Healing, Deliverance and Restoration

There are people who teach that healing is not for today.  My Bible says in Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”  God is the same yesterday, today and forever.

We not only read about healings that took place in the Old Testament, but we can also read about many healings in the New Testament.  Jesus was in the ministry of delivering and healing people when He walked this earth and He hasn’t changed except He sits at the right hand of God in heaven today.  Every person that came, or was brought, to Him, was healed or delivered, not one left Him disappointed.  

I know many people pray today for healing and are not healed and walk away disappointed.  I don’t have all the answers for the reason they are not healed, but I do know that some healings and deliverances come through faith, some only happen through prayer and fasting, some happen because of the Lord’s mercy and compassion.  I realize that many are not healed and maybe it is because of some un-repentant sin in their lives.  There are teachers that teach you can do anything if you are a believer, and whether you repent or not, it doesn’t make any difference, don’t kid yourself.  God will not be mocked and you will reap what you sow.  God still hates sin and He will judge it; He will never sweep it under the rug.  

I know the Bible says that believers are sealed by the Holy Spirit and no one can snatch them out of God’s hands, but I also know that all believers have a free will and they can choose to walk away if they want to.  To take God’s grace for granted, by rebelling and doing our own thing, is a dangerous game and it will not go uncorrected.  God is a loving and compassionate Father, who doesn’t smother us and make us obey Him, but He does know how to humble us, which He does, because He loves us just like it relates to the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32.

This man had two sons; the younger son chose to take his father’s inheritance before his father passed on.  This son had access to everything his father had, it says this in the verse 31 of this chapter, “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.’”  If everything was the older brothers, it was also the younger brothers at the time.  But the younger brother wasn’t content, so he chose to rebel against his father, take his inheritance and go do his own thing, which he did. Going to a far country, he wasted his substance with riotous living.  At the time there was a great famine in the land and he was broke and began to be in want.  He finally ended up getting a job feeding pigs which was a disgusting job for a Jew.  To a Jew, pigs were unclean animals and Jews wouldn’t even touch them, but like I have heard before, desperate times take desperate measures.

Finally he became so hungry that he came to his senses and decided to go back to his father’s house before he starved to death.  In 15:18-19 the son says this, “I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.’”  It sounds like confession and repentance to me.  The son arose and went to his father, but when he was still a long ways off, his father saw him and ran to him.  Then in verse 21 it says this, the son speaking, “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’”

The father responded this way in verses 22-24, “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.”

This sounds like the love of our heavenly Father.  Question: Were there no consequences for the son’s sinful behavior?  It doesn’t sound like it but wait a minute; I see at least four consequences:

1. The son was separated from his father and his father’s protection and

his love and guidance.

2. The son ended up doing a job he despised.

3. The son was humiliated because of his position.

4. The son was starving and desperate for something to eat.

God’s love is beyond our comprehension but He is a just God and there is always correction for sin.  If we didn’t have to repent and confess sin, why does it say this in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Something to think about, God bless and have a great day!!