FORGIVEN HEARTS, HEALING AND HEALTH

“WHO FORGIVES all your iniquities, WHO HEALS all your DISEASES” – Psalm 103:3

FORGIVEN HEARTS are platforms for receiving the Blessings of HEALING and HEALTH: “WHO FORGIVES all your iniquities, WHO HEALS all your DISEASES. Who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s (Psa.103:3-5). He, who forgives all our iniquities, also heals all diseases, redeems our lives from destruction, crowns us with tender mercies, and satisfies our mouths with good things, so that our youth is renewed like the eagle’s! His Forgiveness draws other blessings: “BLESSED is he whose transgression is FORGIVEN, whose sin is covered. BLESSED is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit” (Psa.32:1-2).

While sin is not the sole cause of sickness, the Bible consistently connects the presence of iniquity with the prevalence of infirmity: “Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His Word and HEALED them, and delivered them from their destructions” (Psa.107:17-20). James 5:15-16a also inferred a strong link between sin and sickness: “And the prayer of faith will save the SICK, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed SINS, he will be FORGIVEN. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be HEALED…”

The weight of sin and load of guilt are sufficient to cause physical weakness and sickness: “There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger, nor any health in my bone because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me” (Psa.38:3-4). Forgiveness is the divinely-devised weight lifter! Forgiveness is the fundamental blessing of Redemption on which other blessings and benefits rest: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the FORGIVENESS of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph.1:7). Walking with Christ provides benefits that go far beyond anything the world has to offer. In the stresses of daily living, it’s important to pause and ponder on the blessings and enrichments that God provides for His forgiven and saved children.

God has the best Eraser – Forgiveness by the Blood of Jesus: “I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sin. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you” (Isa.44:22). If the enemy tries to haunt or torment us with memories of past sins, we only need to take them to the One who is able to forgive and blot them out forever: “…Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (Heb.10:17b). The Saviour from sins is also the Healer of diseases and Deliverer from oppressions. He accomplished all of these on Calvary’s Cross: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isa.53:5).The Bible says, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and HEALING all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38).

God is the Healer, and has never changed. He assured Israel: “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I AM THE LORD WHO HEALS YOU” (Exo.15:26). He has not changed: “For I am the Lord, I do not change…” (Mal.3:6a). Our Father-God has not ceased to be the Healer! Jesus Christ preached the gospel of the Kingdom and healed “every sickness and every disease among the people” (Mt.9:35b). He has never changed: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb.13:8).