can involve all three aspects of our lives -- physical, mental, and spiritual. Jesus did it all on the cross. In fact, He even commanded us to remember this by sharing in the Lord’s Supper.
While they were
eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his
disciples, saying, "Take and eat;
this is my body." Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it
to them, saying, "Drink from it,
all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many
for the forgiveness of sins.”
(Matt 26:26 and also
see Mark 14:22 Luke
Communion is about the body and blood of Jesus. Most people understand the cup is His blood for forgiveness of sin so that we can experience an eternal spiritual life. But what about the bread. What does the bread represent? The bread is His body which is given for us so that our bodies have life and are healed.
In
John
What is the “manna” that Jesus
refers to in this passage? It is about God feeding the Israelites in the desert
after the parting of the
There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there He tested them. He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you." (Exodus 15:26)
Then He rains down manna from heaven. The Israelites ate manna for 40 years until they reached the promise land. Notice the phrase, “I am the Lord, who heals you, then God sends bread from heaven.
There is a relationship between the bread and healing. Just as there is a relationship between the blood and forgiveness.
I have heard people say -- How do I know if it is God’s will to heal me?
Answer -- God provided Jesus on the
cross to heal me because He loves me.
Perhaps a better question is -- How can I receive the healing God has
already provided for me through Jesus?
Perhaps you have heard the phrase, “if it is God’s will to heal me…” The phrase originates from the story of the leper who said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." (Matt 8:2) But Jesus corrects the leper’s theology and reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," He said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. Jesus is always willing. There is no scriptural reference of Jesus saying that He did not want to heal someone. If you are considering Paul’s thorn in his flesh was a sickness as recorded in 2 Corin 12:7, then perhaps there are some exceptions. After all, God is sovereign and He does know best. But I don’t think this was a sickness for Paul. The scripture says it was a messenger from Satan that torments him and doesn’t call it a sickness.
Jesus’ ministry was centered on the forgiveness of sins and healing. Recall the story in Mark 2:3-11 where some men lower a paralyzed man through the roof to meet with Jesus.
When Jesus saw their faith, He said
to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Now some teachers
of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow
talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who
can forgive sins but God alone?"
Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that
this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and He said to them,
"Why are you thinking these
things? Which is easier: to say to the
paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has
authority on Earth to forgive sins .
. . ." He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go
home."
Jesus forgave sins and healed people 2,000 years ago just as Jesus forgives sin and heals now. His ministry is forgiveness and healing. It has not stopped. Of course God is sovereign and He can do anything, but his ultimate desire is for each of us to be healed physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.
Some people say, “I believe that God will heal me” which really means “I hope that tomorrow He will heal me.” However the scripture, “by His stripes we are healed” is not in the future tense, but it is in the present tense. Faith is in the heart and is in the present. Hope is in the mind and is in the future. One of the strategies of the Devil is to delay. The Devil doesn’t flatly say that we can not be healed, because we would not listen to him, because we know that with God all things are possible. Instead the Devil says you will not be healed today, but maybe tomorrow. Don’t listen to the Devil, instead claim God’s word --“By His wounds, we are healed.” Claim God’s promises. Don’t deny the physical appearance, but claim the spiritual truth of God’s word.
Some people don’t believe that
there is a devil or that demons don’t exist. Perhaps they think that Jesus
didn’t really cast out demons, and that those people just had some mental
disease. Recall the stories in the eighth chapter of Luke where Jesus delivers
(sozo) a man possessed by demons. The legion of demons left the man and went in
to the herd of pigs. Then the pigs ran off the cliff. If it was just a mental
disease that Jesus healed, why did the pigs run off the cliff? Or consider the
story of the four soils. Jesus specifically mentions the devil by name as the
one who steals the seed (word of God) from their hearts so that they can not be
saved (sozo). Or consider the passage in Matthew, chapter four, when Jesus is
confronted by the devil in the desert -- the temptation. If there is any question that there is a
devil, then look more closely at the Bible references about him so that the
truth can be known about who the enemy is. In John 8:44, Jesus says that the
devil is a murderer, a liar, and the father of all lies.
Now, why don’t we always experience the physical healing immediately? Some have asked why they are not healed instantly when they have faith and believe in God’s word. Why don’t they experience the physical healing immediately?
There may be several reasons why we don’t experience the physical healing immediately. First, consider a possible curse. We know that Jesus became a curse for us and delivered us from curses, yet the curse needs to be broken. Sometimes healing is tied to a curse, perhaps a generational curse that needs to be broken before healing takes place. Recall the steps offered in releasing a curse.
Along the same lines as curses,
consider demonic warfare as a block to healing. The devil doesn’t want us to be
healed and he is battling against the armies of heaven to prevent it. That means that we must pray through a
healing in spiritual warfare. Remember
the prophet Daniel prayed, yet the angel sent to him was detained by a demonic
force for twenty-one days (Dan
Sometimes the answer to why we
don’t immediately experience a healing may be a parallel with the story of God
giving the Promised Land to
Why doesn’t everything just happen now?
Why are there challenges in life?
Why doesn’t God just fix them all now?
Simple reason -- because we aren’t in heaven. We are on Earth. This is a place of choice where there is good and evil. Due to original sin (separation from God), we experience the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Our earthy parents- Adam and Eve made that choice, just as we sadly make the same choice every day. Sickness and disease exist in this world. Sometimes we can cause sickness ourselves such as by smoking then getting lung cancer. But many times, sickness just happens no matter what we may do. God also has an anointed time that each of us will die. (There are exceptions such as Enoch, Elijah, and those during the tribulation.) It is just how things are in this fallen world. In the future, every tear will be wiped away, but for now we will face challenges and battles. However we have a key to overcome difficulties. The key is God’s love through Jesus. Have faith and believe in Him, so that the walls of sickness and disease will fall down.
The truth of the matter is through Jesus, we are healed. Pray through it and believe it. Never quit.
Keep in mind that Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). The truth is who He is and what He did on the cross for us. It is written: The truth will set you free. (John 8:32)
Is it honest for me to claim a healing when I see the physical evidence of sickness in my body? If you are looking at yourself in your natural condition, then it is not honest. But if you are looking at yourself as God sees you in Christ, then you have the right to claim victory. We are to believe that we are healed based on the word of God, not on the basis of our feelings or five senses. Of course, we are not to say to others that our healing has been fully manifested before it has happened in the physical realm. But we can say to those who ask that we standing on the Word of God.
Scripture
to Mediate Upon
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his
benefits--
who forgives all your sins and
heals all your diseases. (Psalm
103)
Faith is an allegiance, a belief, a trust, and a confidence in God. Faith is believing that God wants to be involved in our lives. Faith is a continuing personal relationship between the believer and God, and affects every area of his life. Faith is trust. A steady, unwavering confidence and trust in all circumstances that God is working out His purpose and blessing for each one of His children. Faith is a commitment to God’s plan for me. Faith makes God’s possibilities available to us.
In the English language “faith” is a noun and “believe” is a verb; but in Greek, the words “faith” and “believe” mean the same thing. Thus exercising faith is believing. The opposite of faith is unbelief. But faith is not just head knowledge because even the demons know of Jesus.
“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even
the demons believe that.” (James
2:19)
Even the legion of demons that possessed the man in Luke chapter eight knew who Jesus was. Faith is more than mere knowledge of the mind. Faith is from the heart in love and commitment. The demons don’t commit and love the Lord, but we can. By confessing with our mouth and believing in our heart that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, we become saved. When we believe in our heart; we are committing our lives and love to God in the heavenly realm. When we confess with our mouth; we are confessing in the natural realm. The words that we say have power.
That if you confess with your
mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that
you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess
and are saved. (Rom 10:9-10)
Believing in the spiritual realm
(heavenly realm) and confessing in the natural realm (the earthly realm) are
important aspects to receiving the blessings of God. This key is important to
healing as well. Believing and
confessing means that we are standing on God’s promises in faith. Faith is not
based on the five senses of seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, or tasting.
Instead it is based on the word or promises of God. Faith is saying and
believing what God says, then acting accordingly. In John 6:28-29 Jesus is
asked, "What must we do to do the
works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe
in the one He has sent." The works of God is faith in Him. It is by
faith and believing that God counts us as righteous; it is unbelief that makes
us unrighteous.
Let the Weak say I am Strong
Several years ago, the Lord gave me
a special song called “Give Thanks.” I first heard this song in a church in
I remember walking in to this church and seeing people with their hands raised and singing praise songs. I had never seen people raise their arms before while attending other churches. I later discovered that their arms were raised to show their surrender to the Lord. Recall the western cowboy movies where the bad guy says, “I surrender,” and raises his hands. It is like the sinner (us) surrendering to God by raising his hands. The raising of hands can also be related to going to a sports game when we raise our hands and yelling, “Yeah, Team.” Well, why can’t we raise our hands in church and say, “Yeah, God.”
In addition to the raising of hands, the words to the songs were projected up on a big screen in front of the church so that everyone could raise their hands to the Lord instead of holding a hymn book. The songs were simple songs that could easily be learned. The contemporary praise songs were so simple to learn that after just a few lines, you knew the words and could close your eyes while singing. That’s when it hit me. When I saw the people with their hands raised, their eyes closed, and singing these simple love songs to the Lord; it was then that I realized that they were worshipping.
They were believing that God was there and they were singing love songs to Him. In the past, I remember singing songs in our church, but I don’t know that we were singing them to anyone. We were just singing songs about God or about being a Christian. But these people were singing worship songs to God as though He was actually before them.
Now please don’t misunderstand my intention. We can praise and worship the Lord with wonderful hymns and we can love Him in quiet times with our hands folded. But for me, I didn’t really start to grasp worship until that moment. It isn’t really about the type of song; or about whether you sit or stand; or about the type of church; it is all about the condition of the heart. This is the point in my life that the light went on in me that worship was about loving God. Perhaps you have a song or hymn that has special meaning in your relationship with God. My Grandmother’s favorite hymn was “How Great Thou Art.”
The first praise song that I heard was “Give Thanks” in this San Diego First Assembly church. It is the song that the Lord has given me. About a week later, a friend named Don gave me a CD of contemporary worship music. Don was not aware that “Give Thanks” was the first song that I had heard previous week. I had never listened to contemporary praise music on a CD before and so this was all new to me. While I was driving to the airport on my way to work, I decide to try this new CD. I was surprised when I discovered “Give Thanks” was on the CD. As the song played, I sang along and tears began to flow down my cheeks. I realized that God was “talking to me” through this song and that this song was his gift to me.
Several months later while flying
from
When I got home, I told my wife, Susan, about the flight attendant singing “Give Thanks” at 35,000 feet.
The next night Susan and I went to a new church on the other side of town, called Victory Assembly. At the beginning of their service, they sang praise songs. Then the pastor came forward to give the sermon. He said, “Before I begin the message tonight, I feel the Lord has laid upon my heart a song that we need to sing, that we haven’t sung for several years.” The pastor walked over to the music leader and together they looked through a file cabinet of music. After a few minutes, they started to sing “Give Thanks.”
Susan and I immediately knew that this was a special place for us. After the sermon, they had prayer time. Susan and I went forward as a couple for the first time to receive prayer. The pastor’s wife prayed for us. Susan became rested in the Spirit and had a dream-like vision. She saw herself as a little girl running and playing with Jesus. They were laughing together. She said that she felt an over whelming love, like a liquid love that just flowed over her. It was the love of God.
Let me recite the words of the song, “Give Thanks” and explain what the words mean to me.
“Give thanks with a grateful heart, give
thanks to the Holy one,
give thanks because He has given Jesus Christ, His Son.”
The first thing that I was shown was that God was confirming to me that Jesus Christ is His son who was given to me and you. This song that the Lord has given to me is my proof or confirmation that Jesus is His son and our savior. There is no doubt. God authenticated it for me. Second, I learned that we are to give thanks in all circumstances. The scripture passage that goes with this is found in 1Thes. 5:17- Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. We are to always be joyful because no matter what happens in this world, we can have abundant joy in knowing that our Father loves us and we will one day be with Him forever. We are to continually be in prayer with Him. We should keep Him in our thoughts throughout the day and talk to Him. We are to give thanks for all circumstances because He blesses us continually. Now sometimes we face difficulties in life, but consider them challenges that we can overcome through Him. God’s will for us lies in the answer that He provides in Christ Jesus.
There is one more line in “Give Thanks” which says “And now let the weak say I am strong; let the poor say I am rich, because of what the Lord has done, give thanks.”
To me, this means that the weak are the ones who need healed; thus in faith they must believe that they are strong (healed) according to the word of God. The poor are the ones who are poor in Spirit and lack faith. They need to confess that they are rich in the Lord because of what Jesus has provided for us. It is all about faith that through Jesus Christ that we are made strong and rich. We are talking about an exceedingly abundant wealth and enormous strength in the Lord through faith. So let the weak say “I am strong” and let the poor say “I am rich” because of what God has provided for us in his son Jesus Christ through faith.
This simple praise song is a guide for healing and it begins with faith of the heart. Just begin by giving thanks to God because He had given the sacrifice of Jesus Christ His son so that we are saved and healed. Now confess aloud that the weakness (the sickness) has been made strong (healed). We are not poor in the spirit if Jesus Christ is our Savior. We are rich and blessed abundantly with the Holy Spirit who dwells inside us. Once you have asked the Lord for healing; believed and confessed it; then thank Him for your healing. Continually give thanks to Him and meditate on his words.
God’s words are power. When we use God’s words that are in the scriptures, there is power. God’s words are so powerful that He cautions us not to use His words in his name in vain. It is the third commandment it states the following:
"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” (Ex 20:7)
It is important to read and meditate on God’s words because they are for life and healing.
Pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body. (Proverbs 4:20-22)
Here is an acronym for the meaning of faith. FAITH- Forsaking All, I Trust Him.
Here are some passages concerning faith:
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Heb 11:1)
Our senses tell us what is seen, heard, and felt; thus conditions that are real, but not final. Our faith tells us of the substance and evidence of things not seen, heard, or felt, but that are just as real. The Holy Spirit dwelling in a believer is invisible, yet the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts operating through the believer are evidence of His presence.
We walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corin 5:7)
The world says -- seeing is believing. Faith says -- believe and then you will see. In the Lazarus story, Jesus said to her, “Did I not say if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (John 11:40). If you believe, then you will see.
Whatever
is not from faith is sin. (Romans
14:23)
And without faith it is impossible to please God. (Heb 11:6)
People try to please God on some
basis other than faith, such as morality, good works, church membership,
charitable contributions, and other religious activities. But without faith,
none of this is acceptable to God. God’s people did not enter the Promise land
because of their unbelief and that generation perished in the wilderness. (Heb
In Romans 10:16, Paul quotes Isaiah 53:1 when he says:
But not all the Israelites accepted
the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes from
hearing the message and the message is heard through
the word of Christ.
Notice how the Lord has brought us back to Isaiah 53 with hearing the message of faith. Read God’s words and meditate upon them. Faith is to be confessed and worked out in action. Faith will be tested in times of tribulation. Confession is saying the same with our mouths as God says in His Word. “It is written” is a powerful tool. Jesus used that phrase three times to counter the Devil’s temptation. Faith leads to salvation. Salvation is expressed in works which are motivated by love. Faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:26) Good deeds don’t produce faith; but good deeds are a result of faith.
Our faith, joy and confidence should not rest merely on what God has done for us- his blessings, gifts, and provisions. God’s purpose is that we find our highest satisfaction in nothing and in no one, but Him. Spiritual maturity occurs when God alone becomes the source of our deepest joy and highest devotion.
There are many challenges in this world of choice, but they can be overcome by faith and trust in God. Hold fast in the faith that God is with those who trust in Him. Meditate on what Jesus has done for you on the cross. In Christ there is salvation, healing, protection, deliverance and blessing.
Scripture
to Mediate Upon
The
righteous live by faith.
Habakkuk
2:4 Romans
Additional Chapter
Chapter 8
Written by: Jesus
For more than seven years a young mother has been bound by a wheel chair, but this chapter is being completed as Kelly stands on the word of God by faith. It is our belief that she will walk as this book is completed. God’s timing is always perfect.
Kelly’s Testimony
This section is copied from my journal entry that I made in May 2002. It is written in the third person.
Allan is myself and Susan is my wife. Kelly and Ryan are our new friends.
In 1995, Kelly was twenty-eight years old and had been married to her loving husband, Ryan for eight years. They had two wonderful children, a boy who was seven and a girl who was two. Ryan was a successful investment planner and they lived in a nice house in a growing community. Both Kelly and Ryan were born again believers and their focus was on the Lord.
Life was just about perfect for Kelly and Ryan, but suddenly tragedy struck. After taking a routine tetanus shot, Kelly’s body had a severe reaction. She was hospitalized and almost died. After months in the hospital, she was left paralyzed. At first she was unable to move and had difficulty breathing. After several months she was able to sit up in a chair and later regained the use of her hands. Presently Kelly can be seen sitting in a wheel chair, unable to move her legs. But she has a smile on her face because she knows that the Lord has always been with her and that she will walk again. She talks with God all the time and He has told her that the day will come when she will be suddenly healed.
Three years ago
Kelly heard an audible word from the Lord.
The word was “Shasta.” She was
not sure what the word “Shasta” meant, but she believed it may be a leading to
go to the Shasta mountain area in
Recently Kelly
read a magazine article about the deliverance and the sudden healing of a girl
in a wheel chair in the
That night Allan awakes and the Lord reminds him of the word “Shasta.” His initial thought is “Shasta - Root Beer” but it may be “Shasta -- Root Bearer” meaning one who bears a root. This root may refer to a generational root which Kelly bears through her father which may be the root cause of her disability.
The next morning Allan and Susan
call Kelly to tell her about the generational root that she may be
bearing. After talking with Kelly on the
phone, Susan goes to the post office and Allan goes outside to work in the
yard. Allan prays to God that if Kelly is to be taken to
The man had gone into the Post
Office to inquire about mailing a package. He wanted to know the cost of
sending the package, but then told the Postal employee that he could not mail
it until
Later that night Allan uses the
internet find out how to get to the
The next night Kelly is reading the
Bible to her daughter and happens to read a passage with the word “
On
God does miracles. He speaks to us because He loves us and wants to have a relationship with us. He can use a water bottle as message and He can speak through a movie. He is our deliverer and our healer. He is our heavenly Father who has a plan for each one of us. His triumphant plan for Kelly is unfolding.
Two Years Later
Now the miracle unfolds as I
complete this book in May of 2004. Recall the man who left the Shasta bottle in
the post office parking lot. He wanted
to know the cost of the package but would not mail it until
Suddenly on this day ____________,
Kelly walked.
This is Kelly’s story but watch as
your own story unfolds, because God as a purpose and a plan for your life.
Believe.