Pastor Cheri
PRAYER
Thank you Lord for our previous studies, thank you for enlightening and giving us insight with mind-blowing revelations. We open our spirits today to receive more from you and also to position ourselves for the greater life, in the Name ofJesus.
We begin from Chapter 10.
CHAPTER 10
STEPS TO HEALING
I'm about to share with you simple but powerful principles from the Word of God that will catapult you from sickness into health and keep you there. There's a new principle in the New Testament because it's a new day. In the Old Testament, the emphasis was on doing and obeying, but in the New Testament there are greater and more powerful principles that will keep us enjoying that which belongs to us in Christ.
Look And Be Healed!
The first principle I want to share with you on healing is 'Look and be healed!'
In the wilderness, the Israelites sinned against God by murmuring and complaining about the manna God fed them with. As a result God sent ser pents among them, which bit them and caused many of them to die.
So they cried unto God to save them. When they cried unto God, God spoke to Moses and told him what to do.
Numbers 21:8-9, "And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. "
In effect God was telling them to look and live. And this is so important because Jesus talked about it in the New Testament.
John 3:14, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son ofman be lifted up:"
It was vital for them to look at the brazen serpent, because if they did what God told them, they would be healed. As I explained earlier (in chapter three), brass, not gold, silver or wood was used to make the serpent because brass in the Bible symbolises judgment. This is why Jesus said as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the Son of man be lifted up, meaning the Son of man will be crucified.
When He was crucified on that Cross, He was judged and wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement of our peace was laid upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed.
Moses made a serpent of brass that symbol ized the judgment of the sins of the people. He lifted it up on a pole and told them to look. AIl they had to do was look at it and be healed.
But some said, "No! I am hurting too bad, the pain is too much, I can't look up." And so they died. Others mocked Moses and wondered whom Moses was trying to fool by telling them to look at a serpent on a pole. They died too. But thank God, all who looked up were healed of the bites of the serpent and they lived.
What God told them to do was a very simple thing. After all, the serpents had already bitten them. But God said, "Look!" That was all they needed to do - to look and they would be all right. But some refused to look and they perished.
This is very significant to us in the New Testament, because this same principle applies to us. God has given His Word to us as a mirror. When you look into this mirror, you see the image God has of you, and as you continually behold this image you're transformed into what God has made you to be - one whoʻs healthy, prospering and living life in abundance.
2 Corinthians 3:18, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the sane image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. "
As we behold the glory we're changed into that same image. Praise the Lord!
Moses lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness and everybody who had been bitten and was dying from a serpent's bite, who looked at the brazen serpent, was healed instantly. They had to look away from their sickness and pains and look at the brazen serpent. It's the same thing today.
If you want to be healed, don't look at your sickness or what the devil has done, rather look to the Word of God. You may feel the pain but turn you mind away from the pain and your condition for one moment, and look to God.
What do you see? You know sometimes it may be easy to look around and see only what the devil wants us to see. We find circumstances that man constantly has to fight against - sickness, pain, death - trying to dominate him. But you need to know that what you see when you look actually depends on you.
Do you see the troubles trying to push you down? Or the germs trying to destroy your body? Do you see sickness trying to destroy you?
Don't look at that; look at Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of your faith! (Hebrew12:2). That's all you need to do - look. Look at the Cross where Jesus died for you so you could live in perfect health. Look at the Word of God, which says, "by His stripes you were healed." Look at God's declaration that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have indestructible life. Look at Him who has become your
life, and be healed!
When you worship God your heart goes to Him and you don't see the evil around you. Somebody rightly said, "Those who look at the sun do not see the shadows." How true.
A young woman had been sick for several years. Nobody could help her, and she, together with her parents had spent so much money. But she was finally given up to die.
In this state she went for a believers' meeting and sat in the hall, diseased and in pain. There was such glorious worship going on that she thought to herself, This is wonderful. If I ever had the opportunity to worship God in my life, this is it.
At that point she left her sickness behind; she looked away from her sickness and looked to God.
She worshipped the Lord with all of that pain. Then she noticed that she was lifting her hands up. These were hands that wouldn't move before. For a moment she thought, How come my hands are going up? Oh God, am I crazy? You see, she had been so abnormal for so many years that she didn't know what it was to be normal anymore. So now she was healed, she almost concluded something was wrong.
It suddenly dawned on her that she was healed and she touched someone close to her and said, "Look at me, I am well! I am well!" Then she ran out to give her testimony. She wept and danced and rejoiced, saying, "I didn't know when it happened, I was just worshipping right there in the congregation and suddenly, I was made perfectly whole." Hallelujah!
Say It With Your Mouth And Arise!
This is another powerful principle. Christianity is called The Great Confession.
Romans 10:9, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. "
This is the principle of the kingdom in the New Testament. Whatever you consistently confess becomes a reality.
The power is in the speaking, in your words. You will have whatever you say. Your life today is a result of what you said yesterday. Death and life are in the power of your words (Proverbs 18:21). You can rise up from your sick bed and be healed by speak ing healing to your body, speak health to your body. Your body will respond to your words. You can say, "I am healed and I remain healed," and so shall it be.
Mark 11:22-23, "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. "
Jesus told them to have the faith of God. The faith of God speaks. Whatever you say is what will be done unto you. What incredible power God has given to the Church! Declare you're healed and arise. God has spoken about you that by His stripes you were healed. You go ahead and say the same and arise. Faith is expressed through words and action. Iť's not enough to say it; you've got to act it.
Remember the woman in the Bible with the is sue of blood? When she heard about Jesus, she pur posed in her heart that she was going to touch the hem of His garment.
Mark 5:25-29, "And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of nany plıysicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press be Ihind, and touched his garment. For she said, IfI may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straight way the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague."
This woman said to herself that all she had to do was touch the hem of the Master's garment and she would be healed. She had enough information that caused her faith to rise for her healing. But she didn't stop at talking; she did something. It's not enough to speak. Your words have to be backed by corresponding action. You can't say you're healed and still lie on the bed. You've got to rise and do what you could not do before.
Practise your believing.
Peter said to Aeneas who had been bed-rid den for eight years, being sick of the palsy, "...Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed.." (Acts 9:34).
In effect he told Aeneas to do something he couldn't do before instead of maintaining the sick position.
The woman with the issue of blood got healed because she acted on her faith. If she had stayed back at home, no one would ever have heard about her. The same thing applies to you today. Speak and arise. Your words must be words filled with faith from the human spirit. Faith is not a formula. It's based on the knowledge of the Word of God, not on speculations.
Matthew 17:20, "And Jesus said unto then, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of nustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."
The disciples had come to ask Jesus why they couldn't cast out a devil and He answered them in the words of the verse above. Nothing shall be im possible to the Christian who learns to speak in faith, expecting to receive.
There's only so much others can help you do. A minister or other Christians may lay hands on you to receive healing. They can carry you on their faith for some time, but soon enough you will have to wake up and declare what you want with your mouth. Declaring your healing with your mouth is your first step towards receiving your healing.
The Bible says, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy:" (Psalm 107:2). You are the redeemed and the healed of the Lord.
Say it!
Speak The Same Thing As God
The Bible says, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3). The best way to live in the health of God is to speak the same things as God. Have you ever heard people prophesy and say, "Thus saith the Lord, my ways are not your ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts."? That was from Isaiah of the Old Testament (Isaiah 55:8).
But there's a new Prophet that has come from God. His Name is Jesus, and He says, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life" (John 14:6). Now that we've come to Jesus, we've come to the Way. So His ways are now our ways; His thoughts have become our thoughts.
1 Corinthians 2:12-13, "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. "
The Holy Ghost lets us know the things we've received from God freely, and we must speak these things we've received from God.
So I speak my healing in the words which the Holy Ghost teaches. I speak my prosperity in the words which the Holy Ghost teaches.
What God says I am is what I am. I may not feel it, I may not look like it, but I am what God says Iam. And I've got to speak it. Some people don't know how to enjoy Christianity. It's almost a hard thing for some of them, because they don't understand God's principles. So they struggle. You speak the same thing with God; accept it because God has said so.
There's even a new way to pray. We should pray the Word of God.
God has given us life and we need to speak words of life. When you talk life, you'll have life. When you talk health, you'll have health. But if you talk fear, fear will grow up like a giant and grab you hold of you.
Don't talk defeat, don't talk your fears or doubts, don't talk sickness. Talk faith, talk victory.
Your life is in your hands by the things you say. Do you know the devil needs you to destroy you? Satan needs your co-operation to frustrate you in any area of your life. He needs you to speak death to your self, because only then can he come in and destroy you.
You have to come to a point in your life where you're fully convinced of who you are, and you speak only God's Word concerning you, not what men say about you, no matter what the situation is.
Proverb 18:21, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. "
Notice the Bible didn't say death and life are in the power of God. No! Death and life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. So you can talk yourself to death, you can talk yourself to lack, hunger and emptiness. But you can also talk yourself into health, abundance and prosperity!
Proverb 4:23, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."
Why do you need to keep sentry at the door of your heart? Because your heart will only reproduce for you what it has received. If your heart has received wrong information, it will only reproduce wrong information.
Matthew 12:34, " ... out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. "
Your heart can only be a sure guide if it has been instructed by the Word of God. What enters into your heart is totally dependent on you. That's why you need to guard your heart diligently.
Contrary to what many people say, the devil can't force the wrong thoughts on you. Why? A bird can only fly over your head, it can't build a nest in there without your consent. So even if the devil tries to bring oppressive thoughts to your mind you can
reject them and not dwell on them.
Confession doesn't have to be a labour. You're not trying to make yourself believe what God has said about you when you confess them. You believe it and so you confess it, and the more you confess it, the more you believe it and the more faith can rise in you, because your words will be impressed upon your spirit.
Some people shout, "I believe I receive; it's mine, its mine!" until their jaw hurts, just because Satan is telling them something is not theirs.
You don't need to waste all that time on the devil, what you need to do is start praising God and thanking Him for what He's done.
Stop Talking Your Need, Speak God's Provision
Sometimes Christians have to realize that what we really need to do when we're in need is speak God's provision, instead of speaking the need. That's why you should not say, "I am sick." Instead you should say, "Father I thank You because I receive healing in the Name of Jesus. I am living in divine health in the Name of Jesus." If you have a need, go ahead and declare, "I have all that I need for a good life; all things are mine, glory to God! "
*Study the other Chapter, we have just one left, using your copy. Hallelujah!
Don't give up to die, life is available for you. There is no death on your path. Just because the doctor has said something doesn't make it true. You have hope in Christ. You should say this to yourself. Say what God has said, not the story the doctor told you. Every information not consistent with the Word is a lie and should be refused. You live only by what the Word has said and these are the only things that you should speak.
Let your words be same as what God has said concerning you and all He has told you. You know what He has told you so say it, speak it forth.
Don't allow the wrong thoughts, mountguard on your heart, no dirty or negative thoughts allowed.
To think right, study,
Philippians 4:8. It says,
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
When you think this way, your confessions would come out right. Hallelujah!
See yourself as God has, and say what He has said concerning you. Praise God!
Send in your seed, connect yourself to this book, not just for you, but all those you want miracles for. Hallelujah!
Lift those hands in worship to God. Thank Him.*