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Healthy Christians

by Jerry Ousley  
8/27/2010 / Christian Living

I have a rather large scar on the left side of my neck that is the result of a surgery that removed a cyst. There's a long story to that but today I want to talk about the scar. I was very much aware of it during my teenage years but over time I completely forgot about it, my friends and the people I went to school with got used to it and it just became a part of me. Occasionally someone would ask me how I got it. The teenage boy in me wanted to flaunt himself as a tough guy because I was a skinny kid who got pushed around at times. I would tell them that it was the result of a knife fight and that they should see the other guy. Some people would look at me like I was crazy and others knew I was joking.

There was some difficulty with my neck healing and I was told that without a second surgery I would experience this difficulty for the rest of my life. To make a long story short I did not have the second surgery because the Lord healed it. I don't think that I had much to say about the matter but I had told the Lord that there was no need to remove the scar because it would always remind me of His healing power, and would serve as a great door-opener to witness to others. The Lord did just that and so I still carry a scar.

I told this story because I want to share some things with about healing and prosperity. Back in the 1950's (come on now; I know there's some of you out there who remembers those years) a young man by the name of Oral Roberts was running late for a college class. It had been his daily habit to read some scripture in the morning and as he was ready to dash out the door he remembered that in his haste to get ready he had forgotten to read from the Bible. Quickly he grabbed up his Bible intending to read wherever it fell open. He read a single verse from Third John verse 2 which says, "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers." That's the New King James rendering. The original King James version uses the word "wish" rather than "pray" and said that John "wished above all things" rather than" I pray the you prosper in all things." The original Greek supports the New King James rendering. Now I'm not knocking Oral Roberts. I believe that God used him mightily. I don't agree with everything his ministry teaches but that doesn't mean that I can't admire him.

This was basically the beginning of the prosperity movement. All over the country ministers saw how it gave hope to the sick, the afflicted and the poor and they reached out to them. Most were sincere in what they meant to accomplish while others just took advantage of the teaching and used it as an opportunity to line their own pockets. They would teach how that "as our soul prospered" was the same as "give in to my ministry" and would collect larger offerings. Deb and I heard a man speak just days ago teaching about what God wants for His people and how we must have faith to receive. He also talked about sowing and reaping (you hear a lot about that in the prosperity movement). He taught that God is bound in His own word to prosper us if we give. Now listen folks, God is God and He can do whatever He wants. If He said something you can be sure that He will do it, but come on now, who are we to remind God of what He said? God will bless us as a by-product of our lives given to Him but He is never bound to do something as these teachers have taught.

I believe that God still heals. I believe that He can do it instantly, or use doctors and the medical profession to heal. But I also believe that the ultimate healing takes place when we go home (to Heaven). He does want our souls to prosper but we've got to remember that even though we may claim this verse, John wrote it to Gaius. In its proper context John is speaking these words to Gaius. Now we can claim those words as our own, but we must also remember the context in which they were written and that John said it, not God.

God wants us to have faith, but faith isn't a thing we can pick up. Often it is learned over time. Also, having faith isn't just for healing or prosperity, but faith means that whether God makes us rich or poor living in a place where we are threatened, even beaten just because we love Jesus Christ, we will stand true to Him regardless the situation. Yes God will honor our faith our true faith, in the way we need the most. And what some need the most is to stop thinking about money and begin allowing God to be formed in them. That makes for a very healthy Christian.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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