A Nugget from New Life Network
(by Dr. Larry Ollison)
Scripture for the Day (February 12, 2018)
Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
A few weeks ago I was talking with a man about the Bible. In the conversation he brought up a certain well known minister and started making fun of him. He thought it was funny because this particular minister taught healing. Then he started going through the usual worn out jokes about faith healers. Then it hit me. That’s just the way it was when Jesus was here on earth. He went from village to village teaching the gospel and healing the sick. Jesus was a faith healer. Let me explain.
Mark 5 tells about a woman who had been sick for twelve years. She had gone to the doctors of the day and suffered many things. They had taken all her money and to top it off, she was in worse condition after her treatments than before. Then she heard about Jesus. She pushed her way through the crowd until she was behind him. Then she reached out and touched the hem of His garment. She knew that if she could just touch His clothes, she would be made well. As soon as she touched His robe, she was healed. She knew and felt the healing in her body at that very moment.
The Bible says that immediately Jesus knew that power had gone out of Him and He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” When He saw the woman, she was trembling and she fell before Him at His feet. At that point Jesus turned to her and said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”
Jesus didn’t say that her church attendance healed her. Her donations didn’t heal her. Even her righteousness didn’t heal her. What healed her? According to Jesus, her faith made her well.
In Acts 14, Paul was preaching in Lystra. A man was there who had no strength in his feet, crippled from birth. The Bible says that this man had never walked, but he was there listening to Paul preach. Paul watched this man closely and in verses 9 and 10, the Bible says, “Paul observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, ‘Stand up straight on your feet!'” Immediately he was healed and he began walking and leaping. This was a great miracle, but did you catch what happened? Paul observed this man intently and, according to the Bible, Paul saw that he had enough faith to be healed.
Is faith required for healing? Well, it sure looks that way. Any time God moves, faith is involved. During another conversation with me, a man said, “You aren’t one of those faith people, are you?” That question put a smile on my face. It felt good to see that someone noticed I had a desire to walk in faith. My response was this, “Yes, guilty as charged! I am one of those faith people!”
Faith is required by God to please God. What is faith? Faith is simply believing that God has done what He said He would do and everything you say and do is based on that belief so that you instinctively place all your trust in His Word. So today, I encourage you. Believe the Word of God and act on it. That’s faith. And faith is the catalyst to the Word of God. God has promised us many things in His Word. As we reach out and touch His Word, it is our faith that activates it.
