Sharing good news of great joy to all people.
Elation Church. Our series is entitled, Hello,
My Name is God. And we've been looking at the
importance of God's names and the importance
of us knowing His name. Did you know all throughout
the Bible, God reveals to us... different things,
different characteristics about who he is based
upon his names. And he gives us these different
names, all right? So names carry significance.
Names carry identity. Everyone say identity.
Identity. Like, for instance, my name is Jeffrey
Nathaniel Forrest. That's my identity. That's
my full name. Now, I only knew, you know, I've
only been called this if I'm in trouble. If mom
looks at me and is like, Jeffrey Nathaniel Ford,
that's when you know you're in trouble, is when
you get all three names. But everybody usually
just calls me Jeffrey. Another identity name
that I have is Christian. It's not just something
that I do. It's not just a religion I practice
on Sunday morning, over the weekend. No, it's
who I am as a person, right? It's my identity.
So names also signify relationships. And as we're
looking at God's name, we can see the relationship
that he wants to have with each one of us. That's
what we've been looking at. So some of my relationship
names are cousin, nephew, son to my parents.
Mom calls me her favorite son, even though I'm
the only child. So that makes it even weirder.
But I'm just going to go with it and take it
as a compliment. But yeah, so I'm her favorite
son. I'm a husband to my lovely wife, Caitlin.
She's taking care of the children right now.
But she doesn't call me husband. Typically, she
calls me honey. Sometimes she tests, like one
time she test drove Pookie. And I said, no, I
shut that down pretty quick. Like we're not doing
that. So that didn't continue on. But names signify
identity. Everybody say identity. Everybody can
be a little louder. Say identity. Relationship.
and also activity as we've been studying. Some
of my activity names are I'm a student. As Dad
said, I'm a Ph .D., doctorate in philosophy and
Christian apologetics, musician, recording artist,
worship leader. I added something new, graphic
designer. Dad and I, we work on all the graphics
that you see, like anything that's online, the
website, whatever. Even our sermon series and
things, we're creating that each week. So it
is like ours. We're doing it in -house, literally,
like in my house. So I'm also, I've been a professional
photographer before, been an aerobics instructor,
a DJ, a custodian. evangelist, chaplain, preacher,
and now associate pastor here at Alation Church.
That's a lot of different hats, you know. Some
of you feel, you know, some of you understand
you wear a lot of hats in life. I've wore a lot
of hats throughout my life, but I'm just one
person. And that's important for us to realize
when we're looking at God's names, and he's revealing
all these different names, that It's just one
God. We're not looking at different gods each
time a name comes up. He's just one God, and
he's revealed himself by these different names,
okay? So what's in a name, identity, relationship,
and activity, what a person does. And that's
why knowing his name, and that's why this study
is so important, is so vital for us as Christians
and growing in our faith. is growing in the knowledge
of who God is. Amen? That's our goal in life,
to grow in the knowledge of who he is. And that
takes us from faith to faith as we grow in that
knowledge. In Psalms 9 .10, as our main text,
it says, And those who know your name will put
their trust in you. For you, Lord, have not forsaken
those who seek you. We got to know who God is,
right? We got to know who he is, and that's why
we're doing this study, to know who he is, because
when we know him, we can trust him. When we know
the kind of relationship that he wants to have
with us, right, we can expect that in our lives
on a day -to -day basis. When we know what kind
of activity he does based upon his name, that
way we can trust that he's going to do those
things. That is faith, right? We can count on
him. We can depend on him. Because we know him,
right? And when we seek him according to, right,
our faith in him, our knowledge of him, that's
when we will experience the fullness of him in
our lives. That's when we see him fresh each
and every day. This week's name for God that
we're looking at is Yahweh Raphael. It's Yahweh
Raphael. As we've looked in previous weeks, Yahweh
means I am that I am. It's God's eternal name,
meaning to always be or exist. It's eternal name.
So he wants to be known by this name forever,
right? As long, you know, forever, this is his
name. And it's interesting, these Yahweh names
that we've been looking at, they're compound
Hebrew names for God. He's saying that I am and
will forever be this. And this next name is Rafal,
meaning to mend, stitch together, restore, cure,
heal, and thoroughly make whole. This is his
name. So when we put these together, It's meaning
this, I am the one who heals, mends, restores,
cures, and thoroughly makes you whole. Amen.
This is who God is. This is how he's revealed
himself to each one of us. It shouldn't be that
difficult. You're looking at me like that's a
difficult pill to swallow. But if it's going
to be a difficult pill to swallow this morning,
this is who God is. This is how he's revealed
himself to us. And let's look at that now. Let's
turn to Scripture and look at the context in
which this name was given. So this story here,
and right before God gives it, it's... of the
Israelites being delivered from Egypt, from captivity
in Egypt. They just crossed the Red Sea. So this
is very early on in that wilderness journey.
And it says in Exodus 15, 22 through 26, reading
through the NLT version, you can follow along
on the screen or follow along in your Bibles,
verse 22, then Moses led the people of Israel
away from the Red Sea and they moved out into
the desert of shore. They traveled in this desert
for three days without finding any water. When
they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was
too bitter to drink. So they called the place
Marah, which means bitter. Very creative title.
Very creative title here. 24. When the people
complained. They like to do that. When the people
complained, and we like to do that too. When
the people complained and turned against Moses,
what are we going to drink, they demanded. So
Moses cried out to the Lord for help. That word
cried is he petitions God. He requests of God.
And he calls to him for guidance. That word help
there. And the Lord showed him a piece of wood.
Moses threw it into the water and this made the
water good to drink. He makes this declaration
then. God makes this declaration and at the end
of that declaration in 26 is where we see his
name revealed. This Yahweh Raphael. And he tells
them, he says to the Israelites, God's people,
says, For I am the Lord who heals you. This is
a very interesting story, right? Because God
is demonstrating here, see, He just healed the
water. He restored the water. He cured the water.
And then He's telling them, I will, I'm the one
who heals you. It's not just in that moment,
but heals meaning continually. Throughout their
lifespan, he's continually watching over them,
healing them as they go on their way. It's a
promise. And there's a promise connected to his
name, amen? God healing the water demonstrated
that, listen, it was God's will and purpose to
continually heal them and to keep them healthy.
And this is evident as we... Keep going through
Scripture. In Psalms 105, 37, it says this. He,
God, also brought them out of Egypt with silver
and gold. He not only provided for them, blessed
them, but what is written about their life and
their wilderness journey is that there was none
feeble among his tribes. It was no one weak when
they came out of Egypt. And you're talking like,
you know, rough estimates here. 3 .5 million
people never getting sick. There's no story,
there's no account of them ever getting sick
or being weak and people not being able to go
on in the wilderness for 40 years, right? That's
crazy. Now, some of them died, some of them,
you know, that kind of thing, but still, there
was none feeble among his tribes when they left
Egypt. So drinking contaminated water, right,
it would have brought sickness, could have possibly
brought sickness, could have brought possible
death. But God is purifying the water then to
keep them healthy. So it's showing his provision.
It's also showing his protection. And then he's
telling them, I am Yahweh Raphael. And it's Yahweh
Raphael Ka, meaning you, because it's... personal
to them it means that he fixes and restores and
makes whole listen he makes whole because why
was the water contaminated why was water contaminated
in the first place god is fixing and restoring
and makes whole what sin has broken and this
is important thing for us to realize that our
reality Our experience in life is a mixture of
God's good and perfect creation. This is his
will that has been corrupted by sin. It's been
corrupted by sin, just like that water. It was
good. God created water good. Most planets, water.
Most of our bodies are water, right? Water's
good. It nourishes us. But then all of a sudden
it's contaminated here when they're needing to
drink from it. And God's restoring what sin had
broken. And this is how he reveals his name.
You see, our reality is God's good and perfect,
God's imperfect will is that there be no sickness.
There be no disease in the world. There be no
illness. Think about it. When he created the
world, When he created man, did he say you're
going to be sick in the Garden of Eden? Was that
anything? Did God create that? No. When we think
about heaven, is there going to be sickness,
illness, or disease in heaven? Is heaven God's
good and perfect will? Amen? Right? So if it
wasn't his will then for them to be sick, and
have disease and illness, and it wasn't his will
in the future that we know, right? Has God changed?
Does he change his mind? Just asking real questions.
He said, Yahweh Raphael is his eternal name.
This is who he wanted to be called, identified
by his relationship and his activity towards
his people. He said, I'm the one who heals you.
I'm the one who cures you. I'm the one who restores
what sin has broken. Amen. You should get happy
about that. It's enough to put a smile on your
face. You know, there's a lot of people, though,
who kind of, you know, have trouble. And it's
based on their experience, I think, right? Because
our experience in life is not always the will
of God. I'll say that again. Your experience
in life is not necessarily God's good and perfect
will for you. Is everything that happens the
will of God? That brings to this question. But
you hear a lot of people say that, right? You
hear a lot of people say that. Well, it's the
will of God. Even the insurance claims a bad
storm is an act of God. Even though clearly in
the Bible we see God rebuking the storm. Speaking
to the storm. If he caused it, why is he speaking
to it? You know, something happens, like something
gets stolen. Right? Is that the will of God?
No. God says, thou shalt not steal. So is it
the will of God when someone commits sin to steal?
Think about it. This is very simple. I know I'm
trying to break it down, but so many people,
millions of people, good religious people in
churches all over, go to church, they'll be like,
well, I got, you know, brother so -and -so got
cancer, and it must just be the will of God.
We just don't know his mysterious. You know,
he just has plans, and we just don't always know
his plan. And, brother, it's, you know, God's
going to work something good, and you just don't
know it yet, but God brought this on you to make
you stronger. You're going to grow from this.
How many of you have heard this? How many of
you have said this? How many of you have seen,
like, been in conversations with people, and
they're like, well, God gave me this. And they
equate God giving them this with some sort of
good thing that happened in the middle of it.
Just because something good happens in the middle
of it does not mean that God gave you that bad
thing. It just means that God is busy working
in your life. God is busy turning things around,
turning what the enemy meant for evil to good.
That's the God we serve. Not the God who gives
sickness, illness, or disease, but the God who
has the ability that in the middle he can turn
it around. He can turn the worst thing into the
best thing. But my question is, in all these
situations, right, when people face this, where's
the verse? Where's the verse in the Bible that
shows us that God gives sickness, that God gives
all these things that we equate to him that he
gives, right? That God did this and allowed this
to happen to me. Where's the verse? Sounds good.
It might make you feel good. It might even, you
know, for some people I call it like a no -fault
religion, right? Because if God's responsible
for everything that happens, well, I can just
live however I want to because God's making me
be that way, right? If I eat McDonald's every
single day of my life and develop diabetes, come
on now, and I get some kind of illness and Alzheimer's
and all those things linked to fast food, right?
That science and all these things, we're real
conscious about those things and how that leads
us and the diseases and illnesses that those
things can bring. We're very conscious of that
now. But listen, if I eat that all the time,
guess what? Did God bring that on me? All of
a sudden, I'm like, oh, I got... Alzheimer's.
Oh, I got, you know, whatever. I got diabetes.
Well, this must be God's mysterious plan for
me. I just don't know. How silly. How silly.
And sin has corrupted and is the cause of every
bad thing that we experience in our life. I want
to say this and preface this with this. It's
not necessarily in that example. Like, that could
be my sin of gluttony that brought that on my
life. Sometimes sin and the corruption of sin
comes into your life from those people around
you, connected to you. Could be things that they
say. Could be things that they've done. It could
be hereditary where you're predisposed to those
kind of things happening, right? And then...
Above that, it's just the fallen nature of mankind
and that it's all kind of in a downhill spiral
into the end times, right? Things are not getting
better. We're not evolving to this better, perfect
thing. Eventually, it's all kind of slowly decaying.
2 Peter 3 .9, listen. and there's a lot of different
understandings. There's a lot of like religion
you got to wade through and pre -understandings
because everybody has a different experience,
right? But I want to say this, that just like
think of the biggest thing I would say is like
salvation. Is it the will of God that everyone
be saved? Yeah? The verse right here, 2 Peter
3, 9, The Lord is not willing that any should
perish, but all should come to repentance. But
is this true? Is this going to actually happen?
Or no? It says, Wide is the road that leads to
destruction. Narrow is the road that leads to
life. People are going to go to heaven, yes,
and that's God's will. But people are also going
to go to hell. Is that God's will that they go
to hell? No. Where's the verse? Here's the verse.
It's his will that none should perish and all
should come to repentance. That's God's will.
So is God's will always being done in the earth?
Is God's will always being done in the earth?
No. In the Lord's prayer, he says, your will
be done, you know. Your will be done on earth
as it is in heaven. Why are we praying for God's
will to be done if it's already being done? That'd
be kind of silly, right? Not doing that. So box
over. Salvation is God's will, just like healing
is God's will. Okay? And we're going to be looking
at that. Psalms 107 .20 says this, and often,
listen, often healing and the concepts of healing
are often tied to the work of God in Christ to
receive salvation and his finished work on the
cross. And often when we look at these scriptures,
we see both them talking about salvation. talking
about God's finished work, and then also healing,
okay? This is one of those examples, even though
there's many. Psalms 107 .20, he sent his word
and healed, that same word, ratha, them, but
it doesn't stop there, and delivered them, different
word, meaning to escape, to deliver, to save,
to rescue from their destructions. So he's not
only healing us from the corruption of sin for
salvation, redeeming us, washing us clean, right?
It's not only just a spiritual thing that he
did on the cross. It's a whole body thing. What
he did on Calvary and what he accomplished. He
defeated death, hell, and the grave, and every
consequence of sin. He defeated that. He has
victory over sin. Amen? Sin is under his feet,
right? And guess what? You and I as believers,
we are in Christ. Sin is under our feet. And
millions of people say, I know God can heal.
Because usually in church, we know about healing.
You know, many people believe God can heal. We
don't question his ability. But you might ask,
is it always his will to heal? Is it always his
will to heal me? How many of you have been praying
for someone or even heard someone pray? Like,
God, if it be your will, heal them. And how many
times have we prayed and asked God for something,
right? We've asked him to heal, and maybe we've
not experienced it. Yeah? Let's be real. Maybe
as someone close, maybe we're like, well, God,
I believe you can heal, but I'm praying and like...
You know, is it your will for them to be healed?
You know, and we kind of struggle and we waver,
right? Well, what does the Bible say? Does the
Bible say that it's God's will to heal? And that's
our main question this morning. Is it God's will
to heal? Okay? We're not questioning his ability,
but is it God's will to heal? So let's look at
it. How do we know the will of God? We look at
Jesus because Jesus was the embodiment of God's
word and God's will in the earth. He's the word
and will of God in action, right? So let's look
to him and see what he did. John 6, 38 says,
this is Jesus saying, for I have come down from
heaven to do the will of God who sent me. John
14 .10, don't you believe that I am in the Father
and the Father is in me? The words I speak are
not my own, but my Father who lives in me does
his work through me. Jesus is the will and word
of God in action all throughout the Bible. And
his earthly ministry, his earthly ministry consisted
a lot of healing. That was a huge part of what
he did. So how do we know healing is God's will?
By the Word and Jesus' actions. Okay? By Scripture
and by Jesus' actions. And now we're going to
blitz through a ton of Scripture. So hold on.
Hold on, and we're going to talk about it. But
one thing I want to, one story I'm going to really
focus on, even though there's plenty of... stories
in the bible with this same same kind of pattern
because i want and i do want to preface all this
by saying um this morning we are talking about
healing but healing is a very multifaceted subject
and there's no way in this short period of time
that we can cover every angle and every potential
thing and what we're doing here this morning
and what we're learning so This is not an exhaustive
teaching on healing, okay? Maybe one day we'll
do that. But for now, I just want you to, the
focus of today is healing God's will, okay? That's
as far as we're going. So how do we know if healing
is God's will? By the word and Jesus' actions.
I love this story, Matthew 8, 1 through 3. So
many stories like this, but listen. Large crowds
followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside.
Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and
knelt before him. What is leprosy? It was a disease
in which, an incurable disease, where somebody,
like if they get cut, their body wouldn't do
the natural process of healing. Right? God created
us to heal, right? If you cut your finger, it's
going to heal. If you have a surgery, guess what?
You still have to go through a time of healing,
right? God is our healer, amen? This is natural.
This is a natural occurrence. It's not just something,
you know, mysterious happening. No, this is the
way God created us to be. And it's actually looked
at as a disease when if they were cut and their
bodies weren't healing themselves. It's an incurable
disease, leprosy. to the point where they would
excommunicate them, they would put them off in
a colony all by themselves. They had all these
rules and regulations where they couldn't come
out and converse among the people for fear that
it would spread. And you've got to understand
here that this man, he's literally risking it
all. It's not just coming to Jesus. It's like
do or die in this moment. Because everyone around
him, they had right. They had legal right to
just stone him dead in the street. Everybody
say, this is faith. Because you would not risk
your life for something or someone that you do
not believe could heal you, right? You do not
risk your life for something you don't actually
believe. And he is literally laying it all out,
and he goes over to Jesus. There's a large crowd,
and I imagine everybody goes, And this man with
leprosy does what? He kneels before him. He respects
God. He honors him. It's a position, right? And
he says, Think about that. He's calling him Lord.
Lord, the man said, if you are willing, you can
heal me and make me clean. He's not questioning
God's ability. Listen, he's not questioning God's
ability. He's questioning whether or not it's
his will. We've all been there. We've all thought
this. Millions of people think this. Is it God's
will to heal? This is just one of many stories.
He knew God could heal him, but he didn't know
if God was willing to heal and listen to what
Jesus did. Jesus reached out and touched him.
Imagine how long it's been since someone touched
him. To touch the untouchable. He touches him,
reaches out, touches him. When everyone else
is backing up, Jesus steps forward and touches
him. Come on. What's the will of God? What does
Jesus say? Does he say, be healed? He says, I
am willing. He said, I am willing. Then he says,
Be healed. And instantly the leprosy disappeared.
It's good stuff. It's good stuff. Now this is
just one of the many healings that Jesus did.
And this is not the only time something like
this happens. In fact, over 60 % of Jesus' miracles
talk about faith and specifically mention faith.
Of the person or faith of those around them or
faith in the. So this is not just cherry picking
some little verse to prove some little point.
God is willing. If he said he was willing to
heal. Then is he willing to heal now? Very simple.
Moving on. When we look at the life of Jesus
and his miracles, did Jesus ever refuse to heal
someone who came to him? Did he ever say, nah,
I'm not feeling it? Did he ever refuse anyone?
Did he ever say, this sickness, no, no, no, you
just need to hold on to that for a while so you
can grow stronger. This is on you for a reason,
right? Because everything happens for a reason.
That's like saying the sun is shining so it's
hot outside. The law of causation, right? You
know what? Makes no sense. Yeah, everything happens
for a reason. Sickness is for your good? No!
Did Jesus heal everyone? Another good question.
Did Jesus heal everyone? Could Jesus heal everyone?
Was it his will to heal everyone? But did Jesus
heal everyone? You're thinking. You've got to
be thinking this morning. I'm sorry. It's a little
different what a normal Sunday morning pattern
is. But did Jesus heal everyone? No, in fact,
in Mark, it talks about Jesus. It talks about
Jesus. It specifically says he was only able
to heal in his hometown. He was only able to
heal a few because of the unbelief of the area
in which he was at. He wanted to do more. His
will was to heal more. But what? He was hindered
by unbelief. And that's one thing that will always
keep healing away. Will keep God's will for you
away from you. And away from happening in your
life is unbelief. Anything that impacts your
faith impacts your ability to receive healing.
Because faith is always connected to healing.
So meaning, too, that hate would also impact
healing. Bitterness would also impact healing.
But everyone, listen, everyone that came to Jesus
in faith to be healed, that came to him, knowing
who he is and what he wants to do in their life.
Everyone. This is what the Bible, I mean, you
go read it. Don't take my word for it. Read it.
Everyone that came to Jesus in faith to be healed
was healed. And like I said, 60 % of the miracles
that Jesus did specifically mentioned that it
was the faith of the believer. All the other
times it specifically talks about you can see
faith demonstrated in the actions and in their
life and in what happens and things like that.
So let's look at some of these where those who
came to him in faith received healing. Luke 4,
38 through 40, as the sun went down that evening,
people throughout the village, what did they
do? They brought sick family members to Jesus.
It's a faith. It's a faith act. No matter what
their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed
everyone. Matthew 15, 29 -31 Jesus returned to
the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat
down. A vast crowd brought to him. Another faith
act they're bringing to him because they believe
he is the Messiah and they knew that when the
Messiah comes, he's going to have healing in
his wings. Or they had heard about him from the
nearby village where everybody's getting healed.
Things are happening. When Jesus is here, things
are happening. He's at work. And a part of what
he came to do was to seek and to save that which
is lost and he came to heal the sick. The vast
crowd were brought to him. People were lame,
blind, crippled, those who couldn't speak, and
many others. They laid them before Jesus, and
what? He healed a few of them and told the rest
of them to keep it. No, he healed them all. Amen.
The crowd was amazed. Those who hadn't been able
to speak were talking. The crippled were made
well. The lame were walking, and the blind could
see again, and they praised the God of Israel.
Matthew 8, 16 and 17, same thing again. That
evening many demon -possessed people were brought
to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a
simple command and he healed all the sick. This
fulfilled, listen to this, this fulfilled the
word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah who
said this, he took our sicknesses and removed
our diseases. We so easily get healing from the
consequences of sin when we look at salvation
and what God has redeemed us from. And that's
so important that we know that God has redeemed
us. He has freed us. What he accomplished on
Calvary didn't just stop there. It wasn't just
a cleansing of your spirit. It was to cleanse
you and reverse all sin's effects for your mind,
your body, and your soul. Because he's concerned
about not only your spirit and one day spending
eternity with him in heaven. He's concerned about
your life right now. And he came to give you
abundant life, not just in the glory cloud, but
right now. To the fullest, in excess, overflowing
is what abundant life means. And that doesn't
include what sin and the effects of sin and the
consequences of sin in your life. This fulfilled
the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah
and is specifically talking about It's talking
about disease. It's talking about the illness,
everyone who was brought. He took our sicknesses
and removed our diseases on the cross. And that's
why when we talk about healing, God's never asked
us to pray about healing. Pray to be healed.
Why would we ask God to heal us when he's already
did it on the cross? Do I ask God to save me?
Sometimes we word it that way. But Jesus is not
dying on the cross every time someone believes
in him and turns from their sin and confesses
him as Lord. He's not continually dying on the
cross. No, his work is already finished. It's
already available. And what's happening is I'm
receiving what's available by grace, the Bible
says, through faith. That's how I receive salvation.
That's how I receive the consequences of sin
was death. That's how I receive life. And it's
something that as church we talk about all the
time and it makes perfect sense. Well, I believe.
Well, guess what? Healing is connected to his
work on the cross, just like so many other things.
He's made it available to you and available to
all. It is his will to heal. Because on the cross,
he took our sicknesses. He bore our sicknesses.
He bore our diseases. Everything that has been
and everything that will be, he bore it on the
cross. The full weight of sin was upon him. Healing
is not just available to some, it's available
to all to come to God in faith. And listen, everyone
who heard, everyone believed, and everyone who
acted on the knowledge that Jesus is God and
that God heals received healing. Another story,
Matthew 9, 27 -30. Getting close. Two blind men
followed along behind him shouting, Son of David,
have mercy on us. Son of David, have mercy on
us. And they went right into the home where he
was staying. And Jesus asked them something.
Did he say, be healed. Go your merry way. No.
He asked them something. He goes, do you believe
I can make you see? It's interesting, right?
The miracles that Jesus did on earth, it's revealed
that he did way more than any books could hold.
He did so many things that are not recorded,
but I believe each one of these that are listed,
each one of these personal healing accounts are
listed in the Bible to give us a better perspective
on... People coming to God in different ways
and receiving healing different ways by different
things. It's all by faith, but it's wrapped differently
in the ways that man will come to God, right?
And God's saying here, do you believe I can make
you see? What'd they say? Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord.
They told him, we do. Then. He touched their
eyes and said this, because of your faith, it
will happen. Because of your faith, it will happen.
Then their eyes were opened and they could see.
Healing is available by grace and received through
faith. And what is faith? We talk about this
a lot at Alation Church, but it's hearing. Kind
of like we've all heard this morning. It's hearing
about God, learning who he is, learning things
about him, his activity in the world. But it's
not just intellectual knowledge. It's believing.
Because in order for the word to change you,
it has to be in you. In the parable of the sower,
the word in the fertile ground. Produce the harvest,
right? So the word of God, that's the word of
God being planted in you, producing a harvest
from the inside out and changing you. That's
what belief is, is accepting, yielding to, surrendering
to the word and the will and the way of God,
his understanding, his spirit, and then speaking
in accordance with it. Putting our words in agreement
with who the Bible says he is and what he wants
to do in our lives. Not saying, God, heal me
if it be your will. Or, you know, God, I thank
you for this sickness and this disease and just
show me how it's going to make me stronger. Or,
oh God, I know you needed an angel and all this
kind of stuff. No, it's speaking according to
the promises and the word of God. Putting our
words in agreement, not just our own imagination,
but based upon who he is and how he's revealed
himself. And then we act upon it. So God's identity
is revealed by his word. And his word, the Bible
talks about it being the medication to heal our
bodies. So how do we take God's medicine for
healing? How do we stand in faith? Okay? Let's
apply this to our lives. How do we stand in faith?
How do we take God's medicine for healing? For
one, you can't take a pill and it just magically
cures everything, right? You know, you got to
take it consistently. A lot of times you got
to take it in pattern. You got to take it over
and over and over again, right? Not all of the
healings of Jesus happen instantly, but a lot
of times that's what we expect in our lives,
you know? We talked about Naaman going having
to dunk seven times, you know, after it was already
spoken. Like that was a process. Healing was
a process. The spittle, when Jesus spit in the
dirt and rubbed the blind guy's eyes, he told
him to go wash in the pool, right? Wash it off.
They had to go. They had to find the pool. They're
blind. How funny is that? But they actually had
to go and do something. They had to act upon
the word that was already given. Could Jesus,
you know, was Jesus just going to lay, he could
have just laid his hand and be like, be healed,
right? But he's showing us something. He's the
will and word of God in action, and he's showing
us that it's by faith. God plays a part, and
then he expects us to play our part. God's accomplished
everything to live a life of godliness, right?
He's accomplished everything, but he expects
us to reach out to him in faith. In the same
way that not everyone receives salvation, in
the same way not everyone is going to have the
faith to be healed. But God's not holding out
on us. God is faithful to keep his promises.
And we stand in faith. Proverbs 4, 20 through
22. I realize that this is a weird verse to talk
about this, but the more I read it, the more
it came alive to me. And I want you to really
pay attention to what it says. My child, pay
attention to what I say. Listen carefully to
my words. Don't lose sight of them. Let them
penetrate deep into your heart. For they, and
I put it here, God's words, because that's what
it's talking about. God's words bring life to
those who find them. Does it stop there? No.
They bring life to those who find them and healing.
Different word here, but it's healing, cure,
health, remedy, and medicine. God's word is medicine
to your body. So healing comes, if we take this
down and just talk about it, healing comes to
us when our attention, listen, says my child,
pay attention to my words, when our attention
is on God's word and not our problem or sickness.
We're real bad about, oh, I got a sniffle today,
and so tomorrow I'm going to be in bed with a
cold for four days, you know. Because my attention
is now on the problem and whatever I put my attention
on is going to grow. And I give authority, I
hand my authority over to it. Because I'm saying
yes to it. To its reality instead of God's reality.
And what he wants and his will to be accomplished
in my life. So when our attention is on the word
and not the problem or the sickness. And when
our ears receive the word and our eyes see ourselves
here. When we look at ourselves in the mirror
and we see ourselves the way God sees us, God
wants us to look beyond our circumstance and
our current situation, and he wants us to see
the realities of who he is being fulfilled in
our lives, being made real to us. That's what
he wants for us. Healing comes when what God
provided for us is made real to us by the Spirit.
And healing comes when we obey, when we act on
what God tells us to do. You can believe, right?
You can hear, you can believe, you can speak.
But sometimes we always want to do what we think
is best and not what God says. It makes no sense
for the blind man to go dip into the pool after
he's already encountered Jesus, right? He could
have reasoned away. And I don't believe he would
have received his healing because it's unbelief.
Faith receives healing. Unbelief does not. And
we got to obey what the Spirit tells us to do.
And sometimes the Spirit, I'm just going to say
this, sometimes the Spirit, will reveal you to
do something that's natural, right? Sometimes
the Spirit will say, take this medication. Sometimes
the Spirit will lead you to go see a doctor.
It might not be the doctor that you would always
go see. But he might say, hey, I want you to
go do something. I want you to go visit this
person. Because all healing, listen, all healing
comes from God. And no matter what the doctor
said, no matter what the pill does, no matter
what, it's still going to come from God. But
he's expecting your, you know, your compliance
in it. He's wanting you to act in faith to his
word. And when you act in faith according to
his word, that's when you receive the promises
of who he is. That's when God is real to you,
okay? But we see all these different facets.
of healing it's not just one size fits all guess
what we're all different right we all face different
stuff we all have different and guess what healing
is kind of the same way it comes differently
to each and every person so think about that
next time we pray let's don't just you know ask
god to do something that he's already done let's
believe And pray in faith that his will be done
in our lives. Amen. And then we be still and
we listen to his voice for direction. Not the
voices of the sickness and the illness and disease.
We're not going to listen to those. We're, you
know, we're going to listen to his voice above
any other voice in our life. Right? Amen. Let's
pray together. All right. Yeah. Let's pray together.
Father God, we thank you for today. We thank
you for your word. I pray that it will enter
our hearts. I pray that it will fall on good
soil. In Jesus' name, amen. And when we know
who He is, we can put our trust and our confidence.
Everybody say confidence. When we know who He
is, we can put our confidence in Him. Somebody
say amen. Because He's not going to forsake us.
when we seek Him. Everybody stand up with me.
We're going to put our words in agreement with
what God says, alright? Are you ready? Some of
you might need to move your feet a little bit.
Legs might be asleep. Everybody say this with
me. One, two, three. My God is Yahweh Rapha.
God heals me. sickness, illness, and disease
are not God's will for me. Some of you aren't
moving your mouth. Read it with me. Don't wait
and repeat it. Let's start at the beginning again.
Let's say it like we're in fifth grade all reading
something together off the board. You ready?
One, two, three. My God is Yahweh Rapha. God
heals me. Sickness, illness, and disease are
not God's will for me. God mends me and makes
my spirit, body, and mind whole. By faith, I
am healed. Does anybody believe that? Do you
believe it? Take out your phone, take a picture
of it. You need to say this more than one time.
And that's who God is. That's who He is. How
many of you grew up hearing that that's not who
God is? Maybe that's who God used to be, but
He's not that today. Hello? God doesn't change.
Everybody say, He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. Some of us, it's going to take a
little while to wrap our brains around this.
It's going to take a little while for us to unlearn.
Has anybody ever had to unlearn any bad? Does
anybody have to unlearn anything? Some of us
are going to have to unlearn a little bit to
receive who God is. He is Yahweh Rapha. This
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