Today I want to share a story of God’s goodwill coming to pass in my friend John’s life. I met John back in late January / early February at a teaching conference in Ghana. During the conference, I was teaching on God’s goodwill, faith, authority, healing, protection, etc.
Since the time of the conference, John moved to the United States to be with some of his family who live on the east coast. He took the message of full salvation to heart and decided to handle the situations he was facing in life by faith rather than by the solutions of man (i.e. doctors & medicine). He was in need of a job and also was desiring to be healed from high blood pressure which he was afflicted with for 17 years. The doctors told him that his medical condition was incurable and therefore he would be on blood pressure medicine the rest of his life to try and control it.
By way of His sufferings, Jesus has made provision for both of these needs to be fulfilled. Regarding employment, it is the will of God that we work and He has given us the power to gain wealth. We also know that Jesus became poor so that we are made rich, and a primary way that the riches are fulfilled is via the work which He gives us the skills to do. [Anytime I say the word “rich” I want to put it into proper biblical context. The bible definition of rich is this: All of your needs are always fulfilled with an abundance left over for every good work. Greedy riches for selfish purposes are not what is meant by the word “rich” in the scriptures.]
Deuteronomy 8:18 NKJV And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
2 Corinthians 8:9 NKJV For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
2 Corinthians 9:8 NKJV And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
Concerning healing, we are entitled to live our lives in perfect health because Jesus paid for us to be healed! Jesus bore our sicknesses on our behalf, so that through faith we can live free from sickness. Jesus carried our pains on our behalf, so that through faith we can be free from both physical & mental pain. Jesus took stripes on His back, that by His stripes our healing is paid for – it is already available and we receive it by faith. Healing is a finished work from God’s perspective, and it is up to us to receive our healing by way of faith. Think of everything that Jesus did as if filling a bank account. Our account is filled with provision, with protection, with healing, with forgiveness, etc. It is up to us to become aware of what Jesus has provided, to believe in it, then speak our faith accordingly to receive it. This is the reason why the scripture says that everything pertaining to life and godliness has already been given (past tense). It is through believing in these great & precious promises and speaking our faith accordingly that we receive it. Amen!
Isaiah 53:4-5 HCSB Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. (5) But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds (stripes).
2 Peter 1:3-4 HCSB His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. (4) By these He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires.
With these passages in mind, we are able to confidently pray for needs such as jobs and healing because they are already paid for and provided by Jesus, they are according to the goodwill of God, and God has told us that anything we pray for according to His goodwill (1John 5:14-15) and promises (2Corinthians 1:20) the answer is YES. John and I therefore prayed in agreement for both of his needs, exercising our God-given authority to command the devil and his works to leave, and to call forth the promises of God including a job and healing. Within a few days of our prayer, John was hired by a company and will be having his first day of work on July 8th. Thank You, Daddy, in the name of Jesus! Additionally, John experienced an improvement in his blood pressure, but he wasn’t completely healed after the first prayer. Just as Jesus ministered to the blind man two times, we prayed a second time for his blood pressure to be healed, and he has been completely well ever since then! Thank You, Jesus, that by Your stripes John is healed!
I hope that your faith has been increased by hearing of the works of Jesus in our lives. Remember that everything Jesus did – He did for all people. Everything is already provided and all we need to do is learn what He has done, believe it, and speak it. Please watch the teachings below entitled “It is Finished!” to learn more about this.
God bless you!
John L. and Bobby