Do you remember what we studied in the reflection: “Was Jesus ever tempted by evil?” We saw that temptation is not a sin. Just because you are tempted does not mean you have sinned—otherwise, Jesus would have sinned, because the Bible says He was tempted in all things like we are, yet He did not yield to temptation.

Temptation does not belong to you! It belongs to the devil!

Do you think Jesus ever had symptoms of sickness? Did He ever feel like a sickness was approaching Him? I believe He did. Yet Jesus was never sick. Jesus could have sinned. Jesus could have become ill. If He had accepted the devil’s temptation in the wilderness, He would have sinned. Don’t think it was easy for Jesus Christ to come to earth—it was not child’s play. Jesus Christ resisted sin to the point of shedding His blood!

In the same way, the devil must have tried many times to make Him sick—through suggestion, through all the diseases Jesus encountered daily. Most of the illnesses in the Gospels were caused by spirits of infirmity.

Jesus was tempted in all things just like us. If Jesus had not guarded His thoughts, He could have fallen ill. But He never was. On the contrary, at the Cross of Calvary, He bore all our sicknesses and all our infirmities so that we might be delivered from sickness if it tries to come upon us.

Symptoms are not the disease, just as temptation is not sin. If you understand this, you will more easily resist the sickness that tries to take hold of you. Symptoms are like the emissaries of sickness; they are like the anchor of a ship.

When the anchor is dropped, you know the ship is not far, but the anchor is not the ship. When the emissary of an evil king arrives somewhere, he comes with a message. He may carry the smell of the one who sent him (the evil king), he bears the seal of the one who sent him, he brings with him a certain oppression—but HE IS NOT THE KING and does not carry his actual power!

That’s how symptoms work. Symptoms carry a message; they tell you the disease is coming, that the disease is here—but they are only its messengers. They are not the disease itself! Symptoms carry the scent of illness, they bear its seal, they belong to the same group, and may bring a sense of oppression—but they are not the disease! If symptoms come near you, resist them with the Word of God. They are obligated to submit to the Word of Faith. When Christ died and rose again, and when it was written by the finger of God in the Holy Word:

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24

At that moment, all symptoms and diseases in the world had to bow their knees. If you speak the Word of faith, symptoms will be forced to flee—if only you walk in the faith of God.

“Behold, I have given you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means harm you.” Luke 10:19

“They will pick up snakes with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Mark 16:18

Declare these verses if the emissary of sickness draws near to you, if it enters your castle, if you sense in the corridors of your body the smell of death, the scent of disease—know that it is not death, know that it is not the disease. Resist with firmness. Be violent toward the symptoms, because you hold the keys to your body…

This text is an excerpt from the book “365 DAYS AT THE MASTER’S FEET”, written by several French-speaking authors, with Jérémy Sourdril as the main contributor.

We invite you to read the next article: “SYMPTOMS ARE NOT THE DISEASE (PART TWO)”.