As a florist, between working with a knife, stabs from rose thorns and handling wet stems and oasis, my hands take a bit of a battering with work. I've had burns, glass cuts, fingers shut in doors, and even lost a nail many moons ago. If you look at my hands, they're showing their age, but there's no sign of all they've been through. I've got scars in other places. I was quite a clumsy child and had numerous scrapes and bumps. I fell over in an oil-covered car park when I was ten years old and had a black knee well into my thirties. I've had two children, and my body has kept the memory of the stretching. But my skin didn't remain stretched! Amazing! The human body is an absolute masterpiece. I'm delighted to have saucepans that were wedding presents, still going strong, yet I'm rarely thankful that my body has been working continually for nearly twice the time and, on the whole, is doing a great job.
We are not only fearfully and wonderfully made but are also built to last. What a selling point self-repairing would be in anything else, yet most of us probably take it for granted. Healing is God's idea! He could have made us so that after a cut, the hole remained, like many a pair of my favourite trousers has. Skin and broken bones try to knit together; if we get too cold, our blood looks after our vital organs, and when we have infections, our cells fight. Phones and computers need constant upgrades, yet our minds are far more complex. I've known the gentle but powerful healing of my mind and spirit, particularly in the last 12 months.
One of the predominant actions of Jesus when He was physically on the earth was to heal the sick physically, emotionally and spiritually. Jehovah Rapha - the Lord who heals.
With all of this in mind, I want to share a word I heard from the Lord last June. It's one I've weighed, pondered, sought counsel, and waited for confirmation, knowing that it's a word that will cut, challenge and possibly offend.
The Lord said, "My Church has made an idol of the NHS, and I will not tolerate it. Repent."
Read that again. Let it sink in.
"My Church has made an idol of the NHS, and I will not tolerate it. Repent."
The Lord did not say "the nation" or "the government". He said, "My Church". He did not say the NHS "is" an idol but that the church has "made" it one.
In what way have we made the NHS an idol? We have turned to it FIRST in our times of need. We have thanked it FIRST and given it the glory for our healing.
Some will have prayed and asked for healing for loved ones and not seen it. I've done that myself, and it hurts. Please, in your grief, don't hear that you failed or did something wrong. God did not withhold healing because you used the NHS. What has been is not what God is calling us to do in the future. The Lord ISN'T calling us to stop taking our medication, stop using the NHS or stop working there. Rather, He requires us to renew our minds. He is saying it is time for us to seek HIM first. As I write this, I can sense the spiritual battle with logic. We live under a cloud of unbelief, and Western minds struggle to believe the miracles of the Bible are possible or necessary today. We have little expectation that through the Holy Spirit, we can be healed and have abdicated our responsibility for the nation's health, leaving it for the government to shoulder alone.
I've sat with this word, paralysed, wondering what to do with it and who to give it to, holding it like a hot potato that I'd like to throw for someone else to have and take responsibility for, but as I started forming this blog, I heard the Lord say, "It starts with you". Instantly, I was reminded of times, in the last fortnight alone, when headaches, aches and pains had occurred, and my first response was to grab paracetamol. Then, I saw other responses that I could have chosen, that didn't even occur to me. It's time to form new, kingdom habits.
While little changes can seem insignificant, the impact is massive when many people make the little changes at the same time.
Jesus instructed his disciples that healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out demons would demonstrate that the kingdom of God is at hand (Matt 10:7-8), yet He performed very few miracles in Nazareth, because of the unbelief of the area. What can I do, you do, to increase our faith as believers?
1. Read the word.
There are many healing miracles in the Bible, not only through Jesus but throughout the rest of the New Testament. Read and reread these passages, allowing the reality of each one to marinade the spirit and mind, and your thoughts will follow.
2. Seek FIRST the Kingdom of God.
Ask, "What way would you like to heal THIS time? ". It may be prayer and fasting, going to the doctor, time, rest, forgiving someone, counselling, surgery, going to elders for anointing, or doing a prophetic act. Each story of healing in the Bible is unique, not a formula or pattern. Why? So we ask the Holy Spirit for revelation and don't start to believe that we can heal anyone apart from Him? Maybe. I find it hard to hear God's voice when loved ones are unwell, so it's going to require practice. If you're not used to hearing from God, it'll be best to start with conversations that aren't health-related and ask others to help you grow.
3. Give thanks.
When King David returned from war, his response wasn't "My great army won", but "the Lord handed the enemy to us" (paraphrased). By shifting our perspective and acknowledging Jehovah Rapha as the source of healing, whether through the hands and wisdom of people, plants or in miracle form, our faith levels will grow. Take tablets? What would happen spiritually if we all started to give thanks each time we popped a pill? Perhaps you do this already, but it's never crossed my mind.
4. Heal the sick!
Jesus didn't tell the disciples to pray for the sick; he said to heal them. We should understand the authority given to us and learn how to use it. Most of us have yet to witness this close-up. We don't have the privilege of watching Jesus as the disciples did for three years. But we have to start somewhere. Are we ready to practice on each other? We may not see results immediately (or we might!), but we can begin building bigger muscles.
5. Eagerly desire the gifts.
The Holy Spirit has gifts for us, and the Bible says we are to eagerly desire these for the common good. (1 Cor 12) That means they're not for boosting our ego; they're for serving others better. What extraordinary gifts the Holy Spirit is waiting to give. These include wisdom (which can be a revelation of God's strategy, e.g. going to the doctor), knowledge (helps you know something you couldn't know otherwise, e.g. you have a thyroid issue), faith, healing, and miraculous power. Can you imagine if more and more of God's people received and used these?
In the latest census, 43% of people living in Wales considered themselves to be Christians. That's 1,425,100 people. Just imagine what would happen if each believer, through the Holy Spirit, healed one person a month or even just one a year! Imagine the difference that would make to our doctors and nurses, to waiting lists! But even more, imagine what that would do to the heart of the nation, seeing and experiencing the very real and alive love of the Father, the Creator and author of life.
1 Chronicles 29:11 Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.
13 Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious na me
Comments
Post a Comment