1st Service
March 20, 2022
Text: (John 3: 14-15; Numbers 21: 4-9)
I want you to know that sickness is not from God. Although it is something we all experience, but by no means is it a divinely-approved experience. You have to know that God doesn’t want you to be ill.
One thing you have to note is that your body can be sick, your soul may even be sick, but your spirit cannot ever be sick. As important as the soul is, one may be tempted to ask if a born-again soul can take to illness. The answer is that if you don’t allow the word of God to guide and guard your life, your soul can be exposed to infirmity. Is it not interesting that Prophet Elijah who had just brought down fire from heaven was depressed when he was informed that Jezebel had sworn to cut off his head? Can you go from a mountain high in the spirit to a valley low in your soul? Yes! Can a pastor preach for you to be happy, yet the pastor is himself sad? Yes! I need you to know that you can be so anointed or filled with the spirit and still be depressed. Nothing kills leaders faster than superman-complex mentality.
Everyone goes through these trying moments; even Jesus who performed miracles got to moments when He invited some of the disciples to pray with him.
Moses got a point out of depression and pain, struck the rock twice in place of the instruction he was given. In fact, meeting the children of Israel dancing before a golden calf on his return from an encounter with God, he got so angry that he shattered the evidence of his encounter with God. He shattered the tablet written in God’s own hand.
If you are sick in the body, medication can help you, when you’re sick at heart, only God can truly help you. God wants to heal you not just to make you happy, but because He needs your body and soul.
God can’t carry out His purpose through your life with a wounded soul and a damaged body. God is more interested in your healing than you are even praying about it. I can’t preach if I am in pain or emotionally down. Exodus 15:26 the Bible says And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee. So, it is your father’s will to heal you. Exodus 23:25 says And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
I once had a spinal cord dislocation for which I was supposed to go for a surgery, but the hand of the Lord came upon me and healed me. There is a higher reason why God wants to heal you than why you want to be healed. There is a way to pray for healing, say ‘father heal me so I can be of use to you, so I can serve higher purpose’. God encourages so that you can finish His assignment.
In Deuteronomy 7:15 And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
The children of Israel were bitten by serpents after they sinned against God and Moses. They began to fall sick and die. After seeking the face of God for forgiveness, God instructed Moses to mold a brass serpent on a pole with the instruction that whoever looks at it would be saved. The idea is to gaze steadfastly without being distracted in order to get saved or healed regardless of the pain or the fear. Your focus is on the raised serpent. If you will keep your faith in Him, if you can keep your eyes on God, Jesus is not an option, He is the portion of your inheritance, keep your eyes on Him. Turn your eyes away from the pain, from the heaviness in your heart, from the depression. Keep your eyes on Him. Let Him take burdens off your shoulders.
That pains can be gone right now if you can keep your eyes on Jesus.