faith – FREEDOM IN CHRIST

The Real Word Of Faith Pt 4, God’s Will to Heal

This is a very emotive topic, that can be confusing. I, myself have spoken healing to my body and seen almost instant results several times, yet again for some things I still have not seen healing or renewal. Yet I do believe that is God’s will to heal. I know that healing is a part of the Gospel.

Jesus healed all who came to Him, why would this God of grace not have the will to heal all who come to Him through Jesus. Jesus told His disciples to go and proclaim that the kingdom of God is near and heal the sick and cast out demons. The good news was the Gospel with healings.

How anyone can say that healing is not a part of the Gospel is incredible and are deceiving themselves. Sickness is clearly stated as one part of the curse of the Law. Jesus redeemed us from the Curse of the Law, not just a part of the curse of the law but the whole of the curse of the law; and if we live by faith we should not be affected by the curse of the Law. Yet many do continue to fall to sickness.

I have not lost a day’s work to sickness for about for about 15 years. Since I began to understand what the word of God has to say on this subject. There have been times when I was attacked with sicknesses, but I stood in the word of God. I battled in prayer and the sicknesses left. Sometimes it was within ten minutes. Sometimes it took a few hours. The only time it took more than a day was because I started feeling sorry for myself and decided that I need to stay in bed all day. I came to my senses in the evening, and I battled in prayer for the sickness to depart from me. When I woke up the next morning, I was well; it had gone!

For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.” Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.” However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “He who practices them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” Galatians 3:10-13

Jesus bore the whole curse of the Law when He hung on the cross. The Whole curse of the law. Not just sickness and mental problems, also poverty and lack of needs. That means we are under God’s blessing instead of the curse. Yet we still have these mortal bodies that have been corrupted by sin; that will still fall to sickness and death. This even though in Christ, we are dead to sin and alive to Christ.

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

There is a promise within the New Testament regarding the health and life of our bodies here on earth, before we go to be with the Lord in death/sleep. The Spirit gives life to our mortal bodies right here and now, in this life.

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Romans 8:11-14

IF the Sprit gives life to our mortal bodies, it must be more than the life that every other human has, without Christ. Then that life from the Spirit should also protect from illness and heal any sickness that comes upon us. These are promised to His children many times in scripture. Psalm 91 is great place to find some of the promises for protection from the enemy and sickness.

I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

For you have made the Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent. For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. Psalms 91:2-4,9-11

I think that we do not know how to truly trust in the Lord and make Him our refuge. Like the first sign of a headache, we reach for the pills. Or a cold or sore throat, we reach for the cold remedy. Instead of calling upon the Name of the Lord. There is no known man-made medicine that can cure a cold, the Lord can! There is no cure or prevention from flu. Only medicine and shots that can boost the immune system to help fight off the virus.

There is nothing that the Lord cannot heal. How many of us really believe this? Yet we still put our trust in the medical profession, who for the most can of treat the symptoms of most sicknesses, to give some relief.

The Psalm above more or less says that if we make the Lord our refuge, no evil will come upon us or any plague near our tent (earthly dwelling/body). This is a tremendous promise of God. why do so many of us not stand on this word of our Lord. Maybe as I said we do not know how to really trust in the Lord and make Him our refuge, in everyday life. I stood on this word all through Covid 19 and did not catch the virus. I did not take the vaccine.

Yes, we call out to God in earnest when something big or bad comes our way. That is not making the Lord our refuge. If we made the Lord our refuge in our everyday life, we may not ever come to a point where something bad causes us to have to cry out to the Lord, out of desperation. When some challenge comes our way, we can just speak what God has said in His word, and ask anything in the name of Jesus, then see it done for us to the Glory of God. That our joy would be made full.

In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full. John 16:23-24

God knows how vulnerable our mortal bodies are to sickness and has said that it is He that heals all, not some, but ALL of our diseases. I have the thought, or attitude that God does not desire for any of His children to suffer pain in sickness and die from sickness. God’s desire is for us to live long and full, fruitful lives. When we die, it should be because it is time, not because we are so ill, we cannot sustain our life. As it has been said, it is the Spirit that gives life to our mortal bodies.

That brings on another question that came to me recently. Should we spend the last years of our lives doing all we can to fight off death? I was interested to hear that John Mcarthy Has had another operation on his heart to extend his life. It is not just John though, the whole of a lot of our societies around the world, want to do what they can to extend the lives of everyone in their countries.

Is this not a kind of pride, a sticking up the proverbial finger at God? A kind of, “I know that my days of life are numbered, planned by God, but I want to see if I can outlive God’s plan. Through prayer God extended the life of king Hezekiah by fifteen years because of a heartfelt prayer. King Asa died from a foot infection because he trusted the doctors instead of God. Back to Psalm 91.

Trust in the Lord and take refuge in Him, dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Trust in, have faith in God and the Word that He has given to us in the Bible. It is the word of faith. This is the word of faith that is for us as God’s children, should be using daily in our everyday lives.

God said to the Israelites concerning the law, to obey so that none of the plagues of Egypt would come upon them, Then He adds, ‘I am the God who heals you!’ As if He knew that they would not be able to obey the law fully. God knew that they would succumb to sickness due to the curse of the Law; but reassures them that He will heal them.

The God of grace and mercy back then is the same God we have today. Jesus fulfilled the law and became accursed on our behalf. We are no longer subject to the Law, and Our God is still the God who heals us. Not just some things; a God who heals all our diseases, all our ailments every virus is subject to our God and His Word. I will leave the last word to the Psalmist King David.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. Psalms 103:1-5

Be Blesssed

Charlie

The Real Word Of Faith Pt 3

Last time we saw that the word of faith includes Speaking out in faith as seen through the teaching of Jesus. ‘Speak to the mountain.’ ‘Whatever you ask for will be done.’

Today we will look at one of the biggest criticisms by heresy hunters, that the people that they are speaking against, do not preach the Gospel! They mean the Gospel of salvation from eternal death. But they fail to acknowledge that the true Gospel is more than just this born-again experience. Though they would be careful not to use the word experience, because that sounds too much like having some feelings!

Let us take a look at what the Gospel is, from the words of Jesus. He said and told His disciples to tell people that the Kingdom of God is near. This was the Good News, the Gospel. —– This was Jesus’ declaration in the synagogue in His hometown. In Luke 4

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed. To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18-19

The Spirit of the Lord has anointed Jesus to preach the Gospel to the poor! A question, what would be good news to you if you are poor. Maybe it is that the poverty curse of the law has been broken, that God will provide for every need that you have. That’s good news to the poor!

The Spirit of the Lord anointed Jesus to release the captives. This takes a little bit of thinking, the logical meaning to me is that the captives are those who are under the bondage of sin, or under the bondage of the law of sin and death.

The recovery of sight to the blind can means a couple of things, actually blind people will be able to see again, as we see that Jesus opened the eyes of several blind people. Also, Jesus speaks of spiritual blindness. People who are unable to see the truth that was before them, ‘Jesus as the Messiah.’

To set free the oppressed! In the book of acts we read that Peter said in acts 10.38, Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. This seems to indicate that sickness is oppression of the devil. Jesus quote in Luke was from Isaiah 61, it reads…

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me, to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, Isaiah 61:1-2

Jesus used the word poor instead of afflicted. This indicates that poverty was an affliction, one that was brought on by the curse of the law. The Good News is that the curse of the law concerning poverty has been lifted through Jesus.

The heresy hunters will be quick to tell us that there were still poor believers in Jerusalem during the apostolic times. Yes, there was a famine, Yet God provided for the needs of the church in Jerusalem, through generous gifts from the churches of the gentiles. This is clearly seen in the Epistles.

To bind up the broken hearted, sounds to me like mental healing is part of the Gospel, liberty to the captives, is not talking about those in a literal prison, but held captive by sickness and disease.

You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38

Jesus told His disciples to go and declare that the Kingdom of God is near, and to heal the sick and cast out demons. This is all a part of the Good News. Especially for those who were sick, and demon possessed. It is all a part of the Gospel.

The Good News, the Gospel is that the Kingdom of God is here, to those of us who believe, is near to those who don’t believe. The Gospel is for this life as well as eternity. The Gospel is spiritual as well as physical. It is not just for a hope in the future, it is also for a hope in this life.

Jesus at the Sermon on the mount spoke of future hope and present physical hope. Blessed are the poor in heart, for they shall see God. – Spiritual hope for the future.

The prosperity Gospel is not about getting mega rich or even just rich, it is about God providing for every need that we have. I believe that will include an abundance, or overflowing. This is so that we have surplus to be able to help others too, by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Of course, the heresy hunters do not see this. They will say that God or the Holy Spirit does not speak to us anymore, except by reading the Bible, because that would be adding to the scriptures! Jesus tells us;

Look at the birds how God cares for them to feed them, look at the lilies Solomon was not clothed as good as them. Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you. Look at what God has done for His creation why would He not do the same for us His children?

Some will say that my theology is off, but it not a question of theology, it is more a statement of logic. That is what Jesus is using, pure logic!

Matthew 6:25-34

“For this reason, I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil, nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34

The Apostle Paul strengthens this in the letter to the Philippians.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

Be anxious for nothing, Jesus said cast your burden upon Him. Here Paul says with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. That is the same as Jesus said in Mark 11, when you pray believe that you have received. With thanksgiving. This is the word of faith that I/we are preaching.

When we came to Jesus, we believed what He said and did for the salvation of our souls. We have believed for an eternity that we cannot see, or even understand fully, what it will be like to have immortal bodies. We just know that when we see Him at the rapture, we will be like Him.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. Hebrews 11:1-2

Jesus tells us that faith the size of a grain of mustard seed would enable us to do what naturally seems impossible. ‘Nothing with be impossible for you.’ We cannot even please God without faith. We need to have faith in God for all areas of our lives. Not just for signs and wonders.

If we do not have faith for small things in our lives, such providing for our needs, how can we have faith for signs and wonders? This is an important question. Faith is necessary in thinking words and actions, according to God. It is a God given faith; faith comes by hearing the Word of God!

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:6

Faith is a living thing, that should be active, within us at all times for all things in our lives. Galatians 5 tells us that if we walk by faith, we will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

Jesus tells us that the words of our mouths reflect the state of our hearts. Are we going to speak word of doubt and negativity or are we going to speak out words of faith.

This is not some new age doctrine, it started with God in His word. Other religions and the world have their own counterfeit versions of what our Bible clearly teaches.

Be Blessed

Charlie

The Real Word of Faith pt 2

Last time…. we looked at God’s will to prosper us!

Moving on to speaking out in faith. The condemners of the word of faith idea make the great mistake of ignoring, or not even accepting things that the word of God says. Even denying some things that Jesus actually said. Theologising away the true meaning of Jesus words.

And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. Mark 11:22-24

It is clear, that Jesus meant what He said above. It was in response of the disciple’s amazement that the fig tree that was spoken to the day before by Jesus, had died. Jesus tells us to Speak in faith and not doubt in the heart. Believe what you says is going to happen, it will be granted. Jesus then doubles down on what He is saying by adding for prayer, believe that you have received What you asked for, and they will be granted you. This scripture even has a type of decreeing and declaring as part of prayer. Whoever says to this mountain!

Jesus tells us, “Whoever says to this mountain.” This tells us that we have authority over the earth, that we can speak to things and what we speak will happen. The prerequisite is to have faith in God. It does not have to be a great faith! Faith of the size of a grain of mustard seed. Elsewhere we are told that we will not enter the Kingdom of God unless we have a child like faith! We just need a simple faith and nothing shall be impossible to us.

Again, Jesus states this truth, yes, it is a truth not just a good idea or manmade doctrine. After disciples could not cast out a demon, let’s remember that previously the disciples had been casting out demons. They had marvelled at the power that they had. It could be said that they kind of boasted about it. This was not just the twelve, it was also the, another seventy.

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. Matthew 17:19-20

‘The littleness of your faith.’ Could this be some reason we do not see these signs in our day. There are many preachers that will tell us that these kinds of things passed away with the death of the last of the apostles during the first century after Christ death and resurrection. Jesus tells His disciples that if they had faith the size of a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible to them. Again, we see that it is all about speaking out in faith! Jesus is not specifically talking about mountains, but anything that we declare or ask of the father.

When we put together all of the prayer promises of Jesus teaching, anything means anything. When we are led by the spirit to pray and ask for things, be it healing, casting out demons, or even provision for our needs. This is clear teaching of Jesus. But for so long we have been told by some preachers and teachers that this is not what Jesus actually meant. That God does not really desire for us all to prosper. Hearing this promotes doubt in the hearts of people.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. Hebrews 11:1-2

If you Have a small amount of faith, we should be able to do the works of Jesus and more! Nothing should be impossible for us. That is what Jesus said! These are the plain and simple to understand words of Jesus. Anyone who says that the speaking or declaring things as form of prayer is not found in the Bible are denying the words of the Lord Jesus. “If you speak to the mountain,” “If you speak to the tree to be removed to the sea, it will be done for you.”

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you. Luke 17:5-6

Is this not decreeing and declaring? Just a small amount of faith should enable us, with the Holy Spirit residing within us, to speak and see impossible things happen. We all know that it does not seem to work for a lot of the time. That is not a reason to not believe what Jesus said. We tend to doubt when the thing we pray for, declared does not happen miraculously, immediately. The doubters and critics who put down this kind of prayer seem to have the Gospel, a form of godliness but deny the power of it. The words of their mouths relay the state of their hearts.

I have watched many hours of some of these people who seem to think that they have a ministry of calling out who they think are false teachers. There is no such ministry listed in the New Testament. There are examples of Paul seemingly calling out some false teachers. They are public to us as we can read about them. They are not an open public calling out, they are private, written to individuals, and individual churches.

Paul also wrote to Timothy that he should study and be careful of what he preached, taught. I see that most of these accusers claim to be cessationists, and reformed, Calvinists, who have doctrines and teachings that are suspect. What I have heard from watching some of the apologetics that they use, they twist scripture so much more than the people that they are talking about. They do this to try to scripturally make their point.

It is true that some people have got rich through their ministry, not all of these are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Many people, even millions, have come to know the Lord through the Gospel that was preached by these people. A Gospel that includes salvation, healing, and prosperity. The Good news that the promises of God to the Hebrews of the Old Covenant are the same promises for us under the New Covenant, without the curse of failing to obey the law.

Under the Old Covenant sickness was a curse of the law, poverty was a curse of the law. The curse of the law comes as God removes His protection and blessing. God’s blessing of Abraham was not just the land of Caanan, the promise of a future Messiah, it is clear that God greatly blessed Abraham in wealth and possessions. We are supposed to be blessed with the blessing of Abraham which was before the law of the Old Covenant.

The blessing of Abraham is that all the world would be blessed with salvation through the descendant of Abraham, Jesus. Abraham was blessed through his faith in the promises of God. Pomises not promise, the Saviour of the world.

We can say that the promise, blessings of Abraham were demonstrated to the Hebrews, in them possessing the promised land of Caanan. They were blessed with victories in battle in supernatural ways. They were blessed as Abraham in prosperity, in livestock, fruit of the land, children and more. The Hebrews prospered as God had promised them also through Moses in Deuteronomy 28. They also suffered the curse of the law through disobedience.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. Psalms 103:2-5

Decreeing and declaring can be seen as proclaiming the word of God, the promises of God in situations. For instance, God is our healer, it is God’s will to heal us. So many in the church in general have forgotten this truth. Even leaders will admit that is not God’s will to heal everyone. That is not what was displayed in the ministry of Jesus.

Sickness is a curse of the law. The whole world is under the curse of the law, a part of the curse that came upon the world through the sin of disobedience of Adam. Jesus told his Disciples that those who believe in Him will lay hands on the sick and the WILL be healed. Jesus gave more detail than this though. He said those who believe because of the word preached by the Disciples will heal the sick and cast out demons!

These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; Mark 16:17

The Word of Faith is declaring the Word of God in our lives. There are those who think this is heresy. They are wrong as they deny the power of the Word of God. They deny the power of the Gospel. They deny the power of God the Holy Spirit that lives within us.

The world has taken the word of faith from the Bible and used it to great effect. It has become a way of the world, but it is counterfeit to the real word of faith as taught by the Word of God, through faith in the Lord. The world has faith in their own ability to prosper, not faith in the Lord.

We are to Have Faith in God, and speak to the mountains that come up in life, and tell them to be remove, they will god through faith, not with doubt in our hearts. Mountains of sickness and disease, Mountains of poverty and of lack, mountains of struggle and opposition.

We just need to have a small amount of faith the size of a grain of mustard seed, and nothing should be impossible to us

Be Blessed

Charlie

The Real Word Of Faith pt. 1

The Real Word Of Faith!

I thought that I would do a message about the word of faith. Partly because I am sick of all the people of social media who rubbish, lay into the so-called word of faith movement. It has been labelled the word of faith movement because that is the name of the monthly magazine produced by Kenneth Hagin Ministries. Through this they call Kennth H. the father of the word of faith movement.

Now let me clear something up. The word of faith got mixed up and intertwined with the so-called prosperity gospel movement. What I mean is that some sinister preachers saw a way to use the true word of faith to make themselves rich. This has nothing to do with the living in faith for God’s provision that Kenneth Hagin promoted.

I admit that there are some unscrupulous persons within the word of faith believers that have taken things too far and created a false doctrine of the word of faith. Just as there are false doctrines in many other Christian groups. Such infant baptism; the Catholic sacrament of communion; cessationism; adherence to the Jewish law or part of it; that God’s only means to talk to us is through the Bible, double predestination of the Calvinists. These are all perversions of the Gospel in some way.

The doctrine that it is God’s will to prosper us Spiritually, physically and financially is all part of the Gospel of Jesus. Jesus healed all who came to Him, except some because of the lack of people’s faith. (Lack of Faith)! Jesus and His disciples never had a lack of finances. They gave to the poor! It was God’s will for His people to prosper in all areas of life, under the Old Covenant. Would our Father take away that will for His people under the New Covenant. A better Covenant with better promises.

Peter said, “Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You.” And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.” Luke 18:28-30

Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. Mark 10:29-30

These scriptures clearly show that the blessing of God upon those who choose not to trust/have faith in their own possessions, count them as nothing compared to following Christ, will see increase in prosperity in friends and family as well as possessions. Notice that it makes a differential between this life and the life to come. God’s will is for us to prosper in this life, age! There is also the notice in marks Gospel, that those riches will have persecutions accompanying.

The psalms are a great place to see what God’s will and grace towards His children is. In fact, God’s will to prosper His people/children can be found all through the whole of the Bible. Some can be attributed as specifically to the children of Israel, in the promised land. The truth about God is that He only desires what is good for His children.

O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear the Lord, you, His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing. Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life and loves length of days that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry. Psalms 34:8-15

Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday. Psalms 37:3-6

These Psalms clearly show the heart of God to prosper His children in their lives, in this life. It is a question of faith in the Lord. Cultivate faithfulness and He will give you the desires of your heart. Taste and see that the Lord is good. They who seek the Lord will not be in lack of any good thing!

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. Psalms 103:1-5

The benefits of trusting and worshipping the Lord are forgiveness of all our sins, all of our sins. The healing of all our diseases. Crowning us with His loving-kindness and His compassion. He will satisfy our years with good things, so that our youth shall be renewed as the eagle. This sounds much like a Gospel of prosperity! It includes forgiveness, healing and prosperity!

The preaching, teaching that God’s will is to prosper us is not unbiblical in any way. Again, I agree that a few people have taken this to extreme in a very wrong way; for their own personal gain. Just because some preachers have gone wrong, does not make the prosperity message as a whole, as being unbiblical. God’s desire is to bless His children with good things. That includes monetary wealth and healing. To take these things out of the Gospel is to not preach the whole Gospel.

When some people say such things as, prosperity preachers are going to hell for leading people astray, they are in danger of ending up in hell themselves. This kind of judgement that they make as to condemning people to hell is solely God’s to make.

The word of faith message is straight out of the Word of God!

Be Blessed

Charlie

The Blessing Of The Lord

A Blessing of God

Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!” And God granted him what he requested. 1 Chronicles 4:10

I opened my Bible the other day, as I have more than just a little interest in the history of Israel, to 1 Chronicles. Some of the genealogies are monotonous to me as they are to anyone, then I came across this kind of random verse about a man called Jabez. I asked myself, “Isn’t this a selfish prayer?” So, I bookmarked it to ponder upon.

The prayer is not just for the blessing of God, but to be blessed indeed, or in today’s language, ‘Well blessed.’ Enlarge my border is to have more land or property. Then the last part of the prayer is for protection that it will not be a pain to him. I think that Jabez was probably asking that his riches would not cause him harm and become a pain to him. On the surface it sounds like a totally selfish prayer. BUT God granted Jabez his request. It does say this about Jabez. These are the only two verses there are about this man.

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez saying, “Because I bore him with pain.” 1 Chronicles 4:9

My mind went swimming with all the promises of God that were written. I thought about the promises of God that most of us gladly claim and accept. Salvation, eternal life provision of our needs healing! We tend to shy away from the promises of success and wealth, because of the bad press of the prosperity gospel fraternity. God did promise and gave the prosperous land of Canaan to the Israelites. God promised to Abraham, to bless the people of faith after the faith of Abraham, with the blessings of Abraham. This included wealth.

Then recalling the many times that Jesus taught about prayer, that we would be granted whatever we ask for, if we ask in faith. But we have been taught and it is in our hearts that we must pray according to the will of God. The question should be is it God’s will to bless us with more than we need. I would say yes to that question. Because then we can be a blessing to others. That is part of the being an honourable man.

David says in this psalm that as Saints, we who fear/revere/honour God and seek Him there is no want or lack of ANY good thing. This is God’s will. Pauls says that God will supply all our needs, not just the desperate ones. Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, Knock and it will be opened. Look at it this way, we need to ask in faith. That is an important point. Asking and then adding if it be your will Lord, is not asking in faith. Ask and it will be given, maybe it will take a while. The second aspect of this is seeking, to me that sounds like living with an expectancy, not doubt. That expectancy is looking for the answer to the prayer, sometimes that can take some work.

It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it. Proverbs 10:22

This can take a long time to explain, but it is not the prosperity gospel, prosperity is a part of the Gospel, as is salvation the number one aspect, and healing, peace, righteousness and joy in the Holy Spirit. Next time we look at some more of the promises of God as our provider.

God’s Blessings

Above we saw that Jabez prayed and ask for prosperity, and it says that God granted his request. That is the basic truth about Jabez, and that he was more honourable than his brothers. Perhaps he read David’s Psalm below. Maybe He worked out that God is faithful to His promises. Trust in the Lord, do good and cultivate faithfulness in God, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. Psalms 37:3-5

I have heard teaching that says that if we are faithful in works for God, grow in faith, read the Bible and keep it on our minds constantly, That God will change our desires to His desires for us. This sounds like good teaching on the surface, thinking deeper about it, it would be so easy to make these things into works of our flesh. Jesus cuts through this, in the middle of the parable about the vine. Jesus is the vine and as long as we stay connected to the Vine, we will be abiding in Him, and His word is abiding in us. We will bear fruit.

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15:7

There is a condition that is not really a condition. We must abide in Jesus and His word. We must obey His commandments. What commandments are they? To love God and to love one another. Jesus taught that we are not in the will of the Father unless we forgive everyone who has something against us. Unforgiveness creates some sort of blockage in our relationship with God.

The question is, Does God want us to be prosperous? I don’t mean to be so rich that we have too much money to know what to do with. I am talking about having plenty and not be in lack of any good thing. That is one of God’s promises. To have enough that we can give away and be a blessing to others. When I read through John’s Gospel, it is noticeable how many times it says that we will get what we pray for.

Whatever you ask in my name, that’s what Jesus said. The next question is this; Does God want us to be poor and have lack in our lives? The answer is No. There may be times that we go through periods of lack. Have challenging times of not enough. Generally, God’s will, is for us to prosper; to have more than enough. Though this psalms says more, and it is a heart humbleness, not a works humbleness.

But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. Psalms 37:3-5,11

We are going through some tough times financially, but God is our provider, not the world or the government. God may well use the world or government to provide for us, but our faith should be in God. Everybody seems to be relying on the government to do something to help with inflation, especially fuel costs. If we do this as Christians, our faith is no longer in God.

Ask for anything in Jesus Name. In this chapter there are no added conditions to this promise of answered prayer, except to ask in Jesus’ name. If we have a daily relationship with the Lord, we are abiding in Him and His word. We must believe what He said is true, whether we are asking on behalf of others or for ourselves. As Jabez did and God granted His request.

For us He will do it.

The Lord Bless You

Charlie

God’s Word, Our Shepherd!

God’s Word Our Shepherd

Some may find this title surprising, but I read 1 Peter 2:25 and it came to me. I said to myself yes that is true. Then I read the whole of the chapter, and other verses came into mind to support this thought. There are so many that I cannot put them all in this part, 544 but we will see what we can fit in.

Peter wrote this book to Christian Jews who had been scattered to various places (see 1 Peter 1:10). Basically, he is saying to these people that they by becoming Christians, have returned to the shepherd and guardian of their souls. Now they have been born of the Spirit and are making the choice with their minds to follow Jesus, The Word!

The key word for me in this is ‘Returned.’ Before being born again they were straying sheep. Straying from what though? It was straying from the truth of God’s word. God’s word to them is our Old Testament, which is full of the promises of redemption that was to come in Jesus. Even the Law! Full of promises of blessing to them. Even the blessings of Abraham. So, who is the Shepherd and Guardian of their souls? Of course It is Jesus The living word of God.

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds, you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. 1 Peter 2:24-25 NASB

If we are only taught the law and not the Grace of God, we get into bondage to the law. If we try to live according to the law of sin and death, we will live in bondage to it. Grace set us free. The grace of God is that He loved the world so much he sent His son, The Word. He sent His Son to redeem the world. The redemption price was paid, because God love everyone. The price was paid for everyone. We are saved by grace through faith in the Word.

So, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36 NASB

Returning to the guardian and shepherd of their souls is returning to a life of faith in the Word of God. If you look at the 10 Commandments and think about them along this line. They are commandments of Love. If We love God and our neighbour, we will not break any of the other commandments. That is why the Word says that Jesus was the fulfilment of the law.

Now the Word (Jesus) being the shepherd of our souls. Here is a verse that says something similar. Because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, God had to do something to try to protect His people. He gave them the law, His Word. Not so they could be condemned for not obeying, but to show them right from wrong. To protect them from the evil that was being done by the people they were driving out of the promised land, and the peoples that were around them too. To make the point here are three different translations of the next verse.

But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Galatians 3:23 NASB

So until the revelation of faith for salvation was released, the law was a jailer, holding us as prisoners under lock and key until the “faith,” which was destined to be revealed, would set us free. Galatians 3:23 TPT

Until the time when we were mature enough to respond freely in faith to the living God, we were carefully surrounded and protected by the Mosaic law. The law was like those Greek tutors, with which you are familiar, who escort children to school and protect them from danger or distraction, making sure the children will really get to the place they set out for. Galatians 3:23 MSG

The Law was the Guardian and shepherd of the Jewish people until Jesus, The Word became flesh, until He could come and set them free. Faith comes by hearing The Word of Christ. The Word of Christ is the living Word of God. Even more than that Christ is the living Word of God. So, when Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd,” He is saying that the Word is our shepherd. The word is a lamp to our feet and a light unto our path. That is Jesus the light of the world.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1,14

God said through King Solomon, a wise man! Give attention to My Words, they are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh. All the wisdom that we need is within God’s word. God’s word is life to us. Not our Blood, that is life to our bodies, to a point. Our life that keeps our bodies going is the life of our spirit. Without our spirits our bodies are dead. So, the life of the Word of God is a Spiritual life that affects our bodies.

The point is this, it is the word of God that we should be into as much as we possibly can. It is the truth, and the truth sets us free from the bondage of sin and death to eternal life. It is the Word that is our shepherd. What is it that we walk by faith in? It is the Word of God. How do we know God and Jesus The Word? By meditating on the Word of God

If eternal life is knowing God and Jesus His son, John 17:3, then we have eternal life by knowing His word. Thinking about this, it seems that may just be the answer why so many people/Christians are still in bondage and not the freedom which was brought for us with the price of the life/death of our Lord Jesus. They do not know the Word of God, so they do not know God and Jesus His Son.

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. Psalms 119:105

This verse from Psalms tells us that wisdom is found in God’s word. It says that if we want to see which way to go in life then we have the Word of God to lead us. The Word of God is our shepherd, Jesus, The Word, is the one who will lead us through any trial or tribulation, to still water and green pastures, as it says in Psalm 23. God’s word is truth, and Jesus said that the truth will set us free. We become free through the knowledge of God’s word, as we allow it to lead us in the way that we should walk.

Be Blessed

Charlie

The Deception Of The World

Acceptance Of Sin!

There is massive deception that is spreading across the world. It is the acceptance of sin, sinful practices, as normal. We are told to put on the full armour of God for us to be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. The devil is a liar and the father of lies, and he has and is feeding lies to the world that many types of sin are OK.

You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

There are many lies that the world chooses to accept, but we as Christians do not have to accept the so-called political correctness that try to invade our churches. The world without Christ is still under the curse of the law. We have chosen the path of righteousness; the world chooses to follow the deceptions of the devil. The way of the world.

For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, Romans 1:26-28

There are degrees of sin,

This is something that we need to understand. Equality, diversity and inclusion laws that are forced upon us are not Godly. They have become a way to force all to accept sinful lifestyles and ideas. In parts they are demonic, they are schemes of the devil.

The Word of God clearly states truths to us that we should stand upon. People are deceived into believing they are something that God never created them to be. I am talking about gender ID, and homosexuality. The scripture above says that God has given them over to a depraved mind. That means that their minds have become blind to what is right. They think that what they choose to do is good. It has gone so far that people can question whether they are male or female. Even worse that than that, that we should stop teaching children that they are boys or girls.

But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother, and the two shall become one flesh; so, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Mark 10:6-8

I was at a child protection and safeguarding course for swimming teachers a few weeks ago. This covers children from birth to 18 years old. We were told that if fully developed teenage girl came to the pool to swim in men’s swimming trunks because she identified herself as male, it is acceptable. That she cannot be challenged!

We can see clearly the direction that the world chooses to go in acceptance of these things. As Christians we should not go along with the world’s views. We are to love the people as God does, but not be condoning the sin that they live in. We should be showing the love of God towards them by sharing with them the truth found in God’s Word.

We are not to judge people in sin to condemnation. We are to stand upon and declare the truth of God’s word, hoping to bring people to transforming forgiveness that is in Christ. We know our eternal destination in Christ, and the eternal destination for those who end life without Christ.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus to die that the world’s sin might be forgiven. It is forgiven, the only sin not forgiven is unbelief in Jesus. To choose to continue in sin is to reject the forgiveness that comes through belief in Christ. I am talking about a lifestyle of sin, of which homosexuality and gender dysphoria is. These are Spiritual problems that effects the thought processes in what is right and wrong.

There are those who will never accept the truth of God’s word, to repent and accept God’s grace in forgiveness. They will reject The Lord Jesus and His payment for their sin. This is because they will refuse to acknowledge that their sin, is sin! This comes because of the acceptance by the world of the sin’s normality. They call what is bad as good, what is good bad! But God says:

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight! Isaiah 5:20-21

Jesus tells us that way to eternal life is narrow, and few will travel on that road; that wide is the path to destruction and many will go down that road. This indicates that in comparison there will be few who will accept the goodness of God’s forgiving redemption, compared with those who reject it.

As Christians, we are not responsible for who will or will not come to repentance. Every person is responsible for their own direction for their lives. We can just deliver the good news of God Kingdom of grace and forgiveness. The response of people is down to individual choice.

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 7:13-14

There is only one way to eternal life, that is through accepting the payment made by the death Jesus Christ. It cannot be that people accept that sinful lifestyles are normal and not sin, that is to call God a liar. For God has made a way of escape from the judgement that leads to the second death; being cast into the lake of fire, from which there is no escape.

God is extending grace, forgiveness of sin through Jesus. It is just a simple choice. Reject The Lord Jesus or confess that Jesus is Lord now in this life.

But what does it say? “The word is near you , in your mouth and in your heart ”that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Romans 10:8-10

The truth is this, that God has already forgiven all sin except rejection of Jesus, if we say that have not sinned, we make God a liar. Everyone has to come to a place where we repent of our sin and accept God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ. To not do this is rejection of God’s forgiveness.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:16-18

What choice will you make?

To repent from accepting what God calls sin and stand for truth? Or to go with the world and stand on the side of the lies of the devil? It is a choice that needs to be made. This is the biggest choice that anyone will have to make in this life. It will determine our eternal destination!

Be Blessed

Charlie

The Mind Of The Lord

Mind of The Lord

This scripture is one that I have loved for many years as I am sure many of you have. It popped up on my TV screen while having piano worship playing on YouTube. So, I began thinking about these verses, and how they relate to believers today. Sometimes we read some scripture and not really think too deeply about it.

Isaiah was a prophet to the Hebrews directly, he also prophesied things related to us as the Church of Jesus Christ. Not everything that is in Isaiah can be related to the Church today. This is because our relationship with God is very different to that of the Hebrews of his day. Two very different covenants.

The Covenant of the Law, usually called the Old Covenant, was a covenant made between God and the chosen people, the Israelites and any other people who lived with them. It was the mind of God for the Chosen people and relates specifically to the promised prosperity for them living in the promised land of Canaan, (Israel).

The question is, can we know the mind and thoughts of God? It is truth that God’s thoughts and ways are higher than ours when we think in flesh in the natural. God thoughts are higher than ours when led by worldly wisdom and ideas of living and doing things.

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:14-16

This scripture tells us that we have the mind of Christ. How does this equate with the words of Isaiah? Isaiah was talking about the coming salvation of the world through the suffering servant Jesus. The only way that the people of the Hebrews got to know the thoughts of God was through a Spirit anointed prophet. That was under the Old Covenant.

The natural man! When we go by our natural thoughts and inclination, we do not accept the things of the Spirit, we cannot understand them. When we look at things, problems that we have to overcome from the natural stand point, then try to work them out through our own natural wisdom we restrict the power of the Spirit to work through us.

Under the New Covenant every one of us has the seal of the Holy Spirit in us, and the access to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is through the Spirit that we have the mind of Christ. We have the wisdom of God at the tip of our tongues, and in our souls, all we need to do is ask, and God will give His wisdom to us, freely, willingly and generously.

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. James 1:5-6

Sometimes we must trust the thoughts that come to us as the wisdom of God. It does not matter if that thought seems contrary to the way we think, or the world thinks that is the way forward. If we are led by the Spirit sometimes, we will be led in what we think is strange to our natural minds. I think that is what it means that God’s thoughts and ways are higher than ours. God’s thoughts towards us are written in His word!

God’s desire is that we know God’s thoughts and ways in working out our lives, in every area of our lives. God’s desire is that we walk by the Spirit. When we do walk by the Spirit, we will not carry out the desires of the flesh. We will carry out the desires od the Spirit, and so, the desires of God for our lives, in each situation.

There are many instances in the Old Testament where men of God did things that seem strange to the natural mind. David, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha to name a few. Men that were anointed with the Spirit of God to do what seemed unnatural. They sought after God and did as the Spirit led.

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. John 16:13 NASB1995

The words of Jesus talking about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Whatever He hears, He will speak to us. In any situation that we face we can know the wisdom that we need. As James said sometimes, we will need to ask, in faith. As Christians we have access to the thoughts and ways of God in regard to things in our lives.

It is clearly God’s will for us to know the will of God. We should be proving what the will of God is by the renewing of our minds, as it says in Romans 12. One of the roles of the Holy is to reveal to us the will of God, the mind (thoughts) of God. When we are led by the Spirit sometimes, we do not know what to do until we have prayed. On top of that we have Jesus and the Holy Spirit interceding to the Father on our behalf. The Spirit that now lives within us will reveal the mind of the Lord to us for anything that we pray for.

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. John 14:12-15

God’s Will is for us to know His mind, that we will know that we can ask anything in Jesus’ name knowing that we have asked according to the will of God.

He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore, I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. John 16:14-15

Be Blessed

Charlie