If we, by our own power and striving, can overcome the enemy, deal with the spiritual roots to our diseases and be healed, we could say that we did it ourselves. But if we cry out to God for mercy with an open heart to allow Him to work on us, whether we are healed immediately or over a process of time and renewing of the heart and mind, the glory will go to Him.
It is not His will that we be sick or that our bodies malfunction in any way. He created us perfect from the foundation of the world. Sin and iniquity has distorted His creation. If we accept disease or illness thinking that we "deserve" it, we are placing ourselves under the law and the gift of Christ is of no effect.
If however we stand on our faith and appropriate His gift we will be able to walk day by day in His presence to learn and grow by His leading. We do not need disease to spur us on to repentance although it may indicate a need to look deeper. God does not need disease to teach us. He needs an open and submissive heart. Disease is not given by God. It is not a tool or a temptation that He gives us in order to grow us up. He can, however, use what the enemy intended for evil and turn it around for His good and glory.
We should not accept illness or disease into our body when we feel it coming on. We are of more use to God and His Kingdom when we are healthy and have energy. If however we overdo it, our bodies may need to take a break (break down for a time) to recover themselves so that we can get a chance to hear God again. So, that is still more a consequence of striving or getting ahead of God and thus leaving His covering and protection and doing things of our own power.
God is slow to anger and plentiful in mercy therefore He is not going to strike us like lightning with disease or curse if we mess up or stray. He is going to do His best to work on our hearts and lead us back to His green pastures and still waters. If however our heart has come to a place of hardness where we can no longer hear Him in that particular area of our life, He may have to give us up to our own lusts and desires for a time so that we can face the consequences of our decisions.
If God was so patient with the Israelites even when they turned on him and worshiped a calf in the desert and complained because they weren't where they thought they should be yet even though He was completely providing everything they needed (Neh 8 and 9), surely He will have the same patience for us and surely He will still bring His Word to our heart and instruction as He did for them. He is the same yesterday, today and always.
God is not out to get us, He truly does love us and want what is best for us. Sometimes in our religious thinking we almost have it out for ourselves and drive ourselves to a point of perceived failure mostly because we do not understand the way He works and how He thinks about us. He is still looking at our heart and working on our heart and desiring for us to get out of our heads and to crawl out of the mindsets and iniquities of our generations so that we can really get to know Him and draw near to Him and find true relationship with Him. He wants us to find His rest. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. If we are burdened then there is something else occulting His truth and promise.
In Nehemiah when the Israelites recognized the iniquities and sins or their generations, they were grieved, but God told them to rejoice and celebrate in their new found freedom and to put away the garments of sadness and distress. He wanted them to throw it off and rejoice in Him without a second to lose.
That is how we overcome we recognize, take responsibility, repent, renounce, remove, resist, rejoice, and restore others. REJOICE!!! (Be in Health's 8 Rs to Freedom)
The Lord is the light of my salvation, of whom shall I be afraid, the Lord is the stronghold of my life...
He will not leave us or forsake us. He never left or forsook Israel even though they rejected Him and turned from Him so many times. He was always patient, always slow to anger and always devising a way to pull them back to Himself so that He could bring them back under His covering and into His place of blessing. He desires to bless us so much. We need to submit ourselves to Him so that we can recognize and receive that blessing and His rest.
We should not be looking at how to fix ourselves but rather we should be looking to Him the author and the finisher of our faith. We should be studying Him and His ways and asking for understanding so that we can be more like Him. Focus on His goodness and seek first His kingdom. Don't be continually seeking out the enemies kingdom in your life, it will just bring you down and overwhelm you. Seek God's kingdom and it will help you eradicate the enemy's by default. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and then all of these things will be added unto you. We can't just get rid of the enemy in our life we need to be filling our life with good so that the enemy doesn't have any more room to stay. Looking forward toward the prize.
Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil.
8 It shall be health unto your navel and marrow to your bones.
Proverbs 3:5-8
Father, please write your Word on my heart so that I might not sin against you.
Restore to me the joy of my salvation and renew a right spirit within me.
