craigmanderson

The Answer No. 3 Jesus is the answer when you are sick.

When sickness strikes a family, the struggle can be enormous. Have you experienced the feeling of helplessness that comes when someone you love is very ill and you wish you could do more for them? Pain can take over your life and render you unable to function properly. Illness is costly in so many ways; the suffering, the loss of function and productivity, the stress of coping and the financial costs are all huge and debilitating.

People are living longer these days. Since the 70’s life span averages in Australia have increased by 10 years. Yet there’s a far greater load on the health system than ever before. The rates of heart disease, stroke and diabetes are rising all the time. Alzheimer’s disease is rising rapidly even in the lower age brackets. In spite of incredible advances in medical science; sickness is more prevalent than ever. No doubt our unhealthy life styles including lack of exercise, poor nutrition, and over eating have led to obesity and illness. Stress levels are rising (See the previous blog) pollution and contaminants are poisoning our air and water; and processed food adds little of the food value we once enjoyed. There is so much need in human lives even in this great country of Australia.

Jesus is the answer. All the way through the gospels we see Jesus healing people at every turn. He is still the same today. He never changes; He is the same yesterday today and forever. Heb_13:8  Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is [always] the same, yesterday, today, [yes] and forever (to the ages). (AMP)

So many people don’t come to Jesus for healing of their physical bodies because they think that this is only available through faith and they just don’t have faith. I’m here to tell you today Jesus does heal through faith but you have faith. It’s part of your capacity as a person created by God. Jesus said: Mat_17:20  He said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of firmly relying trust]. For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. (AMP)

Many others don’t come to Jesus for healing because they mistakenly believe that healings and miracles only took place in Jesus day and are not for today. These wrong ideas come from erroneous teaching, and rob people of the answers available to them.

Still others don’t come to Jesus for healing because they don’t know anything about it and that it is available. We see people healed often in our local church. We have seen and experienced miracles as people have prayed and trusted in Jesus’ power.

An Australian preacher who has great success praying for the sick is John Mellor who comes each year to this church and we experience healings and miracles as Jesus touches peoples lives. John has placed many of the miracles on Youtube as testimony to the miracle power of Jesus to heal. You can check them out here: https://www.youtube.com/user/JohnMellorMinistries

Jesus is the answer for you today. If you or your loved ones are experiencing sickness in your bodies Jesus can heal you. He is the answer. Let’s look at one of the most inspiring stories in the gospels about healing.

Mat 15:22  And behold, a woman who was a Canaanite from that district came out and, with a [loud, troublesomely urgent] cry, begged, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is miserably and distressingly and cruelly possessed by a demon!

Mat 15:23  But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, Send her away, for she is crying out after us.

Mat 15:24  He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Mat 15:25  But she came and, kneeling, worshipped Him and kept praying, Lord, help me!

Mat 15:26  And He answered, It is not right (proper, becoming, or fair) to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.

Mat 15:27  She said, Yes, Lord, yet even the little pups (little whelps) eat the crumbs that fall from their [young] masters’ table.

Mat 15:28  Then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you wish. And her daughter was cured from that moment.

In this story Jesus goes to a part of Israel which is a sea port on the Mediterranean Sea. There were in these regions obviously many people who were not of Jewish origin. Yet as with people every where it was sickness that brought this woman to Jesus. There was a great need in her life; her little daughter was very, very sick and she needed a miracle. Have you ever had a child who was very sick? I’m sure you felt that you would do anything to see them helped.  This mother was desperate find help for her daughter. She had heard about Jesus and His miracles and she just decided that she was going to get one of those for her daughter.

The problem was: Jesus was on a mission to bring the message of God’s love and power to the Jewish people first and then have His disciples take it to the rest of the world later after He had died and rose again. So in effect this woman was asking for a miracle about two years too early. This wasn’t some arbitrary idea of Jesus to be exclusive with the Jews, He was fulfilling a promise God made long ago to Abraham and his offspring that He would bless the whole world through them.

But this woman would not be put off. She refused to take no for an answer. And she got her miracle. Jesus said it was faith that gave her the miracle. We look at that exchange and we see a woman who seemed to make a clever deduction about what Jesus was saying, but Jesus saw her faith, it was that determination and that persistence that won through. Is your faith like that? So often we have negative feelings and we just want to give up. There will always be big obstacles to your miracle just as there was for this woman. Your obstacles might be:

1. It’s never happened before to me.
2. What would my family say if I received a miracle at a church?
3. My doctor said there is no cure
4. We already prayed and nothing happened.

I could go on ad on. But this woman was so determined to receive that she just kept on asking and asking of Jesus. Mat 7:7  Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you. (AMP)

You may say “Yes, but Jesus was physically there, He had to deal with it. I can’t see Jesus. I don’t know if He can hear me. It’s not the same”  Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever, when he had died rose again and ascended into heaven His disciples healed people everywhere. Act 3:6  But Peter said, Silver and gold (money) I do not have; but what I do have, that I give to you: in [the use of] the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!

Act 3:7  Then he took hold of the man’s right hand with a firm grip and raised him up. And at once his feet and ankle bones became strong and steady,

Act 3:8  And leaping forth he stood and began to walk, and he went into the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. (AMP)

Jesus is still healing people all over the world. Just watch a few of those John Mellor videos to inspire your faith. There’s about 2000 of them on that youtube channel. Perhaps you will say to me, “yes but I have no faith, it can’t happen for me!”

Don’t give up. Come to Jesus, He will meet your need, be persistent and determined. Luk 18:1  ALSO [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up).

The opponents of healing and miracles will tell you about people who prayed like crazy and didn’t get healed as if this was evidence that no one will get healed. This kind of upside down logic, if applied to cars for example, means that if your car breaks down just leave it because someone once tried to get their car fixed and it didn’t work, so don’t even try and get yours fixed!  If there’s only one miracle in our day and age then it’s proof that it can happen. So if it can happen and you need a miracle why wouldn’t you go after it? Instead of looking at the ones who didn’t receive why don’t you look at the ones who did?

Jesus is the answer when you have a need. When you need a miracle or a healing, come to Jesus. Go find a church that believes in healing. Watch some of those John Mellor healing videos, read the gospels and get inspired. Go after it and don’t give up.