When the Autumn breezes gently touch your face, close your eyes and imagine Jesus caressing your soul, bringing forth the health and healing that is within you. He provided healing in this life, along with a ticket to heaven. Study the Greek word for salvation in the New Testament Scriptures. The Greek word "sozo" was used over 100 times in the New Testament. It's an all-encompassing word for salvation, often rendered “save” or “saved."
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Here's a few examples of New Testament verses that use the word “sozo” defining the three areas that Jesus shed His blood for: salvation, healing, and deliverance.
Salvation
"Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved (sozo)." -- Luke 8:12
“That if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you shall be saved (sozo)” -- Romans 10:9.
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save (sozo) what was lost.” -- Luke 19:10
Healing
"And the prayer of faith shall save (sozo) the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." -- James 5:15
“For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole (sozo). But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, 'Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole (sozo). And the woman was made whole (sozo) from that hour." -- Matthew 9:21-22.
"If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole (sozo). Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole." -- Acts 4:9-10
Deliverance
“And those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well (sozo).” -- Luke 8:36
Study it yourself at the BibleTools.org website.
Healing comes from within us. When we believe and accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, we get what the Atonement provided for us which includes eternal life that begins at that moment, healing and deliverance from demonic oppression or possession. It is implanted within our spirit along with the very nature of Christ who now resides within us.
God made us spirit beings that live in a physical body. When we die our spirits go directly to heaven, our bodies remain here. They are not part of our eternal life. We also have a soul (mind, will and emotions) which is many times called "the flesh" in the Bible, or the "carnal nature." That's why Jesus preached that whether we murder somebody with a knife or our thoughts murder them in any way, we have committed the sin regardless.
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Jesus never let his physical body get in the way of obeying His Father. The Bible says that to worship God we must worship in spirit and truth. God isn't relating to us on a physical level. That's why Jesus told us He would send the Comforter (Holy Spirit) and that would be better than having Jesus (in the flesh) since He (Holy Spirit) would guide us into all truth (John 16:13).
The Bible tells us we are a new creation, but when you got saved, you looked and acted pretty much the same as before you were saved. If you were tall, you're still tall. If you had some extra pounds, you still had them. If you were an angry person, you'll still be an angry person. What is now available is the total ability to be like Christ. His very nature is within us.
Everything that God has done for you has already been deposited into your born-again spirit. Although it’s already there, you must draw it out of the spirit and into the physical realm. Galatians 5:24 says, "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." Notice it says 'they' have crucified the flesh. We have to apply what God has given us through the power and authority Jesus gave us when He defeated Satan's control over the earth.
He tells us in Luke 10:19, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." God created our earth and all that was in it and gave dominion over it to Adam and Eve, who through The Fall, turned their beautiful planet over to Satan.
When Christ won our victory through The Cross and obedience to every Word from the Father, He stripped the enemy of all his power (Col. 2:15) and he is now powerless over us. As Luke 10:19 says above, He gave us power that is over all power of the enemy. Nothing can hurt us if we stand in that position of authority and rest in His love. He is a shield around us. Not that we won't have troubles. The more we become like Christ the more the devil will want to mess with us, but we don't have to be depressed and passive and allow him to tread all over us.
Our minds need to line up with the Word, with the absolute Truth, so that our mind is in agreement with the spirit, which should be ruling the body. Our bodies need to take direction from the spirit, not the soul. We have to believe more in what The Word says than in what we see. The devil is still alive and kicking every believer in the butt who tries to become more like Christ. He may not be able to take our salvation away, but he can deceive us in so many ways and make our lives miserable.
"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." -- John 10:10
I don't know about you, but when I was at times a depressed, oppressed and miserable planet dweller, I couldn't say my life had any abundance at all, especially emotionally. Being a mom is tough so child-raising years are always an emotional struggle, but it seemed that no matter what season of my life I was in, it was never an abundant season.
I'm not saying I have arrived by any means! I still have to choose NOT to allow my feelings to rule, but now I understand I have the power to do that and can choose how I feel. If I want to pout over something or grieve for a bit about something, I can do so, but I also realize that any moments I spend there can become a slippery slope downward, so I use The Word to encourage myself and realize the awesome and amazing power we have through Christ.
Suggested reading or listening:
Harnessing Your Emotions - article
Harnessing Your Emotions - audio
I continually remind my body that it's going to take orders from my spirit. It doesn't matter how much my soul whines and throws a fit, I am going to choose Life to live more abundantly. God has His hands out with all we need. We just need to reach out and receive it.
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When Jesus came down the mountain from the Transfiguration, He rebuked His disciples for not being able to heal the epileptic son, the disciples later asked why they couldn't heal him and Jesus said because of their unbelief. (Matthew 17:14-20)
Even He couldn't heal with dominating unbelief. When Jarius asked for Jesus to come heal his daughter (Matthew 9), before Jesus arrived at the home, Jarius' servants come to tell him the girl was dead. Jesus told him to "fear not, only believe." He knew that the father had to have some belief for his daughter.
After healing the woman with the issue of blood, Jesus proceeded with Jarius, but it says He only took Peter, James and John (the three that were present at the Transfiguration). He left behind those who had unbelief and couldn't heal the boy for the father. When He got to the home, He also told all the people proclaiming the girl was dead, to leave the house, knowing unbelief is a power source that works against belief and faith.
Remember when he preached in His own country and Mark 6:5-6 says, "And he (Jesus) could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief." Matthew 23:37 shows the sorrow of Jesus in not being able to do anything for Jerusalem when he said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"
THEY would not. It shows we have a choice and their unbelief prevented Christ from giving them what He came to give.
It shouldn't be a surprise to us, although much theology implies that God is in charge of everything, yet there is so much in the Bible that shows us that our own free will makes the decision on what happens in our lives. God gave us free will. He didn't make robots because He wanted a relationship with us. He created us for that so that when we love Him and desire to be all that He wants us to be, He can pour into us all the provision He has which is endless. The more we love, the more He pours into us. That's easy to understand with our own children. When they do things that please us we want to give them everything.
So, what part of you rules your life and body? What is determining the state of your health? How well are you weathering the storms of life? Do your feelings control whether your days are good or bad? The Bible says we are blessed with all spiritual blessings that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), so do we tell ourselves that is what we believe ... or let our emotions rule the show and have our bodies drag around behind them, like a person with a ball and chain around their leg?
Our feelings can definitely place chains around us and bring us into the bondage of the enemy. We listen to his condemnation as he steals our life abundant provision away inch by inch. Eventually we believe that he has all power when the Bible tells us otherwise.
Maybe it's time to change the ruler in your life? I've replaced my CEO and throughout every day I am mandating what rules this body. If it's not in the Bible, it's out the door and that definitely includes feelings. It's a process and one that may take a long time ... but how long do we need to be sick, diseased, depressed and heartbroken before we want something different?
Free will ... it's all about choice.
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