And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. ---Mark 2:1,2
Jesus gave the people something to believe. He preached the Word to them. He didn’t tiptoe from town to town, healing a leper over here and a blind man over there and then teaching on the Beatitudes for a while. There was a method to what Jesus did.
In about 70 percent of His ministry, Jesus either stated or implied that the people’s faith had made them whole. But if most people were healed through their faith, where did they get their faith? Did God lean over the balcony of heaven and zap them with a faith gun? No, they obtained faith the same way we do today; “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17)
There are two definitions to the two words “hearing.” The second “hearing” is listening with your ears and to become mentally aware of what is said. The first “hearing” then means that what is heard by the ears drops into the heart of understanding where it will stick and become conviction. Then faith comes!
Matthew 4:23 says, “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel (good news) of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” The healing came after the teaching and preaching.
Jesus had to teach the people the Word so they’d have faith to be healed. When they heard, the Word built their understanding; then Jesus would tell them to act. When they acted on their belief, they were healed. That is faith! Faith is action; it is doing and saying what you are convicted of.
So often today, people are not healed because they aren’t taking time to understand God’s Word. They want a miracle, but they don’t want to hear. God can’t honor that because it isn’t faith. Knowing God is the Healer, but not taking the time to learn how and why will not build faith. When we know the Healer intimately, know how much He loves us and the great plans He has for us, then we don’t want to be sick and want to make heart changes to get well.
So, as we feed on God’s Word, understand His heart and make mental changes in our own lives, miracles will begin to occur more and more in our hearts and bodies. Hearing and miracles go hand in hand.
Confession: Faith comes when I hear God’ Word. I read and meditate upon the Word, realizing how much God loves me and why Jesus did all He did. My understanding will grow so I can step out in faith to receive the miracle I need.
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