BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

The power of THE BLESSING was actually what Jesus operated in when He was on earth. It was behind everything He preached, every miracle He performed and every healing that took place in His ministry. The power of THE BLESSING was what raised Him from the dead after He was crucified, caught Him up at the Ascension and carried Him out of this planet. Talk about powerful! If THE BLESSING could do all of that, just think what it can do for you. Certainly it can heal any sickness that tries to attack your body. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a simple cold or a so-called incurable case of cancer, THE BLESSING can handle it. “Well now Brother Copeland, you have to remember, while God’s BLESSING might be powerful enough to heal anything, sometimes He leaves sickness on us to teach us something. Sometimes He even sends sickness as a blessing in disguise.” No, He doesn’t! That’s a lie of the devil. There’s not one scripture in the Bible that says sickness is ever a blessing. On the contrary, Deuteronomy 28:61-62 says point blank that “every sickness” is a part of the curse. It’s the result of the evil that came into the world through sin and a manifestation of satan’s hatred of the human race. Healing, on the other hand, is a manifestation of God’s love and redemption. It’s the result of His mercy and of the goodness that overflows from His huge, compassionate heart. John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish.” Sickness is perishing coming to pass. It’s a part of death. It gained access to mankind through Adam’s spiritual fall and Jesus came to redeem us from it. He came, as Acts 10:38 says, “anointed…with the Holy Ghost and with power…doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” God Never Appointed Sickness the Teacher That last verse alone settles the issue! Sickness and disease are not from God. They’re not good and never a blessing. They are from the devil and always a curse. That’s why Jesus healed everyone who came to Him. He never told anyone they had to stay sick because God was trying to teach them something. Even when “great multitudes followed him…he healed them all” (Matthew 12:15). What’s more, He continued to heal “all” through His disciples when His earthly ministry was over. He empowered them to do the same works He did and, as Acts 5 records, they were soon healing multitudes too. “Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one” (verses 15-16). Some people seem to think Jesus changed His attitude toward sickness after His resurrection. They think He decided sickness is good in certain instances and should be used as a teacher. But clearly, that’s not true. Jesus continued in Acts, to treat sickness as an enemy. He continued to release the power of THE BLESSING to the sick people who crowded onto the streets of Jerusalem…“And they were healed every one.” God never has and never will appoint sickness to be the teacher of the Church! The very idea is not only unscriptural, it’s unimaginable. God is a good Father. He would never put cancer on one of His children in order to teach them something. That would be child abuse in the highest form. Even we as earthly parents know that. We may not be perfect but we would never purposely give one of our children a disease. We’d never dream of taking away their health or injuring them so they’d learn some kind of lesson—no matter how important that lesson might be. I remember a time when my son, John, was a little boy and he got interested in knives. He hadn’t yet learned that they can be dangerous and one day I found him in the kitchen trying to open a pen knife. “Wait a minute there, son,” I said, “that knife is sharp. It could really hurt you. I’ll show you how to open it, but I don’t want you to try to do it without Daddy here to help you.” “OK,” he said. We had our little lesson and, thinking I’d gotten my point across, I went into another room to do something else. After a while I heard John in the kitchen again yelling at the top of his lungs. I ran back in there to find him flailing around with that pen knife stuck on his hand. He’d tried to open it again by himself and it had closed on his thumb. He’d worked his hand around on the blade trying to get free and it had really done a number on him. Obviously, if he’d heeded my previous warning he could have avoided that pain. But I didn’t just let him suffer in order to teach him a lesson. I didn’t say, “Boy, you think it hurts now, let me show you how bad this can be,” and then clamp the knife down on him a little harder. Certainly not. I would never do any such thing and neither would any other decent parent, yet that’s what some people have accused God of doing. They’ve said He gets mad and puts curses like sickness on us when we disobey. God is not that kind of Father. He’s never been into cursing people. He’s into BLESSING them. As Psalm 118:1 says, “He is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.” Even if we mess up some way and get ourselves into trouble, we can cry out to God and He’ll come to the rescue just like I came to John’s. “Yeah, but doesn’t God get mad at us when we sin and leave sickness on us for a while as a punishment?” Absolutely not. * * * * continues on p. 11 * * * * BVOV : 9

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