When Jesus went to the synagogue in Nazareth, the attendant handed him the Book of Isaiah, and Jesus began to read. He said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those whose are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

Then Jesus said, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." When Jesus made this statement, He made it very clear why He was anointed. We know He was anointed to preach the good news to the poor, but He also said that He was anointed to give recovery of sight to the blind. What did He mean by this?

Jesus said that through His anointing, there can be freedom from the bondage of sickness and disease. Through His anointing we do not have to live under the stress that illness brings. How do we know this? We know this because all through the New Testament that's what Jesus did. He didn't just say He was anointed to heal the sick, He actually healed the sick. When He would enter into a town and preach the gospel, the good news, He would also demonstrate His power and authority over sicknesses. Jesus walked daily in His anointing.

Several times Jesus said that He did not do anything unless the Father instructed Him to. And if Jesus only did what the Father told Him to do, then healing and freedom must be God's will. Why? Because once again, Jesus preached the gospel and healed the sick in every village he entered.

Now, here's the point. We as Christians are to walk in the same anointing that Jesus walked in. In fact, Jesus said in John 14:12 that, "He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father."

Jesus was anointed to preach the gospel, to heal the sick and to set the captives free. As Christians we have that same calling. We can't play church any longer. The time is at hand for the church to fulfill its destiny.

Years ago a minister approached me and informed me that Jesus was the only one in the Bible that actually healed anybody. He said that healing was not for today and that anyone that thought so was a fanatic. Well, obviously this minister hadn't really studied God's Word. For months I wondered how this man could even be in the ministry, knowing as little as he did.

Then, one day I watched a computer salesman trying to sell a computer. Actually, he was the store manager and he didn't know the difference between a hard drive and a floppy drive. Because he didn't know his product, he avoided all the technical questions and only talked about the superficial things of computing. At that moment God spoke to my heart and said, that's the way My salesmen are. They know enough to get the job, but not enough to do the job.

So when it comes to healing, sometimes we need to get past the salespeople and go straight to the owner's manual. God's Word clearly states Jesus was anointed to heal the sick. His anointing came from God.

Jesus gave authority over sickness and disease to all who believe. Jesus said in Luke 10:19, "I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

In Mark 16:18 Jesus said that Christians would lay hands on the sick and that the sick would recover. If you are a Christian, that's you.

Devotion 0142