Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Daily Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

13 January 2025

Reading From Matthew 9:18-38

“While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. News of this spread through all that region.” –Matthew 9:1-26

     A local Jewish leader of the synagogue believed that Jesus had the ability to perform a miracle for his daughter, the most powerful miracle of all for a human body.  Jesus raised the girl from the dead!  On their way to the synagogue leader’s home, a woman with a very sensitive ailment came to Jesus and believing so strongly in His healing power, reached out to Him and touched His clothing.  What Jesus said about her healing is profound and insightful for us today.  “Your faith has healed you.” 

      The plan of God, the sovereign will of God, the faith of the person and their free moral agency all play a role in divine healing.  We know that what God wants is for every person to be in perfect health and that will happen for every born again believer on the Last Day, but we must remember that in His sovereignty, God has given mankind free moral agency to either choose Him or choose their own way.  We can choose to believe and trust or we can choose to doubt and not trust the Lord. 

When we look back to the Garden of Eden, we can see the beautiful life that He intended for His creation, but men and women freely choose sin and sin corrupts His creation.  His will is for health, but His plan must take into consideration the freedom of humanity.  Even still, His purposes are not ultimately thwarted for His children and His will prevails as He weaves the tapestry of history together finding its culmination and consummation when Jesus returns to the Earth. 

      There were times when Jesus healed in response to faith, and then other times when He did not heal because of a lack of faith.  Mark 6:5-6 reveals to us, “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.”  Matthew 13:58 also confirms this.  As we found with the paralytic man, Jesus is primarily concerned with our spiritually healing, and then our physical healing.  Both will occur if we trust in Him. 

The spiritual healing begins immediately when we are born again, but the physical healing can either happen instantaneously depending on the Lord’s plan, but every day we trust Him is one day closer to the day when our faith will become sight and we will experience our ultimate healing at the resurrection on the Last Day. In Heaven we will enjoy perfect health and we pray that His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

“Lord Jesus, Your ways are mysterious and beyond tracing out.  Help us to trust You more.  Increase our faith.  Give us the courage we need to pray bold prayers.  May we glorify You in sickness and in health.  In the Name of our Divine Healer I pray these things, Amen.”

Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

 –James 5:14-16