I Am Jehovah Rapha, Your Healer

Let us turn to the Word of the Lord for a moment. Did you know that we are going to have a healing service this afternoon? And God has already done things here today. He has been present in a precious way. But this afternoon, at twelve, we are setting apart the twelve o’clock service to pray specifically for the healing of the sick.

We always pray for healing; every Sunday we have a time of ministry. But there is a difference. I believe that this time, as never before, we have thrown down a challenge and said: We believe that God is a Healer, that God heals, and we are going to stake everything on that and dedicate that service specifically to seeking God’s healing, miracle-working anointing.

We invite you to come. In fact, if you want to stay on—this is the Lord’s Day—so if you want to come to the twelve o’clock service, come. I hope you will want to come! And let us continue celebrating this time. It is going to be something very special. The weighty presence of God can already be felt in our midst.

Do you know how many people have requested prayer through the Internet? Since they know that we are going to have this healing service this afternoon, we invited anyone who wished to send in their names. And on Wednesday or Thursday, Omar and I were talking, perhaps saying, “Well, perhaps if there are ten or fifteen people, we can mention their names one by one.” People of little faith.

Omar, how many people have sent in their names already…? Five hundred people from different parts of the world, from many different parts of the world—not only Latin America, but other countries around the world—asking us to pray for them. They have given their names and made their requests.

So there is a great invisible congregation that you never see, but they are there with us as well, receiving blessings and writing to us continually. That is part of the missionary work God is making possible.

We thank God for the ministry of the minister ordained by us, Dr. Ernst Diehl, and his team. We thank the volunteers who also work to make that very significant ministry possible, enabling the Gospel to be carried to places you cannot even imagine.

For example, there is now a group, a radio station in El Salvador, that asked us this week for the radio programs broadcast here every day at seven in the morning so that they can air them through their station there in El Salvador.

So there are many things like that; the programs and sermons are being broadcast in different ways.

Glory to the Lord. Everything is for the glory of God.

But I tell you this to encourage you, so that you may believe that God is a faithful God and that as our faith grows, God will do greater things.

I believe that this is only the beginning, but it will be done to us according to our faith. According to your faith, mine, and our willingness to participate and give the Lord our time and energy, God will do beautiful and wonderful things.

This morning I want us to unite in spirit with what we will be doing at twelve and continue building up our own faith, proclaiming the Word of God concerning the healing, prosperity, and blessing that God makes possible through Christ Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, I want us to remember that Christ said that we, too, would be able to do the works He did, and even greater ones.

And our faith is the conduit, the instrument God uses to cause His blessing to flow, and things have not changed. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

This matter of the healing that God wants to bring into our lives…

Do you know that healing is our inheritance? Healing is our inheritance through Christ Jesus; we have the right to live healthy lives and to aspire to healthy lives.

Do you know that the Christian life is not about gritting your teeth until Christ comes and takes you out of this cruel world? The Christian life is a life of abundance—and amen, whether you believe it or not. It is a life of abundance. Christ said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it abundantly.”

I always live with the expectation that God is going to bless me more and more, and sometimes I get myself into big trouble because I have so much faith in the Lord and such a strong belief that God has called me to do mighty deeds, that God has called me to bring down giants, and that God has given me everything I need to do His work here on Earth and to prosper. And that is for you as well.

“According to your faith, it will be done to you,” says the Word of the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ said to Martha, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” And Martha stood there saying to Him, “Yes, Lord, I know that Lazarus will rise again when Judgment Day comes…” “No,” the Lord told her, “I want to raise him now, today, right now.” And if you believe, you will see the glory of God manifested.

Many of us are accustomed to God’s generic blessing—a general sort of blessing—but Christ wants a specific blessing for our needs, our situations, our struggles, and our problems. There is blessing for the children of God. It does not matter if you are going through difficult times; many of us are going through difficult times, but I believe that the victory always belongs to the Lord. When we go through trials and tribulations, I believe that God can bring me through them victoriously. God will not allow me to be defeated.

This work we are undertaking there in Dedham came into my ministry and into my life without my seeking it, and God has been drawing us into a moral and spiritual commitment to that congregation, in a sense… But, brothers and sisters, I have never wanted to retreat. When God allows a challenge to come into my life, I examine it, and if it is from God, I say, “Amen, here I am. I know that You will give me the victory.”

That church has already tried on three different occasions to overcome the difficult situation it has been in.

Three times. All three times they failed. They were already prepared to give everything up, including the beautiful property they have there: three lovely buildings in a very strategic area of the city of Dedham. They were already prepared to give up the ghost, as we say, but I encouraged them in the name of Jesus.

I told them, “No, try one more time. We are going to commission this young man, who is a man of God. He has studied at a seminary and prepared himself; he has an enterprising spirit and a lovely family, and he loves the Lord. We are going to support him in the name of Jesus. Try one more time.”

And I believe that God will not let us be put to shame. They have done it with some fear and a little reluctantly, but I have dared to tell them, “Try. God will not let us down.” And I believe that God will not let us down. I believe this time we will succeed.

They say the third time is the charm. Well, this time the fourth time is the charm.

But I believe that when God is present, brothers and sisters, when we undertake things in the name of Jesus and there is prayer, support, and the Spirit flowing, things get done.

God did not call us to failure; God called us to success and blessing, and that is why we dare to do things. We get ourselves into trouble, and God gets us out of it… somehow. Smelling of smoke, but He gets us out.

When Peter saw Jesus walking on the waves, Peter, who was daring and had a spirit of faith, said to Him, “Lord, make me walk on the water too.” And the Lord told him, “Well, if you dare, get into the water.” And Peter began to walk, but at that moment his faith was not enough. He saw the waves, heard the roar of the wind, and began to sink, and… the Lord told him, “Well, Peter, that is your problem. You got yourself into trouble; now get yourself out of it. I will see you up in Heaven when I get there.”

No. The Lord reached out His hand, pulled him out, and put him in the boat.

That means that when we undertake things sometimes—and sometimes we undertake things that are beyond our ability and our faith—if we do it to glorify God, the Lord takes it upon Himself to get us out of trouble, you know?

When our heart is pure, when our heart is right before the Lord and we want to see His glory, even when we make a bit of a mess of things sometimes, the Lord blesses us, brings us through, and does not allow us to be put to shame.

Never say “No” to a challenge from God for your life because you do not have what you need. Believe that the Lord is powerful enough to provide what is needed. And right now I am thinking—do not worry, I am already into the sermon—I am thinking of when… the disciples came to Jesus Christ and said, “Lord, it is late, night has fallen, and the crowd needs to eat. Send them home so that they may eat and find whatever they can.”

They were in the middle of the open countryside and had nowhere to go. And what did the Lord tell them? He told them, “You give them something to eat.” “Us? How are we going to feed such a large crowd? There is not even any money, and even if there were money, there is no Super Stop & Shop around here where we could buy enough food for so many people.” And the Lord told them, “Well, what do you have among you? Look around. What is there in the crowd?”

They searched and brought out five loaves and two fish, which by that time of the afternoon, in that heat, must already have smelled so bad they could send monkeys running. And the Lord said, “Give me that.” He took the loaves and the fish, lifted them toward Heaven, blessed them, and what happened? They received enough food to feed the entire crowd, and there was even some left over. Meaning that when the Lord tells us, “Do something,” do not worry about whether or not you have the resources. Obey the Lord. Do it in the name of Jesus, and the Lord will bless it.

This afternoon we are getting ourselves into trouble because we are saying that God is a healing God and that God works miracles, and like Peter, we have set out to walk on the sea, but I believe that the Lord will bless us.

Because God does not allow His children to be put to shame. God is going to perform healings; God is going to perform signs and wonders. His Spirit will be with us because when He places something in our hearts, He sees to it that the provision comes. Even though we do not have it within ourselves, He provides it. Because everything is accomplished by the Spirit of the Lord.

And I believe that this is the posture, the attitude, to which God has called us. That is what I see throughout all of Scripture: that great blessing God has for us.

Look, for example, at Deuteronomy chapter 7. This is found everywhere in the Bible. It is healing, health, abundance, prosperity, and having enough to do everything God wants and needs us to do, including living powerful and blessed lives.

Deuteronomy chapter 7, beginning with verse 11—and notice how, on many occasions, God’s blessing, God’s healing, and God’s prosperity are tied to keeping His commandments. That is why I say, when we say, “Yes, God is going to bless you materially; God is going to bless you financially,” there is also a commandment: “Give your tithe to the Lord.” You cannot expect to be blessed in your finances if you are not keeping the commandment to give the Lord what the Lord deserves.

There is a connection between honoring God, obeying God, and God’s blessing.

Deuteronomy 7:11 says, “Therefore keep the commandments, statutes, and decrees that I command you today to observe.”

And the book of Deuteronomy contains many of those commandments, statutes, and decrees. In other words, there was a variety of laws and commandments that God gave His people in different forms, and the idea is “keep them.” That is, we must be diligent and careful to keep those commandments God has given us.

And look at what verse 12 says: “And because you have heard these decrees and kept them.” Why? Because many hear but do not act. Isn’t that right?

Say amen; say, “I am one of them.”

It says, “Because you have heard these decrees and kept them.” When you keep the decrees and commandments, when you walk according to what God has said—and what a tremendous struggle that is, my brother!

I say as the apostle Paul says: “Brothers and sisters, I confess to you that I die every day. Every day I battle between what my flesh wants to do and what the Word of God tells me to do.” It is a continual struggle. But we must keep the Lord’s commandments; we must do what God says.

The flesh says, “Go that way because it is faster and easier.” The Holy Spirit says, “That is not the way.” Even if it takes you longer, go this way, because along this way there is blessing and success.

Then it says, “Because you have heard and kept them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy that He swore to your fathers.” In other words, it is like a contract—a contract that God has written and asks you to sign because He has already signed it.

Then, when you do your part of that contract, the Lord says, “You know what? I am going to keep My part, then. I am going to bless you, prosper you, and heal you. I am going to give authority to your word, and you will see blessings coming into your life.”

That is how it is, brothers and sisters. We must live with integrity before God, and if God is going to use us and unleash the great things that I know He wants to unleash upon His people in this time, we are going to have to make a faithful vow.

God wants people who are consecrated to the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, as God’s anointing continues to fall upon Lion of Judah, we are going to change. That tiger-like look some of us have will have to go and be replaced by a gentle, wholesome, pleasant look. The claws will begin to be clipped. Those little outfits will have to become a little longer and perhaps a little looser as well. And the men will also have to... those whom God has graced with something that might tempt someone... well, they too will have to dress it appropriately. But the point is that this is part of healing, brothers and sisters; this is part of being a people who walk under God’s blessing.

God is going to ask for a holy people, a people capable of... allowing His grace to flow through us. And I know that God wants to do that; God wants a people consecrated to Him. And then we will see that He will keep the covenant He made with us, and that the mercy He swore to our fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—will flow through the lineage of Jesus and reach us. Because all of this was written—and why is it here in the Bible? It is not so that we can look at it and say, “Oh! An archaeological document from thousands of years ago.”

No! This is for us today. Say “TODAY” with me. Say “FOR ME.” This is for us, and this is for today... these blessings.

And so it says here: “And He will love you.” Look at the blessings to which we are entitled. The first is this: the love of God. “And He will love you, bless you, and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain, your new wine, your oil, the offspring of your cattle, and the flocks of your sheep, in the land that He swore to your fathers to give you.”

Nowadays, the Lord might use other images. He would say: “He will bless your bank account, bless your closet, bless your car, bless your pantry. He will bless your job, bless your body, bless your children. He will bless your home, bless the place where you work. He will bless the neighborhood where you live, the building where you live.”

God’s blessing will be there because you are present. When you pray for your neighborhood, God’s blessing will flow through the streets where you live. And if there is violence, dysfunction, neurosis, or conflict, through your prayer those areas will be blessed. That is what the Lord says.

Then it says: “You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be among you a barren male or female, nor among your livestock.”

When I hear that kind of language, it makes life complicated for me. Because either God was exaggerating and was euphoric at that moment, or He meant what He was saying and I have to believe it.

It says here, “There shall not be a barren male or female.” That is what it says, and that means, brother, I know that—look, for some reason, things... but I have to believe what the word of the Lord says. And why do things happen? I do not know. But I prefer to focus on the Lord’s promise: that we will bear abundant fruit, that God will bless the womb, that God will bless our reproductive system; that our children will grow and multiply, and we will fill the cities.

Liberals do not want to give birth; they have one child, or 1.2, because they do not want to share their money and they are very efficient about everything.

I say, look, let us fill the Earth with our children, children who believe in the Lord and love God. Let us overwhelm them simply through our own productivity; let us make them the minority. We are going to become the majority simply by having many children.

“The Lord will provide.” Add more water to the soup; God will bless. I believe there is blessing. I believe God is saying here, “There is no barrenness.” God, everything You touch will produce; there will be fruit, there will be blessing. “I will heal” that disease of barrenness, He says. “And the LORD will take away from you”... what? “Every sickness.” Do you see the promise there? “And the LORD will take away from you every sickness.”

Why do we have so much sickness nowadays, so many plagues, and so many bad things in this world?

I believe, brothers and sisters—I submit—that it happens to the extent that we move away from God’s perfect center. To that same extent, we open our bodies, our cities, our villages, and our families to sickness.

I believe that if humankind were completely consecrated to God, sickness would gradually disappear until we lived in the glory of God as a healthy people, full of health. And I believe, brothers and sisters, that all I can say is that to the extent that we live within God’s will and fill our minds with the word of God, meditate on the word, and remove a host of contaminating things in our homes that we read and watch and think about—to the extent that our lives are filled with the power of God and with an expectation of blessing and prosperity, that we fill our thoughts with positive expectations, have positive confessions on our lips, speak the word of God, serve the Lord, and let God fill our homes—there is health and there is blessing in our homes.

There may be an illness, of course there may, but we can pray; God blesses. And if there are other kinds of illnesses, God knows; we inhabit a deeply fallen, very impure world. But what God was saying to the people of Israel was, “Look, to the extent that you allow My person and My word to fill your nation, sickness will diminish day by day.”

We inhabit a very impure world, a very, very impure world, and that is why I believe there are so many illnesses; and we ourselves suffer the consequences of our own decisions. And let us not make life too complicated for ourselves. The fact is that the promise... I prefer to dwell on the positive. It says here: “The LORD will take away”—it is speaking in the future—“from you every sickness, to the extent that you keep My word, and all the evil plagues of Egypt that you know.”

Egypt is the world that does not know God, the world that does not acknowledge God’s truth, with all those illnesses and all those plagues. He says: “If you are a chosen people, I will progressively reduce it; the presence of sickness in your home, in your homes, in your family, will grow thinner and thinner each day, and I will raise up a healthy people, an energetic people, a strengthened people.”

A people with a lucid, healthy, thinking mind. I believe those are the blessings of walking in the Lord’s ways and keeping His commandments. “All the evil plagues of Egypt that you know, He will not put upon you, but He will put them upon all those who hate you.”

So, brother, look there at one of those blessings. Even in the Old Testament, God was saying: “Blessing and healing are coming into your life if you follow Me.”

And I say the following, brothers and sisters: if that first covenant—which was such an imperfect covenant, the covenant of the law, the covenant conveyed only through symbols such as sacrifices and rams and the symbols of the temple, which was merely something to hold things over until the true covenant came, the new covenant of Christ Jesus—if that first covenant held so much blessing and so much promise, how much more will the covenant we now have in Christ Jesus hold! Much better, much greater, much more complete, much more all-encompassing—and that is what the word of the Lord continually says.

Look, brother, one thing is clear throughout the entire Bible—I do not have the time it would take; I could spend a couple of hours here teaching you and tracing all the promises throughout the whole of Scripture.

One of the things I can say about this is that the presence of God, the coming of the kingdom of God, and the entrance of the kingdom of God and of the truth of the Gospel into a home, a community, or a nation are always accompanied by promises of healing and health, as well as health and healing for finances, emotions, and the spirit. Always.

It is not possible for God’s presence to be in a community without health, prosperity, and blessing also being there. One is always accompanied by the other.

Look at another interesting passage: Isaiah chapter 53. I am simply going to skip to a few passages in the little time we have left. Isaiah 53, verse 4.

This is a prophetic, messianic passage that speaks about what the Messiah was going to accomplish through His crucifixion on the Cross. Verse 4, Isaiah 53, says: “Surely He bore”—who is He? Christ Jesus—“our sicknesses and suffered”—what?—“our pains; and we regarded Him as stricken, by the Son of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our rebellions, crushed for our sins; the punishment for our peace was upon Him, and by His wound”—what?—“we were healed.” “By His wound we were healed.”

It is speaking in the past tense about something that had not even happened yet, to add to the sense of certainty and finality.

By the wounds, by the injuries the Lord suffered on the Cross.

It says that on the Cross of Calvary, the Lord disarmed the principalities and powers and canceled the record of decrees that stood against us.

The devil is the source of sickness, the source of poverty, the source of depression, the source of oppression.

And when the Lord defeated the works of the devil and undid the works of the devil on the Cross, He released blessing for us.

By neutralizing the industry of evil, He opened up the possibility for us to live in blessing and health.

That is why I tell you, brother: fill your mind each day with images of health. Do not sit there expecting a decrepit old age, because if you expect it... it will come to you.

Fill your mind with images of being a feisty old man, or a little old lady in her miniskirt and pretty lipstick who... looks good (laughter).

How many sisters can say amen to that?

General laughter

Sisters, brothers, do not anticipate a decrepit old age. Anticipate an old age filled with happiness and joy. Isn’t that right, sister? Amen. Hallelujah!

If you are thinking that you are going to sit there talking nonsense and that no one will want to see you or talk to you, then... your prophecy will come true. But believe that God is going to bless you, and you will see how God’s blessing will come into your life.

And begin blessing your body now: bless your muscles, bless your nervous system, bless your brain so that it does not shrivel up... but instead grows and prospers and is blessed. Bless your body.

I like to go through every part of my being and bless it in the name... and anticipate God’s blessing, God’s healing and health, and God’s vigor and strength in every area of my life.

And just as God promises blessing, you too should fill your mind with an expectation of power and victory. Whatever the devil throws at you, hit it out of the park for a home run, brother.

That is what God wants, because the Lord made it possible. The Lord said: “To rob a strong man, one must first bind him.”

The devil is the one who rules over the wickedness of the world, sickness, and all these things. And Christ bound him through the power of His blood shed on the Cross of Calvary. And so we can slip in behind Jesus and, with Him, live an easier, more blessed, more prosperous life, brothers and sisters.

Dolphins sometimes slip in behind a boat that is moving very quickly through the sea because apparently that fast-moving boat creates a current that enables them, once they get into it, to use their strength more efficiently and swim faster behind the boat.

They are smart, make no mistake. And you know what? That is how I see Christ. Christ is like that powerful, motor-driven boat traveling ahead of me, and when I slip in behind the wave He creates, I can move through life much more quickly, and my efforts are multiplied and blessed.

What used to cost me an investment of x amount of energy now costs me x minus ten, and so I have more energy to do more things. That is the secret of the Christian life. Get in behind what Christ accomplished. Get in behind the work the Lord accomplished on the Cross, and live your life swimming behind Him, much more efficiently and easily. And you will see that the little you have will go much further than the abundance others have without Jesus Christ.

There are many beautiful, beautiful passages.

Look at one more; let us go back to Exodus chapter 15.

One of the beautiful, poetic passages.

Exodus chapter 15, where the Lord healed the bitter waters of Marah. The Bible is filled with passages of healing and blessing. Wherever we turn, we see it; it leaps out at us... what happens is that we forget, and that is why I thank the Lord that on this day—and we will continue doing it more and more each day—we can meditate on these passages.

That is why this year we have declared a year of preaching about faith, to increase the faith of God’s people, because that is what God wants for us at this time.

Chapter 15, verse 22. Look at this beautiful picture of healing here. It says: “And Moses made Israel depart from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they traveled three days through the wilderness without finding water.”

In life there are trials, brothers and sisters; perhaps right now you are going through a time of illness, some marital problem, some family problem, some emotional healing problem. Many times we arrive at places where there is no water. Many times in our lives we come to places of barrenness and wilderness. The question is, what are we going to do when we come to those bad times? When the evil day comes into our lives, are we going to let down our guard and fall and become depressed, or are we going to take the resources found in the Word of God and wage war for our blessing?

It says, "They came to Marah, and they could not drink the waters of Marah because they were bitter."

What do you do when life turns bitter? What do you do when depression, difficulties, losses, and struggles come into your life? When things turn marah, bitter. That is why they named it Marah.

"Then the people murmured against Moses"; that is what we often do. We murmur against God; we become bitter toward God.

We say, 'God is not faithful; God does not fulfill what He promises,' and secretly we resolve in our minds not to serve God as much as we did before the problem came.

We say, 'Oh, no! Everything is fine. I love the Lord. Yes, glory to God. I know...' But that is a lie; within us there are little roots of bitterness that... get in there, and we are no longer as faithful in serving the Lord.

Instead of seeking a solution in Christ. Instead of making... taking the resources found in the Word and in the promise of God.

"And Moses cried out to Jehovah." That is what we have to do: cry out to the Lord, seek God's anointing, seek the blessing. "And Jehovah showed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters." And what happened? The waters became sweet, and there He gave them statutes and ordinances, and there He tested them and said... Look again, brother, at that promise, that tree, that situation they encountered there. I believe it was a symbol that God wanted to leave for every generation.

Because God is like that; He is a Teacher. He sometimes allows us to go through situations in our lives in order to teach us something.

He wanted to establish a precedent in the Scriptures so that many generations throughout the years could go to the Word and find there an eloquent, poetic, and beautiful promise of God's healing power to heal any situation in our lives. That is why the Lord now gives them the explanation of what they have just experienced and seen, and He tells them: "If you diligently heed the voice of Jehovah your God and do what is right in His sight"—once again, this matter of hearing, doing, and obeying—"and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes"... What does it say? ..."I will put none of the diseases on you which I brought upon the Egyptians."

Why? Because I am Jehovah your what? Your HEALER. Glory in the name of the Lord. Glory in the name of the Lord. Amen.

"I am Jehovah your healer."

Have you heard the expression Jehovah Rapha? It is one of the names of God. That is where this expression comes from: Jehovah your healer. There is Jehovah Jireh: your provider; Jehovah Nissi: Jehovah your banner. This is Jehovah Rapha, which means Jehovah who heals you. Jehovah your healer.

He told them, 'Just as I healed those waters, that is nothing to Me. If you obey Me, pay attention to My commandments, and walk in them,' you know what? 'I will not only heal your waters; I will heal your emotions, I will heal your minds, I will heal your bodies, I will heal your finances, I will heal your children, I will heal your land. For I am Jehovah, and I specialize in healing. Everything I touch, I heal. Everything that is darkness and tragedy, I turn into light and blessing. Where God is, there is healing. Where God is, there is health; where God is, there is life; where God is, there is abundance, brothers and sisters. And that is why He told them here, “I am Jehovah, your healer.”

If you are a people who follow Me and you dwell within My blessing and commandments, I will remove all cancers and all plagues and all the diseases that I place upon the nations that do not serve Me; I will not place them upon you. You will be a sound people, a healthy people, a blessed people.

Brothers and sisters, there is so much, so much.

One last passage: look for Isaiah... Let us go to Isaiah chapter 61:1–2; with this I am going to finish. Isaiah, once again a prophet who specialized in predicting things about the Messiah, spoke about the Messiah's ministry. And who could be a better interpreter of the Bible than Jesus Christ Himself, who wrote it?

So Isaiah said something that, if I were the one interpreting it as applying to Jesus, people would say, 'No, you are forcing the Word, because it does not say anything there about its being Jesus.' But the Lord, who knew what had been written and why it had been written, applied this passage to Himself when He began His public ministry. This passage says: "The Spirit of Jehovah, the Lord, is upon Me, because Jehovah has anointed Me and has sent Me to preach good news to the afflicted."

Look at how comprehensive the saving, healing, blessing message and ministry of Christ Jesus is. "To preach good news to the afflicted."

Why is it called the Gospel? What does Gospel mean? Good news, glad tidings.

"To preach good news to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. To proclaim the good year, the year of Jehovah's favor." That is as far as the Lord Jesus Christ quoted. Why did He not quote the rest? Because the rest was not relevant at that moment. The day of vengeance, that too, but the Lord wanted to...

Now look in Luke chapter 4 at how the Lord interpreted that. He meant: My ministry is a ministry of blessing. He also comes in judgment and everything else that is there, but at that moment He wanted to highlight His mission to bless, prosper, and heal.

So when He is invited to give His first recorded public address in His ministry, after being baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit and tested in the wilderness.

Now, when the Lord is invited to give His first—so to speak—public sermon, He takes the book of Isaiah.

That passage from Isaiah 61, verses 1 and 2, if you read it again with all its words: He has anointed Me to give good news to the poor—material blessing; to heal the brokenhearted—that is emotional blessing; liberty to the captives—that is for drug addicts and those addicted to different kinds of mental and emotional bondage; sight to the blind—I see physical freedom there; and to set free those oppressed by spiritual, demonic oppression. It covers the full range of possible deficiencies that man... And to complete it all, it says: "To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." In other words: if I left anything out, put it there in that last one.

The acceptable year was the time of forgiveness, healing, the return of debts and lands that had been mortgaged; slaves had been set free, and the land was allowed to rest. It was a time of celebration and blessing and of straightening everything that was crooked.

The Lord said, you know what? He sent Me to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

And then it says: "And rolling up the book, He gave it back to the minister and sat down, and the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him." They were waiting: What is this man going to say? And He began to tell them, 'Today, ladies and gentlemen, this Scripture has been fulfilled before you.' In other words, what the prophet Isaiah said about that human being—that is Me, and that will be My ministry, and that is My vision and mission: to make these things possible.

Brother, that is what Christ does in your life and in mine.

I am going to ask the musicians to come up here for a moment, please.

That is what God wants to do in your life and in mine. It is all of this, all of this... I ask the Lord that today may be a day when we rekindle that part of our spiritual life, our heritage as a church.

I ask the Lord that you leave here today with a refreshed mind and with a promise reconfirmed and revived within your spirit: that God has called you to live a life of blessing, joy, and prosperity.

Take off the mantle of mourning in the name of Jesus. Today, take off the mantle of mourning; take off the mantle of condemnation; take off the mantle of defeat; take off the mantle of sickness; take off the mantle of expecting tragedy, failure, and destruction, and clothe yourself with the mantle of joy.

Dance before God, shout for joy; sing, O barren woman, and believe that God has called you to dwell in a family, for the children of the desolate woman are many more than those of the married woman, says the Lord.

In the name of Jesus, brothers and sisters, let us embrace that promise, that call to live a life of active blessing, in the name of Jesus, right now.

Through this word that I have preached, I activate in your life that spirit of faith, and in my life that spirit of faith that says, 'I believe that I have the victory.' I believe God has not called me to defeat or failure. God has called me to victory, joy, prosperity, and blessing for my loved ones, for my descendants.

God tells me, 'You are going to be blessed, and you are going to be a blessing to others as well. I am going to give to you so that you can share; I am going to give to you so that you can lend and not have to borrow. I am going to give to you so that you may be the head and not the tail. I am going to give to you so that your womb may be fertile and you can produce enough for yourself and for others as well.'

Stand up now, in the name of Jesus, and receive this fresh impartation of the Spirit of God.

Say, 'This is for me.' Say it: 'This is for me; this is for me. I receive it in the name of Jesus.'

Father, I declare that Your people are impregnated; Your people are impregnated with a spirit of faith this morning. Thank You because You have called us to blessing.

Oh, Lord! Thank You because You have not given to us with a measuring spoon. Oh, Lord! You have given to us with a hose full of blessings and promises. You say, 'Open your mouth; I am going to fill it. Open your womb; I am going to impregnate you with great and mighty things.'

I declare blessing over your family; I declare blessing over your home; I declare blessing over your children. I declare a prosperous and blessed church. I declare a mother church that will give birth to many more churches and thousands upon thousands of children throughout the earth.

I declare a church that will proclaim the Word of God to correct, straighten, and set right what is crooked. I declare a people who will be like a display window into which those outside will look and see the fulfillment of all God's positive promises, and they will say, "Truly Jehovah is with them."

I cancel every curse; I cancel every accusation of the devil; I cancel every twisted mind; I cancel every spirit of doubt and timidity, in the name of Jesus, now.

My brother, my sister, receive new strength from the Lord. Receive a renewed mind.

I ask you to pay very close attention and act with me right now. Cooperate with me and say, "This is for me; I receive it." "This is for me, and I activate it within me. This is for me, and I receive that impregnation of the Spirit of God in my life."

And I say: Today, rivers of living water flow from within me. Hallelujah.

My eyes become focused; my eyes become clear. My spiritual vision becomes clear, and I can see more clearly what God promises for my life, and I can feel it more clearly. Brothers and sisters, I declare prosperity and blessing. Those wells open up in the name of Jesus. Those dry wells open up; new waters begin to flow. Fresh waters flow from the depths and fill those dry wells.

In the name of Jesus. Thank You, Lord; thank You, Lord. We receive fresh water from You, Lord.

Sermon by Dr. Roberto Miranda recorded July 12, 2009, at Congregación León de Judá

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