*[Acts 19:2 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”…]*

Today, when someone says “I am saved” we think that is all. We stop at salvation. No wonder many Christians are struggling. To the Apostles, it was not enough to be saved – they had to make sure after salvation, the believer received the Holy Spirit. So when Paul went to Ephesus, he found there some who had been saved, he did not let them stop there, he did not even ask them “are you saved”, he asked them *”did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”* This is the question we should be asking everyone. We should not just be asking “are you saved?” Salvation without receiving the Holy Spirit is incomplete. Jesus said in John 7:39 *”… He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive.. “* So those who believe in Jesus must receive the Holy Spirit. So my question to you this morning if you believe in Jesus, have you receive the Holy Spirit? Without the Holy Spirit you will struggle in your salvation. Without the Holy Spirit you will live an ordinary life, subject everything non-believers are subject to. So receive the Holy Spirit today and get started with living the Spirit-filled life empowered by the Holy Spirit.

If you are sick in your body, God wants to heal you regardless of how long the condition has been there, whether it is medically curable or incurable, whether you are a Christian or not. Acts 10:38 says “..God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

In this study, we understand very essential truth in divine healing – GOD CREATED YOU AND THEREFORE HE WANTS TO HEAL YOU.

Genesis 2:7 says “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” So mankind was created by God and given life by God. If you bought a Toyota car from Toyota Kenya and it broke down, the first thing you would do is to take it back to Toyota Kenya. Why? Because we know if Toyota Kenya created the car, they can fix any problem with the car.

Unfortunately, many people when they are sick, they don’t even think about turning to God for healing. Many have suffered so much moving from hospital to hospital, specialist to specialist, country to country, yet they have never turned to God, their Creator for healing.

This is because we are living in a generation where the enemy wants to secularize the whole world and get rid of God in people’s hearts, so he is working so hard to remove God from people’s minds.

So even many Christians when they are sick, the first thing they think about is the drug store. We know the first thing to do when a product has a problem is to take it to the manufacturer yet we never think we should seek God for healing first when we are sick.

From the Scriptures, we understand God is not happy when even as believers, the first place we turn to is the drug store, or the specialist and we don’t even think of Him:

[2 Chronicles 16:12-13 says “In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. 13Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his fathers.(NIV)]

King Asa did not seek help from God when he was sick, he went to the Physicians, and God was not happy with him. So he died. This means God expected King Asa to go to Him for healing. God was not happy when he ignored Him as His Creator and went to the Physician, so the man died. If God was not happy with him for not going to Him, then God is not happy when we don’t seek Him for healing.

Since He created us, He is more than ready and willing to heal us because He is our Creator. As our Creator, He has the wisdom & power to fix any problem in our bodies. Deuteronomy 32:6 says ‘….Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?” He is our Creator, and therefore He wants to be our Healer. He says in Exodus 15:26 “…I am your Lord, the one who heals you.”

So if you are sick in your body, God wants to heal you because He created you.

Regardless of the condition, He is able to heal you. Since He made us, healing a problem in our bodies can never be difficult for Him.

He says in Jeremiah 32:27: “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? He created your kidney. He created your lungs. He created every organ of your body and therefore He says it is not difficult for Him to heal you. All He wants is for you to believe in Him. Mark 9:23 says “if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” So believe in Him. And receive healing from any condition.

[Ephesians 2:6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,]

Mankind was created to live in the kingdom of heaven. We see when God created Adam, He did not just release him to go live anywhere on earth. Genesis 2:8 says “The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.” He strategically positioned mankind in the garden of Eden. Eden was the headquarters of God’s heavenly kingdom on earth. It’s like the US Embassy here in Kenya. Eden was the heavenly embassy on earth. So mankind dwelt in the kingdom of heaven and from there he ruled the entire earth. When Adam sinned, mankind was kicked out of Eden, God’s kingdom on earth. The good news, when we received Christ, we were restored into the kingdom of heaven. Our opening verse says God has “raised us up together, and made us sit together in the HEAVENLY places.” So we have been restored to the heavenly kingdom of God. We have been elevated above the earthly realms. The world is getting more and more confused, depressed & defiled, never be caught up in that confusion, you are in the heavenly realms with Christ. Be conscious of your elevated position. Stay away from the confusion, sin, filth and defilement in the world. For you dwell in the heavenly realms.

John 14:23:

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.(NKJV)

John 1:1 says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” So the Word of God is God. You cannot separate God’s Word from God Himself. This means our relationship with God is reflected by how we relate to His Word. In our opening verse, Jesus says if we love Him, it will be reflected by us keeping the Word. You cannot say “I love God” yet you are not keeping His Word – that is a clear contradiction.

Your true love for God is demonstrated by our obedience to His Word. This is the drawing line between a true believer and one that is not a true believer. So keeping God’s Word is the number one indicator of our relationship with God.

Jesus goes further and says when we keep God’s Word, God will love us and make our home with us.

So keeping God’s Word is the key to hosting His divine presence. When God dwells in our hearts evil can never have a place in your life. You will always live in dominion over the circumstances of life. You will be full of life, health and joy. You radiate the fullness of God.

So if you want God’s presence in your life, You want to have an intimate relationship with Him, simply love God’s Word, commit to walking in it and God’s divine presence will continually dwell in you.

[John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.]

While Jesus was physically here on earth, He did great things for mankind – He healed every sickness, raised the dead, fed the poor and hungry, why did He leave? Why couldn’t God let Him stay here forever and fix all our problems?Because Jesus did not come to be our bodyguard, solving our problems & fighting sickness & evil for us, He came to empower us to live victoriously over evil. The quicker we understand this, the more believers will come out of suffering. It’s not God’s plan for us to live defeated lives crying to God for help. His plan is that we receive the Helper, the Holy Spirit to dwell in us & empower us. Jesus made it clear He had to leave so the Holy Spirit can come to dwell in us. GOD’S plan was never for Jesus to stay on earth and fix our problems, His plan is He should prapare us to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and therefore receiving Him means we have received the fullness of God in us and therefore He empowers us to live in the same power and fullness of Christ. That is why Jesus said those who believe will do what He did, not just cry to Him for help (John 14:12). This is why every believer must purpose to grow spiritually. If we ignore the Holy Spirit and spiritual growth & just live anyhow expecting God to solve all our problems we may not survive the evils in our day. So to live in dominion over that situation, don’t just cry to God, receive and be filled with the Holy Spirit. For God’s plan is not for us to be weak, God’s plan is for us to receive the Holy spirit and allow Him to empower us for a life of victory, power and dominion, glory to God.

*[John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life;…]*

The Holy Spirit is the giver of life. If you are born again, this Holy Spirit dwells in you. Don’t just submit to sickness like a non-believer. A Christian must never say “I have taken the tests, I am just waiting to see how the results come out.” Don’t simply wait for the results to come out. You are supposed to do something! You have the Holy Spirit in you. Pastor Mike what should I do? This is why Discipleship is important. Many believers have not been trained in this spirit life. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6 to *”stir up the gift of God which is in you”* He was referring to the Holy Spirit in you. You must learn to stir up the Holy Spirit in you. How? The easiest way to stir up the Holy Spirit in you in praying in tongues. When we pray in tongues the Spirit in us is stirred up to revitalize the body. Holy Spirit Spirit meditation will also stir up the Spirit in you. These are simple exercises but very powerful. If you understand them, even if they said a virus is in your body, the Spirit Willl keep pumping life into your organs and you will live. Understand the spirit life. Many believers ignore the Holy Spirit. Many are not interested in the Holy Spirit. They think the Holy Spirit is for Pastors. The Holy Spirit dwells in you and makes you supernatural. Learn how to function that way and you will live the divine life.

*[Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea.]*

Today is our Fasting and Prayer Day. We pray according to Habakkuk 2:14 above declaring that God is fulfilling His Word upon our city and the nation as a whole – the knowledge of the glory of God is filling this nation as the waters cover the sea. Evil shall never prevail. Altars of darkness are crumbling as we preach the Word of God and pray. Believers are coming to the true knowledge of of their dominion and kingdom heritage through Christ and the church is walking in dominion like never before.

[James 1:25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.]

The Word of God is the “perfect law of liberty” which means living by the Word gives us freedom. Anyone not submitted to the Word of God you will fiind addictions, immorality and many negative habits and tones of sins in their lives. They can never be free. If you are struggling with sin and evil, give yourself to the Word. The Word of God will elevate you above the the evils in our day and set you free from sinful tendencies. So ingest the Word and it will perfect you and liberate your life for the Word of God is the ‘perfect law of liberty.’

[John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.]

Are you sick in your body? Have you been diagnosed with an incurable disease? Do you have a medical condition that is on and off and it bothers you? Welcome this Saturday and receive your healing!

In our opening verse, Jesus clearly says *’.. It is the Spirit who gives life.”* It is the Holy spirit that gives life to our bodies. It is the Spirit who gives life to our dead cells in our bodies. It is the Holy Spirit that restores health and wholeness to our mortal bodies.

So don’t despair, don’t give up, don’t fear. No matter the condition, Let your faith arise, for nothing is too difficult for God. You need a miracle in your life – financial or marital, the Spirit of The Living God will perform it for you. You need to receive the Holy spirit, welcome this Saturday and receive this glorious gift of God.