Real Healing for Kids: Knowing Jesus as Your Healer
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the
Holy Bible, New International Version
. NIV. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the
King James Version
of the Bible.
Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are taken from the
New King James Version
. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Illustrations by Stephen Gilpin
Real Healing for Kids:
Knowing Jesus as Your Healer
ISBN: 978-1-60683-916-4
Copyright © 2005 by Roderick D. Baker
P.O. Box 701286
Tulsa, OK 74170
Published by Harrison House, Inc.
P.O. Box 35035
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74153
Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. Contents and/or cover may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form without the express written consent of the Publisher.
Table of Contents
When It Seems Like Youre Not Getting Better-Dont Give Up
To Amber-my winner!
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my wife, Gloria, who is the glory of my life. Also, special thanks to Pastors Billy Joe and Sharon Daugherty, to Victory Christian Center, and to the Victory Kidz Ministry staff-thank you for your support and compassion for reaching boys and girls.
Getting Started
Nobody likes to be sick. Nobody likes that terrible, queasy feeling in his or her stomach, or his or her head pounding with a fever. Everybody hates coughing, sneezing, and runny noses. And worse yet, some people have more serious sicknesses and diseases like cancer or heart problems. In fact, sickness can make life hard because it keeps people from serving God, going to school, working, and having fun.
But know this: Its not Gods plan for you to be sick!
If you know and believe in your heart that God wants you to be well, you'll know what to do when sickness comes your way-you'll know how to receive healing that already belongs to you.
Use this book to learn about healing. Read it every now and then to make sure you've got the basics down. You can even use this book to help your friends learn more about how God wants to heal them, too.
God Wants Us Healed
It doesn't matter to God whether you have a big, serious disease that threatens your life or a plain old stomachache. No matter, God wants to heal you. He never says "no" to healing. He is never too busy to answer your prayer. And His answer to healing is always yes.
The best way to understand how much God wants to heal you is to look at His Word, the Bible. In Psalm 107:20 God says, "He sent forth His Word and healed them." He says in Exodus 15:26, "I am the Lord, who heals you." These Scriptures are just two of many promises God has given everyone of us for healing.
In the Bible, He told the children of Israel that if they would listen and obey Him, none of them would even be sick. In fact, when they left Egypt for the Promised Land there wasn't a sick person in the whole group of 3 million people.
You can count on the fact that if God makes a promise, it's a done deal. God the Father always keeps His promises. That's why we can read His Word and believe it. If He said it, it will happen. Period.
Sickness Comes From the Devil
Have you ever wondered where sickness came from?
Some people believe that because God created everything, He also created sickness. But that's not true. He did not.
Some people believe that God uses sickness to teach His children a lesson-like a parent spanking a child. Even more, there are people who believe that God chooses not to heal some sick people right away so the sick person can get stronger in his or her faith and bring God more glory. What a silly thought!
God did not create sickness. He does not use sickness to teach us a lesson or to bring Him glory. Sickness is from the devil.
The Bible makes this all very clear in John 10:10 by telling us what the devil's job is, and what Jesus' job is. It says, "The thief (the devil) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." The difference is like night and day. The devil harms us; Jesus blesses us.
The devil's job is to "steal." He tries to steal your fun, your joy, and your health. If the devil can, he will try to take your life altogether. His job is to destroy the work of God on this earth. But don't be afraid; even the weakest Christian has power over the devil. The Bible says that greater is He (God) that is in you than he (the devil) that is in the world. (1 John 4:4 KJV.)
The good news is that you don't have to take sickness from the devil. James 4:7 says, "Submit yourself, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." When you start to feel sickness in your body, refuse to accept the sickness with the Word of God. If you do this, each time the devil tries to put sickness or disease on you, it will not stick. That way you can stay healthy.
Jesus Paid the Price
Long ago, Jesus left heaven, came to earth, and paid for your healing with His own body so you could be well every day of your life.
How did He pay the price for healing? Just before Jesus was crucified on the cross, Roman soldiers beat Jesus terribly with whips and sticks. With great force soldiers hit His back, each time tearing the skin and leaving a mark called a stripe. Each of those stripes paid for your healing.
The Bible says in Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV) that "By His stripes we are healed." If God did not want us to be healed, Jesus would never have suffered for us that way. He paid too great a price not to heal us when we ask.
The Bible tells us that everywhere Jesus went He did three things. He preached, He taught the people, and He healed the sick. And everywhere He went, the lame walked, the deaf heard, the blind saw, and the dead were raised to life.
What worked in Bible days will work for you today because Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever." If Jesus healed people in the past, He will do it today, and He will still be healing people tomorrow.
There is not one record in the Bible that Jesus ever gave someone sickness. There isn't one place where Jesus ever refused to heal someone who believed for healing.
