Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases …
Psalm 103:2-3 NKJV
The Psalmist extols God’s benefits – forgiveness, healing, redemption, loving kindness, mercy, satisfaction and renewal. Take a minute to really look at this list of benefits the LORD has to offer that are recorded in Psalm 103. Thanks be to God! Then notice that forgiveness of sins and healing of diseases are first on the list. They are listed together, in the same verse, in parallel -- forgiveness and healing.
One day when reading this passage, it struck me that I didn’t believe the LORD heals all diseases. Not really, not deep down, not if I were honest with myself. If I did truly believe it, I would pray differently. I would behave differently when I get sick. I would receive news of loved ones stricken with illness differently.
It struck me that if I believe God forgives all my sins -- and I do -- then I must also believe God heals all my diseases. I can’t pick and choose what Scripture is true; I either believe all of it or none of it. So, I started meditating on this verse, asking the LORD to reveal its truth to me. The LORD was faithful to answer. He took me back to the basics of what He says about salvation and forgiveness –
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:19
▪ Jesus paid the price for all sins of all people when He died on the cross, giving everyone access to heaven and eternal life with Him,
but
▪ a person must believe in Him and confess his/her sins in order to receive God's gift of forgiveness and eternal life. If a person does not personally identify with Christ and allow His death to satisfy God’s penalty for sin, then that person will perish. That person will pay the sin’s price with his own life and suffer eternal death.
To help me apply what I understand about forgiveness to what I don't understand about healing, He gave me a practical example:
Antibiotics like penicillin have been called “miracle drugs”. They are prescribed by the doctor for a person to take when sick with an infection. A specific regimen of how many times a day and how many days to take the antibiotic are always stressed to the patient when placed on this course of treatment. But antibiotics don’t work at all if they aren’t taken and the maximum benefit is not realized unless taken properly. Furthermore, harm may result if taken wrongly (such as organisms becoming resistant). The sick person must get the pill out of the bottle and swallow it. Somebody else can’t take it for them; the pill can’t be waved over them like a magic spell. A person must take the miracle drug as prescribed before experiencing its benefits of killing the bacteria and curing the infection.
God has laid out His prescription for our sin problem – believe on the LORD Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Likewise, God has laid out His prescription for health problems. We must find it in the pages of Scripture and apply it to our lives like the healing balm it is.
This blog is designed to help you find God's benefits in Scripture, and in doing so, to find your path to health and healing. I have come to believe His promises for healing are true and available to us here, today -- not just when we get to heaven. I believe God’s promises to heal us are available to everyone, but an individual doesn’t benefit until the promises are received and personal.
God’s prescription for forgiveness and salvation (Savior) are simple and straightforward. His prescriptions for healing (LORD) seem complex and sometimes hidden, even for the disciples who were eye-witnesses to His healing touch and had been God’s instruments of healing themselves. For example:
"(14) And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, (15) “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. (16) So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” (17) Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” (18) And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. (19) Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” (20) So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. (21) However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” Matthew 17:14-21 NKJV
Jesus put His finger on the root of their failure – unbelief, lack of faith. Jesus put His finger on the root of my failure, too. Lack of faith.
Believe with me Psalm 103:3a right now, in its entirety. Believe He can and does forgive you and let Him redeem your life from its current course toward destruction. If you have never received Jesus Christ as your Savior, I urge you to do it without delay.
Christ may already your Savior, but the joy of your salvation is gone. Or He may be your Savior, but not the LORD of your life. If so, rededicate yourself to Christ right now. Confess your condition and ask Him to renew Himself in you and restore your joy. He is eager to answer you with a resounding Yes!
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