However He Does It — I’m Trusting Him
There are nine gifts of the Holy Spirit broken down into three categories mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:4–10. We find the revelation gifts: word of wisdom, word of knowledge and discerning of spirits. The vocal gifts: tongues, interpretation of tongues and prophecy. Then the power gifts: faith, healing and working of miracles. These gifts are often referred to theologically as the “Manifestation Gifts,” meaning, when a believer is fully immersed in the Holy Spirit (Baptism of the Holy Ghost), these gifts will begin to show up in the life of that believer.
All of these gifts are available to any Spirit-Filled Christian!
The Great Commission in Mark 16:17a-18b says, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. I would suggest to us that the first area of healing comes through God’s plan of salvation, where through Jesus’ vicarious atonement, we are able to ask God for forgiveness, repent of our sins and be healed of a life deserving of death and hell.
Wait a minute….I feel a Praise Break….Hallelujah….Thank You Jesus For Saving Me!
We’re saved first spiritually. Then and then only can we move towards Jesus’ healing virtue touching us physically where many Christians quote Isaiah 53:5, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are HEALED. This is two-fold: SPIRITUALLY AND PHYSICALLY!
I want us to take a look into the scriptures at ALL the ways that healing manifested. We find that healing manifested five different ways at any time:
Immediate and Spontaneous:
Matthew 8:3
And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Gradual or Along the Way:
John 4:52
Then enquired he of them the hour when he got better. And they said unto him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”
Spoken Word:
Matthew 8:8
The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant shall be healed.”
Jesus’ Presence:
Luke 5:17
And it came to pass on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
Anointing with Oil:
James 5:14
Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
What are you trusting God for today? When it doesn’t happen the way you thought it should or when you thought it should have happened, what do you do and what do you allow to happen to your faith?
Christianity lets us know that we are to always be concrete in our faith understanding 2 Corinthians 5:7 that, “We walk by faith and not by sight.” No matter what, “Daniel wouldn’t stop praying!” “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would not bow down!” “Peter and John would not stop preaching!”
Those three Hebrew boys said, “Our God will deliver us, but even if He doesn’t, we still won’t bow down.”
I want to encourage us today with these scriptures:
Galatians 6:9, “Be not weary in doing well, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
Isaiah 40:31, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
There are some things that God does right away. But there are other times, where what we experience is, He gradually does it, He does it as we go or along the way.
Always remember, either way He decides to do it, He is Lord! As long as He does it, He’s maturing us and He’s building our faith!
