There is a verse in Matthew 11:12 that intrigues me. It says, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” Let me explain the verse this way. Before the time John the Baptist started teaching how to get into the Kingdom of heaven, the Jews assumed that they could just obey the letter of the law, and the fact that they were the physical descendants of Abraham would be enough to guarantee their entry into heaven. But John came with a new message, and that was one of repentance and baptism. And multitudes came out, pressing into John’s teachings because they heard John preaching repentance and they hadn’t heard that before. And the weight of their sins convicted them to repent and be baptized.

They seized upon the Word of God he preached as the only hope for eternal life. They took it by force, not letting the opportunity slip from them, not just passively listening to the lifeless teachings of the Scribes and Pharisees.
And yet today, as the Gospel of Jesus has been taught, the violent (the strong, the forceful, the insistent) seize the gospel with all they have, taking it by force, if you will. They are the ones who take the Gospel and run with it. They are the ones who read God’s word and take Him at His word and believe every word He says.

They are the ones, for example, who look at sickness in their body and compare it to what God says in His word about it (we are healed by the stripes of Jesus), and seize it forcefully, violently, if you will. Will you be one of those who will take the Kingdom of heaven by force? Will you press in and lay hold onto what God says you can have? I did, and I’m alive and healthy because of it. And all who are healed must do the same. Healing doesn’t just fall on you out of the blue, you have to take hold of it and not let go. You can’t let the devil talk you out of it, because Jesus paid for your healing, taking all your sicknesses and your diseases upon Himself. And the same principal applies to any promise God makes us in His word.
Many people look at the facts…well, the doctor says I have such and such, and what I feel in my body confirms it, so it must be.
And they accept the facts, when they could have had the truth! Now, I never deny the facts. The report of the doctor may very well be the fact. But God’s word is the truth, and the truth is, Jesus healed all who came to Him asking to be healed.
 The Bible doesn’t say He healed a few of them, or some of them, but it says “He healed them all.” Are you an “all”? You are if you are asking Jesus to heal you. Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24, Psalm 103:2-3 among many other verses declare the truth about healing. Of course, all of God’s word is truth, but for now, let’s just concentrate on verses that deal with healing.
Whether or not you receive your healing is entirely up to you. Did you know God is not going to do anything to heal you? No, He isn’t going to, He has already done it! Everything that you need to receive your healing has already been made available to you from God. Just as salvation was made available for today’s generation over 2,000 years ago, the work was completed by Jesus long before you and I were ever born. He doesn’t have to do anything else. It is finished. So is healing. So how do you get it? The same way you get salvation….by asking for it, and receiving it by faith, by trusting that what God said is true, and laying hold on it forcefully and not letting go of it. Then you will see it. The world says, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” God says, “You won’t see it until you believe it.”
Let me put it like this, we must pay in advance with faith, even as Jesus paid in advance for your sins, even before you were ever born. You must believe it is yours and lay hold on it by faith, even before you see it. It is believing it is done, while your body is yet sick. It is believing it is done, even when the doctor says you have no chance to live, as they did to me. It is standing in the devil’s face and saying, “Devil, I’m not going to move off of God’s word, not matter what it looks like, no matter what it feels like, no matter what anyone tells me. I’m going to stand here, and stare you in the eye, and we’ll see who blinks first, and it isn’t going to be me!
When I find a promise in God’s word I hold onto it like a bulldog on a mailman’s leg! You can’t get me off of it. I take it by force! You can’t beat me off of it. Are you ready to believe God and receive your healing?

And while you’re at it…do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If not, why not “kill two birds with one stone” and get it all at the same time. “One stop shopping” I call it. It makes best use of your time. And if you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you don’t have as much time left as you did yesterday. However, eternity is forever, and you must in this life choose the “smoking” or “non-smoking”section.  If you slip out into eternity without Jesus, you will spend forever in the “smoking” section, know what I mean? But Jesus has a better idea…join Him in heaven for all eternity.

He is inviting you into His house. Will you invite Him into your house?