The Gifts of Healing

 

(4ᴍɪɴ30sᴇᴄ ʀᴇᴀᴅ)

I recently attended a Friday-night mentoring meeting, at my Gold Coast home-church. The theme that night was speaking in tongues.

After the study, it was suggested that we spend ten minutes with all of us speaking in tongues—then afterwards we would share our experiences.

When the ten minutes were up, we hardly wanted to stop—we were so enjoying being in the Spirit! One person, the newest Christian among us, was almost laughing, he was so filled with the Spirit and with joy!

Nevertheless, we each took our turn to share. One person shared a vision she'd seen; another also shared a vision; then another felt inspired with a word; and another testified of feeling comforted; and so on.

Everyone felt refreshed and profoundly edified! It changed the atmosphere so much that we all spontaneously began to praise the Lord and sing, and some even danced. It also made us all feel so free and light in our love for one another.

I remarked afterwards that it felt like the best ten minutes of my life!

"And that's after just ten minutes!" the leader said.

Implying—imagine how much more, if we were to spend more time in the Spirit together, and regularly!

Anyway, when it was my turn to share my experience, I shared that while we were speaking in tongues, I found myself beginning to think, unexpectedly, about healing. There are too many sick, I began to feel—and I felt how much the Lord would dearly love for there to be more healing among us again. So we spent a moment interceding for the sick and petitioning God to grant that more healing be done, across the world.

During His ministry, healing was an expression of Jesus' compassion:

𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐖 𝟏𝟒:𝟏𝟒

𝟏𝟒 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤.

After His ascension, Jesus continued healing, only more so—through believers:

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝟏𝟔:𝟏𝟕,𝟏𝟖,𝟐𝟎

𝟏𝟕 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞; 𝐈𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐬; 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬;

𝟏𝟖 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦; 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫.

𝟐𝟎 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐧.

Healing is a function which God has set in the church:

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟐:𝟐𝟖

𝟐𝟖 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡, 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐬, 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬.

It's one way the Holy Spirt can be expressed among us:

𝟖 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭...

𝟗 ...𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭;

𝟏𝟎 𝐓𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬...

Jesus promised:

𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝟏𝟒:𝟏𝟐,𝟏𝟑

𝟏𝟐 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨; 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐠𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.

𝟏𝟑 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐝𝐨, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧.

There are many sick, aren't there—some seriously. I felt that it was revealed to me while we were all speaking in tongues, that the Lord is eager to do more about it.

I think one reason many have shied-away from expecting the gifts of healing so much, is because not everyone has been healed in the past, and perhaps it felt baffling.

Even in Bible-times, it didn't always happen that all were healed though.

Elisha, for example, didn't always heal everyone: one time, he healed only one person!

He received a double-portion of the Spirit that had been upon Elijah—and the Bible records him doing approximately double the number of miracles than it records Elijah doing, less one. Elisha himself eventually fell sick with a sickness which he actually died of.

Nevertheless there was still so much of the power of God on Elisha's bones, that years later when someone else was being buried, when the corpse touched Elisha's bones, that person came alive again!

Similarly, Jesus also didn't always heal everyone everywhere—but very often He did too.

Abraham also: his wife was barren for many years. Yet God referred to him as a prophet—and through his prayer an entire city of barren women were healed and bore children, while Abraham's own wife was still barren. It wasn't until about a year later that Sarah bore her first and only child.

Not everyone was healthy in all of the early churches either, like at Corinth—yet Paul still mentioned that the gifts of healing and the working of miracles were available among them, when he wrote to them.

Sometimes the Bible told us the reason why not all were healed, and sometimes it didn't. The Lord is always good. That's another study. And perhaps we’ll need to learn how to navigate through that Scripturally.

But still, even with that, despite that, there continued to exist a valid, powerful and prolific healing ministry among them in Bible times—so there still can for us today too. Nothing’s different between their day and ours.

The gifts of healing are still among the gifts which Paul said we may covet, desire and be zealous of:

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟐:𝟑𝟏

𝟑𝟏 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬...

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟒:𝟏,𝟏𝟐

𝟏 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬...

𝟏𝟐 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐳𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬...

Love compels us, Paul said (see chapter 13).

So, we can “stir up the gift that is in us,” as Paul exhorted.

Who can heal the sick? The Bible includes examples of the gifts of healing being expressed by:

* apostles (e.g., Acts 5:12)

* prophets (Luke 716,17)

* evangelists (Acts 8:5-7; 21:8)

* shepherds/pastors (Matthew 9:35-37)

* teachers (Luke 5:17)

* disciples (Acts 9:10-18)

* believers (John 14:12)

In other words, anyone and everyone. That includes you and me. No matter what other job or ministry we may have, we can all receive and express the gifts of healing.

Will you join with me in asking God that more of the gifts of healing be poured out in the churches, worldwide?

𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝟒:𝟐𝟒-𝟑𝟏

𝟐𝟒 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐝...

𝟐𝟗 ...𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝,

𝟑𝟎 𝐁𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬.

Probably what we could do with again, like them, is this:

𝟑𝟏 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.

Because:

𝐆𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟑:𝟓

𝟓 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰, 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡?

𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟎:𝟏𝟕

𝟏𝟕 𝐒𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝.