A “what if” question to think about: if your body is sick and or in pain, is it wrong to say you are healed? Not according to the Bible. Joel 3:10 instructs us to let the weak say, I am strong.  It doesn’t say to deny the weakness, it says to call strength to have authority over the weakness.

Some people say it’s wrong to say you’re healed when your body is in pain or you have a cold.  If that is so, then by that same logic it would be wrong for a person saying they are saved before they get to heaven, or because they committed sin by word or deed.  Just think about it. We don’t get re-saved when we sin, we get forgiven. (1 John 1:9)

God called Abraham a father of many nations long before he had any children. God himself called those things that were not as though they were; and we can follow His example by calling ourselves healed when our body is still coughing! The principle is the same. (Romans 4:17) We don’t stop saying we are the healed just because our body is in pain or sick any more than we stop saying we are saved when we’ve done something wrong.  We do as the Bible says to do: if we sin, we confess our sin and by faith receive the forgiveness God gives us; if our body is sick, we confess we are healed by the stripes of Jesus and by faith receive His healing. (1 John 1:9; Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24)

Another example of calling things into being is when Jesus rebuked the storm and waves on the sea. He didn’t deny that there was the boisterous waves and wind; He took authority over them. (Mark 4:37-39) This is how we are to treat sickness; it may be a natural fact, but as Christians, as believers in God’s Word, we are to take authority over sickness by and with our faith in the authority that Jesus Himself gave us. (Luke 9:1)

Think about how powerful the word “if” actually is; to me it’s a directional word.  If you are traveling north and if you turn right, then you will be traveling east.  However, if traveling north and if you turn left, then you’re on your way west.  You get the picture. Whatever choice we make concerning the options of if determines a certain result. The same is true with the Word of God: if we want the blessings of God in our life then we must choose the correct way to receive His blessings.

Deuteronomy 28 is filled with ifs. If we obey the Word of God, we reap the goodness that God has for us. If we do not obey, then our if blocks His blessings because of our disobedience.

Psalm 103:1-3 is another example of consequences of ifs.  We are told to not forget the benefits of the Lord; who redeems our life from destruction and crowns us with lovingkindness and tender mercies.   IF we forget His benefits, how can we believe for them.  Simple, right.

Now in case you’re thinking that I’ve gone a little extreme with this, let me remind you that it was the “if” questions that the devil temped Jesus with in the wilderness, “if you are the son of God…”  We must realize that it was because Jesus knew the Word, and spoke the Word that He was able to dispel the “if” questions of Satan.  If Jesus gained His victory over the temptations presented to Him by choosing to believe His Father’s Word, then we also need to know the Father’s Word to fight our battles and gain our victories.

My purpose in writing about the word if, is to help us realize how powerful our response is to the ifs in our lives. It matters not whether they are questions or situations. What matters is how we answer these ifs. The only correct way to answer the ifs in our lives to receive the blessings of God is to answer the way He says to answer; with faith in His Word.  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:1-2)