Hidden Causes of Sickness in the Church - Part 3

So many have written and told us they have become frustrated because they believe they are using their faith, yet still they have symptoms of disease and pain in their bodies. Therefore, I began a series of blogs addressing the various reasons why a believer may be struggling with sickness.

I began last time by reading from Galatians to lay a small foundation:

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13-14 NKJV)

We saw that the curse of the law is threefold: spiritual death, sickness, and poverty or lack. As believers in Jesus Christ, we are redeemed from sickness and disease. So we began answering the question of why so many believers still have sickness and disease if we are redeemed from it?

Ephesians 4:27 tells us, “Neither give place to the devil.”

When you are born again, the devil can no longer just take a place in you whenever he wants.  However, even as a born again believer, you can open a door that gives him a place to work. The good news is that if we seek the Lord and find out where a door is open, we can then shut the door just as easily and receive our healing.

Some of the avenues we talked about in past episodes were refusing to walk in love, a loss of peace, and a lack of gratitude. I would encourage you to go back and read the previous blogs in order to get the full benefit of this series.

Today, I want to return to a scripture that sheds further light on reasons why some may be having difficulty receiving healing.

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. (1 Corinthians 11:28-31 NKJV)

Not discerning the Lord’s body is the reason Paul lists as to why MANY are weak, sick, and die prematurely. There are other causes implied throughout the Bible, but this is specifically stated. That ought to get our attention!!

There is a two-fold application here:

1.     Discerning the Lord’s physical body – We must discern and understand that the cause for sin, sickness, and disease was laid on Jesus, and by His stripes we were healed.

2.     Discerning the Lord’s spiritual body – This is what I want to focus on today.

The Lord’s spiritual body is the Church! Since Christians are part of Jesus’ body, discerning the Lord’s body means we must discern how our actions will affect others in the body of Christ. According to this passage, when Christians do not discern how their actions affect others in the body, they can become weak, sick, and even die prematurely.

Ephesians 4:16 says,

[From whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

There is a supply for every part of the body to bring. When we bring our supply, the body is increased. However, if we don’t bring our supply, the body is decreased.

In searching for answers as to why we may not have received our healing, we must ask if we are helping the body to increase or causing it to decrease. Contrary to what many think, no man is an island. What we do always affects others.

This is a big deal to God! By not properly bringing our supply to the body, we can open the door wide to the devil to attack us with sickness and disease.

There are 5 ways to bring your supply to the body of Christ:

1.     Find the pastor God has for you and get planted there.

God assigns every believer to a local church, but more importantly, to a specific pastor that He knows will help them fulfill their assignment in life.

There are always exceptions to this. Some people cannot get out and about for various reasons, or there may not be a good church nearby. These exceptions have an answer. By listening to teaching from ministries like ours, you can develop your faith to eventually get out, and you can pray a good church into your area.

Even Jesus faithfully attended synagogue and helped in His local congregation. The people there knew who He was.

So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.  (Luke 4:16 NKJV)

If we want to be like Jesus, we must be faithful to help a local body fulfill the plan God gave it for the earth.

2.     Give your tithes and offerings to your church.

God’s work in the earth needs to be funded, and God is the One who ordained that it be funded through tithes and offerings. When we withhold our tithes and offerings, we diminish the ability of the church to reach the world as it should. Although the message is free, the pipeline to get it to people costs money.

Part of discerning the Lord’s body is discerning our part in bringing our financial supply. I heard a story of a woman who came up in a healing line to be ministered to. The Holy Spirit revealed to the preacher that she was not a tither. He told her if she would begin tithing, she would receive her healing—and she did! Why? Because she began to discern properly.

3.     Pray for your pastor and local church.

Prayer moves the plan of God for His church forward. If we don’t pray as we ought, people in the local church may not receive all they can. And people outside of the church will not receive like they should.

This is also discerning that our actions affect others.

4.     Get involved in helping your local church.

The local church is a family. In a family, all members should have chores or responsibilities. It is courteous and kind to help with the load of the ministry.

Many believers are sick because they come, sit, and listen, but never lift a hand to help. This puts undo strain on the other members, therefore it is not discerning the Lord’s body.

5.     Walk in love with the body.

There is one more important point that must be made. It is dangerous to do anything that will harm or divide the local body. Any words that cause strife, division, or offense will open the door to the devil. It is dangerous to speak ill of the pastor in a way that would cause the sheep to lose confidence in their pastor. It is also harmful to speak ill of other members of the church.

So we see that walking in love is essential to receiving healing and to stay healed!

(We want to give credit for this series to Nancy Dufresne.)

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We pray that this blog post was a blessing to you! If you'd like to sow a financial seed into this ministry, or learn more about becoming a partner, please visit https://www.millerministries.org/partner. Thank you, and may God richly bless you!