God’s Mercy And Healing
Undeserved Healings
In last week’s post I finished a three part series about how I stopped complicating healing ministry, by sharing some testimonies of the miracles that happened after my thinking changed. With the new understanding came new experiences of God’s goodness, which gave me a greater heart-revelation of God’s mercy than I had ever had before. I saw people healed who not only didn’t deserve it, but were not even repentant before they were healed.
As I was thinking about what to write for the next week, I realized that I had a favorite memory which would have fit really well into the post I had just published. However, that post was already long enough! It seemed like it would fit well with another post in conjunction with sharing thoughts about God’s mercy.
Messed Up From A Motorcyle Accident While High On Weed
This happened sometime after that greater revelation of God’s mercy was still so new for me and fresh in my mind. I was visiting friends in Western PA and sharing on Sunday morning at a small country church. I decided to talk about God’s mercy. Yes, my words were very influenced by Dan Mohler‘s teaching, but the heart revelation had also become mine, especially because of the miracles that I had begun to see which demonstrated the truth that I was learning.
My heart was bursting as I spoke. Such glorious gospel realities! After sharing what I had learned with everybody, I invited people who needed to be healed to receive ministry.
There was a young guy there who had a lot of stitches in his face. He was in his 20’s. I asked him what he needed, and he told me that he was in an accident and his back needed to be healed.
I put my hand on the side of his face and began to say “In Jesus’ name, be healed. Pain leave…” Many other people received ministry as well, including a teenager who was healed of scoliosis. His back straightened!
After receiving ministry, the young guy with lots of stitches sat down on the front row and started crying. He just sat there crying for a long time, even after everything was over.
I later found out what had happened. This guy was living a wild life and getting into trouble. He didn’t want to hear what people said about the way he was going only leading to destruction. Yet someone got him to go to church that Sunday, telling him that somebody about his age was preaching.
He had gotten into the motorcycle accident when he was high from smoking weed and riding way to fast. He went off the road at a corner. The back pain wasn’t the only problem. He didn’t tell me that he had lost all of the feeling in one whole side of his face, which was covered in stitches.
When he came up, I touched the side of his face to pray for him. He immediately felt my hand, before I even prayed. He had no feeling in that side of his face since the accident! This was why he was weeping. He encountered God’s mercy, and it led him to repentance.
Mercy Is A Practical Word
F.F. Bosworth wrote a classic book called “Christ The Healer”, which has greatly influenced me. After first reading it I was so excited that I bought several more copies to lend to friends. I thought that everybody needed to read it!
This book is perhaps the most comprehensive and thorough biblical argument ever written that it is always God’s will to heal — physical healing is part of the gospel. Bosworth proved his point repeatedly from several different scriptural approaches.
It is interesting that Bosworth devoted a whole chapter to proving that healing is a gospel promise by talking about God’s mercy. This might at first seem like a weaker approach to a scriptural proof of God’s will heal than some of the other routs, like Isaiah 53. Yet when you see how mercy is connected to physical healing in the gospels, it makes sense.
Look up the word “mercy” on a site like Bible Gateway. In the gospels we read in several place of people needing physical healing and crying out “Lord, have mercy on us!” And of course, Jesus had mercy on them all and healed them.
One thing that has stood out to me in my scriptural word studies is that scripture uses many words like “mercy”, “peace”, and “salvation” in very practical ways. They are not just spiritual concepts. All of these words are used in scripture when talking about physical healing and other concrete, real-life situations. In fact, the mindset that spiritualizes these words, doing away with their applications in the physical realm, is a mindset based on gnostic beliefs. It is the same mindset on which the Gnostics based their denial of Christ coming in the flesh.
Mercy is a spiritual grace, but it is not only a spiritual grace. It has concrete ramifications in the physical realm.
He Forgives All Your Sins And Heals All Of Your Diseases!
Psalm 103 is another scripture passage where we can see mercy and physical healing going together. Look at these excerpts:
Psalm 103: 2-6, 8-13, 17 (KJV)
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed….
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him… But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him
Psalm 136 is also a great passage of scripture which shows how practical God’s mercy is. It’s not just a spiritual concept.
Psalm 136:1 (KJV) O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalm 136 repeats the phrase “his mercy endureth for ever” again and again. Each time it says this, it tells another part of the story of God’s deliverance of Israel. Once again, Psalm 136 makes it clear how practical the word “mercy” is in scripture. It applies to God’s deliverance in real, practical situations.
God Is Rich In Mercy Unto All That Call Upon Him!
With that understanding of mercy, consider these wonderful promises in scripture. I also encourage you to do your own word study on “mercy”. Even if you search for the word “mercy” in Bible Gateway, and just list all of the promises of God’s mercy in Psalms, you will come away rich!
Psalm 23:6 (KJV) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Psalm 85:5 (KJV) For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
Psalm 130:7 (KJV) Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
I pray that both through scripture and by experience, you would come to know the heart and nature of God, as revealed through Jesus, like never before. May you come to understand His mercy so that as you behold His nature you will overflow with mercy for others!