He Bore Our Sicknesses
Jesus not only took away our sins, He also bore our sickness, including Jonathan’s asthma, allergy and cough. Soon after Jonathan started to meditate upon Jesus, his symptoms mitigated. Finally, he fell asleep peacefully…
Testimony: He Bore Our Sicknesses
…that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.” (Matthew 8:17)
Charlene’s family left California for a vacation to Vancouver, Canada, from June 16th to the 27th. One evening after visiting Central Park in Vancouver, her 9 year-old son, Jonathan, began to suffer allergic reactions, which led to an asthma attack. Jonathan coughed continuously and had trouble breathing. He had asthma since he was three and has since been taking medications for it. That night, he took his asthma medicine but it did not help much. Charlene invited her husband to pray for their son together. After not seeing any immediate improvement, her husband took their daughter out of the room to let Jonathan rest. Charlene had Jonathan drink some hot water to ease the symptoms temporarily.
As she continued to pray for Jonathan by his side, she felt a prompting to claim the promise of Isaiah 53:5 upon Jonathan. She began to declare, “By His stripes we are healed!” She also told Jonathan to meditate on what Jesus had done for him: Jesus not only took away our sins, He also bore our sickness, including Jonathan’s asthma, allergy and cough. Soon after Jonathan started to meditate upon Jesus, his symptoms mitigated. Finally, he fell asleep peacefully. Previously with these kinds of asthma attacks, Jonathan usually ended up in the hospital’s emergency care. Praise the Lord for His miraculous healing!
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
That evening, Charlene applied what she had learned from The Promised Land’s DVD Discipleship Program, which she had just gone through recently. From the “Pursue Godliness” teaching series, she learned that there are two Greek words used to describe God’s Word in the New Testament: logos and rhema. Logos stands for the written words, and rhema represents the speaking or spoken words. God not only spoke to the people in the New Testament time, but He also speaks to us today through various forms: insights, revelations, enlightenments, or having a few verses jump out while reading the Bible… etc. When Charlene received a prompt to claim Isaiah 53:5, she knew that the logos had become her personal rhema.
She also learned from the “Pursue Godliness” teaching series that “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). The “word of God” in this verse was rhema. When rhema comes, faith arises. But she also learned that “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17), and that “by works, faith was made perfect” (James 2:22). That’s why Charlene quickly put her faith into action by declaring God’s promise and having Jonathan meditate on it. Her faith was made perfect by the accompanying works and brought healing to Jonathan. Glory to God for His faithfulness!
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)
After Jonathan fell asleep, another similar testimony entered Charlene’s mind. Over the period of two years when Jonathan was 7 and 8 years old, he was afraid to go to sleep by himself. At the beginning of this year, Charlene learned at a church retreat about the power of God’s Words. After the retreat, she asked Jonathan to recite and meditate on Timothy 1:7 daily. One week later, he had no problems sleeping by himself with the lights off and bedroom door shut. “For with God nothing is impossible” (Luke 1:37). Hallelujah!
“Dear Heavenly Father, please help each of Your children to understand that Your Words are mighty to perform great deeds. Please lead us into the passion and discipline of studying Your Words and putting them into practice so that we can receive your blessings to be blessings for the nations just as You have intended for us. May all glory, honor and praise be to the Lord in the highest. Amen!”
Charlene Hu, Northern California, USA – July of 2015