Will I ever be out of satan's reach or will he always be able to give me the trouble he does now?
This question actually brings up several things that I will touch upon at various times in future newsletters. But for now let me address a couple of things.
1. We are promised protection in several passages of Scripture.
Perhaps the best known is Psalm 91:
1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. KJV
This covers quite a lot. Another well known promise of protection and/or deliverance is Deut. 28: 1-15
Deut 28:1-16
1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
9 The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.
10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
11 And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
13 And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:
16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. KJV
This passage covers most if not all of man's existence.
The problem with using Old Testament passages (promises) is that when you try to use the law you must live up to the law, and when you don't you begin
to expect the curses to come upon you or at the least you expect no protection from them. When this happens you begin having "faith" that they can come upon you. This is the basis of the current "curse" teaching that is so common these days.
The other problem with using Old Testament "Promises" is that they are "Promises" of future protection.
The fact is we don't have to go to the Old Testament for protection.
We can simply go to Luke 10:19 for our protection.
Luke 10:19-20
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 .
20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. KJV
These words spoken by Jesus are better than any Old Testament promise because they are part of a new and better covenant built upon better promises.
We must realize that what God promised in the Old Testament was based upon the future fulfillment by Jesus.
We are now living in the land of promise. We are now living in the day and time when Jesus has fulfilled His promises. Our protection is not a future promise but a current reality. The devil cannot in any way hurt you. He has been disarmed. But what you believe you get. If you believe that you are open to attack any time the devil wants to, he will oblige you by attacking.
But if you will change your mind, (renew your mind) you will begin to "keep yourself" and the wicked one will not touch you.
1 John 5:17-20
17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. KJV
We know that the devil could not touch Jesus. The devil could not kill Jesus until it was time for Him to lay His life down. He gave His life, it was not taken from Him.
John 14:30
Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. KJV
This shows that there is a place in Jesus that you can attain where the enemy cannot touch you.
In Romans 16:20 we are told that God will bruise satan under your (the saints)(our) feet shortly. How could we be subject to satan's attacks (at his will) and yet be able to bruise him?
We are plainly told in 1 Peter 5:8-9
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour :
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. KJV
It is clear that the devil cannot devour anyone he pleases anytime he pleases or he would not be "seeking whom he may devour".
When he "seeks" you, you are here commanded to resist him.
This resistance is a resistance of faith which is "to confidently trust and act upon God's word" as if it were absolutely true.
I do not think it is a coincidence that Peter is talking about this and that Jesus
told Peter that He (Jesus) would pray for Peter that his faith would fail not because satan desired to "sift" him.
Jesus is our High Priest and He ever lives to intercede for us.
Heb 7:25-26
25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; KJV
There are several things that you can do to speed up the process of walking in freedom to this degree.
The most important is the renewing of your mind to the word of God.
The Bible says that As He is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4:17
It also says in Phil 2:4-7
4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: KJV
Do you think that Jesus was worried about the devil coming after Him?
When the devil tempted Jesus He quoted the word of God and the evil left Him.
We never see Jesus fighting a cold or flu, we never see him needing healing.
We do see Him resisting the devil and Him fleeing. We see the enemy try to kill Jesus several times and it never worked. He tried to throw Him off a cliff in His own hometown by using several religious people to try to take Him.
We see the enemy try to drown Him and He gets up and tells the wind and see to calm down.
We need to get past the "Jesus, take my hand, I'm going to drown" stage , to the "Peace, Be still" stage.
To get there, we must change our mind, change our speech, change our actions, until we see the results we desire, which should not just be our lives in a better condition, but rather it should be that we become the deliverers of those held in bondage.
I hope this helps.
God bless.
Curry R. Blake
Some facts about Divine Healing Technicians - DHT's . . .
- Fact: From 1927 until 2001 No group taught or claimed to teach Divine Healing Technicians (DHT's).
- For 73 years No Divine Healing Technicians were certified by anyone.
- From 1935 until 2001, when Curry Blake began teaching Dr. Lake's material, no major change took place in the body of Christ concerning ministering healing to the sick.
- Since 2001, when Bro. Curry graduated the first group of DHT's to be trained in 73 years, the ministry of healing has drastically changed as the JGLM message continues to influence churches, groups, and entire denominations.
- Sid Roth - "It's Supernatural" - said, " Your message, is going to change the face of Christianity as we know it."
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What is the difference between JGLM and some of the other healing groups?
The questions and their answers will reveal the basic difference between JGLM and other groups in the Lake lineage.
Some of the differences are very easy to detect while others are more subtle.
There are many different groups and teachings on healing. Some of these groups even claim some lineage back to John G. Lake.
Dr. Lake founded several organizations while he was alive (eight to be exact). Only a couple are still in existence. Of those two or three, only JGLM still teaches Dr. Lakes teachings. As a matter of fact, only JGLM was given a manual used by Dr. Lake to train his Divine Healing Technicians.
Anyone that has studied under the various groups, will testify to the unique authority and authenticity of what JGLM teaches as compared to the other groups.
While Dr. Lake operated Healing Rooms, his main purpose was to train Christians to minister healing anywhere. His goal was not just to open Healing Rooms, but to train Christians to be able to demonstrate the power of God. Our focus at JGLM is exactly that. To train Christians to minister to anyone, anywhere, at anytime.
Opening a Healing Room doesn't get people healed. Teaching them to walk like Jesus does.
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What is the major difference in the area of dominion and authority?
Most groups teach a very limited authority. JGLM teaches (and proves from the Bible) that Christians are to walk in the fulness of Jesus' authority. Most of the differences are detailed in the teaching series by Rev. Blake called: "Killing Sacred Cows". Some of these topics will be included in the answers to various questions.
No longer do many Christians "pray for God to heal" someone. They are learning to take their position in Christ and command sickness and disease and the devil to leave the sick person.
Some of these topics include:
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Does a sick person have to have their own faith to be healed?
It is generally believed and taught that each person needing healing must have their own faith for their own healing, but let's look at what the Bible reveals.
There is no mention of the Roman Centurion's servant having any faith for healing, as a matter of fact, all attention is put on authority. The Roman Centurion said he knew Jesus could heal because he understood authority. Jesus said that the man had the greatest faith he had ever found. So one aspect of the greatest faith is to understand authority. It is very clear that the Roman Centurion had faith for his servant.
The Syrophonecian woman came to Jesus on behalf of her daughter. There is no indication in Scripture that the daughter had any faith for her deliverance. Jesus said that the woman had great faith and that because of her great faith her daughter was healed. The woman had faith for her daughter.
Four men were carrying their paralytic friend on a stretcher to Jesus, the Scriptures state that Jesus saw "their" faith. The grammatical structure of the Scripture proves that the "their" Jesus referred to was the four men, not the man being carried. The four men had faith for the paralytic.
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead - whose faith was it that did the raising? Who had faith for Lazarus? It wasn't Lazarus. Jesus had faith for Lazarus.
When Peter healed the lame man at the Beautiful Gate there was no mention of the man having faith for healing. Peter said "What I have I give you. IN THE NAME OF JESUS. (That is what Peter had.) Rise up and walk." Peter gave an authoritative command. He took the man by the hand and lifted him and the man was healed. Later Peter gave the secret to healing when he said," It was the Name of Jesus that made this man whole and faith in that Name. Who had faith in that Name? It was Peter. Peter had faith for the man's healing.
Now as to the question "Does a person have to have their own faith for their own healing. The answer FROM THE BIBLE, obviously is NO. But let me add...
Should a person have their own faith for their own healing? Sure. That is a good thing. One reason is because if you do not have your own faith for your own healing, you will always be at the "mercy" of someone else. you will always be relying on someone else's faith, and you can never be sure that they are where they should be in relation to having faith in God for you.
Besides, if you do not have your own faith for your own healing, how are you going to be ready to have faith for someone else's healing. Christians must stop being spiritual hitchhikers and start to have their own faith, not only for themselves but for the others that need help.
Secondly, why would you need someone to lay hands on you or minister to you if it is your faith that is going to do the job.
In James 5:14,15 - it clearly shows that the ONLY responsibility the sick person has is to CALL FOR THE ELDERS. That is the extent of the sick persons "faith". Once the elders get there, the responsibility becomes theirs to pray the prayer of faith. Now if they are going to pray the prayer of faith, who is supposed to be having the faith. If you don't have faith, how can you pray the prayer of faith. Notice it does not say that the person's faith will heal the sick. It says that the prayer of faith (prayed by the elders) SHALL SAVE (HEAL) THE SICK. This verse also proves that if the sick person has sin in their life, IT WILL NOT STOP THE FAITH OF THE ELDERS NOR THE POWER OF GOD. The person will be forgiven and healed. (More on this topic later.)
The teaching that each person has to have their own faith was originally thought up by the devil, then passed on to preachers that could not produce the power of God, so they had to have a "Spiritual" reason why the sick person was not healed, and since they could not take the blame or people would lose faith in them, they turned it on the people and blamed them, for not having faith.
But when a minister lays hands on someone and they get healed, see how fast the minister takes credit for having the faith that healed them.
When Jesus saw faith in a person, He commended it, when He didn't, He merely had faith for them and fixed their problem. The only people Jesus ever "blasted" for not having faith was His own disciples and other religious hypocrites.
When Jesus "blasted" His disciples it wasn't because they did not have faith to get healed, it was because they did not have faith to heal others.
Some would say, " But what about the Scripture that says that Paul saw that the man had faith to be healed, so Paul healed him?" The Scripture where Paul recognized faith in the man and the Scripture where Peter just healed a man without any faith on the man's part proves my point -
If a person has faith, wonderful. If a person doesn't, you have faith for them.
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I have heard ministers tell the parents of children born with handicaps that the reason their child wasn't healed was because they (the parents) didn't have enough faith. Is that true?
First I would like to say that if I ever heard a minister or anyone else for that matter, say something like that to a parent of a handicapped or sick child, I would immediately and publicly rebuke that minister, and I would not hesitate for one second. Anyone that can be that unfeeling, uncaring, and hard-hearted has no business being in the ministry. They are a Pharisee, putting burdens on people that even they couldn't bear. I would hope that any "minister" saying such a thing would just be ignorant and repeating what he had been taught. But at the very least, that kind of statement would eliminate that person from having any spiritual input into my life. If I heard it preached from a pulpit, I would walk out of the service right then with my entire family leaving with me.
If a minister tells anyone that their child failed to be healed because of lack of faith, I hope the parents or some bold saint will speak up and demand that the minister have faith to produce the child's healing right then. That would make most of them at least think twice before spouting such garbage.
Now let's get back to the heart of the question? What about the child? Every parent should have faith for their own children and even their own family members. God gave the child to that parent, so that parent has a responsibility to have faith in God for their children.
But if they don't, it is not the proper thing to point the finger or fix blame. As Christians and as ministers we are to bear the burdens of those who are "weaker". So don't ever tell people they don't have enough faith, have faith for them. Then teach them how to have faith.
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I have heard some ministers even say that if a child was born with a handicap that it was the parent's fault. Is this true?
First, let me say that there are several possible reasons for children to be born with a handicap, sickness, or deformity.
One reason is that certain genetic traits may be present because we live in a sin-infested world. Germs, bacteria, virus', etc. "Things happen".
Now let me expound a little on that. This may be true of a non-Christian, but it should never be the case with a Christian parent. Notice "should". The devil is like a very crooked lawyer that will find out if you know what your inheritance includes, and if you do not know, he will rob you of that inheritance, and you will think it is normal. Or at the worst, believe it came from God. There are times when the parents are zealous Christians that may or may not know that they do not have to have a child with any physical problems. They may be doing a good work for God, so the devil tries to stop them or slow them down by attacking them through their child's health. This may happen at birth or after.
Sometimes, a genetic or physical problem can be brought on by certain substances that were indulged in by one or both of the parents before the child was born or during the pregnancy. This can include drugs, tobacco, and/or alcohol. It can also be by breathing "toxic" fumes. So in that sense, yes, a child's situation can be brought on by the parents. BUT, we in the ministry ARE NOT DOCTORS. Our job is not to diagnose, or to fix blame, but rather to fix the problem. Set the oppressed free. Jesus never pointed out the sick person's problem. He simply set them free.
This is also an area where the topic of Generational Curses comes up. We will deal with Generational Curses later in a section all it's own. But let me say this: If you are in Christ, Christ has become a curse for you and redeemed you from the Curse. If there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus to those who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, then surely there is no (generational) curse in Christ Jesus. The Scriptures say that once you are dead you are free from the law and therefore free from the curse of the law. If you are in Christ, you are dead. You no longer live, but Christ lives in you.
Secondly, how can you have a generational curse when your only "generation" is from God. You are now your Heavenly Father's son or daughter, so from whence does a "generational curse" come? If you say you have a generational curse, you are actually saying you are not born again and you are of your father, the devil.
Some would say that what they mean by a generational curse is that if their earthly father was an alcoholic, then the curse of that sin will come down to them. Each person is responsible for THEIR OWN SIN, NOT THEIR PARENTS.
When Jesus' disciples asked Him who did sin, was it the one born blind or was it the person's father. Jesus answered "Neither". That would have been a perfect time for Jesus to teach on Generational Curses. That was the closest He ever got to teaching on this subject. What most people call generational curses are nothing more than sins they are committing. If people were taught correctly about the new birth and what it entails, we would not be dealing with this subject at all. But then how would all those book writers get people's money? The topic of Generational Curses has become an industry all it's own, with books, seminars, counselors, etc.
I recently heard one well known TV preacher from Portland, Oregon, (who also has a church in Dallas, Texas), tell the people that now it's not enough to simply rebuke a curse, "YOU MUST SEND THOSE CURSES BACK TO WHOEVER SENT THEM ON YOU". Unfortunately, most of the people in the audience were too caught up in the emotional moment to examine what he said in the light of clear Scripture. Jesus said, "Bless them that curse you". At some point Christians are going to have to realize that just because a person is on TV or has a book out, it does not mean they are right. It only means that they have money, usually the money they got from gullible Christians.
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If I take medicine after being prayed for, will it stop my healing?
I do not believe that there is any medicine that is stronger than God's power. In the early days of the Pentecostal Movement there were serious problems stemming from the medical practices of the day (as there are today). The teaching that taking medicine will stop healing is based upon the belief that if you are prayed for, you must then act as though you are healed, and a healed person does not need medicine so to continue taking the medicine after being prayed for actually showed that the person did not really believe that they were healed.
Dr. Lake once testified in court, under oath that his people did not need anyone to tell them not to go to doctors, they had enough sense to figure that out on their own. Dr. Lake had studied medicine and concluded that all medical practice was guesswork. His biggest enemies in the Pacific Northwest were the doctors and the Health Department officials.
He once told his congregation that if they had any medicine they should dump it into the toilet and then apologize to the toilet.
I applaud the stand Dr. Lake and other early Pentecostal pioneers took concerning doctors and medicine, however, I believe that we should help lift and encourage people and not say things that put them under condemnation if they are not walking at that level of consecration or understanding. Again, if the ministers will begin to have faith for people, then the people can be healed and then taught how to walk in divine health. I do not believe we should try to force a certain discipline upon people from the outside, that is called legalism. It is far better to simply preach the Word of God and let the people see the possibility and the standards of God, and let them rise to that level on their own.
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Why do some minsters, that preach healing, wear glasses?
First, let's get something straight. No one has a right to base their interpretation of Scripture on the walk of another person. You should never base what you believe God wants you to do on what another person does. A wise person will always look at the Word of God for their example and for their "limitations". Men make mistakes. People that base their walk with God on how another person walks with God, will always fall, eventually. Quit looking for examples and become one. Now, on to the question.
A minister can preach healing and yet not have a good understanding of why or how God heals. He may believe that God will heal others and yet not be convinced that God will heal him. He may be committing some secret sin, large or small, and therefore believe that God won't heal him until he quits the sin. Notice the important thing here is that he BELIEVES that God won't heal him until he quits the sin. If that is what he believes then that is what he will receive. Everyone gets from God "according as they have believed".
Many ministers believe that their eye problems are their "thorn in the flesh", just as they believed that Paul's thorn in the flesh was an eye problem.
We will deal with "Paul's Thorn" in a later question.
Minister's are not exempt from God's demand that we live by faith. Being a minister doesn't mean that you have less problems than other people, it means you bear their burdens and your own problems and situations. Ministers that preach healing, many times, have to fight sickness and disease in their own bodies, more often than the people they pray for. Now this is not God's plan, it is how the enemy works. The Bible principle is that the laborer should be the first partaker of what he preaches. The fact that a "healing minister" would continue to preach healing while wearing eye glasses should be a tribute to his fortitude rather than a detraction.
If a minister's glasses bother you, pray for them - don't bad mouth them. But if you are going to pray for them, do it between God and you. Don't go to them and bring it up, they are likely already fighting the devil who constantly tries to put condemnation on ministers (just like he does everybody else). The enemy will constantly barrage (buffet) a minister with the idea of getting out of the ministry by making the minister feel that he is not living up to the standard of the Word of God and the message he preaches. Don't help the devil. Pray privately for the minister. Even if you go to them and offer to pray for them, the enemy will try to turn your concern into condemnation. So pray for them in your prayer closet. This same principle would hold true with any physical problems that a minister may be dealing with.
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Why do many ministers, that preach healing, have sick family members?
Many times, the hardest people to reach and to minister to, are those of your own household. Some have said, that each sick person must have their own faith. So, if a family member is sick, it is up to them to have their own faith. We have already destroyed that myth in the answer to a previous question.
Just as in the situation of a child and it's parent, there can be several factors involved with the healing of a family member.
The first thing to consider is: has the healing minister actually ministered to the family member.
The second is that a minister can get a family member healed, but it is up to the family member to stayed healed. Just as Jesus said in John 14:4; "Go and sin no more lest a worse thing come upon thee." You don't necessarily know if the minister has prayed for the family member and they got healed, but they continued in a practice that brought the illness back. Divine Healing isn't immunity from every sickness or disease from then on. It is simply an event that changed the immediate situation. It is then up to the healed person to get in the Word of God and get the Word of God in them.
As stated previously, you must never judge the Word of God or a ministry on anything other than the message that is being brought forth.
The families of healing ministers often go through tremendous trials and sufferings. Not because it is God's will, but because "persecution comes for the Words sake." When you walk in the truth of God's Word, your life situations will change, many times for what appears to be the worse. Now the enemy has you on his radar. Previously, you were just a face in the crowd, going along the same manner as everyone else. But when you start to truly walk as Jesus walked, get ready for some persecution from the enemy like he brought against Jesus.
Again, if you see the family member of a healing minister that has a physical sickness or situation, don't embarrass them by approaching them and asking them things like, "Why are you sick if what your husband teaches is real?" Or, "Why do you wear glasses if what your husband teaches is true?" Every person has their own battles to fight. And I promise you, the spouses of healing ministers are constantly on the battlefront. They are constantly wearing a bull's eye target, because many times they are not as active in ministering healing as their spouse. So the enemy sees them as an sitting target and the minister as a moving target. Well, it's always easier to hit a sitting target than it is a moving target. Pray for the families of healing ministers. Many times, because of their spouse's prominence they feel that they cannot ask for prayer because it might cause someone to lose faith. (I am not saying this is a correct way to feel, I am just saying that it happens.)
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How many times can you raise someone from the dead?
As long as you are willing to stay there with them and continue working with them.
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How long can a person be dead before it is impossible to raise them up?
"According to your faith be it unto you."
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Didn't healing pass away with the Apostles?
There is not one Scripture that even intimates at that. The powers that the Apostles had were not because they were Apostles but because they were Christians building the "Church". There are essentially only two time periods in Scripture: The Old Covenant time and the New Covenant Time. The Apostles operated under the New Covenant. We are still in the time of the New Covenant. The New Covenant is a better covenant built upon better promises. Jesus said He would never leave us, even until the end of the world (age). The "age" referred to is the age of the New Covenant.
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How old do you have to be to heal the sick or raise the dead?
The younger you are the more likely you are to actually do something. The younger you are the less you have to be untaught. This holds true until you reach the age of a senior citizen. Usually by then you have reached a point where you no longer care what people think, so you will start to step out more. This problem is often caused by not having received proper teaching. Many are actually waiting for a "specific word from God" before they will step out. Imagine that your parents were going away for the weekend and before they left they wrote down some specific instructions as to what you were to do while they were gone. Then, upon their return they found that none of the things had been done. When they asked why you didn't do them, you answer: I wasn't sure you meant that I was supposed to do them. I thought if you wanted me to do them, you would call me and tell me to do what you had written down. Do you think that would work or do you think they would call you disobedient?
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How come some people that have a lot of physical problems only get healed of one thing when they are prayed for?
That's what they were believing for when they were prayed for or it is what the person that prayed for them was believing for. Many times people do not tell the minister or the person praying all their problems. Often they only mention a thing or two. I have actually had people tell me to only pray for one or two serious things because they can live with the other problems. I try to explain to them that if God will heal one or two serious things, He can also heal the more minor problems.
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What about long distance prayer? Can a person be healed even if they are not present?
Jesus healed the Roman Centurion's servant from a distance and He healed the Syrophonecian woman's daughter from a distance. So yes, a person can be healed even if they are not present. I generally tell people that since faith works by love, your faith will reach a person (and heal them) as far away as your love can reach them. If you can love a person around the world, you can have faith for a person around the world. Sometimes it is actually easier to have faith for a person that is not right in front of you. If they are in front of you, you may find reasons that would make you think they should not be healed. They may "talk you out of faith".
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How come Jesus only healed one man at the Pool of Bethesda?
In John chapter 5 we are given the story of the healing at the Pool of Bethesda. Please remember, the apostle John himself said that if everything Jesus did had been written down, the world could not contain the books. First, we are not told how many Jesus healed at the pool. We are simply told the details of one particular healing so that we can learn something from it. We are also not told that Jesus ONLY healed the one man. So any speculation is just that, speculation.
I have heard preachers describe how Jesus stepped over this person and around another person just to get to that one man. All of that is made up and added to the Bible. The very Scripture people use to try to prove that God/Jesus picks and chooses who They will heal, proves just the opposite.
At the beginning of John chapter 5, it points out that the Pool of Bethesda was a well-known place of healing and that at a certain season (most scholars believe that season to be the Passover Season which would line up with the Biblical doctrine of Healing in the Atonement) an angel would come down and "trouble" the water of the pool. When that happened, THE FIRST PERSON THAT GOT IN, GOT HEALED OF WHATSOEVER (disease/sickness/malady) THEY HAD.
- This proves that God did not determine who got healed, when they got healed or of what they got healed from.
- This proves God does not dictate the time of a person's healing (There goes the "It's not God's timing" doctrine).
- This proves that God did not determine that some people should keep their illness until they had learned something (There goes the "I'm sick because God's trying to teach me something doctrine).
- This proves that God does not will some to be healed and for others to stay sick (There goes the "It's not God's will to heal everybody" doctrine). Notice that there is no mention of repentance from sin. This story proves that the Passover (Jesus) is our total freedom from sickness and disease.
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How can we expect to heal everyone if Jesus couldn't even heal everyone in his hometown?
This question comes up very often. Most people cannot quote 5 verses that promise healing, yet even non-Christians know of the Scriptures that seem to say that Jesus tried to heal people in His own hometown and couldn't, that Paul had some mysterious illness or eye problem and God told him "no" when he asked God to heal him (We will cover this in depth later), they know that Paul left somebody sick somewhere but they don't remember who or where, and they know Paul told Timothy to drink some wine because of his stomach problems. (We will cover all these things.)
First, nowhere does the Bible say that Jesus "tried and failed" to heal anyone. Actually, it says just the opposite: "and he healed them ALL."
The Scripture in question here does not say," Jesus tried to heal those of His own home town, but He could not heal anyone." Even though that is what is preached many times.
What it does say is: He could there do no mighty works because of their unbelief, EXCEPT he laid his hands on a few sick folk and healed them. (The ones He laid hands on WERE HEALED.) So you could say that He healed THEM ALL (All the ones He laid hands on).
The word "except" means that there were some mighty works that did occur. So what mighty works did not occur.
No one got healed by touching the hem of His garment, no one came to Him and asked Him to heal their child or their servant from a distance. (refer back to the Roman Centurion and the Syrophonecian woman, both of whom Jesus said had "great faith".) So apparently no one in Nazareth got healed on their own faith but rather on the faith of Jesus. The unbelief of the people of Nazareth likely kept them from coming to Jesus to be healed. (People that don't believe in you or are "offended" in you as they were at Jesus, don't usually come to your meetings to be healed by you.)
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Inner Healing vs. Outer Healing
Brother Curry,
I have listened to the teachings of many and read their books on healing where they mention they prayed several times for someone’s healing and couldn’t get the healing to happen until they lead the person in a prayer for inner healing first. (i.e. forgiveness, repentance, etc.) then the healing happened immediately. What ties do you believe there are between issues of the soul and how they may hinder or block to some degree a physical healing from taking place.
Thank-you,
Ken Nichols
Greetings Ken;
Your question is an important one.
It goes to the very heart of where the common teaching on healing is wrong.
Since the common teaching stresses that a person must have their own faith to be healed, then obviously anything that would hinder their faith must be dealt with before they can be healed.
If healing is a reward for right living (which is what is usually taught), then any "wrong living" must be removed before a person can receive their "reward". Obviously, this is not the wording used by those that teach this, but it is what their teaching boils down to.
Jesus never used healing as a reward for what a person did.
It is very telling that Jesus never told a person to "get more faith" and they would be healed.
He never told a person they did not have enough faith.
The faith Jesus considered "enough" to heal someone was their coming to Him and saying (believing) He was able and willing to do it.
John Lake, in his 40+ years in the healing ministry only mentioned one incident where he thought it necessary to go that route.
When you minister from a position of dominion and authority, you might never need to do that.
Today there is so much teaching on "generational curses", and how much faith does it take to get healed, that Christians are actually harder to get healed than sinners. Sinners just throw themselves on the mercy of God, Christians keep trying to do something to earn healing.
In cases where some find it necessary to get people to repent of things, it is usually because that person (the sick and sometimes even the one ministering) believes that they cannot be healed until everything is out of their life. Since they know they have unforgiven sin or just unforgiveness in their life, they have set their faith against being healed until the sin is gone.
The reason most people have to go that way is because they teach that people have to have their own faith.
So they are not really ministering healing, they are merely trying to help people get their healing.
Jesus said the greatest faith was a understanding authority.
Know and understand your authority and you will walk in the greatest faith. Don't even give a thought to faith or how much you have.
Just exercise divine dominion and authority.
Curry
