BLESSED

I Have Heard Your Prayer

In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.' "  Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD,  and said, "Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.  And the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying,  "Go and tell Hezekiah, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. "I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city." Isaiah 38:1-6

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.  1 John 5:14-15

God loves to hear and answer prayer and He has demonstrated in Christ Jesus what His will is when they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Many Christians improperly believe that sickness and poverty are  God’s will for them but they hypocritically go to a doctor to get better when they are sick and try to earn more money so that they can live better; which doesn’t make sense at all!

There is a very common evangelical worldview is that “the earth is the devils, and the fullness thereof” In other words that the world belongs to Satan, and that Christians can expect only defeat until the Lord returns. And that is exactly the lie that Satan wants Christians to believe. If God’s people think the devil is winning, it makes his job just that much easier. What would he do if Christians stopped retreating and started advancing against him? But the scriptures tell us the complete opposite of the evangelical worldview:

The earth is the LORD'S, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.  For He has founded it upon the seas,  And established it upon the waters. Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?  Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,  Nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation.  Psalm 24:1-4

But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:  "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."   Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. James 4:6-10

Those who humble themselves before God and accept His redemption and salvation and resist the devil will obtain the blessings and righteousness comes from the God of our salvation? What blessings are we talking about? Well the word of God’s tells us clearly what they are:

"Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. "And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:  "Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.  "Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.  "Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.  "Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.  "The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. "The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 28:1-8

Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!  Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:  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. Psalm 103:1-5

Although God’s word says the benefit of God include forgiveness of all your iniquities, healing of all your diseases and redemption of your life from destruction, some even say they are afflicted like Job was and are being tried and tested by God! But Job didn’t stay afflicted and he passed the test and God healed him, restored double his real losses and gave him seven sons and daughters! So when is it their turn to be victorious and blessed like Job? And the bible tells us:

Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord-that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. James 5:11

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.  For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us,  2 Corinthians 1:3-10

Apostle Paul tells us about the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. He tells us we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us. In other words we are to trust in a God who doesn’t keep us in sickness, poverty, loss, defeat or depression but brings us through to the other side of plenty, prosperity and victory just like He did for the children of Israel when He miraculous delivered them out of their oppressors and brought them into the Promised Land of plenty! Mind you they were delayed for 40 year due to some rebels and unbelievers!

The bible tells us “But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous” (Prov. 13:22). I love the word “but.” We see it used in the bible for Joseph who was promoted instantly from a prison to a palace:

"And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him  "and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Acts 7:9-10

And that is the basic pattern of history as God saves His people and gives them dominion. This is what God did with Israel: in saving them, He brought them into already-settled lands, and they inherited cities that had already been built (Ps. 105:43-45).

In a way God does bless the heathen, in a sense – just so they can work out their own damnation, in the meantime building up an inheritance for the godly (Gen. 15:16; Ex. 4:21; Josh. 11:19-20). Then God smashes them and gives the fruit of their labor to His people. This is why the bible tells us that we need not fret over evildoers, for we shall inherit the earth (Ps. 37). The Hebrew word for salvation is yasha, meaning to bring into a large, wide, open space – and in salvation God does just that: He gives us the world, and turns it into the Garden of Eden. God’s word is true:

He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. Psalm 1:3

Let them shout for joy and be glad, Who favor my righteous cause; And let them say continually, "Let the LORD be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant." Psalm 35:27

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret-it only causes harm.  For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more.  But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace (prosperity). Psalm 37:8-11

The word of God, especially the Psalms, are full of conquest, victory, prosperity and the dominion of the saints when they walk in obedience to God’s voice and His command! When they disobey well then sickness, poverty, lack, oppression and other vegetative things are their possession.

Speaking of dominion, true spirituality does not mean retreat and withdrawal from life; it means dominion. The basic Christian confession of faith is that Jesus is Lord (Rem. 10:9-10) – Lord of all things, in heaven and on earth. As Lord, He is to be glorified in every area (Rom. 11:36). And there is no glory for God in a person being sick, poor or defeated when He has made provisions for plenty, health, wealth, victory and abundance and that is part of the salvation package of benefits!

In Christ Jesus through salvation God restored man to his original purpose. In the beginning God created man in His own image, in order that man would have dominion (Gen. 1:26-28). That task of dominion began in the Garden of Eden, but it was not supposed to end there, for man was ordered to have dominion over the whole earth: Adam and Eve (and their children) were to extend the blessings of Paradise throughout the entire world. But when man rebelled, he lost the ability to have godly dominion, because he lost fellowship with his Creator. While fallen man is still the image of God (Gen. 9:6), he is now a naked image (Gen. 3:7), for he has lost his original covering – the glory of God (Rem. 3:23).

The image of God remains, to some extent, in all men — but the image has become twisted, marred, disfigured, and broken as a result of sin. And the earth, which was planned to become God’s Garden-Temple, has instead become a wilderness of thorns, thistles, sweat, scarcity, pollution, and death (Gen. 3:17-19; Isa. 24:1-6; Rem. 5:12). Man was banished from the Garden, and forbidden to enter it again.

But that isn’t the end of the story. A redeemer came in Christ Jesus who crushed the Serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). Accordingly, the Apostle John tells us that “the Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Christ came as the Second Adam, in order to undo the damage brought through the First Adam (1 Cor. 15:22, 45; Rem. 5:15-19). God had breathed into Adam the breath (in Hebrew, the Spirit) of Life, but Adam’s rebellion brought death into the world.

In salvation, Christ again breathes into His people the Spirit of Life (John 20:22)–Eternal Life, which sets us free from the Curse of sin and death (Rom. 8:2), and which will ultimately result in the restoration of the entire creation (Rem. 8:19-21).  In salvation God gave us a complete and great work of redemption, which is defined as  the act of getting back or regaining, reclamation, recouping,  recovery,   repossession, rescue,  retrieval,  salvage! We have been restored to being the second Adam! As a result blessing (ALL KINDS) and righteousness comes to those who have clear hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up their soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully, because they have put their trust in God and are a new creation. God’s word is true:

The earth is the LORD'S, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.( IT IS NOT THE DEVIL’S!) For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the waters.  Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.  He shall receive blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face. Selah  Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.  Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle.  Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.  Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah Psalm 24:1-10

And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:45

In Christ we really are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), because we have been recreated in God’s image (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10), and are clothed again with the glory of God (Rem. 8:29-30). And, this time, the security of the restored image of God is guaranteed, because our standing is in the Christ who can never fail. In Him we have Eternal Life and salvation as man is restored to his original calling and purpose, and to exercise dominion under God over the whole earth (Ps.8:5-8 , Heb. 2:6-9).

Thus, when God saved His people, thus the effect of the Curse began to be reversed. And the bible tells us: Christ has redeemed us from every curse of the law (Gal.3:13-14), so none can have a hold on us any longer. We are now longer in the domain where curses have a legal right over us. That was why Jesus not only shed His blood, but hung on a tree as well — to secure our redemption from the curses of the law. Therefore the cross of Christ crushed the curse of the law.  When sickness or poverty is not a function of sin in a man's life or of ignorance, it can also operate freely under the guise of the curse of the law. God’s word is unchanging:

"If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, "then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues-great and prolonged plagues-and serious and prolonged sicknesses. "Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. "Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the LORD bring upon you until you are destroyed.  "You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God. "And it shall be, that just as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. Deuteronomy 28:58-63

The truth is that God has done everything on His own part. He has completed His own part of the contract. He has purchased our health at the expense of His Son's blood. But He expects us to enter into it and make it a reality in our individual life. Every sickness in our life now is due for a curse. We are to use our mouth to curse it and rebuke it just like Elisha did to his antagonizers and Jesus did to the fig tree and to the fever Peter’s mother had. God’s word is unchanging:

Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!"  So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the LORD. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. 2 Kings 2:23-24

And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again." Immediately the fig tree withered away.  And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?" So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.  "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." Matthew 21:19-22

  Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house. But Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them. Acts 4:38-39

God’s word tells believers, Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers (3 John 1:2). God wants believers to prosper and be comfortable as well as healthy. He saw them in discomfort and sent Jesus Christ to come and give them the abundant life. Man's discomfort was a result of Adam fall from grace and being driven out of the Garden of Eden where he did not lack anything, he was super comfortable.

 When Adam fell he was driven out of the Garden of Eden into the wilderness and the gates were shut. Thus, no one could gain access into the garden until Jesus came out of the grave and the gates of life flung open (Psalm 24:7). Among those gates was the gate that led back to Eden. That is to say that God is bringing His people back into their Eden of abundance. Therefore, financial signs are a part of believer’s redemptive rights in God and their Abrahamic blessing.

Most of God’s people are deceived into thinking that because they still live in our physical bodies they are human; but nothing could be farther from that!  Jesus, who is their example and life was born of the Spirit, yet He arrived the earth very much human. But there was no denying the fact that He was also the Son of God. The same is true concerning believers. When they are born again, they are a spirit being, even though they have a mind and live in a physical temple called the body.

Adam, before the fall, operated in the class of God. His mind functioned in the same frequency as God's. He was a man of authority, a man in dominion. One day, however, he ate the forbidden fruit, and in accordance with God's warning, he died.  Adam's death was, however, spiritual, not physical. He was still physically alive, but his spirit was disconnected from God. At that very instance Adam went from the realm of the supernatural to the natural. He descended from the spirit world to the physical world. He also became a victim of what he used to have dominion over.

But God was undaunted, and as in a relay race, He picked up the baton that Adam had dropped and passed it unto Jesus, who did not fail Him. Jesus came primarily to recreate what had died in Adam — his spirit. He came to restore to humanity what had been lost in Adam. He was called the second Adam, because like the first Adam, He was a representative of all mankind. With this restoration, as many as receive Jesus into their hearts can operate in the same class as the first Adam before the fall. God’s word is unchanging:

"The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.  However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.1 Corinthians 15:45-47

Satan could not prevail in heaven, so he was cast down to the earth. Two kingdoms are brought to light here. The earthly and the heavenly. Only those who reside in the earthly kingdom are under the wrath of Satan. Those who are born again have been translated from the earthly to the heavenly kingdom. And in the heavenly kingdom there is rejoicing, because there is no place found for Satan there anymore.

As a new creature in Christ, we can safely conclude that Satan has no right to be anywhere around us. In our heavenly citizen status therefore, we should be able to display "the riches of His glory" in the face of the devil, not suffering as those in earthly places do. Just like Enoch who was translated so that he did not see death, we have been translated too, so that we do not experience the same buffeting as the world.

The fact that we have been redeemed guarantees us absolute liberty from all forms of oppression of the devil. We are no longer his captive, so he cannot plague our body or tamper with the works of our hand. This knowledge should spur us into reacting against the gimmicks of hell in all areas of our life. Everybody may be complaining about the devil, but God is complaining about the ignorance of His people! There is no mountain anywhere; every man's ignorance is his mountain.

Once we know where we belong, we should be able to confront the devil and secure our victory. Case in point sickness is not our portion in God. So, if we sense an attack of sickness coming, we are to react against it based on the light of God's Word.  We are not to nurse or accept it, just fight it off, and enjoy liberty. The advantage Satan has over believers is ignorance. He plays on the ignorance of the saints to buffet, oppress and punish them. The bible tells us: Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 2 Corinthians 2:11. But Satan has been stripped of all his powers and is left with only wiles and devices (Eph. 6:11). By being conscious of our superiority over Satan, we can "take him for a ride." Instead of living at his mercy, we can turn the tables on him, compelling him to take to his heels at the mention of our name!  Redemption guarantees our total liberty.  With this understanding, we hold in our hands the master key to rest in all spheres of life.

Jesus took the place of man in sin, sickness, poverty, death, and every evil thing in the world. He was made sin on the cross, identifying with man in the fallen state. He became sin for us. We were in Christ in every stage of it. We were legally present there, defeating the devil when Jesus died. We took part in His suffering (His passion), in His crucifixion, burial and resurrection. He became identified with us  on the cross and we with Him. When Jesus was made alive by the Spirit, we were also there. We were raised up from the dead together with Him. And when God raised Him up and exalted Him far above principalities and powers, we were there with Him, exalted as well.

As a result of this mystery of identification, all principalities and powers are under our feet. Through Christ Jesus we are now one with the Father as Jesus was one with Him. As a result we have the same nature with God the Father. Therefore, whatever God can handle, by virtue of identification with christ, we can too! What we carry now is eternal life. We have the life of God inside us, as a gift from heaven. That life cannot be terminated by any ploy of hell. Rather, it is quite capable of swallowing up disease, failure, stagnation, frustration and even death.

The eternal life we carry on our inside is real, not theoretical. It is the exact type in Jesus that made Him immune to sickness and disease. That same life guaranteed His rest even in adverse situations. In it lay all He would ever require to live the abundant life. This same life is what we carry inside us! Once we become conscious of it, sickness cannot survive in our body. Failure itself cannot come near where we are. The Bible says whatsoever is born of God (a carrier of eternal life) overcomes all the hurdles of life (1 John 5:4). This truth will establish us as sons of God licensed of God to displace the devil in any environment we step into. Not guessing, but quite sure of who we are in Christ and what God has done in us when we entered the kingdom of God. God’s word is unchanging:

Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:5-6

"He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.. John 3:31