Deliverance and Healing
Psalm 107:20
“He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their
destructions.”
Isaiah 53:5
“But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him;
and with his stripes we are healed.”
The connection
between deliverance and healing is this:
When
it comes to the human spirit, deliverance is never complete without healing and
healing can never take place without deliverance. The two are parallel to each other; the two
assist and complement each other. Whenever there is a need for deliverance
there is also the need for healing.
It
is as simple as this, deliverance opens the door for healing; once the demonic
or evil influence has been taken from us, then we are free to deal with the
issues in our will that had given invitation to the evil presence and had given
them the authority to torment and plunder us.
The
healing process is establishing discipline, it is healing our desire to change
and be different. It is letting go of the stronghold; it is when we choose to
stop holding strongly to the desire in our flesh that demanded our weakness to
over take us. Actually, healing is a
process that demands tending to, this is where we are transformed, and this is
where our thinking is renewed and established (Romans12:2).
Furthermore,
we must keep in mind that deliverance and healing are just vehicles taking us
to wholeness. We can further understand
this in the biblical definition of salvation or what it means to be saved. The Greek word “sozo” for saved or saving has a three fold meaning: it means to be
delivered, healed, and made whole.
Everything
we receive from God is dynamic in nature. This means it never becomes static;
it never stops becoming, growing, or moving, it never stops being active.
Everything we receive from God is full of life and is continually growing into
maturity or becoming more.
Therefore,
initial salvation is just the beginning of an eternal process of growing into
wholeness and maturity. Deliverance and
healing are the two agents taking us there.
We must see them as dynamic in nature also and that these two will
always be present as long as salvation is present.
When
the seventy reported back to Jesus with the excitement of casting out devils,
we find that Jesus saw something they could not see. Their testimony was more
about their authority over demons than connecting the broken to the healing
touch of heaven; the presence of Father God bringing His life that has no end.
Luke 10:17-20
17 And the seventy returned again with joy,
saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as
lightning fall from heaven.
19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on
serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall
by any means hurt you.
20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the
spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are
written in heaven.
Jesus said, “…rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice,
because your names are written in heaven.” Our significance in the ministry of
deliverance is not our authority over devils; our significance is that we
ourselves have been touched by the healing touch of heaven. We ourselves have
been set free and delivered; fully delivered when the healing touch of heaven
changed our operational Geographic’s from that of this wicked world to that of
heaven’s kingdom; from the world’s system to the system of heaven.
Our
name is now written in heaven; our positional purpose is to give to others what
heaven has given and continues to give to us. We have been connected to Daddy
God; our whole being has come into our place with Father God. Deliverance is removing the obstacles keeping
us from being connected to God while healing becomes the embracing and
acceptance we all long for in Father God.
Once
again, the seventy was more intrigued with the power and authority they had
over the devils than the relational ability to connect the broken to Father
God, the rejected and hopeless to Father God.
There
is somebody underneath the oppression, depression, obsession, regression, or
even the possession. Consequently, the object or the subject is the broken
person underneath it all. We should
never allow ourselves to focus on the sin, the evil, the wickedness, the
presence of the spirit that is fostering the bondage; we must focus on the
person who is hurting, broken, and cannot help themselves. With our names written in heaven, we are to
bring to them what heaven has brought to us.
Acts 10:38
“How God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and
healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”
It
takes the anointed presence of the Holy Ghost to practice what Jesus practiced.
Romans 8:16-27
16The Spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God,
and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be
also glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature
waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity,
not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be
delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the
children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which
have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is
seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do
we with patience wait for it.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our
infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the
Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered.
27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what
is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints
according to the will of God.
The
anointed presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the living process of the
anointing taking hold of us as believers.
He is our comforter, in the original language of the Bible this means He
is the one who walks beside us, He is the one who points out to us what we must
learn and how we must apply what we have learned.
One
of the greatest things we learn as believers is the Father’s love. Jesus said this: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:
and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And
they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath
learned of the Father, cometh unto me” (John 6:44-45).
Our
journey with Jesus begins with the Father’s love. A deep revelation in our heart that we are no
longer strangers, no longer orphans without a father to love and instruct us; a
father to establish boundaries for us, boundaries that identify who we are and
provides protection in our maturation towards becoming the anointed one’s
(little Christ), Christians.
Being
Christians in the original language of the Bible means we become “Little Christ,”
“Little Anointed ones.” This means we become the anointing of the Father’s
love. Being “Little Christ” means we
bring the kiss of heaven to this twisted world we live in; we become connectors
connecting the lost and lonely to the Fathers love.
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our
spirit, that we are the children of God” (Vs.16). The presence of the Holy
Spirit gives us this witness, it is Him that courts this revelation in our
heart; we are the children of God. Being God’s children means we become heirs
of God, we become joint heirs with Christ (the anointing).
Jesus
learned obedience by the things He suffered (Hebrews 5:8-9). This means in the
crucibles of His life is how He obtained the anointing of obedience. The three
and a half years of obedient anointed ministry was preceded with thirty years
of crucibles squeezing this anointing into Him.
If He being the only begotten of the Father obtained the anointing this
way – then we must know we being adopted into this heir-ship would also receive
the anointing this way.
The
glory that is revealed in us is what we learn in the Father’s love. His love
that keeps on loving when we are excited about being His children, when we are struggling
and fall short of that glory as we learn the anointing. Just when we think we have learned, another
crucible comes along demanding our obedience to another level we did not know.
The
creature that is full of expectation waiting for the manifestation of the sons
of God (that is you and I), are longing for the revelations we have learned in
the Father’s love. It tells us in verse
20 that the creature is subject to vanity. It is those that are full of
themselves that Jesus calls to the cross saying, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
To
become the little anointed ones is to learn how to empty ourselves of ourselves
that we may be filled with Him, His way of thinking, His way of living, and His
way of ministry.
This
is what I am trying to get us to see about the seventy that was celebrating
their power and authority over demons rather than imparting the healing touch
of heaven. The power and authority we have over demons is just a tool for
deliverance that sets us up for the healing ministry Father God has called us
to, and that ministry is the ministry of reconciliation.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is
from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry
of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,
not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of
reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal
through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our
sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ESV).
Being
reconciled to God is the exchange of the old for the new. It is taking everything in the past and
burying it by connecting ourselves to Father God. Reconciliation is the desire
God puts within us to change from being what we have been to becoming what He
has chosen for us to become. Age has
nothing to do with it; we are never too old or too young to become what we have
always should have been.
Turn
to someone and say, “I am not who I was – I am who I am becoming in Christ
Jesus.” “…The new has come…” and, all this is from God. Our becoming is not a work of others in us,
not a work of ourselves in us, this new work is a work of God in us; As our
text puts it – “…All this is from God…”
Ephesians 2:10 declares “…we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works…”
The
only work we do in all this is simply work with God as He works in us. This is what it means to work out our own
salvation with fear and trembling. We
must fear Father God and give Him His rightful place in our lives – we must
tremble at His Word as it is revealed to us and in us (Isaiah 66:5). Paul says,
“Whereunto I also labour, striving
according to his working, which worketh in me mightily” (Colossians 1:29).
Reconciliation
is working with God as He works in and through us. In this work we become the righteousness of
God in Christ Jesus. This makes the new
work in us a work of righteousness.
It
is in the vices of life that this work of righteousness takes place. For
instance, it is when we are faced with a vice that His virtue is released;
where our actions would have been an old way of doing things we somehow change
and our actions become a new way of doing things. This is not us doing the work; it is the
virtue of God released in us as His grace enables us to be different, it is the
new that has come to replace the old. Consequently, repentance is not a gift we
offer to God it is a gift given to us by God.
We
see people different, we see their actions differently; no longer do their
actions become a threat to us, rather, their actions become an opportunity to
us. There is no need to rile when we
have been reconciled. Negative actions
from others now become opportunities for a new reaction from us. This scripture actually calls this “newness
of life” – “Therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life”
(Romans 6:4).
This
was the old me, now this is the new me.
Turn to someone and say – “the new has come.” When your friends say – “what has happened to
you?” You can say, “The new has come, I am a new creature in Christ Jesus.”
Our
past will bury itself as we focus on the new.
We cannot focus on the past and expect the new to take place; the key is
this, if we have been afforded the new, then the ministry of reconciliation would
be to afford others with the new.
Reconciliation
involves a changed relationship because our trespasses are not counted against
us. We are now to announce to others
this message of God's grace. You can be
different; you will be different by the grace of God. Affording this does not
mean that we ignore the present actions; it simply means we afford them the
same newness that was afforded to us when Jesus became our choice for life.
Jesus
did not ignore the act of adultery in the woman caught in the act; He simply
did not hold it against her by offering to her the new – “Go and sin no
more.”
This
is what we should be offering to those in our lives. Quit holding the past over them whether they
are sinner or saint – just quit it! Our ministry is the ministry of
reconciliation. We cannot help it if people do not change; at the same time, it
does not excuse us from offering the new, and offering the new is to stop
holding the past over them. Believe they can change – it is called the spirit
of prophecy – it is a testimony that defies the way things have been done to
believe there is a new way of doing things.
Is
it true that some people will choose to never change? Yes! Should that change
how we act as believers. No! Somebody
has got to believe that God can and that God will.
He
has given to us the ministry of reconciliation (2Corithians 5:18). Once again,
the goal of deliverance and healing is to bring us to wholeness or
wellness. The cross calls us to this
anointing and it is the cross calling us to this ministry.
“…he was wounded for our transgressions, he
was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and
with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
He
was wounded for our evil actions and He was bruised for the reasons driving those
actions. A transgression is the action and iniquity is the will driving the
action. When we are healed in our will
is when we will be healed in our actions.
Once
again, notice, the wound is for the action and the bruise is for the reason
driving the action.
Luke 8:1-3
8:1 And it came to pass afterward, that he went
throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of
the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,
2 And certain women, which had been healed of
evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven
devils,
3 And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward,
and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.
Jesus healed her of evil spirits and
infirmities (let us unpack this). The
infirmities in us are the weakness in our flesh, mind, and pride. The association our infirmities have with
evil spirits is simply the rights we have given to them in our fallen-ness.
Being
delivered is being set free from the demonic strongholds that create havoc in
the areas of our weaknesses; being healed over the reasons they were given the
rights to do so is being healed in our will concerning those weaknesses.
Often
we form ties in our personality with the spirits that have attached themselves
to the influence our will lends. Therefore, the evil spirit that is present is
not the original problem; sin always originates and is fostered out of our
will. We usually “will it” before we “act it out.” “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and
enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it
is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:14-15).
We
will sin into our lives and by the grace of God we will sin out. Just because
we get rid of an evil spirit creating havoc with our weaknesses does not mean
we are immediately cured of the sinful acts our weaknesses are creating. The will was present before the evil spirit
arrived and the “will” will be present long after the evil spirit departs.
Consequently,
this is the reason the human spirit can be as wicked as evil spirit’s can be at
times. The difference between the two is this: We have been given power and
authority over demons (Luke 10:19); they have to do what we tell them to do in
Jesus name.
On
the other hand, there are times when we tell a human spirit what to do, they
will choose to do the opposite; reason being, the human spirit has been
empowered by God to make its own choices. Furthermore, the only rights demons
have are the rights we have given to them. Being healed of evil spirits is when
we relinquish those rights. Therefore, healing is on the other side of
deliverance taking us to wholeness taking us to wellness.
Father
God sent His Word to heal us and to deliver us from all our destructions. Jesus the Word made flesh dwelt among us as
the only begotten of the Father. Now we
carry His Word as those who are adopted in His family, we belong to Him; we are
now the Word in flesh dwelling among the broken.
Jesus
said, “They that are whole have no need
of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:17). This is our ministry and this is our
purpose as believers in this sin sick world; we are carriers of His presence.
The Word is in us waiting to be sent.
