The Best Friend You Never Knew Part 6: Yeshua, The Forgotten Healer

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Cleansed of Colon Cancer

A friend of mine had the following experience:

“Last December, a friend and I visited Bobby, who is pretty poor and lives in squalid conditions. This particular day, we found Bobby pretty depressed. We asked why. The response caught us off-guard: “I have cancer, and it’s really making me tired.” 

Right then and there, in our blue jeans and casual shirts yet without any consecrated oil, we laid our hands on Bobby and pronounced a blessing. It wasn’t one of those generic blessings where we say that God loves you, God is “aware” of you or that He knows your name. It wasn’t a blessing where there wasn’t one “if” statement (“IF you have the faith to be healed” or “IF it’s the Lord’s will”). Far from it. The blessing was personalized and intimate, with words from neither man giving the blessing, but from God Himself.  

Father spoke directly to Bobby, and right then and there, pronounced healing on Bobby, and that Jesus would come to this person and heal them. 

A few weeks later, I was in a ward council meeting and saw Bobby’s name on a list. Excitedly, I shared with the full-time missionaries that I had recently met Bobby and prayed over him for healing. The missionaries said they had dropped him a few weeks earlier because Bobby couldn’t make the appointments due to the cancer treatments.
Soon after that, I stopped by Bobby’s. He was at the door with a completely different look on his face. I asked him how things were going.  

He said, “Well, I’m cancer-free, so I’m doing pretty darn good!”  

I asked Bobby if he recalled when a friend and I prayed for healing in the name of Jesus.
Bobby beamed “Yes, IT’S A MIRACLE!” 

Bobby pointed to his back side and said “No more colon cancer!” 

Bobby had stage 2 colon cancer. Now, to the utter amazement of many cancer doctors, there was no trace of cancer in his body. None. At. All. 

I hurried to call my friend who had been part of that healing blessing. We felt amazed and humbled to have been partners with Jesus in this blessing, and were awestruck by the wonderful manifestation of kindness and compassion from the Lord. 

Interestingly enough, I asked Bobby, “So, what did your congregation at your church think about this amazing healing?” Bobby responded, “Well, they don’t care much about me. I’m just a nobody.” 

He may consider himself a nobody, but anyone who has been touched by the finger of God and healed of a disease that just doesn’t cure itself is, well, they are definitely somebody.  

You know how Jesus used to heal the outcasts of society -- like the blind, the crippled and especially the lepers?  

I almost forgot to mention:  

Bobby is a transvestite.”

Cleansed of “Leprosy”

“Leprosy” or Hansen’s Disease, is a chronic inflammatory disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae. It isn’t the same “leprosy” we read about in the New Testament.

The Hebrew word sara’at, which is predominantly associated with Biblical leprosy, is a ritualistic term denoting uncleanness or defilement. It covered a wide variety of conditions that could affect people, clothing or even structures. They could be described today as boils, carbuncles, fungus infections, infections complicating a burn, impetigo, favus of the scalp, scabies, patchy eczema, phagedenic ulcer, vitiligo and of course, Hansen’s Disease. The “leprosy” on walls or clothes was more likely to be fungus, mold, dry rot, lichen or similar conditions. (source)

Two thousand years ago, a man with sara’at approached Yeshua and said, “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”

At that moment, Yeshua “put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean.”

The man’s sara’at was cleansed.

Back then, physical leprosy wasn’t the only thing that would get you ostracized. Being a publican (a Jewish tax collector for the ancient Romans) or sinner (often considered those who habitually sinned) were avoided by the ruling religion of the day.

But this didn’t matter to Yeshua. Not one bit. Instead,

"as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him.
And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?
When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Mark 2:15-17)

That’s right -- Jesus invited the outcasts of society to dine where? Check it out again -- “in his house”

Fast Forward to Today

“For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 9:13)

Turn on the radio or TV, go to the store, check your emails, and you’ll invariably see or hear the word, “coronavirus”. “Social distancing” is likely the new phrase of the year. There are no hugs, no handshakes, no high fives, no contact with others for fear of catching this disease.

Unfortunately, amidst the deafening sounds of worry and fear, what we don’t hear about is the saving power of Yeshua.

The scriptures often mention the word “pestilence”, which is defined as “a fatal epidemic disease”. That sounds a lot like coronavirus to me. “Pestilence” is used over 40 times in the scriptures, and almost always, as a means to help motivate people to prepare and repent.

“If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:13-14; emphasis mine)

Yet today, many are hopping on social media and pleading with others to join them in praying for the disease to end swiftly. Is there any possibility whatsoever that God (who’s ways do not change) is perhaps using this pestilence to (again) motivate people to prepare and repent? Which is the Lord likely more pleased with: the prayer to end a pestilence, or the prayer that people will turn from their wicked ways, repent and turn to Him so He will heal our lands (as He’s promised)?

Others profess belief in the Savior, but are quick to minimize or neglect any recognition whatsoever of His healing powers. When was the last time you saw someone mentioning true, powerful blessings which could easily eradicate the pestilence on the spot? After all, if two men can do so over someone with colon cancer, shouldn’t the same method work for someone stricken with coronavirus?

As we read throughout the scriptures, we never see Yeshua quarantining Himself from sick and sinner alike.

We never see Him saying “IF it’s God’s will, you’ll be healed.”

We never see Him saying “God is aware of you” or giving a generic ”any blessing you stand in need of.”

No. He was simple, direct and in command of any situation, from devils to diseases, vulgarity to viruses.

So what do you see today? Do you, who have taken upon yourself Christ’s name, proudly and unashamedly proclaim the power of God? Or do you see and publicly praise messages which neglect mentioning the word “repent” (Isaiah 30:9-13) and deny the power of God (Mormon 8:28)?

Who among us has the faith to do as Jesus did, as depicted in the videos below...to bless as He blessed...even those considered the most physically and spiritually unclean and diseased among us?

BE the Gift of Hope

In my previous post, I mentioned how this blog’s Facebook group is devoting this month to an in-depth review of several spiritual gifts you may have heard of or suspected, but never really learned much about (for details, here’s a link to the post).

In a recent post I consider congruent with the Gift of Hope, author John Eldredge said this:

“Ground yourself in Jesus. The world is reeling; it wants to pull you down with it. Fear and anxiety are more contagious than any virus. This is our chance to shine. Peter tells us to be ready to offer the reason for the hope we have to anyone who asks us (1 Peter 3:15). He's assuming that in times of crisis, the friends of Jesus will be so rooted in him, so grounded in his goodness, that they will have a visibly different reaction to those in the world around them. This is our time to offer hope!” (You can find more here: https://www.ransomedheart.com/blogs/john/peace-midst-storm)

Might I suggest that what the Lord is truly asking of His disciples these days isn’t just fear, and believe it or not, it’s not just faith. It’s superfaith -- the kind the Brother of Jared had -- which pierced and cracked open the veil.

It’s time not just for prayers, but also power which flows not through another mortal to you, but instead, it flows directly from God to His true believers, both male and female. Spiritual gifts know no gender.

It’s a time for knowing not just that “God is aware of you”, “God loves you”, and “God watches over you” (Come on! We’ve known these things since we were in Sunbeams)! Instead, it’s a time to obtain a personal knowledge, independent of anyone else, that Yeshua is a real person, who laughs, cries, gets mad and loves life more than possibly anybody who’s ever walked the earth. Oh yeah...and that He would love nothing -- and I mean NOTHING -- more than to establish a personal relationship with you.

Everything the enemy tries to throw at you is a sign as to how much God has available to you. The spirit of fear is nothing compared to the spirit of God. More powerful than a thousand lukewarm Christians, more powerful than the coronavirus in your city, county or state, is the one who will stand for God in a day of darkness.

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13)

YOU get the chance to stand for God in a day when the world is against God. What a high, powerful honor!

I invite you to embrace this opportunity...while you still have the chance.

"Greater Works"

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Your Potential

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." (John 14:12)

Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ?

The Savior’s miracles were real. His promise to those who believe in Him are just as real: YOU can do the same and even greater works as He performed.

Your Obstacle

In an address given at a Regional Representatives Seminar, March 30 1990, Elder Boyd K Packer said,

“In recent years I have felt, and I think I am not alone, that we were losing the ability to correct the course of the Church. You can not appreciate how deeply I feel about the importance of this present opportunity unless you know the regard, the reverence, I have for the Book of Mormon and how seriously I have taken the warnings of the prophets, particularly Alma and Helaman. Both Alma and Helaman told of the church in their day. They warned about fast growth, the desire to be accepted by the world, to be popular, and particularly they warned about prosperity. Each time those conditions existed in combination, the Church drifted off course. All of those conditions are present in the Church today. Helaman repeatedly warned, I think four times he used these words, that the fatal drift of the church could occur ‘in the space of not many years.’ In one instance it took only six years." (See Helaman 6:32, 7:6, 11:26.)”

Twenty years later, In the April 2010 General Conference, he also said,

"We have done very well at distributing the authority of the priesthood. We have priesthood authority planted nearly everywhere. We have quorums of elders and high priests worldwide. But distributing the authority of the priesthood has raced, I think, ahead of distributing the power of the priesthood. The priesthood does not have the strength that it should have and will not have until the power of the priesthood is firmly fixed in the families as it should be." 

Then, in the April 2016 General Conference, President Nelson said,

"Recently, Wendy and I were in a meeting where the organist was poised and ready to play the opening hymn. His eyes were on the music, and his fingers were on the keys. He began pressing the keys, but there was no sound. I whispered to Wendy, “He has no power.” I reasoned that something had stopped the flow of electrical power to that organ.
Well, brethren, in like manner, I fear that there are too many men who have been given the authority of the priesthood but who lack priesthood power because the flow of power has been blocked by sins such as laziness, dishonesty, pride, immorality, or preoccupation with things of the world.
I fear that there are too many priesthood bearers who have done little or nothing to develop their ability to access the powers of heaven. I worry about all who are impure in their thoughts, feelings, or actions or who demean their wives or children, thereby cutting off priesthood power.
I fear that too many have sadly surrendered their agency to the adversary and are saying by their conduct, “I care more about satisfying my own desires than I do about bearing the Savior’s power to bless others.”
I fear, brethren, that some among us may one day wake up and realize what power in the priesthood really is and face the deep regret that they spent far more time seeking power over others or power at work than learning to exercise fully the power of God. President George Albert Smith taught that “we are not here to while away the hours of this life and then pass to a sphere of exaltation; but we are here to qualify ourselves day by day for the positions that our Father expects us to fill hereafter." 

From 1990 to 2016 -- and I would presume until today -- priesthood authorities have given us a steady drumbeat of warnings that we lack the power, even the willpower, the sheer desire, to access the powers of heaven. Since 2012, I've spoken frequently on this blog about the idols which both male and female church members have placed at the forefront of their lives. Additionally, many of us suffer from spiritual AIDS -- Apathy, Ignorance, Denial and Stupidity. We can no longer afford the luxury of saying "the devil MADE ME do it," because WE have chosen to distance ourselves from God.

All of these circumstances were foretold by Isaiah and several Book of Mormon prophets. These men foretold tremendous temporal and eternal consequences for those who were warned of their mediocre belief in Jesus. The warnings have been so numerous, and so pronounced, that the condemned will have zero chance to defend their apathy.

Your Invitation

As you may be aware, this blog and podcast has an accompanying Facebook group. There, we are focused on one topic and one topic only: Yeshua Hamasiach, or Jesus, the Messiah.

I'll be honest -- it's not easy to get into this group. That's because we ask subscribers to participate -- anything from giving a post a thumbs up to posting their own insights and testimonies. Because of our singular focus and level of activity, it's a truly unique, spirit-filled place.

This month (March, 2020), our Facebook group is discussing the "greater works" of (John 14:12. There, away from the microphones of fast and testimony meetings, away from the blogs and podcasts we've all become accustomed to, we are discussing how Christ is proving true to His word among many good, humble, unassuming, notoriety-shy Saints who are beyond mere believers. They seek nothing -- NOTHING -- but to know His will and do His work...anytime, anywhere, with anyone.

This month, you'll learn about those walking among us who have laid their hands on another and commanded cancer to leave the person's body. And it did.

They have raised the dead.

They have exercised discernment and seership.

They have stood amidst angels and been touched by them.

They have stood before Satan himself, and cast him from their midst.

Like our Savior who walked on water, they have even defied the laws of physics in the service of He who created the heavens and the earth.

It seems to me that church leaders are continuing, if not intensifying, their condemnation of those who take the things of Christ lightly, who would rather spend time looking down upon the things of a telestial earth than looking up to the greater miracles we can perform in the name of Yeshua.

I invite you to turn your heart away from the telestial to the celestial, the temporary to the eternal, from Babylon towards Yeshua...while you still can.

More specifically, I invite you to click the button below, subscribe to our Facebook group and dialogue with us about these greater things. The posts avoid the weirdness you see among many self-proclaimed teachers and doctrinal extremists, and are rooted in the holy scriptures as well as the sacred experiences of those who lived them.

"...He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do..." ((John 14:12)