If you have followed this ministry for any length of time, you know my calling is about healing.  Now when I say “healing”, it isn’t just about having a healed body, but about being “whole”.  A few years back the LORD pointed me to some scriptures that really got me to thinking, and I’d like to share them with you today. Let’s have a look at Matthew 18:7-17.

Mat 18:7  Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
Mat 18:8  Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
Mat 18:9  And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
Mat 18:10  Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 18:11  For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
Mat 18:12  How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
Mat 18:13  And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
Mat 18:14  Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
Mat 18:15  Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16  But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
Mat 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

Verses 8 and 9 really gave me something to think about.  I know it is God’s will that we are healthy and whole, but when the Holy Spirit impressed upon me, “What good is a healed body if you’re going to hell with it?”,  I really saw the need for not just physical healing, but spiritual healing as well.  When a person is sick and suffering, the normal main objective is that the body is returned to normal and the suffering stop.  But time and time again, I’ve seen sickness as a by-product of offense that someone bears against another.  While it’s relatively easy to get someone physically healed, getting them emotionally and spiritually healed can be quite a task.

Let me liken it to a car that has some problems with bubbling and peeling of the paint.  One might think you can just sand the paint off and repaint it and everything will be just fine.  But in many cases, once you have sanded the defective paint off, you find RUST, and maybe body filler where someone else has tried to fix the paint and didn’t really want to deal with the rust problem, so they just puttied over it and put on new paint.  Well, that’s fine for a short time, but pretty soon the rust problem that was ignored for one reason or another is now WORSE, and now there’s an even BIGGER problem to be dealt with.  Unless you deal with and correct the deeper issue, your hard work on the surface will not yield lasting results.

And sometimes when you’re dealing with healing, getting the physical symptoms under control isn’t enough, it takes more.  And we have an example of that in Mark chapter 5 with the woman who had an issue of blood.  Let’s read about it.  Then I will use some of the Greek words to clarify:
Mar 5:25  And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
Mar 5:26  And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
Mar 5:27  When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
Mar 5:28  For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
Mar 5:29  And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
Mar 5:30  And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
Mar 5:31  And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
Mar 5:32  And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
Mar 5:33  But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
Mar 5:34  And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

I want to pay attention to verse 34, and here it is word by word.  Pay close attention to the two times the Lord Jesus used the word WHOLE. You will notice it is two different words in the Greek.

Mar 5:34  AndG1161 heG3588 saidG2036 unto her,G846 Daughter,G2364 thyG4675 faithG4102 hath made thee whole;G4982 G4571 goG5217 inG1519 peace,G1515 andG2532 beG2468 wholeG5199 ofG575 thyG4675 plague.G3148

The first word “whole” is  “SOZO” : G4982
σώζω    pronounced  “sode’-zo”
From a primary word σῶς sōs̄ (contraction for the obsolete σάος saos, “safe”); to save, that is, deliver or protect (literally or figuratively): – heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.
The second word “whole” is “HUGIES” : G5199
ὑγιής    pronounced  “ hoog-ee-ace” From the base of G837; healthy, that is, well (in body); figuratively true (in doctrine): – sound, whole.

You see, the Lord Jesus not only made her SPIRITUALLY whole, saved, healed, and delivered, but He also made her PHYSICALLY healthy and sound as well.  Jesus isn’t limiting you to one or the other, but rather, He paid the price so you may have BOTH!!  Sadly, some if not many think physical healing is the most important, but the truth is, unless you are spiritually healed, you won’t keep your physical healing very long, for the very things that got you sick in the first place remain and will come back and bite you later, and you will likely find yourself dealing with the same issues again and again until you get rid of the ROOT of the problem, and that’s exactly what the Lord Jesus wants to deal with.  That’s like the rusted out car with the putty in the rust to cover it, and a new coat of paint over it. You MUST fix the rust before you paint!

It really saddens me when I see someone who was physically healed, back where they started sometime later.  It isn’t that God is an “Indian Giver” who took away their healing, but rather, that person SURRENDERED their healing to the devil by virtue of not letting God have total Lordship over their life, whereby He could have thoroughly “CLEANED HOUSE”.  Does that make sense to you?  It really boils down to this:  Jesus is Lord of ALL, or He isn’t Lord AT all.  If you want to be whole, and I mean COMPLETELY whole, Jesus must be LORD of every area of your life.

If you have offenses that you’re having trouble turning loose of, remember, it isn’t the OFFENDER that is getting free when you forgive them, it is YOU that is getting free.  God will deal with the offender in His own time, but He wants to get YOU free FIRST!
Now in times past I’ve taught that when the Lord Jesus healed someone, He didn’t first ask them “Have you repented of your sins?”, or “Have you paid your tithe?”, or “Have you forgiven those who offended you?”, He just healed them, and that is absolutely correct.  But remember, when the Lord Jesus healed the man who had been sick for thirty eight years who was at the Pool of Bethesda, THIS is what happened:

Joh 5:14  Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

FIRST, Jesus healed him, THEN He dealt with the sin problem so he could STAY healed.   So let God deal with ALL your issues, that you may be WHOLE!  He knows just how to deal with you in exactly the right way.  Don’t give the LORD just a part of you; give Him your all, so that He may give you HIS all!  Don’t settle for a healed body with a sick spirit.  Let Him make you COMPLETELY WHOLE!!  RIGHT NOW!!