Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

A Daily Devotional by Kenton Cheek

9 May 2024

Reading From Psalms 50, 53, 60, 75

“The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;
There is none who does good.

God looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
Every one of them has turned aside;
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.”

–Psalm 53:1-3

     Ever since Adam and Eve decided to go their own way apart from God, every generation of humanity has had a natural tendency to do the same.  We have a capacity for good, but we are inclined to follow ourselves and our own desires rather than the Lord’s.  Sin has brought equality in a negative sense to mankind in that we all are in the same boat with regards to our fallen nature.  Every single person who has ever lived needs the forgiveness of God because sin drives a wedge between us and He who is perfect, holy and pure in every way.  “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”[1]

     The first Adam brought sin into the world and with it comes sickness, strife, struggle, stress, worry, anxiety, wars, famine, and everything else that is not of God.  Earth is not functioning in the way Yahweh wanted it to.  The redeeming power of the blood of the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, can reverse these effects as the children of God put His Word into practice in their every day lives.  As our Redeemer does His gentle, miraculous work of sanctifying us, we see glimpses of how God intended for us to live.  With Him there is redemption, power, healing and hope. 

     Does our fallen nature mean that our sicknesses and struggles are the direct result of personal sins?  Not necessarily.  Sometimes they are.  There are situations where we can see that our actions have made us susceptible to disease, but the main point here is that if there was no sin there would be no sickness, no trauma, no tragedy.

     If Jesus brings healing, then why is everyone not healed immediately and miraculously?  Perspective is vital in this matter.  We are promised that “Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved”[2]  This requires faith and trust.  I believe that every single child of God will be healed in addition to receiving their salvation.  There was a double cure provided for a double curse. 

Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed. –Isaiah 53:4-5

Both salvation and divine healing were provided for in the atonement.  This is confirmed in Matthew 8, “When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.  When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”  This passage shows that Jesus heals us both spiritually and physically and that His healing is provided for in His blood which was shed on the cross.

     Faith and trust are key elements of our journey as we find ourselves in our present reality.  Some people are not healed because they do not believe or their faith is too weak.  This statement offends some; it hurts our pride.  But listen to the red letters of Jesus in Mark 6:4-6, “‘A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.’ He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.”  Our desire ought to be that our faith grows stronger!  You cannot build a healthy life on foundation of doubt.  We must ask God to help us work through our struggles and move forward in faith.

     In Matthew 9:28-30, “When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ they replied.  Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith let it be done to you’; and their sight was restored.”  While a lack of faith is discouraging to us, there is a remedy.  We should ask God to increase our faith and then dare to trust Him, taking Him at His Word.  The father of the demon possessed boy asked the Lord, “help me in my unbelief.”[3]  God wants to bring us along in a process of healing both spiritually and physically.

     Every child of God will experience miraculous healing, it is only a question of how and when this comes about.  Sometimes God heals instantly in answer to believing prayer.  Other times He guides the hands of surgeons, doctors, and nurses and, blessing them with wisdom and knowledge to assist the body He created in the natural healing process.  He created our bodies, He knows them better than anyone.  I am thankful He shares knowledge with us. 

There are also situations where the believer is healed spiritually while they wrestle with a physical infirmity.  In this way their testimony of faith and trust in spite of the limitations of this temporary, physical tent that our bodies are is a shining example that brings others closer to Jesus to the glory of the Father.  However His will unfolds upon the Earth, we know from His promises that we will all experience total healing when we meet our Great Physician and eat from the Tree of Life in Heaven.

“God, thank You for the double cure for the double curse of spiritual and physical disease.  We glorify Your holy Name and thank You in advance for Your healing power at work in our lives.  Increase our faith in You!  Meet us wherever we are at in our level of trust in You and take us to a higher plane.  Deepen our love and understanding of Your promises.  Transform us from glory to glory.  Open our eyes to Your miracles all around us.  May our testimonies of Your wondrous work in our lives bring many people into Your Kingdom of Light.  In the strong and mighty Name of Jesus Christ I pray.  Amen.”

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.

–Revelation 21:1-5

HALLELUJAH!

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[1] Romans 3:23

[2] Joel 2:32, Romans 10:13-15

[3] Mark 9:24