But there have been some books I read and those who are well meaning who said: “We only have authority over those things we are specifically given authority over, it’s not just a blanket authority!”
I had been looking in the Word of God to see where Jesus ever said He lacked authority to heal someone, where He said He lacked the authority to do a miracle or stop a storm. Instead we see Him even “cursing” a fig tree and it dried up from the roots. So did Father God tell Jesus to curse the tree, thus giving Him specific authority? I think not. Same as with Elijah when the captain and his 50 men showed up on three occasions and he called fire down on them and burned them up. On the third time an angel was sent to tell Elijah not to fear them and go with them. So if God had to give specific authority to the prophet or nothing would happen, the angel would not have needed to be sent, to stop him from burning them up too. Authority means just that; pre-permission to do what had already been spoken for you to do. Jesus said heal the sick, cast out devils, raise the dead, etc.
Anyway, in the dream I had, I was sitting in an empty room on a chair and was praying and asking Jesus about this teaching. In the room there were couches and other chairs around a table. I had my head slightly down and facing straight ahead, as I was praying and asking for clarity, Jesus walked in the room off to my side. I felt His presence; I heard His voice and the atmosphere shifted. He physically walked in, not some spiritualized visitation. He said: “I hereby give you specific authority to heal all the sick, infirm and hurting. That clears that up! I want all of them healed, but you will never be able to reach all of them, so whoever YOU choose to minister to, I not only want them healed, I expect them to be healed. I will be there and watching what you do and how determined you are to see them made well. Once you decide to minister to this one or that one, you have a responsibility to their healing, unless they choose to walk away from it.” (What came to my mind in the dream was similar to what John G. Lake had his Divine Healing Technicians do for graduation from his training. He gave them a name of someone in the community – typically terminal or incurable and told them to go and heal them and come back. If you don’t heal them, don’t come back.) Jesus then said, “You now have specific authority right from me and you never have to wonder or question that again. But with it comes responsibility as well. If you give up, if you try and fail I want you to come back here and we’ll talk. I want all of them healed, remember that.” Then the dream ended.
Ken goes on to say that rather than trying to find certain people to heal, he was left with a sense of the extreme love that Jesus has for all people and His desire to see all of them healed.
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Identity
W HEN J ESUS WALKED THE STREETS of Galilee, His acts of healing created division among those who watched Him. Some rejoiced at the miracles they witnessed, while others criticized Him. The same attitudes exist today. Healing, deliverance and miracles are ways in which the kingdom of God is made manifest through us. When we bring the kingdom of God to earth, we invite criticism, because wherever the kingdom goes, it destroys belief systems that are opposed it.
The greatest criticism of healing during the first century came from religious leaders. They had followers who admired their shallow spirituality. The miracles of Jesus drew people away from them and turned their hearts back to God. The kingdoms these men had built were beginning to crumble. Their response was to criticize the new thing God was doing. Little has changed today. Most of the criticism of healing today comes from religious leaders who are building their own kingdoms.
When you begin to heal the sick, and you do it in a setting where healing is not widely accepted, don’t be surprised if church leaders oppose you.
Robert J. Sawyer, Stefan Bolz, Ann Christy, Samuel Peralta, Rysa Walker, Lucas Bale, Anthony Vicino, Ernie Lindsey, Carol Davis, Tracy Banghart, Michael Holden, Daniel Arthur Smith, Ernie Luis, Erik Wecks