Heal the Sick - Born of Spirit

Healing part 5 – Learning from Jesus in the Scriptures

September 21, 2015 Neal Leazer Leave a comment

Title: Healing part 5 – Learning from Jesus in the Scriptures

Subject Matter: This is the fifth part of a series on healing. In this class we examined some of the passages in the Gospels where Jesus was healing the sick. From those passages, we pulled truths and principles that will help us as we continue changing our thinking and our actions so that we are more and more like Christ. Healing was a major part of what Jesus was doing, and in order for us to accurately represent Him, healing should be a major part of what the church is doing.

Speakers: Neal Leazer

Recorded September 16, 2015 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC

You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Healing part 5 – Learning from Jesus in the Scriptures

Healing part 4 – God’s Will and Your Authority (Audio)

September 11, 2015 Neal Leazer Leave a comment

Title: Healing part 4 – God’s Will and Your Authority

Subject Matter: This is the fourth part of a series on healing. We looked and different ways to think about God’s will, and how we can agree or disagree with His will in order to see it happen in our lives. We had a lot of questions and comments, and there was also a significant amount of ministry time that took place during this class. In order to respect the privacy of some of the people involved, I edited out portions of the recording.

Speakers: Neal Leazer

Recorded September 9, 2015 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC

You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Healing part 4 – Gods Will and Your Authority

Healing part 3 – Authority and Demons (Audio)

August 29, 2015 Neal Leazer One comment

Title: Healing part 3 – Authority and Demons

Subject Matter: This is the third part of a series on healing. Sometimes sickness and other issues can be the result of demonic influence. In this class we talked about how to stand your ground against the enemy by using the authority given to you by Jesus.

Speakers: Neal Leazer

Recorded August 26, 2015 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC

You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Healing Part 3 – Authority and Demons

Healing part 2 – Jesus Our Example (Audio)

August 24, 2015 Neal Leazer Leave a comment

Title: Healing part 2 – Jesus Our Example

Subject Matter: This is the second part of a series on healing. In this class we looked at Jesus as the perfect example of God’s will on the earth, and we discussed how that should shape our view of God’s will when it comes to healing.

Speakers: Neal Leazer

Recorded August 19, 2015 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC

You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Healing Part 2 – Jesus Our Example

Healing part 1 – Introduction (Audio)

August 16, 2015 Neal Leazer Leave a comment

Title: Healing part 1 – Introduction

Subject Matter: This is the first part of series on healing. In this class, I shared about how I began learning about healing, and how I got started praying for people and seeing them get healed in the name of Jesus. Then I introduced some of the different things that I consider to be foundational on this topic. My friend Bill Alsop also shared some things that were very helpful.

Speakers: Neal Leazer, Bill Alsop

Recorded August 12, 2015 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC

You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Healing part 1 – Introduction

An Army Analogy

January 7, 2015 Neal Leazer 2 comments

In this post, I am writing an analogy that I use sometimes when I teach about the the Kingdom of God. Just like all analogies, it is imperfect. But it seems to help people understand how some spiritual principles come together, and it also seems to get people fired up. It is inspired by a post I read several years ago on a blog that no longer seems to be active. This army analogy is basically my remake of a portion of that post.

Two Nations at War

Imagine that you are a soldier in the midst of a war that began before you were born. You heard about the war as a teenager, and you decided to enlist. You were provided with a training manual and you were told to read it. You were also instructed to attend training once a week for 90 minutes on Sunday mornings.

In the manual, you read that your army has weaponry that is capable of overwhelming the soldiers in the enemy army. The more you read it, the more excited you become.

However, in your training session each week, you are never taught about your weapons, or about how to fight your enemy. Instead, you are taught how to be nice to people, so that the general in your army won’t become angry with you. Your general, it seems, is very angry with just about everyone.

You are also taught that sometimes the general wants you to win, and sometimes he wants you to lose. Sometimes he wants you to die in an accident, or get sick, or maybe he wants your children to get sick. You are taught that your general somehow becomes famous when his soldiers get defeated, or run out of supplies, or run into misfortune.

This doesn’t seem to make sense to you. It seems very odd that a general engaged in a war would want to bring harm to his own soldiers. However, you quickly learn that it is viewed as inappropriate, or possibly even treasonous, to question the validity of the things you are hearing.

Any time that you start asking questions about the manual, everyone around you tells you that the amazing weapons you read about in there are no longer available because they are no longer needed. The way that the battles are fought now is that you allow the enemy to attack you, and then you attempt to send messages to the general. If he wants you to win, then he will come and fight the enemy for you. And if he wants you to lose, then your job is to just take a beating for the glory of your general and his mysterious strategies. But He won’t tell you which one…you are left to figure that out on your own.

You are taught that you should never expect any communication from the general, outside of reading the manual. This is because during the early days of your time in army, you were also taught that the general stopped communicating a long time ago when the manual was written.

In spite of this fact, you were also told to always send letters to the general every day. In your letters, you need to tell him about all of your mistakes, and how helpless you are, how you can’t do anything. You are also allow to ask for patience and endurance so that you can possibly survive somehow. But you should never expect to receive a personal response. You can just hope that he is in a good mood when he reads your letters, and that he doesn’t send any harm your way.

From the people you talk to, it seems that the main goal of a soldier is to study and acquire knowledge. It is especially important that you study all of the instructions in the manual. You need to memorize them and study them and talk about them with other soldiers…and so on. But you find this puzzling, because according to everyone around you, a lot of the stuff in the manual is no longer available or applicable.

You continue on like this for some time, but something is always bothering you about all of it. Something just doesn’t seem right. This is not what you were expecting when you enlisted. Your time in the army basically consists of listening to people talk and give lectures, and reading books about different ways to stay on the good side of the general.

There is more

But then one day you hear about some other soldiers. There are actually soldiers out there that train more than 90 minutes per week on Sundays. They train every day! And not only that, but they also seem to be having some success in their battles, which is very unusual based on everything you have been learning.

You become very curious. The excitement that you felt long ago at the time of your enlistment begins to bubble up inside of you.

You begin researching these soldiers. It seems that they are frowned upon by most of the people around you…especially the really smart people that give the lectures and write the books. But you keep on digging anyway.

You begin to learn some interesting things about these soldiers. First of all, they claim to receive communication and instruction from the general on a daily basis. Actually, it seems like they depend on it. The communications and instructions are very instrumental in winning their battles.

Secondly, they have found some of the weapons mentioned in the manual and have started learning to use them. Since there is hardly anyone around that has experience with the weapons, the soldiers make a lot of mistakes, and sometimes there are accidents and people are harmed.

But these soldiers don’t give up. They keep learning, practicing, and training. They begin to see some victories in their battles, in spite of all of the obstacles and mistakes and setbacks.

The people around you keep telling you to stop your research. They have many bad things to say about these soldiers you are researching. They call them ignorant or reckless, or even accuse them of working for the enemy (even though they are winning more battles than anyone around you ever has).

You finally get the nerve to contact these “rogue” soldiers and attend one of their training sessions. They explain to you that all of the weapons and equipment from the manual are still just as effective as ever, and they help you lots of ways. So you ask them where you can find some of these weapons. To your surprise, they show you that they are right there in your backpack that you received shortly after you enlisted.

The soldiers show you enough to help you get started, but they say the best training is on the battlefield, not in the classroom. They don’t know how to use all of the stuff in the backpack, but they are learning more and more every day.

They show you how to use your walkie talkie that allows two-way communication with headquarters, rather than just sending letters and leaving voicemails with no response. You also learn that you don’t have to go through a commanding officer…you have a direct line. And in fact, you don’t even have a commanding officer among these soldiers. Instead, other soldiers provide you with training in areas of their expertise, with the goal of showing you how to win.

Good News

Then the soldiers tell you something that makes you extremely happy and extremely sad at the same time. They tell you that the general is not the way that you were taught. The general always wants his soldiers to win every battle. He provides plenty of supplies for everyone, but almost nobody takes advantage of it.

You learn that the enemy has been sending in spies to bring deception and tell lies about the general. The spies are the ones that bring injuries and diseases and steal your food and your supplies, and then they blame it on “the general’s mysterious strategy.” In this way, they have been able to continually attack without any resistance. But you decide that is not going to happen any more.

You go back to your training manual that you have been reading and studying all these years, and it seems like it is brand new all over again. Now, it really does read more like an instruction manual than a history book. You begin training in a new way. You still read and study, but now you go out and use the tools and weapons according to the manual, and you take the battle to the enemy rather than waiting on him to attack you.

You begin to experience some victories, and also some defeats. You learn more each day, and become more and more effective. You find out about new pieces of equipment, and you also start recruiting others to come and join you. Your days become less about listening to lectures and reading books, and more about learning to communicate with the general, putting your manual and your weapons to good use, and defeating the enemy.

So what now

This is where the analogy ends, and real life begins. I hope this inspires you to seek the truth, even if it means letting go of some long-held traditions. God, our “general” is not distant and irritable. He is present, loving, gracious, kind, and generous. He has already given you all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), and He is ready and willing to work with you to continue the mission of Jesus…namely healing and rescuing all that are oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38). The battle is already won, but we get to enforce the victory. Learn how to cooperate with God and use the tools and power that He has given you. If this is new information to you, would suggest taking a look at any of these posts next:

How Jesus Did Miracles

Introduction to the Baptism with the Holy Spirit

Understanding God’s Will

Healing is in God’s Character and Nature

Our Position of Authority over Demons

Open Letter to the Men of God

November 12, 2014 Neal Leazer 6 comments

“The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other guy die for his.”
― George S. Patton Jr.

We are citizens of the kingdom of God (Phil 3:20), sons in His family with full rights and privileges (Gal 4:7), ambassadors with authority (2 Cor 5:20, Luke 10:19), and soldiers in His army with supernatural weaponry (2 Cor 10:4).

We are at war. We have an enemy, but our enemy is not a human enemy (Eph 6:12). It is a real enemy, but it is not a visible, physical enemy. It is a spiritual enemy. It is an opposing army that is loosely organized under the leadership of a fallen angel named Satan. He is called the ruler of this world, and he is a renegade criminal dictator (1 John 5:19). He has a kingdom (Luke 11:18) that is called the power of darkness (Col 1:13) that he is seeking to expand. That kingdom is our enemy. I will call that enemy “he” or “him” in this letter, but I am referring to members of that enemy kingdom.

Our enemy has infiltrated our society and culture, our government, and our churches.

The weapons that he uses against us are not missiles, bombs, and bullets (although sometimes those come as a result of his influence on humans). His weapons require our cooperation, our complacency, or our ignorance in order to have any lasting effect on us. They include (but are not limited to):

deception
intimidation
manipulation
enticement and temptation
condemnation
defilement
judgmental, finger-pointing, self-righteous Pharisee-ism
backbiting or gossip
factions
enslavement / bondage to addictions
unbiblical religious tradition
other forms of physical, mental, or emotional problems

Through these weapons, our enemy uses us against each other, and against ourselves….like we are his foolish little puppets. Does this make you angry? It should.

Here is some insight into some of the ways our enemy operates.

He will pound on you with temptation over and over until you give in, and then he will point the finger at you and rub your nose in it. If you don’t give in, he will leave you for while, in search of an easier target. He will likely return to again at a more opportune time. He will tempt you to use your own voice to injure your own wife, family, and friends. He will lay traps to entice you into doing something you will regret. It is still your choice, but the traps can be very deceptive. Then he will lie and tell you that you are the only one, and that God is mad at you, and you are a failure, and all kinds of other crap. He will tempt you to judge other people, or get offended, or criticize someone behind their back, or who knows what else.

But if you don’t cooperate, then power of the enemy is very limited. Our enemies do not have physical bodies, so they can’t come and put you in a headlock and make you do things. You have a choice. You can do something about it. But they have cleverly convinced most people to either blame the “issues” on their past, their parents, God’s will, or God’s mysterious plan or timing. The goal is for us to think that we just have to live with it, or to just try harder with more willpower. This allows the enemy to go around defiling and afflicting people without much retaliation from anyone.

Every now and then, some folks start learning about the weapons of OUR warfare, and start learning to cooperate with God to enforce His will and set people free.

When this kind of thinking begins to break out among the citizens of our Father’s Kingdom, the enemy does not just sit back and watch. One of his counter attacks is to stir up controversy in the body of Christ and have people to stand up and label these soldiers as heretics, or greedy, or crazy, or ignorant, etc. Or they use fear of failure or fear of rejection to keep people sitting on the bench.

Another tactic is to present a false choice. For example, people will say something like “developing your character is more important than miracles.” Or “God is more interested in your heart than in physical healing.” Those are false choices. We don’t have to choose one or the other. We are supposed to “pursue love AND desire spiritual gifts (1 Cor 14:1).” God forgives all our sins AND heals all our diseases (psalm 103:3)

When forced to choose between ethics/morals and the power of the Kingdom of God, I imagine that our enemy would much prefer us to focus our studies on self-improvement rather than power and authority. This puts us in a defensive mindset, and it will limit the scope of our ability to inflict damage on their kingdom. But we don’t have to choose one or the other. We can do both. You can learn to live wisely, AND learn to use the authority and power God has entrusted us with.

The body of Christ is being tricked, robbed, and abused. We should be putting our foot on the devil’s neck. We should be evicting every trespasser. But instead, many Christians look at you like you have two heads when you start to talk about this stuff. There are actually preachers that attack other Christians who are trying to figure out how to use our weapons.

All of this should make you angry. Not angry at yourself, and not angry at any other person. It should make you angry at the father of lies, who is sowing unbelief, legalism, and ignorance in the body of Christ.

We are at war. But it seems to me that most Christians do not understand this. Or if they do, they think that they way to fight this war is to huddle in a corner and pray for our “General” to come and do something.

But our “General” gave us authority and equipment, and then told us to take the fight to the enemy. Yes, the battle is the Lord’s, but He has chosen to fight the battle through you. He has given every believer the right, privilege, authority, and power to destroy the works of the devil in every place that we find him working. And if we aren’t following orders, then we don’t need to blame it on the General when things don’t go the right way. We need to go back and reexamine the orders and the strategy, train, and get back out there and fight again.

The works of the devil are sickness and disease, oppression (spiritual, emotional, mental, physical), and condemnation.

Acts 10:38 “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, who went about DOING GOOD and HEALING ALL WHO WERE OPPRESSED OF THE DEVIL for GOD WAS WITH HIM.”

Our weapons are healing the sick, casting out demons, and preaching the gospel. Set people free from sickness, oppression, and guilt and condemnation. That is how you attack the enemy. That is how you damage their kingdom and take ground. That is how we fight offensively.

That is what our General has equipped us for.

That is His strategy.

That is His will.

Healing is war.

Deliverance is war.

The gospel is the POWER OF GOD.

And as we (every believer) learn to preach the full gospel, with signs following, then we are getting closer to what we are built for.

James 4:7 says “resist the devil and he will FLEE from YOU.” It is your job to MAKE HIM RUN AWAY FROM YOU. You are to make him sorry that he ever messed with you and your family. If you don’t know how, then start learning.

Wars are not won by only playing defense. We are not seeking to merely hold our ground and protect our fort. We are seeking to destroy our enemy and make sure it is known that we are not a group of men that are just going to lie down and take another beating. We do not need to be afraid of the enemy. The enemy needs to be afraid of us.

Was Paul Sick When He Met the Galatians?

November 4, 2014 Neal Leazer 31 comments

This question has been coming up again in the last few weeks, and I wonder if there are more people out there thinking about this. If so, then here’s my answer.

Let’s begin with the passage:

Gal 4:13-14

You know that because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first. And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. What then was the blessing you enjoyed? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me.

Some people use this verse to imply that Paul had some kind of eye disease or other sickness, and that God would not heal him. Personally, I believe that is a little far fetched. It requires you to make a lot of assumptions, and eventually you have to come to a conclusion that contradicts the life of Jesus on earth. If you have to make assumptions, then I think you should make assumptions that agree with the life of Jesus.

For the record, Jesus always healed everyone that came to Him. There is not a single exception to this in Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. And He was doing God’s will all the time, so it was always God’s will to heal. If it was God’s will for Paul to have an eye disease, then the Father’s will is very different than what Jesus was demonstrating on the earth. But the Father and the Son and the Spirit all agree, all the time. God is not divided against Himself. And when Jesus ushered in the New Covenant, it included both forgiveness of sin, and healing.

So, with all of that in mind, let’s move on to something that will help us understand what is going on. Read this passage from the book of Acts, where we are given some insight into the events that preceded Paul’s initial visit to the people he was writing to.

Acts 14:19-22 (NET Bible)

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and after winning the crowds over, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, presuming him to be dead. But after the disciples had surrounded him, he got up and went back into the city. On the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

After they had proclaimed the good news in that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch. They strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom of God through many persecutions.”

As far as I have been able to figure out the timeline, it looks like Paul was stoned in Lystra just before he went to other churches in the region of Galatia. Galatia is a region, not a city, so the letter to the Galatians would have been sent to churches in cities like Derbe, Iconium, Antioch, etc.

Paul was visiting these places right after he was stoned. Crowds of people had just thrown rocks at his head, face, and body until it looked like he was dead. He may have even died and been raised from the dead when the other believers gathered around him to pray. We aren’t told if he actually was dead, or if he just looked dead. Either way, he was in bad shape.

I assume that he looked pretty beat up at the time that he went to Derbe, since he had just gone through this. And since his body was all beat up at the time, it would fit the statement in Acts 14:22 “We must enter the kingdom of God through many persecutions.” This also fits the statement Galatians 4 that we are studying now, except that most translations use the phrase “illness” instead of infirmity or weakness. This is a form of the same word “infirmity” that I covered in my post on Paul’s Thorn.

So, Paul was recovering from a traumatic beating. And although it was a miraculous recovery, apparently he still had some scars and bruising, and so he probably looked pretty rough. Personally, I believe this is what he is talking about when he is talking about his infirmity or his weakness or his appearance. In other words, he was beat up the first time he went there, so he is referencing that in the letter to the Galatians.

You would have to make many assumptions to go from the text in Galatians 4 to a conclusion that Paul had an incurable eye disease. Even so, there are respectable Bible teachers and commentators that make this assumption and promote it to others. I have even seen some people go as far as to give the name of the disease. I would suggest that we use greater caution before making assumptions that contradict the life of Jesus, especially when it concerns something so clear as His willingness to heal sick people.

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