The Healing Word

Pastor Jack Morris: God's going to say something to you today. You affirmed that this was his word. You said so. And his word does not return void or empty. So let the Holy Spirit have his way and watch what happens.

Guest (Male): Welcome to the Healing Word, a ministry dedicated to offering strength and encouragement through God's word for anyone facing life's challenges. Today's message is here to meet you at your point of need, bringing hope and renewing your faith. Here's Pastor Jack Morris.

Pastor Jack Morris: The scripture says, I tell you the truth, if, that's a big if, if you have faith as a small mustard seed, you can say, that's you, you can say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible to you. Nothing.

Did you get that? Did I get that? I hope so. Now on the screen, we're going to read the scriptures together. This is our scripture reading this morning. Together in unison. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. The next scripture. Whose weakness was turned to strength. The next scripture. The spirit helps us in our weakness.

Now God is speaking to us even now. There is a ministry of the Holy Spirit that is beginning to take place and God is coming. Coming on the wings of his word. Right now, this moment, you read the scripture. That means that wisdom and power are flowing toward you. It's already started. You read the word. Wisdom and power are flowing to you. Wisdom to know and to handle life's struggles and power to resolve those struggles and help you to win.

That power is already activated. When you read the word of God, the power of heaven is activated. It has already been activated in the singing, in the praying, and especially through the word of God that we have just heard.

Now I want to tell you a little story that happened some time ago. You remember Reverend Merv Martin, who was the pastor of Hinson Valley Christian Church? And often he would come up and preach here after he resigned the pastorate there. Well, he was sick and in the hospital. Now he's in heaven now, but this was not the sickness that brought about his death. But I went to the hospital to visit him and have prayer with him.

While I was there, Reverend Martin was in the bed and in comes a nurse to treat him. Reverend Martin speaks up and he had that strong, melodious voice and he speaks to the nurse and he said, "This is Dr. Jack Morris." Well, the nurse was very submissive and she smiled politely and I said, "No, ma'am, I'm not that kind of doctor. I'm a doctor of ministry. I'm not a doctor of medicine."

Well, even though I'm not a doctor of medicine, I'm going to prescribe a prescription for you today that's going to bring blessing and healing and victory over your struggles. Now God has already prescribed it and I'm just going to pass it on. And here it comes. The first thing, we must believe in the word of God. Would you say believe in the word of God? Believe the word of God.

Jesus said, it is written. Now notice, three words. Jesus was tempted of the devil. It was a struggle to the finish, but Jesus cut him down with the sword of the spirit time after time after time in Matthew chapter four. Every time Jesus would say, it is written. It is written. Come on, say that. It is written.

Now, Jesus didn't use his supernatural power, did he? He didn't use logic, didn't use wisdom. Now he used supernatural power when he began to minister to us. He opened the eyes of the blind, he unstopped deaf ears, he even raised the dead. That's supernatural power.

But when it came to defeating the enemy, he chose his weapon wisely. His weapon was, it is written. He took the sword of God in his hand. He started quoting from Deuteronomy chapter six and chapter eight. Everything he said to the devil came out of Deuteronomy six and eight. Everything he said came out of the word of God that his father had already spoken.

Now, the devil's going to tempt us. Lead us not into temptation. We just prayed that. He comes with various temptations. And you and I have the same weapon that Jesus used. We don't have the supernatural power to defeat the enemy. We don't need the supernatural power. We need, it is written. And you and I must know what is written when we go into that place with Jesus and with the enemy. It is written.

Now friend, choose your weapon. David did when he went out against Goliath. Saul put his armor on him. I won't go into much of the story, but it's sort of amusing. That boy about 16 or 17 years old, he got all that big helmet and all that breastplate and I could just see him trying to clinkity clinkity clinkity trying to walk with that on. He said, "I can't fight this way. Get all this human warfare implements off of me."

And by the Holy Spirit, he chose five little stones. And here comes that monster of a giant out defying the people of Israel. That monster was covered, his legs, his feet, his shins, everything with metal so that nothing could reach him. But there was one little space about here that was left open. You know the Holy Spirit has a target to hit the devil where he needs hitting. And when you speak the word of God, you bring down that monster that wants to hurt you and destroy you.

And David said, "I come against you in the name of the Lord God of Israel. I come against you." And he wound up and he let that stone go and it hit him right in that spot. Jesus knows where to hit the devil if you have the word of God in your slingshot. He went after him.

Now it was Friday. I was talking to one of our members on the phone, Helen Watson. You know Helen Watson. She's been here for many years, a dear saint of God. And she called just to talk to me just a little. It's been at least two years since she's been here, but this past year, she has had several surgeries, several operations. And I didn't question her, but she went on with her testimony. And the more she talked, the more I was blessed.

She said, "Pastor, I went to Jeremiah chapter 30 verse 17, which says, I will restore to you health and heal your wounds." I will restore to you your health and heal your wounds. She took the sword of the spirit. Friend, if you don't have anything to say, if you don't have that promise in your heart and in your mind, I can tell you right now, nothing is going to happen.

But here it is. Here it is. We have it here. We have it in every pew. You have it in every cell phone. Friend, we have the sword of the spirit. We have exactly what Jesus had. And with that sword of the spirit, we can bring down the devil just like Jesus did, not with supernatural power, but with the word of God.

Now she found this scripture. This might be yours, but you find your favorite scripture. Take that scripture. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Wow. What a statement. I can do it. I can win. I can be victorious through him, the living word who gave us the written word. So take the written word and fight your battle. Bring down that giant. He's not big enough for Jesus.

What is it that is troubling you right now today? What's going to happen ahead of time? Read, find that scripture and believe. When Jesus went to Lazarus' tomb, Martha turned to Jesus. I mean, she was just nonplussed by what Jesus said. What did he say? Roll the stone away. You do what you can do. You can go to church, you can go to Bible studies, you can read the word of God. Do what you can do and watch him do the rest. But you've got to do what you can do.

Jesus said to that man that had the withered hand, he said, "Put it out." But every miracle he performed, look at it. Read it. He asked the person to do something first, then he did his something. It might be the simplest thing, just put your hand in, bring it out. The leprosy was gone. Friend, God talks and he speaks and he's talking to you. And he's not going to ask you to do the impossible. If he does, he'll do it through you. But he will bless you and help you.

So Jesus said, "Roll that stone away." Oh boy, he's getting ready to do something. And Martha turns to him and says, "Master, Lazarus been dead for four days. There's an odor there now. His body is decaying." And now Jesus turns to her and this is what he says to her, to Martha. "If," he uses that little two-letter word a lot, doesn't he? "If you believe." And the only way you're going to believe is if you know the word of God to believe it.

I'm excited about Jesus and what he's going to do for you. Oh, I'm so glad when he answers your prayers. I really am. And I know he's answering prayer. He said, "If you believe you would see the glory of God." If see. If you believe, you will see. But you're not going to see until you believe. And you're not going to believe until you have a scripture to stand upon. So the first thing to do is to know the word of God and to believe it.

Now the second thing is to believe in yourself. How about that? Yeah. Believe in yourself. Now why? Why am I going there? God said in Genesis chapter one, "Let us create humankind in our image and in our likeness." You've got to believe in what God created. You're not an accident of nature. No, you are the creation of God. And God is the creator of heaven and earth.

Think about it. Come on, I want you to think about it that you are the offspring of the Almighty. You are kin to God. You're his kin. Look at your natural family. You're a whole lot like your natural family because you sprung from that family, because you're kin. Think of who you sprang from. Think of who told you to call him father.

Hey, you are part of a great family because you are a great person created in the likeness and image of God. So that means that within you there are creative resources. Friend, listen, you're stronger than you think you are when you think the word of God. I can do all things through God who strengthens me. Here it is within you.

Now Dr. Leo came up here and gave a testimony. Remember about the penny in the shoe? Fran told her to put a penny in her shoe, turn it up where it says, "In God We Trust." Leo talked to Bob Hill and we remember him with love and with thanksgiving. He's in heaven now. Leo and Clement back here in one of the offices, the counseling room, came in. They were so discouraged, particularly Leo was at that time. And she had an MD degree, but she needed her license to practice medicine in this country.

And she tried. I mean, she speaks French, she has a native dialect. She said, "I had to sit there with a dictionary and these words that I couldn't understand. I'd have to look it up in the dictionary." She said, "It was the longest, difficult route to get to where I needed to go. And I just got tired basically and I gave up." And she said, "I already had decided on another career and I had taken my first course and completed it in that other career. And I had all the books to study and to do what I needed to do. I know I needed another career. And I at that time didn't feel that I could make it as a doctor. Couldn't get my license."

And she said when she told Bob Hill that, Bob said, "No! God called you to be a doctor. Friend, listen to me, please. Don't build a case against yourself. Don't do that. You can destroy what God has created within you." I said it a moment ago, did you get it? Within you there are creative resources. But we just, "I can't do it," and we give up when things get tough. Anybody can quit.

And when she said Bob Hill said no, you go back and study again. God called you to be a doctor. This is God's calling on your life. And she said, "I started studying," and she said, "I studied hard." Oh, I don't know how long she studied. And she went in, took the examination, got her license, and now working for Kaiser. Friend, in God we trust. Put that penny in your mind, not the penny but the words, the word of God. Don't build a case against yourself.

God has you, listen, God has you in partnership with your father. You have creative resources. Where are you falling down? Where are you failing? Where are you discouraged? Where are you depressed? Where are you stressed? Come on, you have creative resources. You are a child of God. God's your father. With God, all things are possible. With... "para". That's the Greek pronunciation of with. That meaning... that means near or in the near vicinity.

Listen, when you are near God and God is near you, I thought about that. I thought, "Boy, you know, if I were a boxer and I walked into the ring, I would like the young Mike Tyson to walk in there with me." I know then I'm going to win. But listen, if you're walking with God and God is walking with you, you're going to be a winner. You're not a defeated Christian. You are a victorious child of God. Listen, you take after your dad, your heavenly father. You have those resources. They're within you.

So believe in the word of God, believe in yourself, and believe in Jesus. He's the key that will unlock that door. You have faith. The scripture says God has dealt to every person the measure of faith. Now what you're to do with that meaning, you are to build on that. It's like an earnest gift or a token. This is an earnest deposit on that loan or on that mortgage. God has given every person so much. Now build it up. It's up to you to build it up. And you have all the resources.

But if you neglect the resources and you can and many Christians are... some have neglected to the place where they realize that they're not making it. Thank God that's a wonderful realization. But with Jesus, with... all things are possible. All things. You see God got you started. Now go forward with that. Scripture says in Hebrews 12, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. It means author to every person he's given the measure of faith. He got you started on the faith way by putting faith in your heart.

Now you have to have faith or you wouldn't even be a Christian. For by grace are you saved through faith. Through faith. So that got you into the kingdom of God. That's that measure of faith that he gave you. He gave enough faith, he gave everybody enough faith to get into the kingdom of God. Now that you're in, build that faith. Build it up strong and say to that mountain of struggle and whatever it is that's tearing you down. You go out in Jesus' name and you tear it down and get it out of your mind and out of your heart. You can be victorious in him. You're his child. He cares for you.

Read. Now here's what I want you to do. Find a scripture, at least one, and memorize one a week. At least one a month. Go ahead and stand on that scripture and quote it. And when you quote it, quote it out loud. Don't... don't even mumble it unless there are people around and you don't want to be obnoxious or appear ridiculous. But quote it out loud.

See, God puts the scripture in your mind. Now it comes out of your mouth. The sound comes into your ear, back into your mind, out of your mouth, into your ear. Just let that scripture wash you and wash you and wash you. But you keep quoting and quoting and quoting just like Helen Martin did and watch what God begins to do for you.

Guest (Male): We'd like to invite you to join Pastor Jack Morris in the Healing Word family in both prayer and support of this ministry. Your prayer strengthens us and your gifts, large or small, help us extend the reach of God's word to more people who need his hope. Every gift is deeply appreciated.

To stand with us today, simply visit thehealingword.com and click on the donate tab. Together we can share the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. Join us tomorrow for another Healing Word message. Until then, blessings on you.