Heirs of Promise - Healing Testimony

Pastor Jim Bristow's "Testimony of Healing"



  At the age of 17, I was diagnosed with a stomach condition called ulcerative colitis. This disease was the result of years of emotional stress and inner conflict. I was placed on medication to treat the disease. The strong medication produced side effects. One of the side effects was a condition called "moon face." My body would retain water causing my face to swell up like a moon. I was put on a strict diet. My doctor said that I would have to take medication for this disease the rest of my life. I was a born again Christian but many in the denomination I was raised in told me that this disease was my "cross to bare" and that God had placed this disease upon me to make me humble. I struggled with the question of why God would put this disease upon me that cost hundreds of dollars every month in medication. At times I was too weak or in too much pain to pray. Was there any hope for a life free of sickness and disease?
  In 1988 I felt a call to the ministry. I entered a Bible college in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma called Rhema. For the first time in my life I heard teaching from God's Word that gave me hope. I learned that Jesus Christ came to give me life, and life more abundantly. I also learned that Jesus always did the will of His Father. Everywhere that Jesus went, He healed the sick. In the classes I attended, I heard the Good News that faith begins where the will of God is known. I discovered that it was God's will to heal me. Faith to receive my healing began to rise up in my heart. For the first time in my life I had hope of being well. I did not have to suffer with this disease for the rest of my life. But in order to have my promise of healing, I had to do something. I had to learn and put into practice the principle of "seed time and harvest." As a farmer who desires a crop of corn plants corn seed, I began planting healing seed into my heart in order to get my harvest of healing. I wrote out the scripture in I Peter 2:24 on a 3x5 index card.

"Who His own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (I Peter 2:24)"

  I memorized this verse of scripture and looked at it often.Although at first I could not see any physical changes in my body, I knew that the seed was growing in the soil of my heart. Weeks and months went by. One day I found myself discouraged that there were no physical changes in my symptoms. I knew that it was God's will to heal me. I had planted the seed of healing in my heart. Was there something that I was missing? One day as I was praying about my condition, I heard the Lord speak these words to me," The seed of healing has been planted in your heart, but it requires water in order to grow." Instantly I understood what was hindering the seed from growing and producing the fruit of my healing. Until that day I had always seen myself as being sick. I could never imagine myself as being completely healed and free of sickness and disease. I had to change the picture I saw of myself from always being sick to being healed and walking in health.
  Every day, along with meditating on I Peter 2:24, I began to imagine myself as being completely healed. I finally saw myself as God desired for me to be. Within weeks the symptoms of my disease began to disappear. I was providing the water that the seed required in order to grow. The seed soon grew into a tree. The harvest of my healing finally came. The principle of seed time and harvest worked for me. It will also work for you. First I had to understand that it was God's will to heal me. Faith for healing begins where the will of God is know. Secondly, I had to plant the healing seed in my heart by memorizing and meditating on I Peter 2:24.Thirdly I had to water the seed that was in my heart by developing an image of myself as being healed and walking in health.
  Today I am completely healed from the disease that had put a heavy yoke upon my shoulders. Jesus Christ is the great physician and healer. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Good News is that what Jesus Christ did for me, He can do for you. Begin to put the principle of "seed time and harvest" to work in your life. Start by planting the healing seed in your heart by meditating on scripture in God's Word that promises your healing. Water the seed by developing an image or picture of yourself as being healed and free of disease. Don't get discouraged when you don't see any physical results over night. A good farmer knows that the corn seed he plants take some time before it comes up out of the ground. The seed is growing. As the seed begins to grow into a tree, you will see your harvest of healing. It is the principle of Seed Time and Harvest.