Do You Want to be Made Well?

 Do You Want to be Made Well?

August 3, 2026

John 5:5-6 (NKJV) 

5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesussaw him lying there, and knew that he already had been [in that condition] a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

 

James 4:2b (NKJV) 

Yet you do not havebecause you do not ask.

John 14:13-14 (NKJV) 

13 “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified inthe Son. 14 “If you ask anything in My name, I will do [it.]

In John 5, we have one of the more unusual statements from Jesus. We would think it obvious that a man, crippled for 38 years, and waiting in a place of healing, would want to be healed. But Jesus first question to him is “Do you want to be made well?” This sounds insensitive, at first, but what is Jesus really asking? Jesus is a gentleman and never overrides our free will. He is ready, willing and able to heal us, but He needs our permission to act. James expands on this by saying that do not have because we do not ask. Jesus is not going to force anything on us, even healing,  without our request and permission. Now who would not want to be healed, you may ask? In praying for healing for people over many years, we have observed that there are a surprising number of people who don’t want to be healed. Especially, when praying for people with addictions, you need to be aware that the person needs to love Jesus more than they love what they are addicted to in order be be healed. That’s a step too far for  people who have defined themselves by their addiction. AA groups even tend to reinforce this idea as everyone in the groups introduces themselves as, “Hello, my name is xxx and I’m an addict.” Jesus can heal anything, but you need to be willing to let go of anything that you love more than Jesus.

There are others, such as the man at the pool, who not only define themselves by their infirmity, but make their living off of it. This man, laying by the pool for 38 years undoubtedly made his living as a beggar. If he was suddenly healed, how would he make his living? In our modern age, we see this with people on disability. When you ask them if they want to be healed, thy may think a bit and then say, “But if I get healed, I’ll lose my check!” It’s sad, but there are many who trust their government check more that they trust Jesus to provided for them.

So, asking “Do you want to be made well?” Is a fair questions. Jesus promises to do for us whatever we ask in His name, but we need to ask. And we need to trust in Him and His promise of a better life more than we love the life of squalor and pain that we have gotten used to. So ask and believe, and Jesus will heal you.

Prayer and Fasting- 5- Healing

 Prayer and Fasting -5- Healing

January 9, 2026

Mark 9:17-19 (NKJV) 

17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who hasa mute spirit. 18 “And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.” 19 He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.”

Mark 9:23-29 (NKJV) 23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things [are] possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!”

26 Then [the spirit] cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he becameas one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

This story of Jesus healing the epileptic boy tells a lesson on faith, prayer and fasting. Jesus has already given the disciples the authority to heal and cast out demons (Luke 9:1-6), so why were the disciples not having success in praying for the boy? Jesus seemed a little put out  by this; “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?” He also told the father “If you can believe, all things [are] possible to him who believes.”    Jesus emphasized that having faith is a key to healing. So how do we increase out faith. The disciples asked Jesus directly why they could not cast out the demon and Jesus answered, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

One lesson from this story is that we can increase our faith by prayer and fasting. There is something about denying yourself by fasting that reduces your dependence on yourself and increases your dependence on God. Jesus has given us authority to heal all diseases and cast out demons, but we need to have faith that it is His power at work and not our own efforts. With sufficient faith we can move mountains so let us build up our faith by prayer and fasting. “All things are possible to him who believes.”

Two Edged Sword

 Two Edged Sword

October 20, 2025

Hebrews 4:12-13

12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and ableto judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

I don’t know about you, but to me, human nature is a mystery. Why do people do the crazy things that they do? What did they mean when they said that? When you wife says, “Nothing is the matter”, what does she really mean? Yes, human nature is a mystery and the intentions of the heart are hidden for the most part. That is why we need the sword of the Spirit. The Word of God is sharper that any two edged sword and is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The Lord desires to heal the hearts of troubled souls and to bring peace to their innermost man. In order to do this, it is the Spirit of God that can discern their innermost thoughts. If we are going to minister to the wounds of a hurting people, we need the wisdom of the Spirit to know what is going on in their innermost being. Without the Word of God, we are blind and deaf to the real needs of people. So pray for people and meditate on the Word; I think Psalms and Proverbs are particularly helpful in understanding the heart. For example, look at Psalm 10:

Psalms 10:16-18

16 The LORD is King forever and ever;

Nations have perished from His land.

17 O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble;

You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear

18 To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,

So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.

The Lord hears the true desires of the heart and comforts the orphan and oppressed spirit. True peace comes from the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who is the only one that can banish terror from the earth.

So wield the Sword of the Spirit, and let it guide you when you pray for someone who is heart sick and afraid. The Word will reveal exactly what is needed to drive the fear away and bring peace to a hurting soul.

Humility and Healing

 Humility and Healing

July 3, 2025

Proverbs 3:5-8 (NASB95) 

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make yourpaths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil. 8 It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones.

Proverbs 4:20-22 (NASB95) 

20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of yourheart. 22 For they are life to those who find them And health to all their body.

The subject of last evening’s Bible study was “Humility and Confidence”. That is a hard subject to teach  because you can’t claim to be humble lest you loose your humility to pride! Anyway, the Bible attributes many benefits to the man who is humble. In Proverbs 3, the writer admonishes, “be not wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord… It will be healing to your body…”. I had never associated humility with healing before, but it makes sense that walking humbly before your God and living in the fear of the Lord would lead to a healthy life. The proverbs repeatedly warn against the dangers of pride and arrogance. So it stands to reason that if pride leads to difficulties and problems in your body, that the opposite could lead to good health. 

The Old Testament law is full of instructions of what to eat and what not to eat. To the arrogant one, these seem to be senseless restrictions, but when you look at the dietary laws in the light of modern medical science, many of the prohibited items are indeed unhealthy. This was particularly true in ancient times before modern methods of sanitation and medicine were available. I’m not saying that eating kosher is a requirement for a Christian, but I do think that you will be healthier if you stick to the foods allowed by the Torah. (Except for bacon of course. No southern man can live without bacon!) But seriously, walking humbly and giving attention to the Word of the Lord will lead to health and healing. When I was a child, they used to put it to me in the saying, “Don’t drink or smoke or chew, or run with those who do.” The boys would make fun of the old ladies that quoted this to us, but there is some wisdom there. Staying away from the things that the Lord says are harmful will lead to a healthy and happy life, despite what the popular crowd says. They encourage all sorts of debauchery which sounds fun to a young man, but which will lead to all sorts of disease and difficulties in the end.

Bottom line, living humbly and walking in the fear of the Lord, leads to the benefit of good health and long life according to the Proverbs. 

Illness

 Illness

June 11, 2025

I’ve been a Christian for over 50 years, but I still have questions. When I was first saved, one of the burning questions was “can a christian have a demon?” The mainstream church at that time didn’t even believe that demons existed, but the fledgling charismatic movement taught that demons did exist and that they could oppress christians and that you could pray for deliverance and be healed. A related questions would be “Can a Christian get sick?”. There is not must disagreement on this one as most everyone has experienced illness. But a more important questions in “Can a Christian be healed? And will he always be healed, and if not, why not?” When Jesus sent out his disciples to pray for people, he grouped together deliverance and healing, so he expected them to be able to both deliver and heal in the Name of Jesus. So if this is the case, then why do Christians get sick an why don’t they always get healed?  The scripture admonition is clear:

James 5:13-15

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to singpraises. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

So it’s clear that if you call on the elders to pray, the prayer of faith will heal you. So why are we still sick? It’s a relevant question for my because I came back from vacation with a summer cold. That’s really nothing serious, only unpleasant, but why do we experience such hardships? Some say lack of faith hinders your prayers, and there could be something to that, but sometimes when we pray in all the faith that we possess, we still don’t see healing, at least right away. It is also said that the Lord answers prayer in three ways, yes, no or not now. The “Not now” answer is the hardest because our sense of time is not the same as the Lords’. We want things to happen right now and often there is a purpose for us to endure a hardship for a season. The famous example of this is Paul’s thorn in the flesh:

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 - A Thorn in the Flesh

7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me fromexalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

We are never told exactly what this is, but it could have been some sort of infirmity or disability. Paul certainly had lots of faith, who why wasn’t he healed? As I said in the opening, I have questions. Paul’s answer is that His grace is sufficient, and that power is perfected in weakness. So maybe there is a purpose in suffering. Anyway, that is one of life’s unanswered questions of why Christians are not always healed. Maybe when we get to heaven we will understand these things, but for how it remains a mystery.

Anyway, we are commanded to pray for the sick and to cast out demons, so we need to do that in faith, and let the results remain with the Lord. We need to have the most faith that we can muster, but need to depend on the Holy Spirit for the power to heal and deliver. Sometimes, we see great miracles, and sometimes not, which reminds us that we are only human, but the He is able! 

Bind Up the Brokenhearted

 Bind up the Brokenhearted

May 9, 2025

Isaiah 61:1-2(NASB95) 

1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bindup the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;

 2To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,

Luke 4:16-21 (NASB95) 

16And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, 

18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, 19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” 

20And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

When Jesus first started his public ministry, one of the first things he did was read this passage from the Prophet Isaiah in his home town synagogue. He announced to his long time friends and family that this verse was about his mission in life. The story goes on to say that they did not receive this message gladly, to say the least, but this verse did indeed describe the work that Jesus was about to do. Those of us who believe in Jesus accept this. We may think it was the natural thing for Jesus to do since He was the Messiah, the one called to this ministry. But what about yourself? Jesus taught that we would do the same things that He did and even greater works. Do you accept that you are called to bind up the brokenhearted and set the captives free? It’s easier to believe that someone else can do this but do you believe that this verse also applies to you?

We are just finishing up a class at church where we are teaching the basic principles of healing and deliverance. We believe that just as Jesus sent out the disciples two by two, He also sends us out to heal the sick, bind up the brokenhearted and proclaim liberty to the captives. This is a type of intercession whereby we pray with people that they learn to accept the love of the Father, experience the healing power of the Name of Jesus, and are set free by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Great Physician and we are His ministers. Today, if you are brokenhearted, ill or oppressed in any way, call upon the name of the Lord that you may be healed. And seek out a fellow believer that can pray with you. Jesus wants you to live in freedom.

Ordinary Miracles

 Ordinary Miracles

March 27, 2025

Acts 19:11-12 - Miracles at Ephesus

11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body tothe sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.

Acts 8:12-13

12 But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike. 13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.

Last night at our Wednesday Bible study, Pastor Kjell was teaching on power evangelism, and he made an interesting comment about Acts 19. It says there that Paul performed extraordinary miracles at Ephesus. That brings up the question, “what are ordinary miracles?”. Similarly, in Acts 8 it records where Philip’s preaching was accompanied by signs and great miracles. So if there are great miracles, are there small miracles?

When you consider life, and I mean when you closely examine how are bodies live, it is an ordinary miracle. I studied biophysics at one time, and we studied the biochemistry of cells and the operation of DNA and other biological molecules. The living cell is a complex and wonderful machine. Each cell can take in oxygen and nutrients and convert them to living matter. It is a complex and wonderful balance of interrelated biochemical reactions, not one of which could  work without the others. It is inconceivable that any of the biochemical cycles in the living cell could have just evolved by happenstance as no one part can work without all of the others being in place. This is an ordinary miracle. Every moment and every day, we life and work without thinking about all the activity going on in our cells that keeps us alive. Perhaps, if we though a little more about it, we would feed ourselves better and not eat so much junk food that is all around us. But even with that abuse, our bodies remain remarkable healthy in most cases. Disease and disability is the exception, and that is a miracle.

God created our bodies to be healthy, so it should not surprise us that He commands us to pray for the sick. We consider it an extraordinary miracle when a grave illness is cured by prayer, but why are we surprised by that? It is our commission to preach the gospel to all the world and call the dying back to life. It should be a normal part of evangelism to pray for the sick and see them healed. The extraordinary should become ordinary as we see the Lord restore bodies back to the ordinary miracle of healthy life. It’s only extraordinary if we cease expecting the Lord to do great things. So today, expect the Lord to do ordinary miracles every time you take a breath and expect extraordinary miracles when you pray for the sick and see their diseased bodies return to the ordinary miracle of life.

The Lord My Healer

 The Lord My Healer

 March 6, 2025

Exodus 15:26

26 And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to Hiscommandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer ^h7495.”

h7495. רָפָא rapha; a prim. root; to heal:

There has been much talk in the news lately about Make America Healthy Again (MAHA). This is all well and good, but we would all be much healthier if we would do what the people of God were instructed to do in Exodus 15; obey the voice of the Lord, do good and listen to His commandments. Then have faith in God and call upon Him to be Jehovah Rapha, The Lord your healer.

I know there is an ongoing debate among the faithful about how much to rely on modern medicine and how much to just trust the Lord for healing. Personally, I don’t think there is a conflict as long as you trust in the Lord first, and then use good judgement to use the best nutrition and medical means available to stay healthy. The Lord can heal any condition, but sometimes He uses medical doctors to accomplish His will. That being said, we must trust in the Lord first, and not listen to everything that the doctors say. Though well meaning, modern doctors tend to be nay sayers and always have the most negative prognosis available. The Lord is a Lord of hope, and He is a healer, so He has the last word on our wellbeing. Remember that Jesus healed all that came to Him:

Matthew 4:24

24 The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.

So whatever your problem, take it to Jesus, the Lord your healer. Do what He tells you to do and then call upon Him to heal you.

Brokenhearted

 Brokenhearted

December 13, 2024

Psalms 34:15-18

15 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous

and his ears toward their cry.

16 The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,

to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears

and delivers them out of all their troubles.

18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted

and saves the crushed in spirit.

Psalms 51:17

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,

A broken and a contrite heart—

These, O God, You will not despise.

Isaiah 57:15

15 For thus says the High and Lofty One

Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

“I dwell in the high and holy place,

With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,

To revive the spirit of the humble,

Andto revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Isaiah 61:1

1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,

Because the LORD has anointed Me

To preach good tidings to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives,

And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

(Luke 4:18)

Healing of the body is something that is not that hard to understand. If you break your leg, treated properly, in 6 or 8 weeks it will heal and you will be no worse for wear, other than you may have inherited a new barometer to predict inclement weather. But I digress. Why is healing a broken heart so much more difficult? They say “Time heals all wounds”, but that does not apply to wounds of the heart. Time only makes those worse if they are not dealt with. Fortunately for us, he Lord looks kindly on the brokenhearted and wants to heal them also.

In Psalm 51, it says that a broken spirit can actually be a sacrifice to the Lord. Some times (or most times) we have to pursue our sin to the point where it breaks us. It’s like touching a hot stove; if you are wise, you only do it once. It’s the same with sin. In Romans, Paul tells us that the wages of sin is death.

Romans 6:23

23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But if we stop upon the first injury and change our ways, we can avoid death. That is what repentance is all about; changing your course so you pursue life instead of death. So in this sense, a broken heart can lead us to repentance and then to healing and salvation.

But sometimes the injury is not due to your own sin, but someone else who sins against you. This is more difficult to heal. You can’t repent from someone else’s sin. You can be healed from the hurt though and healing starts with forgiveness. When you forgive the offender, even when they don’t deserve it, you can start the healing of your broken heart. In Luke 4, Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah saying that He is the one who has come to heal the brokenhearted. What good news!  Unlike a broken leg, a broken heart will not heal itself. You need the love and care of the Father, through Jesus, to heal a broken heart.

In Psalm 34, we see how the Lord loves the broke hearted and is close to those whose spirit is broken. Someone with a broken spirit is open to asking for help. As long as we are hard hearted and unwilling to forgive or ask for help, we can not be healed. But when we allow the pain of our broken heart to turn our focus to Jesus, then he is compassionate and will heal us.

I can’t promise that the healing process will be quick, I can only promise that if you turn to Jesus, He will heal your broken heart. It’s a process and the closer you come to Jesus, the more He is able to touch your heart and heal it. So today, if you are broken hearted, allow the pain to turn your heart to Jesus. Allow Him to touch your heart, for He has come to heal the brokenhearted.