13—God’s Promises to Heal But…

Of all God’s promises, this promise is the hardest for many.  So many people pray for healing and are not healed. Why? I don’t understand why God heals some and not others. I do understand that God is all-knowing and sovereign in our lives. Healing can be physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual. God is interested in our spiritual healing. God wants us all to trust Him fully and be submitted to His will, even when we don’t get what we ask for. I have learned that God heals in different ways. I also learned that we often cause illness and disease and how to reverse it.

We May Need To Use Natural Health Approaches To Help Our Bodies Heal

I am currently 60 years old with no significant health issues, and I do not take any prescriptions. I see the doctor for a yearly physical, and that is it. My journey to being free from illness began when I was about 25 years old when I got the flu. I went to a nutritionist who recommended I take Vitamin C, Zinc, Echinacea, and a liquid Garlic, yuck. I felt better after 24 hours and was able to go back to teaching my students. I was amazed by my recovery and began to research natural health remedies. As soon as I get cold symptoms, I take C, zinc, Echinacea, and sometimes homemade elderberry syrup. I was always a very sickly person, and I always got every sickness my students had.

The Bible gives several examples of how natural health practices can bring healing. Ezekiel 47:12b states, “Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” And again, Revelations 22:2b says, “The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” And Isaiah 38:21 states, “Now Isaiah had said, ‘Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.’” The cake of figs was used as a poultice to draw out infection. Poultices can be made in many different ways. Jeremiah talks about applying a balm for healing. A balm is a mixture of herbs with oil, butter, or wax that is applied to the skin. I make several balms for various health issues from the herbs in my garden. Jeremiah tells us in 8:22, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?” And Jeremiah 46:11a tells us, “Go up to Gilead, and take balm.” When you are healed, always praise God because He is the healer, even when you take something to support your body’s healing ability.

Our Illness Maybe Our Doing

If we eat manufactured foods that cause disease and illness, we won’t be healed until we eat the foods that nourish and heal our bodies as God originally intended. When God created humanity, He put them in a garden because He knew what kind of food we needed to eat to be well. Genesis 1:29 and 9:3 “And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.’” “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.” So, God said we are to eat plants, fruits, vegetables, and meat, organic is best. All man-made, processed foods do not support life but cause illness. The preservatives and pesticides in packaged foods weaken our cells, and disease develops. Many diseases, including cancer, need sugar to establish. Sugar causes inflammation that leads to heart disease, diabetes, dementia, etc. How can God heal us when we do not obey his instruction?

When Daniel and his friends were captured and taken to Babylonia, Daniel knew that the king’s food was not good for him and his friends. So he asked that they only be given vegetables. Daniel 1:15-16 states, “At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. ¹⁶So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.”

After I married my first husband, I began eating more junk food and meat. I developed a host of health problems, including endometriosis. Praying for healing was a waste because my illness came from what I was eating. I read the book God’s Way to Ultimate Health by Dr. George Malkamus. I decided to be a raw food vegetarian based on this book and was healed of many of my health issues, especially depression and endometriosis.  I still suffered from joint and back pain from the degenerative joint disease I inherited from my mother. So I decided to attend a class that taught how to eat for your blood type, which explained how your blood interacts with the lectins in food to create an auto-immune response in your body. So, I decided to try that diet and gave up corn, wheat, and many other foods. My joint and back pain went away. I always asked for prayer for my back, but my healing came when I stopped eating the foods that caused my back problems.

Emotional Healing

Permanent physical healing in my life occurred when I sought God to heal my painful memories that controlled my emotions. Negative feelings stress our bodies and disrupt our endocrine system, which controls the hormones that keep our body systems in balance. Emotional stress also weakens all the cells of your body, which makes them susceptible to disease. My website book explains how to heal your painful memories to have complete healing. 1–Healing Begins by Transforming Painful Memories. Read the following post to see if you may have a stronghold of infirmity. Sick and Tired? Change Your Destiny! Be Free From the Infirmity Stronghold.

Worry and Digestive issues

Worry and anxiety afflicted my digestive system. I wrote out a prayer about what I am concerned about or anxious about and put it into a “God’s got it” box. When I think about it, I remember that God’s got it. I also follow God’s instructions found in Philippians 4:6-7, which says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” And also 1Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray without ceasing, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Occasional digestive issues occur when I eat foods that irritate my stomach and intestines, which can be remedied using a combination of bromelain, papain, inositol, and cysteine called Bromelain Plus by Biotics Research.  Throwing up and diarrhea can be fixed using dietary Charcoal. Constipation can be alleviated by taking Slippery Elm. Occasionally, I take Genexa herbal formula from GNC to alleviate physical anxiety when I have to do something that is stressful.

Detoxing Removes the Toxins That Cause Disease

Toxins, both environmental and emotional, disrupt our immune system and weaken our bodies. Our immune system fights off invaders that come into our bodies, including toxins. Our immune system also fights cancer that often grows as a result of a toxic environment. Toxins come in many forms, such as electromagnetic from electronics and fluorescent lights, chemicals from cleaners, petroleum, additives, and preservatives in food, to name a few. Smoking and alcohol put a huge toxic load on your body.

To help my body detox, I do the following: I eat the foods God created for mankind to eat. The closer the food is to its natural form, the more nourishing it is for your body.  I eliminated all manufactured foods found in packages as well as sugary chemical drinks. Once a week, I do a 30-hour vegetable juice fast by drinking barley green or any green drink and carrot or vegetable juice. I also drink bone broth to heal my intestinal system. And I drink detox teas and take burdock root in capsules. I also take a liver purifier from Swanson that contains milk thistle, dandelion, and yellow dock. Removing toxins from your body is vitally important to maintaining good health. . Isaiah 58:6-8 states, “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? ⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? ⁸Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily;”

An Evil Spirit May Cause Illnesses

The Bible tells of people who were afflicted by Satan or demons. God allowed Job to be afflicted by Satan to test him. Job 1:8-12 states,

And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” ⁹Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason. ¹⁰Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” ¹²And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. 

A demon also afflicted the Apostle Paul. In 2Corinthians 12:1-10, Paul explains how God gave him a thorn in the flesh, which he pleaded three times with God to remove. In 2Corinthians 12:7, Paul described the thorn in the flesh as “a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.” About a third of the New Testament healings were because an oppressive or unclean spirit was cast out of the person. Mark 9:14-29 tells a story of a boy possessed by an evil spirit since childhood, and Jesus casts the mute and deaf spirit out, and the boy no longer had convulsions. And Luke 13:11-13 explains, “And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. ¹²When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, ‘Woman, you are freed from your disability.’ ¹³And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.” In the book of Acts, the Apostles continued the work of healing; Acts 5:16 states, “The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.”

I forget that we need to command unclean, disabling spirits to leave us for us to see our healing. In addition, the Bible tells us to do the following:

James 5:14-16 “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. ”

Our sin may cause illness.  Psalm 38:3 states, “There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.” 

Proverbs 3:7-8 “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. ⁸It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”

These verses outline conditions we must meet. We must call on the elders to pray for us and get anointed with oil.  We must not think we know it all and do things our way but fear God and turn away from evil and repent of our sins. Do you do these things?

Need Faith to Be Healed

What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” The following scriptures demonstrate how faith brings about healing.

Matthew 9:2 states, “And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.’”

Matthew 9:22 states, “Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And instantly the woman was made well.”

Matthew 9:29 states, “Then he touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith be it done to you.’”

Matthew 15:28 states, “Then Jesus answered her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.”

Luke 17:19 states, “And he said to him, ‘Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.’”

Conclusion

This post is longer than usual, but there is so much more I could have said about healing. If you have anything else you would like to share, please leave a comment, I would love to hear your story. I have learned that God heals in different ways. I also learned that we often cause illness and disease and how to reverse it. There are many books you can read, and I have many, but my two go-to books are Prescription for Nutritional Healing by Phyllis Balch, CNC and Dr. James Balch, M.D. and Be Your Own Doctor by Rachel Weaver.

Check out all my posts about the promises of God in POSTS about God’s Promises. And 13—Part 2—God’s Promise to Heal

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