GIFTS OF HEALING

MEMORY VERSE: To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:9

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Timothy 1-3

BIBLE READING: 1 Corinthians 12:7-10

It is important that you and i learn about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:1 says, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.” It is important that you and i know that they - gifts of the Holy Spirit - are not earned i.e. they are not a reward for good behavior. However, if we want the Holy Spirit to manifest His gifts through us, we must be yielded to Him and that involves presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God ( Romans 12:1). Today, as the Holy Spirit helps, we will talk about the gifts of Healing. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are divided into three: Inspirational or Fellowship Gifts, Gifts of Power and the Gifts of Revelation. The Gifts of power are healing, miracles, and faith.

The gifts of healing are for the supernatural curing of injuries, handicaps, and diseases without the aid of natural means or human skills. They are manifestations of the Holy Spirit working through compassionate human channels to the person in need. Those who are used as channels of God’s healing should not claim to have the gifts of healing, nor claim to be healers. Rather, they should realize that any of the nine gifts could be manifested through them as the Holy Spirit moves to meet needs around them. There is a real interdependence between God and man in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In other words, man has a part to play and God has a part play . As we play our part, He will play His part. According to 1 Corinthians 3:9, we are laborers together with God. In the case of healing, God guides us on how to go about it, and uses our work, but He is the Healer. Mark 16:20 says, “And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.”

A Christian does not have to have the baptism with the Holy Spirit in order to pray for the sick, nor is the fact that a person has prayed for the sick a sign that he or she has received the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Mark 16:17-18 says, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Any believer can pray for the sick and see them healed by the power of Jesus. However, it is after the baptism in the Holy Spirit that increased faith for healing comes, and the Christian begins to minister to the sick. Like the other gifts, healing seems to be released with a far greater intensity and reality after the receiving of the Holy Spirit.

NOTE: If you are moved to pray for a sick person, do so. Don’t worry about whether the person will get healed immediately or not. Some healing are progressive whilst others are instant. The lepers were not cleansed immediately Jesus prayed for them, but as they went they were cleansed. Luke 17:14 says, “And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.”

PRAYER POINT: Father, please use me to heal the sick.

twitter@BroOluwatoki

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD

Philippians 3:9says And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith

What is the definition of righteousness? According to 1 John 3:7 (NIV), righteousness is doing the right things. The reason why God counted Abraham’s faith in Him as righteousness was because it was the right thing to do. It is the right thing to have faith in the One who the bible says with Him nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37). Righteousness is simple doing the right thing. It is righteousness to obey one’s parents (physically or spiritually) because the bible says in Ephesians 6:2-3: honor your father and mother that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. It is also righteousness for wives to submit to their husbands just like the church submits to Jesus and the husbands to love their wives to the extent they are willing to die for them just as Christ gave up His life for the church (Ephesians 5:22-25) . Just like it is the right thing to work hard, it is the right thing to attend services on time and pay out tithes. This is why we all need to go to God from time to time to ask for forgiveness and the grace to be righteous because James 4:17 says therefore to him that knows to do good and does it not ,to him it is sin.

Many of us misunderstood Paul in Philippians 3:9 when he talks of the righteousness which is of God by faith. By this we assume that once we are Christians we are righteous and no matter what we do it is not a sin. This is the big lie! What Paul meant was the justification we received through the atonement made by Christ not justification received as a result of following the Law of Moses. If it was so that once we receive Christ as our personal Lord and savior we are righteous and whatever we do is not counted as sin, Paul would not have asked the believers in Rome that shall we continue in sin and ask for grace to abound – Romans 6:1. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. The old things include love of sin, their sensuality, pride, vanity, levity to mention a few. The new things are a new course of life, both of faith and holiness, a new way of serving God through Christ by spirit. We cannot do what is not right and say our righteousness is of God .Righteous in God means we are made right through our faith in Jesus .Prior to our conversion, all our righteous is as a filthy rag according to Isaiah 64:6 because we are unclean but once we accept Jesus, we are washed with the blood of Jesus and we are made clean from all uncleanness. From that day, our righteousness becomes of God. Remember 1 John 3:7 says He that does what is right is righteous. Anyone who claims to have giving his life to Christ and still indulges in sin is not righteous.1 Peters 1:17 says be ye holy for i am holy.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please help that my obedience to your word is total.

Legalistic vs. Mercy

Here lately I have been sitting back watching people, I am a people watcher by nature. I find humans a fascinating group. I have noticed that when we as humans look at each other we like to judge someone else’s sin in legalistic eyes. But not our own we are very happy to look upon our own sin with mercy, the mercy that the Lord gives us. Funny isn’t it we hold others to a higher standard than we hold ourselves.

I have also noticed a very dangerous game being played not only by the world but by Christians. I like to call it ‘Rank that sin’. Those in the world look at others of the world and reason with themselves that they are a good person because at least they have never done A-B-C. Christians also like to partake in this game when looking at fellow Christians. Don’t we like to think ourselves better. We think hey at least I don’t struggle with the bottle or at least I have never cheated on my spouse or I have never stolen, the list can go on. We loose sight with the fact that sin is sin, black as coal. Doesn’t matter what it is, we are no better than those that we are placing ourselves over in judgement.

We all struggle, my struggles may not be your struggles, your struggles may not be mine. But that does not give us the right to place judgement upon each other. How about helping each other.. Wow there is a thought. If we spent less time playing our little minds games trying to make ourselves feel better about our own sin and more time helping each other overcome what ever it is we are dealing with. Think what a better place this might be to live in. Think about how much easier it might be to go to our Brother’s and Sister’s and ask for prayer, knowing that they will be standing in the gap for us not placing judgment upon us.

I have also noticed that some like to preach Grace and Mercy. Then you have those on the other side of the fence that like to preach Holiness and Righteousness. What would happen if we met each other somewhere in the middle, think about it. Don’t we need all of these elements in our walk?

Grace - Mercy - Holiness - Righteousness

Think about all of the inner bickering that could be cleared up if we were just willing to meet somewhere in the middle. Think about what that could do for the Body. Just maybe healing could begin to take place, just maybe the fracture that has plagued us for so many generations could slowly heal. Then what would Christianity look like.

I read a account from a prophet here recently that said until the fracture in the Body was healed true revival could not take place. After reading this account the Holy Spirit told me this was true. All this time I have been praying for revival, just maybe I need to shift my attention for a season and begin to pray for healing. Maybe all of us need to shift our attention for that season and begin to pray for this, just think what could happen if we all could come together in unity. Think about the difference we could make, think about the lives that could be changed, think about those that could be saved. But to do this it has to start with all of us individually in our prayer room and also in how we deal with one another.

I am not a trained theologian, I am but a humble servant of Christ. My thoughts do not flow as they should but please know that I speak what the Lord places upon my heart. The Spirit has been heavy upon me today, I have been moved to tears a few times, my heart has ached. And this is what He gave me to share with you today, I pray blessing upon each and everyone of you.

In His Love

christineingram