Yes!

2 Corinthians 1:20-22 ²⁰ For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. ²¹ Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, ²² who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

I love this scripture even more in the Message version-

Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.

What a cool phrase- The YES of Jesus!

Every promise of God that you can find in the Word is stamped with the YES of Jesus.

That promise found in Deuteronomy 28:13?- ³ And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.- YES!

Jeremiah 30:17 which says For I will restore health to you
And heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord– YES!

Philippians 4:19? And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.- YES!

How about Deuteronomy 31:6- ⁶ Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.- YES!

What promise are you standing on? Whatever it is, don’t lose heart. It has been stamped wit the YES of Jesus!

Reach Out Your Hand

Reach Out Your Hand

Matthew 12:9-13 9And going on from there, He went into their synagogue.  10And behold, a man was there with one withered hand. And they said to Him, Is it lawful or allowable to cure people on the Sabbath days?–that they might accuse Him.  11But He said to them, What man is there among you, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a pit or ditch on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?   12How much better and of more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful and allowable to do good on the Sabbath days.   13Then He said to the man, Reach out your hand. And the man reached it out and it was restored, as sound as the other one.
One of the greatest things about Jesus is that He is never concerned with what things look like in the natural. He sees things from a supernatural level and operates accordingly. Think of this man, standing in the temple with a withered hand. Have you ever seen anyone with a withered hand? I have. All twisted and bent, unable to move it or straighten it out. Jesus walks up to the man and says “reach out your hand.” Stop right there. How could Jesus ask this man to do something he was physically incapable of doing? Notice He didn’t say, “Stretch out your hand, I’m going to heal it.” Or “Be made whole and give me your hand.” No! He simply said “reach out your hand.” He didn’t care about the physical impossibility. He wasn’t concerned that the man had no feeling in his hand and couldn’t even move it, let alone reach out to Him. He knew that the healing power in Him would be able to work with the man’s faith and if that man would just obey he would be made whole. 

The man also had a responsibility. He had to give Jesus what He had. Can you imagine the thoughts that must have been running around in his head? “What does He mean, stretch out my hand?” “Doesn’t He know I’m crippled and my hand won’t move?”  However, his belief that Jesus was able to heal him overrode anything he might have been thinking. With faith that Jesus was a miracle worker, the man stretched out his hand and was completely restored! There is such a valuable lesson to be learned here. Sometimes we just have to give Him what we have. No matter how little or insignificant or impossible it may be, when we reach out to Jesus, He will bring us to a place of restoration and healing. Maybe you have a wounded heart, bruised and battered by negative words spoken to you and negative actions taken against you over the years. Reach out to Him and trust that He can heal you and you will be made whole. Maybe you have a broken relationship. Give it to Him and purpose that you are going to do things His way and watch restoration come.  Maybe you are in need of a physical healing. Move what you couldn’t move before, believing that healing power is in your body working a healing and a cure. Remember that Jesus isn’t concerned with what it looks like, so we shouldn’t be either. The man with the withered hand had nothing to lose and everything to gain and so do we. Reach out and be restored by His healing power.

Nothing He Can’t Do

Matthew 9:27-3327As Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed Him, shouting loudly, Have pity and mercy on us, Son of David! 28When He reached the house and went in, the blind men came to Him, and Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I am able to do this? They said to Him, Yes, Lord.  29Then He touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith and trust and reliance [on the power invested in Me] be it done to you;   30And their eyes were opened. And Jesus earnestly and sternly charged them, See that you let no one know about this.  31But they went off and blazed and spread His fame abroad throughout that whole district.  32And while they were going away, behold, a dumb man under the power of a demon was brought to Jesus.  33And when the demon was driven out, the dumb man spoke; and the crowds were stunned with bewildered wonder, saying, Never before has anything like this been seen in Israel.
Wherever Jesus went, He performed miracles. The gospels are full of accounts of supernatural acts. What strikes me the most is the concern Jesus had for each person He encountered. He was never too busy, never had something else to do, never distracted with other things. Whenever He encountered someone who needed a miracle, He was willing to give them what they asked for. Blind eyes? Sight restored. Deaf? Ears opened. Mute? Tongues loosed. Oppressed or possessed by demons? Set free. Dead? Made alive and whole. There was nothing that Jesus encountered that He could not handle. There was nothing too difficult, no infirmity too big. Jesus would simply say “be thou made whole” and the infirmity had no choice but to leave the person’s body. What an awesome God we serve!
Why then do we carry the burdens we carry? Why do we let the burden of pressure weigh upon us in our lives? If Jesus could make the blind to see, the lame to walk and the deaf to hear, can’t He intervene on our behalf regardless of the situation? I go back to that scripture in Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is [always] the same, yesterday, today, [yes] and forever (to the ages). If He was restoring the sick back when He was alive, He is still restoring the sick today. If He was providing food for the multitudes when He walked the face of the earth, He will still provide everything that we need. If He caused a fish to appear with a coin in it’s mouth when the disciples had to pay their taxes, surely He will make a way for us when we have financial need. Sometimes it’s just good to sit back and meditate on how big our God really is. He is bigger than any problem we have now or that we will ever encounter. Just as He did in the Word, when we come to Him saying as the blind men did- Have mercy on us- believing in faith, He is just as willing and able to do what we need Him to do in our lives. I encourage you today to take a minute just to thank Him for who He is. Tell him how great He is and let Him know that you have faith that He will see you through even the most impossible circumstances.

Healing and Salvation

Matthew 9:1-7 1AND JESUS, getting into a boat, crossed to the other side and came to His own town [Capernaum]. 2And behold, they brought to Him a man paralyzed and prostrated by illness, lying on a sleeping pad; and when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralyzed man, Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven and the penalty remitted.  3And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, This man blasphemes [He claims the rights and prerogatives of God]!   4But Jesus, knowing (seeing) their thoughts, said, Why do you think evil and harbor malice in your hearts? 5For which is easier: to say, Your sins are forgiven and the penalty remitted, or to say, Get up and walk?   6But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins and remit the penalty, He then said to the paralyzed man, Get up! Pick up your sleeping pad and go to your own house.   7And he got up and went away to his own house.

In this passage we see that a paralyzed, sick man was brought to Jesus. Obviously the people who brought him knew that Jesus was healer, right? So what does Jesus do when He sees the man? He says “Your sins are forgiven”. I wonder if the man’s friends were a little disappointed that Jesus did not immediately heal his body. I wonder if they realized that Jesus did a far greater miracle by cleansing him on the inside. The religious leaders of the day were very upset when they heard Jesus forgive the man’s sins. Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked them if it was easier to say your sins are forgiven or rise up and walk.

This seems to be the opposite of what religious people in our day think. Why is it so easy to believe in salvation, that our sins can be forgiven, that we can be given new life in Christ, yet when it comes to healing so many have a problem understanding or believing that it is for them? Didn’t Jesus say that healing and salvation were equally as easy for Him to grant? Matthew 9:35 says 35And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. And again in Acts 10:38 38How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the [Holy] Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and, in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by [the power of] the devil, for God was with Him. Not only did Jesus spend a great deal of time healing sick people, He also sent His disciples out to do the same. Matthew 10:7-8 7And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand!  8Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely (without pay) you have received, freely (without charge) give. Then in Mark 16:17-18 He gives all believers that same power 17And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages;  18They will pick up serpents; and [even] if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well. The same faith that allowed us to believe in Jesus and have our sins forgiven, is the same faith that will enable us to be made whole. If you are sick in body thank God for His healing power at work in you!

The Difference between Can and Will

Matthew 8:1-3 1WHEN JESUS came down from the mountain, great throngs followed Him.  2And behold, a leper came up to Him and, prostrating himself, worshiped Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You are able to cleanse me by curing me.  3And He reached out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed by being cured. And instantly his leprosy was cured and cleansed.

This leper came to Jesus, knowing all the great miracles Jesus had performed, knowing that Jesus had been going around the country healing the sick, and said, “I know you can heal, but will you heal me?”  Have you ever felt like that? We know that God can do anything. Ephesians 3:20 tells us 20Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]—Knowing that He can and knowing that He will are two different things. 

If we look a little farther in Matthew 8:5-9 & 13 we see the story of the centurion.  5As Jesus went into Capernaum, a centurion came up to Him, begging Him,  6And saying, Lord, my servant boy is lying at the house paralyzed and distressed with intense pains.   7And Jesus said to him, I will come and restore him.  8But the centurion replied to Him, Lord, I am not worthy or fit to have You come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant boy will be cured.  9For I also am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my slave, Do this, and he does it…. 13Then to the centurion Jesus said, Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed. And the servant boy was restored to health at that very moment. The centurion  came to Jesus and asked if He would be willing to come and heal his servant. As soon as Jesus said “yes I will”, the he said “Never mind coming to my house, just speak the word and he will be healed.” The soldier never questioned whether or not Jesus could heal, he just wanted to know if He would heal. When he was convinced that Jesus would heal he was able to release his faith and see the miraculous happen in his servant’s life.  In what areas of our lives do we need to be convinced that God will? Are we looking at our finances saying, “I know you can prosper me, but will you?” Are we looking at sickness in our bodies and saying, “I know you can heal me, but will you?” Are we looking at a messed up relationship saying, “I know You can restore, but will you?” We have to be convinced that it is indeed His will for us to prosper, to walk in health and wholeness, and to have complete restoration in every area of our lives. How do we convince ourselves? By finding the promises of God in the Word and holding fast to those promises. The more we meditate on His Word, the more our minds will be persuaded that God is not only able but willing to pour out His blessings upon us. Just like the centurion, when we know that He will, we will open the door for our faith to obtain the miraculous in our lives.

Authority vs.Eloquence

Matthew 7:28-29 28When Jesus had finished these sayings [the Sermon on the Mount], the crowds were astonished and overwhelmed with bewildered wonder at His teaching,   29For He was teaching as One Who had [and was] authority, and not as [did] the scribes.

I have read this verse before, but it didn’t really stick out to me until a couple of weeks ago. Jesus finished teaching the people and it says the crowds were astonished and overwhelmed at His teaching because he taught as One having authority and not like the scribes. The scribes were professional teachers. I imagine that they were eloquent, skilled in what they did, and able to communicate very well. Yet the people were amazed by Jesus not because of His ability to speak, but by the authority He possessed in His words. Have you ever felt prompted to speak to someone but you hesitated because you weren’t sure if you had the right words to say? Guess what? We were given the same power and authority Jesus had. We don’t have to worry about being articulate we just have to make sure our words carry the power and anointing of God. If we are speaking His words, they will contain that authority.

 In Luke 9:1-2  1THEN JESUS called together the Twelve [apostles] and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases,    2And He sent them out to announce and preach the kingdom of God and to bring healing. That same power and authority that Jesus had He then gave to His disciples. In Mark 9:15-20 15And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach and publish openly the good news (the Gospel) to every creature [of the whole human race].   16He who believes [who adheres to and trusts in and relies on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] and is baptized will be saved [from the penalty of eternal death]; but he who does not believe [who does not adhere to and trust in and rely on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] will be condemned.   17And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages;    18They will pick up serpents; and [even] if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well. As believers we have a responsibility to preach the Gospel. If we speak His word, God will always back us up. Look what it says here in verse 20- 20And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied [it]. Amen (so be it). The next time you feel led to speak the Word over someone’s life, don’t hesitate. Remember there is power in your words; The power of God that has the ability to deliver people from bondage, destroy every stronghold in their lives, to bring healing and life and peace. Your words contain authority, and with that authority comes the miraculous power of God to set people free. Put your confidence in Him rather than you, and His words through your mouth will bring the breakthrough for the people you come into contact with.

Don’t stop knocking

Matthew 7:7-11   7Keep on asking and it will be given you;  keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you.   8For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened.    9Or what man is there of you, if his son asks him for a loaf of bread, will hand him a stone?    10Or if he asks for a fish, will hand him a serpent?   11If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give good and advantageous things to those who keep on asking Him!
We are told to ask and it will be given to us. Mark 11:22-24 says 22And Jesus, replying, said to them, Have faith in God [constantly]. 23Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him.  24For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it]. When we mix faith with our requests, we see that we can have what we ask for. As today’s passage says we must keep on. To keep on means to continue steadily or obstinately despite problems, difficulties or obstacles, to refuse to budge. Many times we may start out in faith, but as circumstances and situations arise we let go of what we believe.
This is something I actually encountered today on a small scale. I was going to do some errands and as I was driving to my first stop, I got a tremendous pain in my head. My first thought was honestly, I should take an aspirin when I get back to the office. My second thought was- it says in the Word in Isaiah 53:5 5But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole. So I said right there in my car, “Thank you God that you died so that I don’t have to be in pain. You promise health and life in Your Word. Now pain I command you in the name of Jesus to leave my head right now and not come back!” The pain did not immediately go, but I know what the Word says and I believe it no matter what it looks like or feels like. When the devil tried to tell me, “You better take a Tylenol, the pain isn’t leaving” I said again, “Pain, I commanded you to leave. You have no place in my body, no place in my head and you can’t bother me anymore.” Almost instantly I began to feel the pain leave my head. About an hour later, I felt it try to creep back in, so I told it to leave again and it did. That’s persistence! I could have said after praying the first time, “Guess that didn’t work, get out the pain relievers”, but I have learned enough of the Word to be able to stand my ground. I am not saying there is anything wrong with taking an aspirin, but each one of us possesses power and authority over sickness and disease, and for that matter, over anything else that may try to come against us. We have to learn to stand our ground. To be obstinate and not to back up on what we believe. If we ask, we will receive. If we seek we will find, and if we knock the door will be opened to us. Just don’t quit on what you believe. Be persistent and you will see God come through for you every time!