DAILY DEVOTIONAL
June 28th, 2018
There are three laws that govern the human body. We will look at one of the laws today.
LIVE A LIFE OF HOLINESS
1 Corinthians 6:18-20
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that commits fornication sins [breaks the law] against his own body. 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Notice what the second clause of verse 18 says, “…but He that commits fornication sins against his own body.”
What does it mean for one to sin against his own body?
It means to break the law that governs the body to function healthily. That law is holy living. For health and healing to be guaranteed, we must live holy lives.
If we yield our bodies to sinful habits, we grant Satan authority and access into our bodies. When we violate the law of living holy, we subject our bodies to sickness and disease which will invariably shorten our live span here on earth.
Indulging into sinful habits is one of the major reasons why there’s a prevalence of sickness and disease in our society.
Your doctor wouldn’t tell you it is your sinful lifestyle that made you sick because he is ignorant.
Jesus never told anyone who sought for healing to visit a medical doctor. He is the Great Physician [Jehovah Rapha]. Well this was not because there weren’t hospitals in His day but because He understood sickness was spiritual and is of the devil.
A sick man was brought to Jesus by his four friends and when He saw their faith, He said to the man, “Son thy sins are forgiven you.”
One may ask, what has forgiveness of sin got to do with this man being healed?
The forgiveness of sin has a lot to do if sickness and disease are to be healed.
Sin gives Satan legal right over our lives.
When Jesus forgave the man’s sins, He told him to take his bed and go home and he did.
I want you to notice that Jesus didn’t pray for this man to be healed but only forgave his sins. The moment his sins were forgiven, Satan’s power of disease was broken over him. As long as his sins were not forgiven, Satan and disease had claims over him.
That’s why the psalmist says, “Who forgives all thine iniquities, and heals all thy diseases” (Psalm 103:3).
Notice the connection between sin forgiveness and healing. Forgiveness of sins has so much to do with us being healed.
Jesus said to a man whom He had healed who had been sick for thirty-eight years,
“Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5:14).
Jesus was telling this maintain the healing he had received. It is not only important for us to be healed but to stay healed.
But how was this man to maintain his healing? By not indulging into sin.
As I have already emphasized, sin gives the devil access into our lives. Sin is the root cause of sickness and disease.
Numbers 21:7-97
Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
John 3:14-15
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Why did Moses lift up the brazen serpent in the wilderness? It was to provide healing for the Israelites who had been bitten by fiery serpents. The affliction came upon them because they had sinned against God. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
Jesus then says, “AND AS MOSES LIFTED UP THE SERPENT IN THE WILDERNESS, EVEN SO MUST THE SON OF MAN BE LIFTED UP…” People have sinned against God today and have opened the door to sickness and disease. The Bible says, “…whoso breaks an hedge, a serpent shall bite him” (Eccl 10:8b).
After Moses had made the brazen serpent and put it on a pole, we are told “…AND IT CAME TO PASS, THAT IF A SERPENT HAD BITTEN ANY MAN, WHEN HE BEHELD THE SERPENT OF BRASS, HE LIVED.” Whosoever had been bitten by the snakes that looked on the brazen serpent lived. Jesus is saying today, “THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH…” So, today if you are sick and you believe in Jesus you shall live.
The psalmist says, “They looked unto him and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed” (Psalm 34:5). None of the Israelites who looked on the brazen serpent was disappointed. Everyone who looked lived.
Today, if any will look on Jesus he too wouldn’t be disappointed. For steadfast faith to be possible, one’s mind has to be continually renewed with the Word (Romans 12:2). Renew your mind so that you can come into harmony with God’s Word.
When I was still living in New York, I visited my pastor once and came this sister who began telling him how she’s been sick, and I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, “Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted” (Psalms 107:17).
What the Lord was letting me know that this sister opened the door for Satan to afflict with the sickness she had.
Sickness and disease were introduced into the world by Satan through sin. Therefore, if the sin problem could be taken care of, sickness and disease will lose their authority in the human body. Sickness loses its claim on the body the moment we make Jesus Lord of my lives. Sin is what gives Satan control over the body because sin is of the devil.
We are God’s property by right of creation and redemption, and Satan has no business to put on us what Jesus already bore on the cross.
The body is a complex machine that needs to be taken care of. That’s why you don’t have to eat any kind of food.
It is not everything that God made that should be taken in its raw state. For example, cocaine and other illicit drugs.
These drugs need to be converted into anesthesia before that can used by us if we really need them.
The body that God gave to us must be taken care of. Tobacco, cocaine, and marijuana are toxins to the body and they will shorten your days here on earth.
Over feeding the body too is not good as well. The laws that govern the body are; holy living, eating healthy, and having enough rest. With these three, you’ll live long on earth.
Proverbs 3:1-2, 7-8
1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart[spirit] keep[retain and practice] my commandments: 2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
7 Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.8 Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.
A long and satisfied life is guaranteed by keeping the Word in your heart. It is not just about eating good food and exercise that will sustain your life but keeping the Word.
There’s healing in the Word. Many in the faith are of the opinion that being a believer one can eat anything and when you pray over it everything will be fine. You will go to the grave early if you take poison claiming God is going to protect you.
It’s like this story I heard someone caught a snake and playing with it that the Bible says, you shall pick up serpents and it shall do to you no hurt.
The Bible didn’t say you should go catch a snake and play with it but that if you’re mistakenly bitten by a snake like Paul was in the island of Melita, then you’ll be protected.
If you go eating anything and claiming to live by faith, you’re acting foolishly and not wise. The Bible admonishes us to be wise.