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. — 1 PETER 2:24

Years ago, a woman was carried into one of my services. She had not walked in four years, and doctors said she would never walk again. I sat down beside her and placed my open Bible on her lap.

I said, “Sister, please read that verse out loud.”

She read First Peter 2:24 aloud. And when she ended with “. . . by whose stripes ye were healed,” I asked, “Is ‘were’ past tense, present tense, or future tense?”

I will never forget her reaction, “Were is past tense,” she exclaimed. “And if we were healed, then I was healed!” She accepted God’s Word with the enthusiasm and simplicity of a child — the way we must.

And that’s how God records it in His Word. He doesn’t promise to heal us, because He’s already provided healing for us almost 2,000 years ago! Healing is something we already have in Christ.

This woman’s face lit up as she lifted her hands and said, “Praise God! Lord, I’m so glad I’m healed! Lord, I’m so glad I can walk again! [And she hadn’t walked a step yet.] I’m so glad I’m not helpless anymore. I’m so glad I can wait on myself . . .”

“Rise and walk!” I said. And the woman leaped to her feet! Praise the Lord!

Confession: By His stripes we WERE healed. If we were, then I was. I AM healed. Healing is mine. I have it now!