I get so tired of certain Christians & Denominations that put God in a box, and dogmatically preach that He HAS TO do certain things. One of those is He HAS TO heal you!!!
They say that "because of his stripes WE ARE healed"!!! Even when I was a baby Christian and read this, I knew what Peter was talking about (I Peter 2:24), and that was salvation!!! But the Charismatics will ARGUE with you all day about that Scripture and what it means, as they believe that it teaches through Jesus' death we are all healed of any physical problems, (also found in Isaiah 53:5).
Hey I believe God wants to instantly heal His people, BUT He sometimes chooses not to!!! Healing comes in one of three ways; 1) Miraculously 2) Medicinally 3) Mortally (the ultimate healing!!!). God has and can heal instantly, as we have read in the Bible, and have seen with our very own eyes, or I have seen it. He has also healed people through doctors and medicine! And of course the Lord has taken some people on home to be with Him!
So why do people get upset when I say that God doesn't always choose to heal through a super natural way? I mean He didn't heal Paul of his "thorn in the flesh" (II Corinthians 12:7-9), which Paul asked Him to do 3 times. You ever wonder why Paul only asked 3 times? Because he got an answer, "My grace is sufficient for thee", said God. Nothing makes me more irritated than some unknowing holier than thou person, saying "you just don't have faith to believe in your healing", or "you're not receiving your healing", "etc"!!! These make you feel guilty when you are ill or crippled!!! Yet the truth of the matter is, they get in the corner and wipe and slang snot, take aspirins, cold medicine, go to doctors & the ER just like everyone else!!!
How many of you remember who wrote the Book of Acts? Dr. Luke, Paul's personal physician!!! That's right, the great apostle Paul, a man who possessed healing power THROUGH God the Holy Spirit, had a doctor as one of, if not his closes traveling companion!!! But it tells us in II Timothy 4:20, "Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletus SICK". Whereas God often heals the sick, through physicians or without them, it is not the case in all situations, as recorded HERE!!!
Also, one of Paul's peers, Epaphroditus was seriously ill for some time (Philippians 2:25), but Paul nor Luke were able to instantly heal him either. If it were God's will that ALL be healed, surely Paul would have been able to heal both Trophimus & Epaphroditus!! So when people tell me I'm sick or someone else is ill BECAUSE of a lack of faith (and that may be true, sometimes), and then proceed to grab me and start praying for my ailment, and because I'm NOT instantly healed, they make me feel less of a Christian, I just smile at their ignorance and pray to God, for this thorn in my flesh to be gone, if so, I praise Him, and if not I praise Him.
Remember God has been served through ignorant men, which I have been and may still be one of those, BUT He isn't served through ignorance!!! If and when I get sick, please contact my pastor and the elders of the church (James 5:14) and ask them to pray for me and come anoint me with oil, BUT also contact my doctor, for He uses them as well. Never put God in a box and tell Him what to do.
There is only one place in the Bible were God says, "TRY ME", and that's in Malachi 3:10 and He's talking about money, not healing, but that's another sermon!!!
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