Reeva, good one.  This is a much needed message in these days.

earlier, Reeva Parry, wrote:

>When God Heals, And When He Does Not
>
>
>Can God heal? Yes. Does God heal? Absolutely. Jesus healed many, as 
>a part of His earthly ministry.
>
>He still works miracles at times, some of which include miraculous 
>physical healing. But Jesus didn't heal all sick people. Why? 
>Because it wasn't His primary mission and purpose. He came to save 
>the souls of sinners, not to merely make their present life more 
>comfortable. (Mark 2:17). Surely, He cared for their needs, hurts, 
>ailments, and discomforts. But He did not heal every physical 
>ailment present on the earth. In fact, though there is nothing 
>recorded in Scripture to this effect, it is possible that Jesus 
>Himself was sick or injured at one time or another (besides the time 
>leading up, and including the cross, of course). Sickness is not 
>necessarily a result of sin, but it is part of being in a cursed 
>world, and in a mortal body, as Jesus was. (Philippians 2:6-8, Hebrews 2:14).
>
>Sometimes, we might be prone to think that Jesus would never have us 
>be sick or hurting. The reality is that one day, He will wipe away 
>our tears, and remove all pain and grief, (Revelation 21:4), but 
>that day  has not yet come. There is a present purpose for 
>suffering, as it shapes us, challenges us, and draws our hope toward 
>eternity. (James 1:2-4, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18). But there is nothing 
>in Scripture that guarantees that, in the cross, all sickness has 
>been conquered. How do we know this? Well, the Bible is explicitly 
>clear about this. Sometimes, we get the idea that the apostles were 
>healing everybody whom they came into contact with. We might tend to 
>think that they had a sort of indiscriminate healing power and 
>ability. We might even be tempted to think that they could tell God 
>when and where they wanted Him to work, and heal through them. The 
>truth is, that the apostles could only do what God would enable them 
>to do by faith. When they moved to heal someone, they were moved by 
>the Spirit, confident that they were to believe God for healing. But 
>there were other times when God didn't heal, and they weren't in 
>shock or awe about this. It didn't weaken their faith in any way. In 
>2 Timothy 4:20, Paul says, "Erastus remained at Corinth, but 
>Trophimus I left sick at Miletus." Paul, the apostle who,
>himself, was healed from a deadly bite by a poisonous viper, (Acts 
>28:3-6), could not, or did not, heal Trophimus. He left him sick. 
>Why would he do this, if he had the power in Jesus to heal him? 
>Certainly, both of them would have believed for healing, and then 
>gone on to serve the Lord. But God chose not to heal, and Paul left 
>Trophimus sick. What about Epaphroditus, a helper to Paul, and 
>servant to the Philippians? He was sick to the point of death, but 
>the Lord spared his life. (Philippians 2:25-30). Why did things have 
>to get so bad, to the extent that this righteous servant of God 
>almost died? Couldn't Paul, or a person "gifted in healing", have 
>spared him this near death experience?
>
>No, because man cannot manipulate God, and God heals when God wants 
>to heal. What about Timothy? Paul told him in 1 Timothy 5:23, "No 
>longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake 
>of your stomach and your frequent ailments." For whatever reason, 
>Timothy had some stomach issue and other frequent ailments, perhaps 
>related, perhaps not. Regardless, he was regularly suffering from 
>some variety of sickness. Paul's advice was not to exorcise some 
>demon of stomach sickness, nor did he come to Timothy and bestow 
>some healing power upon him. Timothy was a man of great faith, and 
>was one of Paul's closest friends and fellow servants of the Lord. 
>It wasn't for lack of faith that he wasn't healed. It just wasn't 
>God's plan for some reason, and both Paul and Timothy accepted that, 
>and lived in light of that reality. They took practical steps to 
>deal with the problem. There is room in the Bible for doctors and 
>medicine. Luke, after all, the author of the gospel of Luke and the 
>book of Acts, was the "beloved physician." (Colossians 4:14).
>
>I selfishly wish that we could always be healed, because of Christ's 
>victory over sin and death on the cross, but the reality is that, 
>even in Jesus' time and in Paul's time and personal life, healing 
>wasn't always a reality. When God wanted to do something special and 
>significant, He healed. At other times, sickness was a trial, or a 
>way of life. In these cases, as in all instances, God's grace was 
>sufficient. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
>
>We must not presume upon God's healing, though we ought to believe 
>in it. God does heal, (James 5:13-16), even today, but it is because 
>He wants to. He honors the prayers of faith from the righteous 
>hearts of His children, but He doesn't always work how we want Him 
>to work. I have been amongst believers that have firmly believed God 
>for healing, and for whatever reason, God has chosen not to heal. 
>Sometimes, people even go on to be with the Lord. Yet, I have also 
>heard of many testimonies, where God has confounded doctors, and 
>miraculously healed. Regardless of what God decides to do, we can 
>trust that His way and will is best. We cannot command God to heal, 
>but we can ask Him to. We can believe Him to, but we cannot require 
>Him to. In this world, we will have tribulation, but we ought not to 
>fear, because He has overcome this world. God causes all things to 
>work for our good, even sickness, and, yes, even death.
>
>As Paul said, "To live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 
>1:21). One day sickness won't be an issue anymore, but until we are 
>with Jesus, let us pray for healing and grace to endure all things.
>
>
>
>
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John


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