Article written by Dr. Michelle Strydom MD, Photo by Engin Akyurt
Whilst working in a hospital in South Africa I once had a patient with kidney failure. She was only 48 years old. The kidney failure had progressed to a point where there was absolutely nothing we as doctors could do for her. I had to call in the family and tell them that their mother had two weeks to live (that is how long it takes for the toxins to build up in the body and cause multi-organ failure). Whilst I was explaining to them that her disease was incurable I cannot tell you how heavily God convicted me in my heart. The lady did die within two weeks exactly as we had predicted and I wish I had the revelation then that I have now. God has dealt with me as a doctor and told me to get the word ‘incurable’ out of my vocabulary because it is not Scriptural. 70 to 80% of all diseases in the medical field are considered to be incurable. However, nothing is impossible with God to those that believe – He has conquered and broken the power of Satan and disease (Luke 10 v 17-20; Isaiah 53 v 5; Matthew 8 v 17). No disease is incurable with God, when His conditions for healing are met. I am very thankful that I never again have to tell a patient that his or her disease is incurable and he or she has ‘x’ amount of months left to live.
God does not need a disease to get us to heaven. We can enjoy divine health right up until the second our allotted time on this earth is up.
Do you think God needs a disease to get you to heaven? Do you think that God needs to torment you and allow you to suffer with disease so you can get to heaven? Why have we become so acclimatized to this kind of thinking that we have to die and move into Glory because of a disease? This goes against everything that I have studied in the Bible. I say that we have been lied to! We’ve been had! Where did euthanasia come from any way? That is another gospel and I don’t agree with it. According to Deuteronomy chapter 28 sickness is a curse and having your life cut short is a curse (I explained in depth why disease is a curse on page 29). When we are living right before God, we don’t need the curse to get us to heaven.
Often when I have said that God does not need a disease to get us to Heaven, people have facetiously replied, “Well then how are you going to die?” Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph lived a full, long life. When their time was up the Bible says that they simply breathed their last breath and died (Abraham – Genesis 25 v 8; Isaac – Genesis 35 v 29; Joseph – Genesis 50 v 26). They did not die of a disease so why should it be any different for us today? After Jacob blessed his twelve sons, the Bible says that he simply lifted his feet up onto the bed and breathed his last.
Genesis 49 v 33: “When Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.”
The first major change in mindset is that God does not need a disease to get us to heaven. We can enjoy divine health right up until the second our allotted time on this earth is up and the Lord comes to take us, merely by stopping our heart and other organs and in an instant our spirit is with Him in Glory. The second major shift that is needed in our mindset is that our allotted time on earth is only up after at least 120 years! Allow me to explain:
Psalm 90 v 12: “So teach us to number our days, that we may get us a heart of wisdom.”
In the Garden of Eden, man was originally meant to live forever. However, after the fall of man when Adam and Eve sinned, God gave man a limited life span.
Genesis 3 v 19 and 22 – 23: “19 In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you where taken; for dust you are and to dust you shall return. 22And the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of Us [the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit], to know [how to distinguish between] good and evil and blessing and calamity; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever – * 23Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.”
*The foot note in my Amplified Bible says that the sentence at the end of verse 22 is left unfinished, as if to hasten to avert the tragedy suggested of men living on forever in their now fallen state. Up until Genesis chapter 6 the people lived for hundreds of years. For example Adam lived for 930 years, Adam’s son Seth lived 912 years, Seth’s son Enosh lived 905 years, Enosh’s son Kenan lived for 910 years, Methuselah lived for 969 years and so on. When God saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually (Genesis 6 v 5), He shortened the life span of man to 120 years.
Genesis 6 v 3: “Then the Lord said, My Spirit shall not forever dwell and strive with man, for he also is flesh; but his days shall yet be 120 years.”
Psalm 90 v 10: “The days of our years are three-score years and ten (seventy years) – or even, if by reason of strength, four-score years (eighty years); yet is their pride [in additional years] only labour and sorrow, for it is soon gone, and we fly away.”
Psalm 90 is credited to Moses, who was interceding with God to remove the curse which made it necessary for every Israelite over twenty years of age to die before reaching the Promised Land because they rebelled against God at Kadesh-barnea (Numbers 14 v 26 – 35). Moses said most of them were dying at seventy years of age. This number has often been mistaken as a set span of life for all mankind. It was not intended to refer to anyone except those Israelites under the curse during that particular forty years. Seventy years have never been the average life span of humanity. When Jacob the father of the twelve tribes had reached 130 years (Genesis 47 v 9), he complained that he had not attained the years of his immediate ancestors. In fact, Moses himself lived to be 120 years old, Aaron lived to be 123, Miriam several years older and Joshua 110 years of age.
God has created your body to live for 120 years without disease and God does not need a disease to get you to heaven.
In Genesis 6 v 3 God set the life span for man as 120 years and it has not changed since then. I encourage you to teach this to your children from when they are small – tell them that they are going to live to 120 years of age. The reason is you are what you believe. Jesus said, “According to your faith be it unto you.” (Matthew 9 v 29).
It is not unrealistic for the human body to live 120 years in divine health. Did you know that apart from sin and disease, the human body is designed to regenerate itself? For example your bones regenerate and are totally replaced every 20 years. Certain parts of your skin are replaced every 7 years and the lining of your intestines is replaced every 3 days.
God has created your body to live for 120 years without disease and God does not need a disease to get you to heaven.
Note as well that in the Millennium a person dying at 100 will still be thought a child and he is considered cursed because his life was cut short as a result of sin.
Isaiah 65 v 17 and 19-20: “17 – for behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth. And the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. 19 – And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; and the sound of weeping will no more be heard in it, nor the cry of distress. 20 – There shall no more be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who dies prematurely; for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner who dies when only a hundred years old shall be [thought only a child, cut off because he is] accursed.”
The human body is designed to live 120 years and anything less than that is a curse. A life cut short because of a disease is a curse (Deuteronomy chapter 28). Now I am not judging or condemning anybody that dies at an age less than 120 years as the reason why is none of my business. However I am going to believe God for a long life of at least 120 years (if Jesus doesn’t come before then) because I want to touch as many lives for God as I can. I want to be one of the 11th hour harvesters that spread the Lord’s Gospel to the ends of the earth. And what about you? If the Israelites were living to 70 years of age in their disobedience, imagine how long you could live for God in your obedience!
I’ve heard many people say, “Oh, I’d hate to live until 80 or 90 or 100.” As soon as they said that they spoke a curse over themselves. They are going to have what they said. You are today what you said about yourself yesterday. Your words shape your world because they have creative ability. What you confess over yourself is what you will become. What you confess over your life is what your life will become. You must never underestimate the power of your words.
Proverbs 18 v 21: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].”
Your thoughts and ultimately your words are seeds – they are containers of power – they will produce a harvest of either blessing and health or sickness and destruction. The reason that people say they don’t want to live to such an “old age” is because they envision in their minds an old person who can hardly see or hear, who is bent over and can hardly move, full of aches and pains. Aging is not a disease. You can still enjoy good health in old age. Proverbs 23 v 7, “As a man thinks in his heart, so does he become.” You are only as old as you think you are. My grandfather is 82 years old but he does not think of himself as old at all. He is physically active, he walks several kilometres a day whilst at work on his farm and he has a blood pressure as good as that of a 20 year old man. When the doctors take his blood pressure at a check up, he chuckles to himself because they take it two or three times to see if the machine is possibly not working properly. Once again, you are as old as you think you are. I have proved this to myself in my encounters with various elderly patients. The elderly people who are happy and active in their community are fit and healthy. When they have to come into hospital for an operation (for example a broken hip from a fall), they recover remarkably quickly. Those that have retired, have no real purpose in their lives any more, are depressed and are always talking about how old they are getting… are old! I have frequently seen a depressed, negative 60 year old who looks 20 years older than an active 80 year old who still has zest and a passion for life.
If you are 60 or more years old, listen to me – I have something very important to tell you and that is that the worst thing you can do is to retire. Scientific studies indicate that if you retire, you die quicker. I have seen it over and over again: when elderly patients retire and move into an old age home with all the other depressed old people, they get depressed themselves. I have seen their health rapidly deteriorate and it is only 6 months to 3 years before they die.
Don’t Retire! You Must Re-Fire!
Refuse to retire as long as you live because it’s too much fun serving God! You may not be able to do the job you were able to do when you were younger, but that doesn’t mean there is no longer a purpose for you. This is the best time of your life! Stay active and live for God! He can still use you mightily at your age. We need you. Your family needs you. Your cities need you. Mankind needs you. We need your wisdom. If you waste the last part of your life waiting to die, Moses is going to be waiting in heaven for you and he is going to put his finger in your face because he didn’t start his ministry until he was 80. At that age he ended up pastoring one of the largest churches in the history of mankind which included 3 and a half million Israelites. So what’s your excuse? And Moses couldn’t even talk properly, he had to have his brother speak for him. The great things that Abraham did for God for which he has been remembered throughout history was after the age of 75. In the introduction I shared the story of a lady who went on a mission trip to Ethiopia. God worked many mighty miracles through her and she lead many people to the Lord – she is 72 years old! You still have the potential to have a great impact for God. You have wisdom coming from years of experience behind you – be available for God to use you. D.L. Moody once said, “The world is yet to see what God can do through a man or woman who is totally committed to him.”
Dr. Caroline Leaf spoke of an 80 year old pilot who had to stop flying because his eye sight had deteriorated. He then went back to university and studied a 4 year degree to become a chartered accountant. At the age of 84 he qualified and began work in his new job. We all should be doing that. Stay active mentally and physically because your health depends on it.
Old age homes where elderly people are abandoned by their families are an utter disgrace, shame and abomination. The Bible is very clear about the consequences for those of you who are not looking after your parents and grandparents in their old age.
Stay active mentally and physically because your health depends on it.
Proverbs 23 v 22: “Hearken to your father who begot you, and despise not your mother when she is old.”
Proverbs 20 v 20: “Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in complete darkness.”
Proverbs 30 v 16: “The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out, and the young vultures will devour it.”
Leviticus 20 v 9: “Everyone who curses his father or mother shall surely be put to death…”
All the billions of dollars that are spent in research by cosmetic companies trying to find ways to prevent aging and prolong life is a waste of time and money. God gave us the answer to long life in the Bible thousands of years ago:
Deuteronomy 5 v 16: “Honour your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you…”
Ephesians 6 v 2: “Honour (esteem and value as precious) your father and your mother – this is the first commandment with a promise. That all may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth.”
Psalm 91 v 1 and 14 – 16: “1He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty… 14because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My Name [has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love and kindness – trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never]. 15He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him. 16With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
It will do you good to pay attention to the Word because what it is saying about health and sickness, we are proving in medical science today. The answer to long life is in the Bible – honour your father and mother and “Dwell in the secret place of the Most High.” (Psalm 91).
It will do you good to pay attention to the Word because what it is saying about health and sickness, we are proving in medical science today. The answer to long life is in the Bible – honour your father and mother and “dwell in the secret place of the Most High.” (Psalm 91). Dwelling in the secret place of the Most High means developing a close relationship with God by spending time in fellowship with Him in that secret place where it is just you and Him. The more time you spend with God, the more you get to know Him. The more you get to know Him, the more you come to genuinely love Him. Out of your love for Him flows a life of obedience. A life of obedience leads to a long life of divine health.
There is one more secret to long life in the Bible which is illustrated in this true story which Kenneth Hagin told in his book called “Mountain Moving Faith”: “Brother Smith came out to one of my meetings even though he wasn’t a member of that church. When the service was over, he said to me, “You know, Brother Hagin, I’ll be ninety years old in three weeks. And you know, I’m just as good a man, just as strong in every way as I was as a young man.” And he looked good. He said, “God’s kept me. You know I haven’t been sick in forty years. I got to reading the Bible one day where Jesus said, “The very hairs of your head are numbered.” [Matthew 10 v 30; Luke 12 v 7]. In other words He knows just how many hairs you have on your head. I got to thinking about that years ago. And I said to the Lord, “Well Lord, You know how many hairs I have. I’m just going to believe you to keep my hair.” So at age ninety this man had all his hair. Not only that, but Brother Smith at ninety years of age had only a few grey hairs. He believed God to keep his hair from turning grey.
My wife had never met Brother Smith before that night. Later I asked her, “How old do you think he is?” She said, “Not a day over fifty five.” Brother Smith was also a man of wealth, yet he’d get out and work every day. In fact, he’d outwork most young men. After Brother Smith shook hands with us, he started to go. But then he came back and said, Brother Kenneth, I’ll tell you something else. I also believed God to keep my teeth.” And he opened his mouth and showed me that he had every tooth in place, and there was not a filling in one of them. They were all his own teeth at ninety years of age! I’d never thought of that! Now you understand this is beyond just divine healing. But right on the other hand, the Bible says, “According to your faith be it unto you.” (Matthew 9 v 29) Brother Smith believed God would do it according to His Word and God did it. Brother Smith started to walk away the third time, and then he came back. He said, “Brother Kenneth, I’ll tell you the secret of the whole thing. You already know it but I’ll tell you anyway. I asked God first of all to help me keep this – to help me keep my tongue,“ and he stuck his tongue out. “That is what I want you to see, and it has everything in the world to do with a person living a long life and staying healthy. You see, the Bible says in 1 Peter 3 v 10, ”For let him who wants to enjoy life and see good days [good – whether apparent or not] keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from guild (treachery, deceit)”
Kenneth Hagin then continued to tell the story of a man who was a veteran from world war 1 and who had been gassed. As a result of his many traumatic memories he used to drink a lot. When he was drunk he would get very aggressive and was known for beating people up. He had put a few people in hospital because he had stabbed and cut them up severely. It was a small town where everybody knew each other. Nobody pressed charges because they all felt sorry for him as they knew what he had been through in the war. Eventually he got so dangerous that a policeman was forced to shoot him to prevent him from murdering somebody. “Everybody felt bad about it in a way but the whole town almost sighed a sigh of relief. After all, several people had nearly died from being cut up by this fellow. When he was killed everybody talked about it. Some people said, “Well, its good riddance. We hated for it to happen that way, but it’s just a good riddance.” I remember I went on the job that day, and we were talking about it. And everybody was expressing his opinion about this fellow. But Brother Smith wouldn’t say one evil thing about him. I remember hearing him say about the fellow, “Well, one thing about him, he did have lovely eyes.” When brother Smith said that I thought, that fellow did have lovely eyes. So Brother Smith said something good about this man. He wouldn’t say anything bad about him. And at ninety years of age, Brother Smith was just as strong as a younger man in every way because he had asked God to help him keep his tongue.”
Ecclesiastes 7 v 17: “[Although all have sinned] be not wicked over much or wilfully, neither be foolish – why should you die before your time?”
Psalm 103 v 2 & 5: “2Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits – 5Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle’s [strong, overcoming, soaring]!”
Download thees E books for Free to assist in your Healing!
Dirk Flemix – Living with Eternity on my mind book final