The Deception That Keeps Many Believers Stuck in Sickness

In our last blog, we clearly established God’s intent for health and healing using His Word. Further, we described numerous disease trends, tending to originate in the United States and spreading worldwide

Hopefully, you have to ask yourself, as we have asked ourselves many times, does God simply manage disease rather than heal? And further, do we ever think there is a difference between healing disease and management of disease?

Let us realize that God, in His awesomeness, is about total restoration. When Jesus walked the earth, instantaneous, amazing and unbelievable miracles occurred. We saw the lame walking, the leprous healed, the deaf hearing, the blind seeing and the mute speaking. Imagine being a person living in this time in history. Wow, what incredible awe and wonder they must have experienced.

As Jesus affirmed in Mark 2:17, “… those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Jesus clearly infers there are some who may not have known they were sick. But who are those people? Does it even seem possible that someone would be sick and not know it?

The answer to that question seems to potentially be tied to the troubling statistics shared in the last blog (please refer if you have forgotten). If Jesus came, died, rose again and further deposited the Holy Spirit within us, why are so many people so sick? Has He failed us? Is His healing not applicable today?

Quite the contrary, His word, love and power are just as strong in us as believers as they were when Jesus walked the earth. Yes, we have that same Holy Spirit in us that empowered Jesus to do the miracles He did.

Perhaps, a bit of deception or unbelief, has begun to creep into our lives. Or maybe we have believed there is a pill to cure our ill, and it was designed by God? Maybe there are some of us who are sick, don’t realize it and even been led to believe “sick” is normal?

There is little doubt that we see a huge upward trend in the use of pharmaceutical drugs. The trend is disturbing in the sense that drugs are not designed to heal disease but rather to manage disease conditions. If we believe God’s intent is to heal, we should pause and think. Let’s examine the following Scripture:

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanliness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outburst of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions” (Gal. 5:19-20a, NKJV).

Let’s hone in on the word “sorcery.” In the original Greek, this word is pharmakeia. Yes, that’s correct. This is where the word “pharmacy” comes from. It literally means using drugs or medicine. We are not seeing drugs are bad; rather, we are saying the dependence upon them to bring about healing is a falsehood. Additionally, the unnecessary and overuse of them is extremely dangerous and deadly.

Is there a better way? Yes, most definitely. There is something called lifestyle, which includes stress management, nutritional intake, sleep maximization, spiritual growth, financial management, relational health, God-directed medical guidance and instruction, and exercise.

If these are all are managed, we potentially see major reduction in the following very common disease processes: heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, autoimmune conditions, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, early-onset dementia and cancer.

It is estimated that 85% or more of these diseases are driven by mismanagement of lifestyle as described above. Can you imagine cutting these diseases at that rate? Is God’s intent of health partially tied to our willingness to walk in health? Notice these current chronically high disease conditions are dissimilar in nature from those Jesus came across while He walked the earth. In future blogs, we will dive deeper into these issues.

In the meantime, it is clear that what we are doing may not be very effective. We must consider realigning our principles, teaching and culture around improving overall lifestyle and also consider reestablishing our belief system around God’s original intent rather than man’s created design. {eoa}

Mark Sherwood, naturopathic doctor (ND), is on a mission to help you achieve wellness in every area of your life. Dr. Mark and his wife, Michele L. Neil-Sherwood, DO, have a successful medical practice, the Functional Medical Institute; have a television and radio program; and provide resources, including their Amazon bestseller, The Quest for Wellness, nutrition plans, fitness instructional videos and helpful mental and emotional steps to provide relief from stress and to help people form better habits so they can live well.