Delightsome Agbabo

AUGUST August 1 And when he [Jesus] had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.—MATTHEW 10:1 We Have Power—Faith Activates the Power! In Matthew chapter 17, we read that Jesus took Peter, James, and John to what became known as the Mount of Transfiguration, where Jesus was transfigured before them. The only disciples on the mountain with Jesus were Peter, James, and John. During this experience, the other nine disciples were at the foot of the mountain, where a man brought his son for them to minister to the boy, but they failed. Let’s pick up with verse 14. MATTHEW 17:14–16 14 And when they [Jesus, Peter, James, and John] were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, 15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. 16 And I brought him t...

July 31 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching. —MARK 6:6 The Cure for Unbelief After I left the last church I pastored in 1949, I primarily held meetings in Full Gospel churches until 1962. Again and again, I had pastors say to me, “Brother Hagin, I don’t want to hinder you. I’m so full of unbelief. I’ll just get completely out of the way and sit in the back of the auditorium.” And some of them got completely out of the church services. Isn’t that a tragedy? I’ve laid hands on people with the pastor standing behind me and breathing the hot breath of unbelief down my neck. But God sent me to help them. And I tried to help them. When they come before the Judgment Seat of Christ, they can’t say, “We didn’t know.” You see, doubt and unbelief have not only robbed individuals and cities, but doubt and unbelief have also robbed entire churches of the blessings God intended they should have. My wife once said to me, “Honey, it just dawned o...

July 30,  And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. . . .—MARK 6:5 Unbelief Will Keep You From the Blessings of  God  Let’s look at a city that was robbed of God’s best. According to Mark 6:5, when Jesus left the city of Nazareth, He left people languishing on beds of sickness and disease. These were people who could have been healed and should have been healed. It was the will of God to heal them. Now many people say, “God is all powerful and if He wanted to heal them, He could have.” Well, wasn’t Jesus God in the flesh? Yes! Jesus said, “He that has seen Me has seen the Father. If you want to see God working, look at Me” (John 14:9). Yet Jesus didn’t heal these people. Why? It was because of their unbelief. The unbelief of that city robbed them of the blessings of God. Unbelief robbed them of the healing God wanted to bring to them. Confession: It is God’s will to ...

July 29 . . . When he [the devil] speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.—JOHN 8:44 Don’t Believe the Devil’s Lies After the woman died, this Assembly of God pastor said to me, “When the doctors performed an autopsy on her, they couldn’t find any trace of cancer in any way, shape, or form in her body. Her liver was just as perfect as anyone else’s liver. They couldn’t find a trace of cancer. They don’t know why she died.” I know why she died. She began to doubt. She let the devil in and began to believe that she had cancer. She began to believe his lies. The doctors said, “We can’t find any reason why she died.” A miracle began in her life, yet she was robbed of the best that God had for her, because of doubt. I think if Jesus had been there to talk to her personally, He would have said, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” In fact, I’ve had Him say that to me. And when He did, I straightened up and got right. Doubt robbed Peter ...

July 28 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?—MATTHEW 14:31 Don’t Let Doubt Rob You Many times a miracle begins in a person’s life, and then doubt robs him or her of the full blessing. A miracle began in the life of Peter. He was walking on the water. But that miracle was never consummated. That miracle never came into full fruition. Why? According to Matthew 14:31, he let doubt get in. I was preaching along this line one time, and an Assembly of God pastor said, “I understand something now that I didn’t understand before. As a young preacher, there were two women in my church. Both of them had cancer of the liver. By the time they both found out about it, they each had only a few weeks to live. About that time, a healing evangelist came to the church. He prayed for the sick by the laying on of hands. And both women were gloriously and marvelously healed. At the time this pastor spoke to me...

July 27 . . . And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.—MATTHEW 14:29 Walk on the Water In Matthew 14:28, Peter said, “. . . Lord if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” Jesus said, “Come.” Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on the water to go to Jesus. Notice that he walked on the water. Don’t ever criticize Peter until you can walk on the water without sinking! If you can walk on the water and not sink, then we’ll accept your criticism. But don’t criticize Peter. At least he did walk on the water. On the other hand, you have no excuse to hide behind Peter, so to speak, and make excuses for why we fail to receive from God. The Bible tells us exactly why Peter began to sink. If we’ll listen, we won’t have to sink when our faith is tested. Jesus didn’t intend for us to sink as we’re walking on the sea of life, and He didn’t intend for Peter to sink. Jesus said to Peter, “Come.” And as long as Peter acted on Jesus’ word, he wa...

July 23 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.—JAMES 5:15 Talk About Your Faith and What the Lord Has Done for You I was a single man at the time I experienced this paralysis in my face. I had walked a young woman named Imogene to church. As I was walking her back home, several of the young people who were walking with us said, “Kenneth, did the Lord really heal you?” I said, “He sure did.” “Well, we noticed when we passed under the street light and you laughed, that one corner of your mouth ran all the way around to your ear. Do you feel any different?” “Not that I can tell,” I said. “What makes you think you’re healed?” they asked I said, “I don’t think it. I know it.” “We can see you’re not healed, and you admit you don’t feel any better. Aren’t you lying about it?” I said to them, “No, I’m talking faith. Faith calleth those things that be not as though they were. Jesus said that when y...

July 22 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.—ROMANS 4:21 Act in Faith When the pastor said, “Amen,” I said in faith, “Thank God, it’s gone.” What does it mean to say something in faith? It means to call those things that be not as though they were. Many honest Christians are afraid to act because they don’t know what faithis. Someone might ask, “Well, was the paralysis gone?”“No, the right side of my face was still dead.” “You were lying, then,” someone might respond. No! I was acting on the Word. After the service, everyone rushed up to me. They said, “Did the Lord really heal you when Pastor laid his hands on you and anointed you with oil?” I said, “He sure did.” “Well, you don’t look any different. Do you feel any different?” they asked. “Not that I can tell,” I said. They said, “If you don’t look any different and you don’t feel any different, what makes you think the Lord has healed you?” I said, “I don’t think He has; I know He has.” ...

July 21 . . . God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.—ROMANS 4:1 Turn Your Faith Loose When I was a Baptist minister, I had an interesting experience that will help you in your own faith. I went to bed one Sunday night after church feeling fine. But I woke up on Monday morning, and the right side of my face was paralyzed. It was numb. I could reach up there and pinch it without feeling a thing. I tried to wrinkle up my forehead, but the right side wouldn’t wrinkle. The right side of my mouth wouldn’t move, either. I said to myself, I know what I’ll do. I’ll go down to the Full Gospel Tabernacle on Wednesday night and have the pastor anoint me with oil. He can lay hands on me and I’ll be healed. So on Wednesday night, I went down to the Full Gospel Tabernacle. They weren’t having a healing service, but when the service was over, I stood up in the back and said, “Pastor, I want you to pray for my healing before we go.” Now when I opened my...

July 19 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.—HEBREWS 11:1 Now Faith Is . . . This scripture gives us God’s definition of faith. Notice that faith is present tense: It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The New English Bible says, “Faith is giving substance to things hoped for.” You see, hope doesn’t have any substance. Hope has to be there, but faith is what gives substance to the things hoped for. How does faith give substance to the things you’re hoping for? In Mark 11:23, Jesus said, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; HE SHALL HAVE WHATSOEVER HE SAITH.” It is by believing in your heart and speaking with your mouth that you see those unseen things manifest before your eyes. Let’s continue reading in Mark. “Therefore I...

July 18 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.—EPHESIANS 1:3 The Eye of Faith Faith is the hand, so to speak, that takes from God. In the natural realm, if someone offers you something, you can reach out your physical hand and take it, because you can see it. In the spirit realm, you have to see with the eye of faith. You can’t see in the spirit realm with the physical eye. You can only see physical and material things with the physical eye. But we know from God’s Word that there are things available to us in the spirit realm. For instance, in the spirit world, there is healing. It has already been purchased. It has already been paid for. God already has it wrapped up with your name on it. It’s just waiting for you to take it. Well, how are you going to see that? You can’t see it with your physical eye like you would a birthday gift all wrapped up and packaged for you. So how do you know it’...

July 17 As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.—ROMANS 4:17 Limiting God in the Faith Walk Let me give you some examples of God calling those things that be not as though they were. Revelation 13:8 says, “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” The Bible speaks of Jesus as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And yet, Jesus did not hang on the Cross until thousands of years later. Ephesians 1:4 says, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” We were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. We weren’t even born yet. Well, was God lying when He said that? No, He wasn’t. Sin is disobeying God. And holiness is simply ob...

July 16 As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.—ROMANS 4:17 Call Those Things That Be Not as Though They Were Faith calls those things that be not as though they were. After teaching on the subject of faith for the past sixty-five years, I have learned that there is nothing quite so hard for Christians as calling those things that be not as though they were. Many honest, sincere, good people think they would be lying if they did this, so they fail to do it. But I want you to consider for a moment that the Bible tells us that God cannot lie (Num. 23:19). And God calls those things that be not as though they were! I’ve had people say to me, “That’s all right for God to do that.” Well, if it’s all right for God to do it, it’s all right for you to do it! The children of God should act like God (Eph. 5:1). And God calls those things that be not as t...

July 14 For they [God’s words] are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.—PROVERBS 4:22 Don’t Let the Word Depart From Your Eyes Another thing that God said in Proverbs chapter 4 is, “Let My words, My sayings, not depart from before your eyes” (v. 21). If you don’t let Matthew 8:17—”Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses”—depart from before your eyes, you’re bound to see yourself well. If you don’t see yourself well, then that Word has departed from before your eyes, and, that being the case, you no longer have any guarantee of an answer. I was preaching in a church in Fort Worth, Texas, and the pastor said to me, “Brother Hagin, I want you to go with me to visit a dear eighty-two year old woman. She used to be an Assembly of God evangelist. This dear woman is one of the greatest soul-winners I’ve ever met in my life. I came into the family of God under her ministry. Many people who are preaching the Gospel today came in under her ministry. But sh...

July 13 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. —JOHN 10:10 The Devil Doesn’t Heal People Many years ago, a healing evangelist was holding a meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. One of the ranchers there had a foreman who had a little girl who was lame. Well, this rancher started attending the evangelist’s tent meetings. Then the rancher went to his ranch and got his foreman, his foreman’s wife, and their lame little girl. He brought them to the meeting, and the twelve- year-old girl was healed. The rancher owned five different ranches and was very wealthy. He attended one of the churches there in town. After the rancher told several people about the little girl who was healed, his pastor decided to get up and preach on it. He said, “I don’t doubt that the child got healed, all right, but the devil did it.” After the service, the wealthy rancher went up to the pastor and said, “I want...

July 12 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.—1CORINTHIANS 15:26 Death Is an Enemy I remember hearing about a woman who was saved and went to church, but her husband was unsaved. Their four-year-old son was sick. He was the only child they had. The unsaved husband would say to the wife, “You go on to church. I’ll keep the boy.” The child grew worse until, finally, the doctor said, “I’ll just be honest with you. I don’t know what’s wrong with this child. I can’t find out what’s the matter with him. I don’t know what to do, but he’s going to die if he keeps going the way he is.” Well, the child surprisingly got better, and the husband told his wife one night, “Go on to church. I’ll stay here with him. He’s doing fine.” When the service was over, they were praying around the altar and someone came to the pastor and said that the little boy had just died. So the pastor went over to where the wife was kneeling and told her about it. Then the pastor and several of the church membe...

July 11 And this will we do, if God permit.—HEBREWS 6:3 Permission Versus Commission There are many verbs in the Old Testament that are translated in the causative sense in the King James Version. But the original verbs are in the permissive sense. Let’s look at a few of them so you can understand what I’m saying. In Isaiah 45:7, God said, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” Does God create evil? No. If you know your Bible well enough, you know that the Bible doesn’t teach that. Well, this verse said that He does. If God creates evil, then that would make God a devil. The Bible teaches that the devil is responsible for all that’s evil. God may permit evil, but He doesn’tcreate it. And when you understand, as Dr. Robert Young pointed out, that the verb is in the permissive sense rather than in the causative sense, you’ll see that God doesn’t cause evil. He merely permits it. Let’s look at another verse of Scripture. Amo...

July 10 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.—DEUTERONOMY 28:61 Does God Put Sickness on People? All the dreadful diseases enumerated in Deuteronomy chapter 28 are a part of the punishment for breaking God’s Law. It says so in verse 61. Well, they should come upon us, because we have all sinned: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Those diseases should come upon us, but, thank God, Jesus took our place. He became sin for us. He became sickness for us. He took our place to redeem us from sickness! In the King James Version, one would be led to believe that God Himself puts sickness and afflictions upon His people. For example, Deuteronomy 28:22 says that the Lord will smite thee. But you can’t just skim across the surface of the Bible and find out what it is saying. In Hints to Bible Interpretation by Dr. Robert Young, he points out that the Old ...

July 9 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.—GALATIANS 3:13 The Curse of the Law The Bible says that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law. What is the curse of the Law? Well, the term “the Law” actually refers to the first five Books of the Bible. Deuteronomy is one of the first five Books of the Bible. Let’s read what Deuteronomy says about the curse of the Law. DEUTERONOMY 28:20–22, 27–29, 35, 58–61 20 The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. 21 The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. 22 The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammatio...

July 6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach.—ROMANS 10:6–8 Gods Word Must Be in Your Mouth and Your Heart My own sister died with cancer at the age of fifty-five. Now five years before, when she was only fifty years of age, she had a different type of cancer. The doctor said that there was no connection between the two cancers. When she had cancer at the age of fifty, I prayed about it. The Lord said to me, “Because you asked Me, I’m going to heal her. I’m going to give her five more years. But she’s going to have to do something herself then.” She was saved and filled with the Holy Ghost. She was a Sunday school teacher in a Full Gospel church. But that do...

July 5 And he [Jesus] said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.—MARK 4:24 Learn the Word for Yourself Dr. Lilian B. Yeomans was a medical He doctor. She was healed and raised up from her deathbed. Then she devoted the rest of her life to teaching the Word of God on healing. I remember Dr. Yeomans saying that it made her mad when she was teaching on an important subject like healing, and some people just sat there and thumbed through the songbook or looked out the church window. Well, the same dear people who are so nonchalant and unresponsive are going to need help some day. They’re going to run around trying to find someone to help them and God won’t allow it, because they could have learned for themselves. But they didn’t learn. You know, you can get things for people on your faith the first time if they don’t know any better. But the next time around, they’ll have to do it on their own ...

July 4 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.—REVELATION 3:11 Hold Fast to What Belongs to You! I remember a man who was marvelously healed in one of my meetings in Oklahoma. He couldn’t walk by himself, but he was instantly healed and could walk just as good as anyone. Also, he couldn’t hear without a hearing aid. He couldn’t even hear it thunder. He hadn’t heard for seven years without his hearing aid. Instantly, his ears were opened and he could hear. About ten days later, the same man was back in my meeting. He couldn’t walk by himself, and he couldn’t hear without his hearing aid. He’d lost it all. Now he had maintained it for ten days and was perfectly all right. But, you see, without good teaching about what belonged to him and how to hold fast to it, he lost his healing. Matthew chapter 12 gives us an example of a man who was delivered but then became worse than he was to begin with. MATTHEW 12:43–45 43 When the unclean spirit is gon...

July 3 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.— LUKE 11:24 How to Keep Your Healing In 1970 while I was at a meeting in New York, I met this woman who had been healed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of the rare disease. She said to me, “Brother Hagin, I haven’t said one word to my husband about it, but it’s all come back on me. In fact, every symptom I ever had has come back. I’m worse than I ever was. Can you help me?” You see, people must develop a faith of their own in order to keep their healing, or else it will come right back on them. I said, “Yes, I can help you. Just be present in these daytime teaching services.” I knew the Word would do it. I was there for several weeks. Before I left, she came to me and said, “I’mperfectly well. Every symptom has disappeared. And this time, I got it by my own faith. I know now how to keep it.” You see, people often recei...

July 2 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit.—1CORINTHIANS 12:8 The Word of Knowledge A woman in New York found out that she had a rare disease. At the time, only seven or eight people in the world had ever had this disease. There was no cure for it. The disease wouldn’t kill her the next day, but the doctors said to her, “We have no way of knowing how fast it’s going to progress. Don’t expect to live more than ten years, although you could die sooner because the disease could progress faster.” Someone told her about Kathryn Kuhlman’s meetings in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Some of her friends took her to Pittsburgh. And in the very first service she attended, Miss Kuhlman began to minister and pointed in her direction. She said, “There’s a woman over here who has a very rare disease. In fact, doctors have told you that only seven or eight people in the world have ever had the disease.” That was the word of knowledge in ...

July 1 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.—2 CORINTHIANS 4:18 Healing Works From the Inside Out Healing starts on the inside and then it appears or manifests on the outside. Everything you receive from God works that way. It starts on the inside and then moves to the outside. When people are born again, it’s their spirit that is reborn. You can’t tell they’re a new creature in Christ by looking at their body. You can’t even tell by looking at them right at the moment they appear to have an experience with God. Many times, I’ve seen people come to the altar and get emotionally stirred up—they jump up and down the aisles hugging everyone in sight. Then I never see them again. They didn’t get a thing in the world, but some kind of emotional high. I’ve had other people come to the altar and I’ve thought to myself, Dear God, they never got a thing. The...