The Healing King: Examining What We Really Believe About Jesus and Divine Healing

By D.A. Runyon

If you have found little support for developing your faith in divine healing, The Healing King was written for you. Through scripture, The Healing King will help you examine what you really believe about Jesus and ignite your faith for healing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jun 14, 2019
• ISBN: 9781543969863

Book preview

Copyright 2015-2018 by D.A. Runyon

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of certain noncommercial uses permitted

by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author at

[e-mail].

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 978-1-54396-985-6 (print)

ISBN: 978-1-54396-986-3 (ebook)

For God

and All of God’s Children

Table of Contents

PART ONE

Meet the King

PART TWO

Welcome to the Kingdom!

PART THREE

The Healing King

PART FOUR

Lost in the Kingdom

PART FIVE

Views from the Throne

PART SIX

Not Your King?

PART SEVEN

Living in the Kingdom

PART ONE

Meet the King

Until I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

— 1 Timothy 4:13

God, please help me as I examine what I believe about you, and your Son. I want to know the truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I never wanted to be an author, and I definitely never imagined that I’d be talking to people about divine healing. Both of these things literally happened by accident. A loved one was injured, and medical professionals had done all they could to help. The suffering broke my heart and caused me to begin a search for answers and solutions. That long and winding road led me straight to God and to a journey that changed me and my life forever. I wrote this book so that your life could be changed too. I’m going to show you what the Bible says about healing, and I’m going to help you believe it. I want you to meet The Healing King.

I am not a theologian. I’m just an ordinary person with an ordinary job. I do know a lot about the Bible – enough to know I still have much to learn. I’m not a preacher. I just want to show you some scriptures and ideas that you may not have considered. I’m not an evangelist. If because of reading this book someone put their faith in Jesus, that would be wonderful, but I’m writing to those who already believe. My calling is as an exhorter. Most people don’t understand what that means.

Exhort means to urge, advise, or caution earnestly; admonish urgently or to give urgent advice, recommendations, or warnings.

So as you read this, please keep in mind that my purpose in writing is to exhort. We are all at different places in what we believe and the trials we face, and that’s part of the mysterious journey that is a walk with Christ. I hope that this book will plant seeds of faith that will sprout, grow, and mature. My exhortation is that we set the bar on the matters of life where it properly belongs, which is on God’s word and promises, as opposed to on the level of past or current experiences.

The primary goal of this book is to stir up faith in the body of Christ. I am motivated by love for God’s people, and the church is full of the sick and dying. As it says in Hosea 4:6, we perish for lack of knowledge. It’s knowledge of Jesus that brings faith for healing. In today’s fast-paced world, most people have little more than a few moments each day to read the Bible to gain knowledge. Many people trust their pastor alone to teach them what they need to know, but in general, teaching on divine healing within the church today is sadly lacking in revelation, faith, and frequency. Through omission and watered-down sermons the church is, by default, perpetuating the enemy’s doctrine of sickness, disease, and death.

Doctrine means a particular principle, position, or policy taught or advocated, as of a religion or government; something that is taught; teachings collectively; or a body or system of teachings relating to a particular subject.

Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. — 1 Timothy 4:16

My secondary goal is simply to present ideas that I hope will ignite and foster much needed and long overdue discourse on the subject of divine healing within the body of Christ. In my search for answers, I found that most people were unwilling to even discuss divine healing, and those who did lacked knowledge of what the Bible says about healing. That’s not surprising considering that very little is taught on the subject in most churches. Most unfortunately, I have even heard preaching from the pulpit that contradicts God’s word on the subject. If you have felt discouraged because you find little support for developing your faith in healing, take heart because this book is for you.

I have found that many of God’s children do not even know the basics of God’s promises or possess true understanding of the power of those promises. Although scripture clearly articulates that Christ’s atonement purchased our healing just as it did our salvation, believers are still not confident of God’s will in the matter. That’s alarming to me, and I refuse to accept it. You may take offense at my stance, mock it, or dismiss me, but I will never throw away my confidence in Jesus. My hope is that I can encourage you to have confidence in Jesus too.

Before I started writing about healing, I talked about healing a lot. I was searching for answers to questions that I could not resolve. I know very little about healing, but I have read enough of the Bible to know that because of Jesus, God’s will was for healing. Yet, that the majority of believers were not being healed was painfully obvious. Worse, divine healing wasn’t really even on people’s radar. As I pondered why this might be, day after day, year after year, one scripture kept ringing in my mind:

So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. — Luke 11:9-10

I decided to keep seeking until I found the answer. I have learned much, but I still don’t know all the answers. I actually think I might have even more questions now than I did when I began studying divine healing. One of those questions is Why is healing not the hottest topic in our churches these days?

People, in general, seem very uncomfortable talking about divine healing. I believe this is because everyone has been, or knows someone who has been, afflicted with some type of ailment at some point. The effects of disease can be profound and painful for the victim and the victim’s loved ones. The cost of illness is physically, emotionally, spiritually, and financially high. Illness is a subject that hits everyone close to home, and one that is fraught with fear and anxiety. Media coverage of the suffering, pharmaceutical advertisements, and seeing our friends woes play out on social media fuel our unbelief. Where can God’s healing be found? In the church? The evidence of divine healing is hard to find. Believing in something is difficult when reality tells you otherwise, but that is the very nature of faith.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it’s the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it’s written, ‘but the righteous man shall live by faith.’ — Romans 1:16-17

In addition to talking about healing, I spent countless hours reading the Bible and listening to teachings by many great people of faith. I am grateful for the internet, where study aids and good teachings are freely available. Search engines are an excellent tool for locating scriptures on any subject. Just type in a word, phrase, or concept from the Bible and links to scriptures and study aids will appear. Websites with a treasure trove of audio and visual teaching, preaching, and learning are available. No time to read? Listen to one of the online audio Bibles while you drive, do work around the house, or drift off to sleep. We are very blessed to have so many resources at our fingertips. I encourage you to take a break from mindless entertainment and spend a little time exploring the details of the fascinating and thrilling life that is your inheritance as a child of God.

As I stated earlier, I am not a theologian. I’m just presenting a layman’s ideas about divine healing and the scriptures that form the foundation of my beliefs for your consideration. The rest is between you and God. Are you willing to open your mind and heart to the possibilities? Are you willing to examine what you truly believe about Jesus? I hope you will take time to think about it, pray about it, and talk about it. What do you have to lose? You might even find that you gain something in the process.

As you go through this book, it will become clear that I think it’s important that we have a vision of God as a good, loving, and benevolent Father. Before you delve into the specifics about healing, I hope you’ll take a little time to make sure your thinking is right about God. In today’s culture a lot of people have emotional wounds from human experiences that contribute to a warped view of God’s loving, parental nature. Family dynamics, religious training, and the rigors of daily living are just some of the factors that play a role in the formation of negative thoughts and feelings that influence a person’s view of God. Issues of abandonment, anger, disappointment, and resentment are easily transferred to a person’s relationship with God. Growing up, I had an image of God as being distant and angry with me, just waiting for me to mess up so that I could be sent to hell. All human relationships have faults, and those experiences can contribute to negative programming about love that does not reflect the truth about God.

Fortunately, the experience of being a parent has helped me gain a better understanding of my Heavenly Father. Love, protection, provision, discipline, instruction, and blessing are all things I tried my best to provide my children. God can be trusted to provide his children with all those things perfectly. If picturing yourself enjoying a relationship with God that fulfills your dreams of a supremely loving parent is difficult, take time to ask yourself why. Perhaps you have some wounds to heal. Take them to the one who has compassion for you and make the choice to release forgiveness for yourself and for others.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. — Psalm 147:3

Each section of this book will begin with a foundational scripture and prayer. Review them often as you read through the section. Each scripture was selected to reflect the overall point or purpose of the corresponding section. Really take time to think about what each scripture says, studying each word, until the meaning gets into your heart. Meditate on the scripture as you read and think about the ideas presented. The prayer is short, and its purpose is to give you the opportunity to take a breath, relax, and focus. Please allow yourself the time necessary to really open your mind and heart completely to God. By admitting the possibility we may be deceived, we can turn to God, who is all-knowing, and receive truth and wisdom. The recurring theme of the prayers is based on the following scripture:

"These things Jesus spoke, and he went away and hid himself from them. But though he had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in him. This was to fulfill the