Tag Archives: healing

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The Parable of the Mountain Laurel

The Parable of the Mountain Laurel

James R. Aist

As you may know, in the Bible, a parable is a story that uses well-known, common, everyday events or experiences to illustrate a spiritual truth or teaching. This parable took a couple of years to develop and several more years for me to discover. After I moved to Knoxville in 2004, I had new landscaping shrubbery planted in a straight row along the front of our house. Among the new shrubs were three Mountain Laurels, a species that is common in East Tennessee, both wild and domestic. At first, these new shrubs appeared healthy and vigorous, producing abundant growth with leaves of a deep green color and a few white, flowering wands. But, within a few years, things began to change for the worse.

These shrubs began to die off one at at time, one or two branches at a time. In each case, I would prune off the dead branches in hopes that the infection would not spread to the remaining branches, but, alas and alack, it always did. Once the first shrub was dead, I removed it in hopes that the infection would not spread to the adjacent shrub, but it did. This cycle was repeated until all that was left of the original three shrubs was one branch of the last shrub. This branch was healthy and green, but I couldn’t imagine how it could possibly develop into a fully and properly formed ornamental shrub, even if it were to remain healthy. Just when I was about to remove the last remnant of the three shrubs and start all over again, I decided to just let it stand until this last branch began to die, and then remove it. I was not going to be the instrument of demise of this last shrub while there was still life in it.

As time went by, I kept noticing that the last branch was remaining healthy and green. Soon, new, healthy branches began to grow from the good branch. It was then that I realized that this good branch had, somehow, escaped infection. As the years went by, more and more healthy green branches were added each year, until now, I have a large, healthy and beautiful Mountain Laurel growing in front of my house (see photo, above)! Had I given up on that last shrub while it had just that one healthy branch left, its potential would not have been realized.

So, what is the spiritual lesson in this parable of the Mountain Laurel? I believe it is that we should never give up on anyone who may seem to be beyond hope. I believe that this lesson applies not only to the salvation of the soul, but also to the healing and restoration of one who is seemingly lying at death’s door. In either case, it’s not over until God says its over, so let’s not give up on them too soon!

(To read more of my articles with a biblical theme, click HERE.)

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Healing, Forgiveness and Demonic Indwelling/Oppression

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Healing, Forgiveness and Demonic Indwelling/Oppression

James R. Aist

“…God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38)

The Bible is a remarkable resource of spiritual revelations that can rightly inform us of otherwise-hidden truths that can greatly affect our lives. This article focuses on a set of interconnected spiritual truths that, I believe, are not common knowledge within the mainstream of modern Christianity but are, nevertheless, important to our living as “more than conquerors.” (Romans 8:37). I will present three pertinent scriptural truths in bold lettering, followed by biblical references that support each one, respectively.

Demonic indwelling and infirmity are often causally related

Matthew 9:32-33. As they went out, they brought to Him a mute man possessed with a demon. And when the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke…”

Matthew 12:22. Then one possessed with a demon was brought to Him, blind and mute, and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.

Mark 9:17-27. One in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. Wherever it takes hold on him, it dashes him to the ground. And he foams at the mouth and gnashes with his teeth and becomes rigid. So they brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit dashed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. He rebuked the foul spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and enter him no more.” The spirit cried out and convulsed him greatly. But it came out of him, and he was as dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

Luke 4:40-41a. Now when the sun was setting, all those who had anyone sick with various diseases brought them to Him. And He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons came out of many, crying out, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!”

Luke 13:10-16. He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years and was bent over and could not straighten herself up. When Jesus saw her, He called her and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” Then He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight and glorified God. …should not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has bound these eighteen years, be loosed from this bondage on the Sabbath?”

Acts 10:38. “…God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

Forgiveness and healing occur together

James 5:15. “And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.”

Luke 5:17-25. Now some men brought in a bed a man who was paralyzed. They searched for ways to bring him in and lay him before Him. When they could not find a way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his bed into their midst before Jesus. When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” The scribes and the Pharisees began to question, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” He answered them, “Why question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” He said to the paralyzed man, “I say to you, rise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Immediately he rose before them, and took up that on which he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.

Something causes forgiveness and healing to occur together

I have yet to find direct, biblical evidence for this scriptural truth, yet I do believe that the evidence is in the Bible. For example, consider the case of an unbeliever who is indwelt by spirits of infirmity, and gets saved. This new Christian is instantly forgiven of all past sins (we call this “justification”) and is made the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Holy Spirit then indwells the new Christian, and any previously indwelling demons will be cast out, because the Holy Spirit will not abide co-habitation of any evil spirits in the new believer (Psalm 5:4; 1 John 4:4). Thus, one may surmise that when the sins of a newly born-again Christian are forgiven, healing may follow because spirits of infirmity have been cast out. This is a causal relationship that would bind forgiveness and healing together, which is exactly what we were looking for.

To broaden this causal relationship to include all born-again Christians, one need only to remember that the born-again Christian is not indwelt by spirits of infirmity (because, that is impossible; see above), but only oppressed by them so as to cause infirmity. In this case, the evil spirits would not be literally cast out, but, instead, bound (i.e., expressly forbidden to continue oppressing the Christian and ordered to leave him alone. See Matthew 18:18).

Note that, in either scenario, forgiveness and healing occur together, because the influence of spirits of infirmity have been removed.

Practical Significance

To me, the Scripture passages quoted above clearly demonstrate that healing, forgiveness and demonic indwelling (or oppression) are variously interconnected. Knowing this can inform us how to best approach the task of ministering to people in need of healing. Of course, we should always be quick to lay hands on the sick and pray for their healing, believing that God can and will do it; He often does. But, leading a person to salvation can also be effective in bringing about healing, because forgiveness of sins (justification) is an essential component of the salvation work that God does in the new believer, and healing may follow. Finally, because evil spirits can cause various infirmities to manifest, it may be that, in order for healing to come, such spirits must first be either cast out or bound. We know that born-again Christians have both the authority and the power to minister in these ways, because Jesus said so: “These signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:17-18). So, let’s be bold and use the God-given power and authority that we have as believers, and see what God will do!

Further Reading

Morris Cerullo. Receiving and Ministering Deliverance. (click HERE)

Derek Prince. Spiritual Warfare: Demons of Sickness and Infirmity. (click HERE)

(To read more of my articles with a biblical theme, click HERE)

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Only Believe…What, Exactly?

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Only Believe…What, Exactly?

James R. Aist

But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, “Do not fear. Only believe, and she will be made well.”

Jesus told Jairus to not fear, only believe, that his daughter would be healed (Luke 8:49-50). Here, Jesus made it clear exactly what Jairus was to believe; namely, that God would heal his daughter. Not just that He could heal her or that He was just willing to heal her, but that He would actually heal her. In struggling to understand what a “prayer of faith” (James 5:16) looks like, I have found that there are three successive steps in our journey toward believing God fully for a miracle: 1) believing that God can do it; 2) believing that God is willing to do it; and 3) believing that God will do it. Having done that, the rest is up to God.

The first step should be relatively easy, for those of us who really believe that the Word of God is true. The Bible tells us that God created the entire universe in all of its vastness and complexity, and that He sustains it with His almighty power (Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 11:3). It goes on to say that nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37) and that with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). Both the Old Testament and the New Testament are replete with accounts of miraculous works done by God. Moreover, there are countless testimonies by reliable witnesses of miracles that God is doing in our generation. So, we can rest assured, based on the biblical witness and contemporary witnesses, that God is able to work the miracle that we need Him to work for us. We believe that God can do it.

The second step may be more problematic, however; is God willing to do it? This question gets to the heart of God’s attitude, purpose and desire for mankind, His heart toward us. We can see a man with leprosy struggling with this issue: “A leper came to Him, pleading with Him and kneeling before Him, saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus, moved with compassion, extended His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I will. Be clean” (Mark 1:40-41). In fact, the New Testament has no record of Jesus refusing a miracle for anyone coming to Him believing He could do it.  And, the Bible clearly teaches that God’s attitude and desire toward us is to enable us to prosper (Deuteronomy 29:9; Psalm 1:3; Philippians 4:10). But, there are at least two well-known biblical accounts of God being unwilling to grant a prayer request: one is Jesus’s request for His Father to let the cup of suffering pass from Him (Matthew 26:39), and the other is Paul’s request for God to remove the tormenting messenger of Satan from him (2 Corinthians 12:7). God was surely grieved to see His Son and His servant suffering like this, but He had a reason for their suffering that far outweighed the gravity of their suffering: Jesus would save from hell all who would believe in Him (John 3:16-17), and Paul would be kept from becoming swell-headed by the torment inflicted by the messenger of Satan (2 Corinthians 12:7). God was able, but He was not willing, and for a good reason.

This brings us to the third step which is, for many, the most difficult, and, it is often the most complicated. Will God always do what He can do and is willing to do? The answer, I believe, is “No”, and I will tell you why I believe that. The following encounter with God occurred during the first week after I returned home from burying my 20-year-old daughter, Liesel, who had been struck and killed by a car (Click HERE). I was so stunned and emotionally numb from the events of that “week from hell” that I couldn’t even go to work. I just sat around in my recliner all day trying to process what had just happened. Now, I had never asked God why He had allowed anything bad that happened in my life, but this bad thing seemed too awful to cope with. So, one day as I sat in my recliner rehearsing the details of the past week, I began to wonder why God had not healed Liesel instead of calling her home. I was about to ask God “Why?” when suddenly the Holy Spirit stopped me from saying it. Then, God spoke into my mind saying, “You don’t need to know why, because you know Me well enough to know that I had a good reason.” To this day, I can only speculate as to why God did not heal my daughter. Jesus knew, and Paul learned, why God said no, but I was told to just trust that God had a good reason for telling me “No.” In all three of these situations, I believe that, in some way and at some level, God wanted to say yes, but at the same time He wanted even more to say “No”, for a good, a greater, reason.

That brings us now to the conclusion of the matter. I believe that we should always bring our cares, our concerns and our needs to God in prayer (1 Peter 5:7; Hebrews 4:16). And, I believe that we should always pray with the conviction that He can do it, that he is willing to do it, and that He will actually do it. Anything less, I believe, is an offense to the nature and the heart of God, an offense to who He is in relation to us. That way, God is always honored by the manner in which we present our request. And, if God says “No”, then we can rest assured He had a good reason for doing so, even if we never find out what the reason was. In truth, God does not owe us an explanation, regardless of how badly we want our answer to our “Why?” If we pray expecting God to hear our request and expecting that He will actually respond to it, then, I believe, we can expect the best possible outcome, whether or not it is the outcome we had in mind. The Bible says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). And remember, God always has a good reason; our God is a good, good God (Luke 18:19)!

(To read more of my articles with a biblical theme, click HERE.)

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The God of “New Things”

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The God of “New Things”

James R. Aist

“Do not remember the former things nor consider the things of old. See, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not be aware of it?” (Isaiah 43:18-19a)

The more I study the Bible, the more I am impressed with the value and importance of gaining a greater perspective on the nature and ways of God. Isaiah wrote, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). My belief is also that God’s ways are higher than our thoughts. Throughout the history of mankind, from the Garden of Eden until now, God has been at work doing things that He has never done before, things that mankind has never heard of before, things that mankind could not have even imagined He might do. These “new things” always surprise us, but God has His entire plan in His mind already, for He declares the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:9-11). The purpose of my writing this article is to demonstrate that the God of the Bible is, in fact, the God of “new things”, that He has already done many “new things”, that He is doing “new things” now, that He will continue to do “new things”, and that we need not be afraid to embrace and participate in these “new things.” In fact, God characteristically invites us to join Him in some of the “new things” He is doing today. Now, let’s take a brief look at some of these “new things”, in order to gain a clearer perspective on this important characteristic of our God.

First, let’s consider a few of the “new things” that God has already done, beginning with the Old Testament:

  • God creates Eve from Adam’s rib (Genesis 2:21-22);
  • God sends “bread” from heaven (Exodus 16:11-35);
  • God makes water gush from a rock (Numbers 20:11);
  • A burning bush is not consumed (Exodus 3:1-4);
  • A donkey speaks (Numbers 22:28);
  • A snake on a stick is used to heal snake bites (Numbers 21:8-9);
  • City walls suddenly tumble down under their own weight (Joshua 6:5).

Next, let’s have a look at some more of God’s “new things”, as recorded in the New Testament:

  • Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit, rather than by a man (Luke 1:35);
  • Two men walk on water (Matthew 14:25-26);
  • God the Father raises Jesus from the dead, without human involvement (Galatians 1:1);
  • The Holy Spirit begins to indwell believers as they are saved (Ezekiel 26:27, Ephesians 1:13-14, 1 Corinthians 12:13, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, 1 John 4:13-15);
  • The Holy Spirit is, henceforth, poured out on all people, not just a few Prophets (Acts 2:17);
  • Items of Paul’s clothing bring healing and deliverance, from a distance (Acts 19:12);
  • A coin from a fish’s mouth is used to pay the tax (Matthew 17:27); and,
  • Mud made from spit and dust is used to restore a man’s sight (John 9:5-7).

Finally, here are some of the “new things” that God will do in the future:

  • Jesus will come again, in the air, to gather the saints to Himself (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17);
  • Evildoers will be cut off and banished to the Lake of Fire forever (Psalm 7:9; Revelation 19:19-21; Revelation 20:10, 14-15);
  • God will create a new heaven and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1-5); and,
  • God will make all things new (Revelation 21:5).

Do not fear, Only Believe

As you can see, the God of the Bible is, manifestly, the God of new things. In fact, everything God has ever done regarding mankind was a “new thing” at some point in history! So, when you encounter a supernatural manifestation, remember that it may really be of God, no matter how strange or bizarre or unnecessary it may seem to be. His ways are higher than our thoughts, and its just like God to do something that is new to us. By all means, test it to see if it is of God (click HERE), and if it is, then don’t be afraid to embrace it. After all, that’s what Jesus would do (John 5:19)!

After Words

Please don’t misunderstand, and assume that I am saying that God will do only “new things” going forward; I am not. Of course He will continue to do many of the things that He has done in the past. For example, God will always be faithful and just to forgive our sins (1 John 1:9), the Father still draws sinners to Jesus (John 6:44), God still works in the saints to will and to do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13), and Jesus still baptizes believers in the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8). God Himself does not change (Malachi 3:6), and Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). But, He is not confined to doing in the future only those things that He has done in the past. To believe otherwise is to put God in a box, and such a god is not the God of the Bible.

(To read more of my Bible-themed articles, click HERE.)