In our last issue we learned that the act or art of managing: or supervising a sickness, malady, or condition is called Disease Management. We also learned that this is what doctors are trained to do. We saw, according to the Bible, that God instructed his people to come to him when they were sick.
Psalm 103:2-3 1Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 2Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;Exodus 15:26 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.
We learned that the source of their healing was to be God. We learned that people went to the Lord or a man of God in the Old Testament when they were sick.
Leviticus 13:1-2 1And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, 2When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh [like] the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests:
This same pattern continued throughout the gospels and into the church administration.
Acts 3:1-9 1To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: 2Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:2 3To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:4And, being assembled together with [them], commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, [saith he], ye have heard of me. 5For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 6When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?7And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Today, people should be going to the elders for ministering and healing! Remember Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the lord..." and Matthew 6:33 "Seek ye first the kingdom of God..."
Today when disease and sickness attack, we should first go to God in faith and act on his written Word. If we are not getting the need met, then we should go to a believer or an elder for prayer and ministering. If we do not get the need met there, then perhaps we may consider some kind of medical attention, but always go to GOD FIRST!
Remember, we saw when a random poll was taken and the question was asked "who do you go to when you are sick," 50 percent said the doctor. And the other 49.5 percent said a friend, book, library, health store, etc. Less than .5 percent said the elders in the church. From this, it is safe to state that the tables have been drastically turned in favor of the doctor.
Something is very wrong somewhere. Well, who runs the kingdoms of this world? This is a far cry from God's original intent. God addressed this type of careless leadership in the Old Testament. Look at the book of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 34:2-4 2Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe [be] to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: [but] ye feed not the flock. 4The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up [that which was] broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.
This is still the job of every minister today.
Exodus 15:26 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.
Here we see that good health flowed from obedience!!! The same truth is repeated in the New Testament.
James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
In Exodus 15:26 we read "... for I am the God that healeth thee. The word Lord is the word Jehovah. Strong's says, "this is the proper name of the one true God." The wordhealeth is the word rapha which means "to heal, to make healthful." So our God is "the Lord that healeth," or "the Lord , the physician of men; Jehovah our doctor."
Who took care of man when he got sick?
Psalm 103:2-3 2Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 3Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Bless the Lord ... Jehovah who healeth …rapha!
Jehovah Rapha. Jehovah our doctor! Jehovah our healer!
Psalm 147:1-3 1Praise ye the LORD: for [it is] good to sing praises unto our God; for [it is] pleasant; [and] praise is comely. 2The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. 3He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
Verse 2… The LORD (Jehovah) doth build up Jerusalem…
Verse 3… He healeth (rapah). God is Jehovah Rapha, Jehovah our doctor, Jehovah our healer.
Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.NIV Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM "{or, I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE} this is what you are to say to the Israelites: "I AM has sent me to you."
"Jehovah the physician" is God being what he will be for his people. He is "Jehovah the healer" for his people. Was He able to take care of his people?
Psalm 105:37 He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.Malachi 3:6a For I am the LORD, I change not;Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
The word "supply" is the word pleroo, meaning: "to make full, to cause to abound, to furnish, or supply liberally to fill to the top: so that nothing shall be wanting to full measure." This word supply is in the future tense, active voice, indicative mood. The future tense corresponds to the English future, and indicates the contemplated or certain occurrence of an event, which has not yet occurred. The active voice represents the subject as the doer or the performer of the action. e.g., in the sentence, "The boy hit the ball," the boy performs the action. The indicative mood is a simple statement of fact. If an action really occurs or has occurred or will occur, it will be rendered in the indicative mood.
But my God will certainly supply all that you will ever need. Period. Look at some other translations.
ASV Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply every need of yoursBBE Philippians 4:19 And my God will give you all you have need ofDBY Philippians 4:19 But my God shall abundantly supply all your need,NAB Philippians 4:19 My God will fully supply whatever you need.
I think God is trying to make a point. Is your good health a need? Has God already provided for it? When? At the cross. Jesus Christ took everything the devil could throw at us and nailed it to the cross.
Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Remember Exodus 20:3 "Thou shalt have no other gods before me?" When we seek to someone else before God, that is idolatry. Because of man's disobedience to God and his Word, sickness has been able to spread over the earth. When an individual commits his or her life to help relieve mankind of pain and suffering, this is an honorable and worthy cause. The person who makes this kind of commitment should be respected and praised. You see, the medical profession is a long, hard road to travel. However, some in the medical profession step beyond their God-given talents and speak and act contrary to the written Word of God. Every person must make up their own mind who they want to believe.
Proverbs 3:5-8 5Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 8It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
We trust God first and always. Mankind has placed the burden of sickness on the doctors, not God. So, don't blame the doctors for trying to help. We need to get back to God's original intent. Medical journals state that eighty to eighty-five percent of all sickness is psychosomatic.
According to Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, psychosomatic means:
"of, relating to, concerned with, or involving both mind and body.""of, relating to, involving, or concerned with bodily symptoms caused by mental or emotional disturbance."
The word psycho relates to the mind. The word somatic relates to the body. Now medical journals state that 80 to 85 percent of all sickness is psychosomatic: the mind-body connection. In other words, there is no organic cause for the disease. This is sickness that is caused by a malfunction in the mind-body relationship.
Where the harmony between the mind and body is broken, the brain tells the body to release or not to release hormones and chemicals that cause the body to become sick, or weakens the immune system. When this happens, homeostasis cannot occur. If homeostasis cannot occur, then your physiology will remain out of balance. Your body cannot heal itself. Now, if medical research has a problem that 80 to 85 percent of diseases is psychosomatic — in other words, it starts in the mind - doctors have a real problem on their hands.
First of all, I showed you that good health was a result of obedience to God's Word. This starts in the mind. For you and me, we could think of it as fellowship. If 80 to 85 percent of disease starts in the mind and that Bible teaches that good health follows obedience, then a good part of our health depends on our fellowship with the Father.
Where is fellowship maintained? In the mind, right? Remember, I taught you that separation from God and the things of God can cause sickness. If this is true, then the doctors have a dilemma on their hands. Why? Because if 80 to 85 percent of sickness starts in the mind and for our purposes, that translates to disobedience whether willful or ignorant, sin, then the best a doctor can do is treat the symptoms.
How do they do this? Drugs. What do drugs do to our body? All drugs have side effects. Did you know that the fourth leading cause of death in America results from prescription drug use?
If your sickness is psychosomatic (Not living the way God wants you to live) will a doctor ever get to the root of the problem? Are doctors trained to bring people to repentance? Are they trained to teach the great truths of the Bible regarding forgiveness, hate, pornography, and sin? Like I said earlier, God never gave the responsibility to heal the sick to the doctors.
Mankind has placed this burden on them, not God. So, don't blame the doctors for trying to help. They are doing the best they know; however, the best they can offer is disease management. You see, if your disease is spiritually rooted, then he best the world can offer is to deal with the symptoms and not the cause. Praise God for the doctor. ...BUT GOD FIRST. Not the doctor.
Don't make someone suffer because of your faith or theirs. It's better to take a pill and to live to fight another day. However, there is a higher way. God's way.ÿ