God’s Prescription Exodus 15:26, NIV He said: "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you." Introduction Today I would like to share the grace of God under the title “God’s Prescription.” In our society there are many people who suffer sickness and disease of both their body and soul. Outwardly they seem successful and rich and look good and healthy; but they deeply suffer inside. Some people suffer from cancer or terminal illness; while others are dying of despair. Exodus chapter 15 tells us about a prescription from God which heals our diseases. We ought to embrace God’s prescription to control our heart and have a healthy life. We can find in God’s word principles to live a healthy life. 1. Listen carefully to the voice of the Lord, your God. First, the Bible admonishes us to listen carefully to the voice of God in order to live a healthy life. What our God likes most is obedience. “To obey is better than sacrifice.” If we are disobedient, our sacrifice of the fat of rams, sheep, and cows will be of no value because God will not delight in them. God delights most in an obedient heart. Many people do not heed to the voice of God even if they call themselves Christians. God wants a sincere heart. When we believe in God and obey Him we can have such a heart. The Bible teaches us that disobedience is like bowing to an idol. Samuel told Saul God’s will after he became king of Israel. One time the Amalekites waylaid Israel as they were coming from Egypt. The Israelites were strong enough so God gave the order to “destroy totally everything that belongs to them. God said to the Israelites: “Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” So Saul summoned his armies and attacked the Amalekites. He captured the Amalekite king, and took him alive. The Israelites destroyed all the other Amalekites with their swords. Saul returned from the battlefield in high spirits. But he spared Agag and the best of their sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs ? everything that was good. Samuel came to the Israelite camp and heard the bleating sound of sheep and cattle from afar. As he approached Saul he found that Agag, the Amalekite king, was captured alive. Saul excused his actions by saying: “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God; so I heard them.” Samuel got upset. “Does the Lord delight in sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Even though you offer great things to God, if you do not obey the will of God, He will not be happy with you.” 1 Samuel 15:22-23 says: “But Samuel replied: ‘Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.’ ” Saul suffered heavily from the hand of God for his disobedience. We should also be very interested in obeying the word of God in our life of faith. It is better to obey God’s will in small things than to perform great things without listening to the voice of God. God is extremely glad when we obey Him. It was the disobedience of Adam and Eve that resulted in all human suffering. Nothing other than disobedience brought the first sin. They did not obey the command of God. Genesis 2:17 says: “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Satan always manipulates the word of God. He strongly denies what God said. “Did he say, ‘You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die’? Do you think that did God really mean it? No! You will not surely die. When you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.” Genesis 3:6 says: “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” Eve did not eat alone but gave some to her husband. The wrong influence from one’s spouse can ruin a life. Adam could have resisted but he did not refuse it. He took it even though he heard God say that if he ate from it he would die. That was why sin and death entered into the life of humankind. But let us look at our Savior Jesus! Our ancestor, the first Adam was disobedient but the second Adam, Jesus obeyed God. Yes, abundant life is about obedience. Jesus also was tested before God. “Will you disobey me like the first Adam did?” Even Jesus had to endure ceaseless temptations and trials but he passed them all. Philippians 2:8 says: “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!” He obeyed until he died as God wanted him to. Crucifixion was not an easy way. It was a most painful punishment. Jesus asked God to spare him the crucifixion if at all possible. But he prayed: “Yet not my will, but yours be done.” Jesus was willing to follow the will of our heavenly Father. What God wanted him to do was to die on the cross and Jesus obeyed. Hebrews 5:8-9 says: “Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” He is the Son of God yet He obeyed His Father and because of his obedience was granted His Savior ship. Romans 5:19 says: “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” Healthy people would never know how painful it is to be sick. No matter how much a person has wealth and honor, fame and reputation; if he is not healthy nothing has any value to him. Health is one of the most absolute requirements of a happy life. Our Lord wants all of us to be healthy. He wants our well-being both in our body and soul. He wants everything to go well with us. He gives us healing and lets us overcome every obstacle. When we listen attentively and always do what the Lord says; and repent and follow after Him, He will grant us the power of healing. It may not happen right away but God opens the door towards the way to overcome our affliction. In order to live a healthy life we should obey the word of the LORD at all times. We should not only obey the written word of God, the Bible; but also the soft voice of the Holy Spirit. Let us always keep in mind: “To obey is better than sacrifice.” I urge you to make up your mind to live a life of obedience to God. 2. Do what is right in His eyes Second, “Do what is right in His eyes.” Being right is to do a good deed. It is special since we are to do right in the eyes of God. How can we do right in the eyes of God when it is hard to do right even before men? A life of righteousness and goodness is a condition to healthy living. Psalm 11:7 says: “For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face.” Because our God is a God of righteousness He loves righteousness and justice. He wants us to stay upright. 2 Corinthians 9:8 says: “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” God wants us to abound in every good work. It would please God to see a Christian’s good deeds publicly commended through our newspapers and television. When we live a life of righteousness doing good works, we please God. But if we do evil and lead a reckless life; God will not answer us even if we pray for a healthy life. Isaiah 1:17 says: “learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” We are to do these good works. Romans 15:2 says: “Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” (James 2:26) If we believe in the Lord we should strive to look after orphans, the disabled and the needy because we know this will greatly please God. Psalm 5:12 says: “For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.” God blesses the righteous. He surrounds them with His favor like a shield. When we live a righteous life we should believe that God will bless us. We should proclaim this. We should ask to do righteous works. “You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:2-3) Psalm 92:12 says: “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;” Psalm 112:5-6 says: “Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever.” Therefore we should be remembered by sharing the grace that we have received, by helping people, and doing righteous works. People will continually recall from their hearts our good works. In order to receive God’s healing we should listen carefully to His voice and do what is good and righteous in His eyes. 3. Pay attention to His commands. Thirdly, we should pay attention to the commands of God. What did God command? The Ten Commandments come to mind when we talk about the commandment of God, wouldn’t you agree? God called to Moses from Mount Sinai. God wrote His law and commands as instructions to the Israelites on a tablet of stone. Exodus 20:1-2 says: “And God spoke all these words: ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.’ ” American Christian Charismatic speaker and bestseller, Joyce Meyer, addressed the issue of prayers not being answered in her book “The Power of Simple Prayer.” She claimed that the first reason why our prayer is not answered is because we are greedy when we pray. Avaricious and greedy prayers cannot be heard. God waits for us until we shake off our greed and avarice. God is looking for a sincere and pure heart. He is ready to fulfill your wishes when you pray with a clean heart. Often I look back over my past 50 year ministry. I have asked myself whether there are prayers God has not yet answered. And I find that my faithful God has answered all my prayers. I had sometimes thought that God was not going to answer some prayers; but many years later God would indeed answer. This was better. There is God’s timing. I came to realize that God has made everything beautiful in its time. Today God keeps talking to us. “Listen to my commands.” In order to live a long and fulfilled life, we need to forsake our greed; have a changed heart which looks to only God and listen to His commands. We should be ready to live according to His will. 4. Keep all His decrees Fourth, God promised us not to bring on us any of the diseases if we keep all His decrees. “Keep all his decrees. I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you." The Hebrew word for “decree” is “hooq” which means “portion, work (imposed), task, rule, prescription etc.” Deuteronomy 26:16-17 says: “The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have declared this day that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him.” The Bible encourages us to keep God’s decrees and laws. I regarded them as annoying demands. I had thought that keeping the 10 Commandments was more than sufficient. Why are there so many decrees? What are all those different kind of laws? What are all those commands? Why are there so many ‘must do’s? I would get quickly tired when I began to read Leviticus. I wanted to finish reading this book as quickly as possible. “When can I finish it?” Lots of things were required to prepare an offering. A priest had to skin a poor animal and cut it into pieces. When someone brought a grain offering, the priest had to mix a handful of fine flour and oil with some incense. Why is it so complicated? Everything appeared complex when I was unaware of deeper meanings. Clarity to complexity came when I came to know the meaning of the various decrees and laws. Without knowing the meaning to the various processes in the Levitical laws and decrees; I used to think, “Why is God so complicated?” “Why does God nag so much?” If you do not know about the various implications and types, you would think like I thought. But if we get to know the hidden meanings in the processes of God’s decrees and laws; we would know how much God desires to grant His people His grace and blessing. Nowadays decrees and laws include baptism, the Holy Communion, Sunday worship service, and the tithe. Christians should surely receive baptism. In the early church everyone who believed in Jesus was baptized. In the name of our triune God a new believer of the early church participated in this holy ceremony as an outward expression that his old man died with Christ and he rose as a new man in Christ. Today very often believers cannot enjoy the wonderful grace of God because they do not proclaim their new birth with their lips. We should proclaim God’s grace. God works through our thinking, dreams, faith and the confession of our lips. A most important step is the confession of our lips. We express our thinking through speaking. We think and dream while we speak in faith. Our faith can be revealed by our speaking. Our words cannot be separated from our life. The Bible says: “Give; and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.” (Luke 6:38) We will be given more when we share what we have been given. In the end what we have will be taken away from us if we try to hold on to it and not share it. Let us think about our God. He came to this world and died on the cross in order to save us. He sacrificed His own life in order to bless us. Therefore Christians are not to live alone but to share love and happiness while keeping all God’s decrees and laws. When we do this we will be healthier and live a life of great blessing. You should never proclaim negative words. You should strive to proclaim positive words. Then negative things will depart and positive ones will happen to you. We are forever making decisions in our life. Of course we all face both positive and negative situations. But you can choose to not speak negative words from your mouth. You can make up your mind to not even mention them. Negative things will only survive when you nourish them with your mouth. Therefore try to continually speak good things. Admit only wonderful things will happen to you. Positive situations will then be nourished by the words of your mouth. We can therefore make decisions of what kind of life we want to live. Come into agreement with God. If you trust only your knowledge and judgment you will limit your God to doing only small things. You will seldom ask Him for things. But if your faith is not contained you can believe in a big God who performs miracles according to His word. This means you rely on the power of God. This is very simple but profound. Man often limits God to the knowledge of human beings. However we can do great things in God if we think, speak, and do as He does. God created heaven and earth. Let us remember this! God created human beings in His own image. Therefore have a new perspective. Move beyond the comfort zone of your own thinking and march forward looking at God who performs great miracles. Our God is not a small God but a big God. In the eyes of God we are already changed into a new being who greatly pleases Him. We should therefore completely obey His word, do right, listen to His voice and keep all His commands. When we do all these spirit nurturing things; God will protect us from all kinds of diseases in this world and we will live a healthy and blessed life. Conclusion When we listen carefully to the word of the Lord and live according to His commandments by faith we will have a healthy life. When we are healthy we can be happy and when we are happy we can make other people happy. Brothers and sisters! Today we suffer from diseases however we should not just take medicine or undergo an operation; but we should also take care of our inner being. When our inner being lives upright before God, we will get heavenly strength to overcome our diseases and become happier. We are to become victors not victims. The dark forces of stealing, killing and destroying are forever in operation in our world. Nobody is free from problems. But with Christ you are bigger than any problem. The One who lives in you has overcome the world! Please repeat after me. “The One who is in me is bigger than the world!” We should continually recognize that the One who is in me is greater than the world. Overcome your negative thinking like “I cannot do it. I am not able to do it.” Shake it off. We should believe and declare that “the wonderful God is with us so we can overcome every obstacle.” Matthew 28:20 says: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” God is with you. You are not alone! You lack nothing in God. God gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. When we are with our God; we are to live a life He wants us to have according to His will. But if we live a life according to “my will” we will limit our God. It is important to remind ourselves that we serve a wonderful God not a small God. Yesterday a pastor visited me for counseling. I advised him to think big. “Do not limit your thinking. Think that it will go well. Change your mindset. You are a disciple of Jesus. A disciple resembles his teacher. You are going to build a big church since you are a member of the Yoido Full Gospel Church family. Dream a big church. Speak about a big church. Then your big God will work. Do not say, ‘I am incapable. I don’t have money. I cannot preach well. I cannot dream of a big church.’ “You will limit God if you limit your thinking and dreams. The same is true with you. Your God is not a small God. The God whom you are worshiping now is an awesome God. He is not a God of unhappiness. He is a God of happiness. Your God is not incapable. He is Almighty God. If the Lord is with me, what can men do to me? The most valuable fact of life is to be with God. This should be the top priority over owning all your possessions. You have everything when God is with you. No one can harm you if God is with you. You are called by God. You are chosen by God. Since you believe in Jesus, you are now children of God. Jesus is the most valuable treasure you can possess. Keep this in mind. If you place Jesus in the center of your life; He will be the first thing you think of in the morning and the last thing you think of before drifting off to sleep. Then you will live a life with God. I urge you to do this in Jesus’ name. Let us all pray! Our Father, You are a living God. Thank you for being with us. Thank You for calling us. You allowed us to believe in You and to rely on You. Help us to obey Your commands in order to live a healthy and happy life in Your eyes. Our heavenly Father! As the Scripture encourages us, let us always listen to your voice and do what is right in your eyes. Let us pay attention to your commands and keep all your decrees. Let us live a life which our Father wants us to live. Help us enjoy a healthy life through the work of the Holy Spirit. Let your grace be both in our body and soul, so that we might be healthy. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen. 1