Jesus said: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10b; NKJV). The apostle Paul wrote that the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us as Christians and brings life to our physical bodies (Rom 8:11). Therefore, sickness and disease are not of God, they are brought against us by the attacks of satan (John 10:10a; Acts 10:38). God told His people in Old Testament times that: “I am the Lord who heals you” (Ex 15:26; NLT) and King David wrote that God is the one: “who heals all your diseases” (Ps 103:3b; NKJV). In His time on this earth Jesus ministered healing to many people. Luke reported in his Gospel (Luke 4:40) that Jesus heled every sick person that came to Him and the apostle Matthew wrote (Matt 4:23) that Jesus healed many different diseases and sicknesses. Jesus sent out His disciples to preach and heal the sick (Matt 10:8). By the stripes and wounds Jesus suffered, prior to His crucifixion, He won healing for all of us (1 Peter 2:24). In His great commission to all Christians to go and preach the Gospel, Jesus commanded us to: “lay hands on the sick and they will recover” (Mark 16:18b; NKJV). Miracles of healing were frequently seen in the early Church (Acts 9:36-42; 8:6-8; 5:12). We all live in the continuance of the early Church and God never changes (Mal 3:6), healing is ours today!

“And God is able to bestow every blessing on you in abundance, so that richly enjoying all sufficiency at all times, you may have ample means for good works” (2 Cor 9:8; WNT). What wonderful promises, overflowing blessings and the ability to bless others and the kingdom of God. As God said to Abram, we are “blessed to be a blessing” (Gen 12:2). “Every good and every perfect gift” (James 1:17; NKJV) comes from our heavenly Father who never changes (Mal 3:6). I am reminded that all God’s promises to us are always, “Yes and in Him Amen” (2 Cor 1:20; NKJV) and by God’s Holy Spirit power in each one of us, He can do exceedingly abundantly beyond our wildest dreams (Eph 3:20). God has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings we need to become Christians, grow in our walk with Him and become His ambassadors to the world around us (Eph 1:3; 2 Cor 5:20). In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus encourages and exhorts us not to worry about the needs of life such as food, drink or clothes because our heavenly Father is aware of our needs and is more than able to supply them. Jesus said just, “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you (Matt 6:33; NKJV). We will be blessed if we walk in obedience to God and his word and seek Him with our whole heart (Ps 119:2). God wishes to bless us in all our hearts desires, all our plans and aspirations (Ps 20:4). But we must never forget that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35)!

“Be earnest and unwearied in your prayer (life) alert and intent in your praying with thanksgiving” (Col 4:2; AMPC). In other words, we need to persevere in prayer and not give up even if answers are coming slower than we would like. (See also Luke 18:1-8). As I was reading this verse I was reminded of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was one of the Jewish exiles and he was cupbearer to the king of Persia. He got bad news from Judah that the wall of Jerusalem had been torn down and so he started praying. I noticed that in his prayer (Neh 1:4-11) he began by giving God praise and then he repented on behalf of the children of Israel who had turned away from God. Then he laid his petition before the Lord and it was very specific, “Please grant me success today by making the king favourable to me. Put it in his heart to be kind to me” (Neh 1:11; NLT). He then asked the king to give him a leave of absence so he could return to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall. When the king asked him how he could help we are told that Nehemiah again prayed before he replied” (Neh 2:4,5; NLT). He prays once more in chapter 6, verse 14 when he is facing opposition to the building of the wall. In fact, Nehemiah endured a lot of opposition but he was obviously strong in faith because in the midst of persecution he declared, “The God of the heavens will grant us success” (Neh 2:20; NLT).

It seems that Nehemiah was a man of prayer, as we as Christians should be. He prayed before speaking or acting and God gave Nehemiah success and he and his team rebuilt the wall in just 52 days.

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him will I trust” (Ps 91:1,2; NKJV). The whole of Psalm 91 speaks of God’s protection. He is our refuge and fortress, delivering us from evil, shielding us and using the angels to keep us safe. In 2 Kings chapter 6, we read how Elisha was trapped in a city by the large army of the Syrian king. Elisha’s servant was alarmed, so Elisha prayed that his servant could see the armies of God, “horses and chariots of fire” (2 Kings 6:17; NKJV) ready to protect them. Elsewhere in the Bible we are told that God is our hiding place (Ps 119:14), our strong tower (Ps 61:3), shelter (Ps 27:5), rock (Ps 27:5) and stronghold (Ps 9:9). He guards us (2 Thess 3:3), surrounds us (Ps 125:2), shelters us (Isa 25:4), keeps (Ps 121:5-8), helps, strengthens and upholds us (Isa 41:10). God keeps us secure (Prov 1:33), safe – even at night (Ps 4:8) and even fights for us (Ex 14:14). Hopefully by now you are convinced that God protects you 24/7; yes, even you! I am sure we all love Psalm 23, let’s consider verse 4 (AMP), “Yes, though I walk through the (deep, sunless) valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod (to protect) and Your staff (to guide), they comfort me.” Be encouraged if you face difficulties, challenges or persecution remember God’s protection is mightier than anything that can come against you (John 16:3).

“We walk by faith not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7; NKJV). These are profound words because as humans we are so used to operating in the sense realm, especially going by what we see, hear and feel. However, if we are to operate in faith, God tells us not to go by our senses. Because, “faith is the proof of what is not seen” (Heb 11:1; CSB). Take Abraham and Sarah for example, when God told them that Sarah would conceive, their first reaction was to think of how old they were (operating in the sense realm). However, they decided to walk in faith focusing on God’s promise, despite their age and season in life, “And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead – and so was Sarah’s womb” (Rom 4:19; NLT). In the New Testament, we see the example of Peter when he walked on the water to Jesus. He stepped out of the boat in faith, focused on Jesus but “when he SAW the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink” (Matt 14:30; NLT). Peter was doing fine until he looked at the storm. He went from the faith realm to the sense realm. I encourage you not to go by what you see, hear or feel but develop your faith for whatever it is you are believing for; quote scriptures concerning this and thank God for the victory. “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (2 Cor 4:18; NLT). Amen.