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How to deal with
sickness
How to deal with sickness and ill-health:-
James 5:13-16
Is any among you afflicted? let him [or her] pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms [hymns]. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Confess your faults [trespasses against one another] one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
This is a prescription for good health! God has written it out and all you need to do is take it to the heavenly Chemist and get it filled.
Fortunately for us, we can read this Dr's script. It says, If you are upset or despondent, pray. If you are happy, then sing. These things actually work for they are based on God's promise! If you pray for yourself, then of course, don't be surprised if you don't get an answer. If selfishness is sin, then selfish prayers are only more so. Pray for work that you can do for others, then you will get results. The very work will cause you to stop worrying and therefore release energy for God to use in renewing your mindset. We all know the value of singing, too. The action of the lungs as well as the recognition of the words helps to spread health and good cheer.
If you are physically sick, call on those whom you believe are in good standing with God (it doesn't matter whether they are or not, its your faith in your Doctor that counts), and let them anoint you. They are a symbol for a sick and therefore mentally feeble person to focus on. You can't concentrate properly when you are not well and if you can't see Jesus then they will stand in for Him, for He is the real doctor - they are His "nurses". Learn from the following experience.
Exodus 15:23-26
And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried to the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet.
There He made for them a statute [a law or principle] and an ordinance [a ritual or method], and there He proved [tested] them, and said, If you will diligently hearken [listen] to the voice of the LORD your God, and will do that which is right in His sight, and will give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes [principles], I will put none of these diseases upon you, which I have brought upon the Egyptians [the people who reject Me]: for I am the LORD that heals you.
"I am the LORD that heals you." What a wonderful promise! He is promising to be your personal Doctor, One who never loses a patient or misdiagnoses. All you have to do is trust Him.
The secret of the sweetening of the water was not in the branch of the tree. It was in their strict obedience to His command. Because they did exactly what He said without doubts, then the miracle occurred. Then He said, If you do the same when I speak to you about ill-health you will not get sick.
So the secret of good health is obedience. Look for statements in the Bible which tell you how to eat, dress, behave, sleep and work and then follow the principles behind the statements.
Why not follow the requirements exactly? Because the original commands were specific to the people of that day. Now they are general commands for all nations in all times. Throwing a branch into bitter water will not make it sweet today UNLESS you are told by the Spirit TODAY to do it. In the same way, eating meat drained of blood is not necessarily what God wants you to do today. Genesis 9:4. It will no doubt be better than what you are eating at present, because there a lot of disease germs in the blood. But for total good health you need to hear and obey the voice of the Spirit today.
He is more likely to tell you not to eat meat at all now because of the greater risk of disease than there was in those days. But only He knows what's best for you. Only He can tell you - only you can listen.
Did you notice that a spin-off from the healing is the added blessing of forgiveness of some sins? If you are in obedience in one area it can rub off into another.
Because you feel great after the healing it is now a good time to go to those you have wronged in the church and make amends. It may be that the confession of fault to them (not sin, notice) will set you freer than you already are and you can help a brother or sister in the church get healing as well. A "righteous" person is one who is consciously following all God's leading, not varying from the path knowingly, and therefore their prayers are much more to the point and in harmony with God's way. This means that God will be able to answer more of them.
Of course, not one of them would claim to be sinless, for that is not in the nature of righteous people. They give all the praise to the glory of God and know that, "but for the grace of God, there go I". Because they have had lots of experience of thinking that their "robe" is clean and pressed and then being informed of a "spot" or "wrinkle" that they hadn't noticed, they always wait for God to say those words.
One last verse of advice comes through one who was very close to Jesus.
Isaiah 58:6-11
[God says] Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? [This is done by teaching the gospel]. Is it not to deal [share] your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh [your relations]? [This is done by practical good works].
Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall spring forth speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you [people will hear about your Christianity]; the glory of the LORD shall be your rearward [that's what they will remember when you are gone].
Then shall you call, and the LORD shall answer; you shall cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If you take away from the midst of you the yoke [of slavish obedience to men’s rules, including your own ideas], the putting forth of the finger [criticising others], and speaking vanity [words without knowledge];
and if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in obscurity, and your darkness be as the noonday: and the LORD shall guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and make fat your bones: and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
Isn't this what you want? Health springing forth speedily and God answering your prayers. Then give up on men's ideas of diets and health regimes. Go to God and get your special diet from Him out of the Bible, and then if you eat a sufficient amount of it (and not more), with a variety of items over a given period, you will get just that, good health. God, who has control of your body, will make sure that all the vitamins and energy that you require are taken from it. That's His job so don't try and do it for Him. You can't anyway, but I'm continually surprised at the number of professed Christians who think they can!
You'll need to go over this one again and again, for all your habits and previous knowledge tell you the exact opposite of what God recommends. We are so used to over-eating (surfeiting) and over-indulging in other matters that we have come to think of it as normal. But a large proportion of all the viruses and bugs that affect us are the result of our own wrong habits, because of our willing ignorance, or because of disregard of good advice from our Maker.
If you would like to read a simplified version of Job's problems, then try this page. (Did you know that the book of Job was the first written message from God to us?)
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