If You Say So...

Why is it bad things happen to good people? The Christian cliché. What happened to being “more than a conqueror”? Christian frustration. “Lord, if it is Your will…” Christian ignorance. “You never know what God is going to do.” Just plain stupid…

One of the reasons “bad things happen to good people” is found in the words that so many Christians say. Unfortunately, many Christians do not believe the Scriptures regarding the power of words, and so they do not even realize that they are doing themselves harm. We will get to that momentarily. First off, let’s look at Proverbs 23:7. “For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” Solomon is referring to a selfish man; however, this passage is true of all people. How you think about, feel about, or perceive yourself in your heart and mind is what you will ultimately become. This is a huge problem within the body of Christ, because so many believers do not think rightly, or according to the Scriptures, about themselves or their circumstances around them. Too many Christians expect something bad to come upon them at some point. They meditate on what they see and hear going on around them. They look at the news reports and meditate on the economy, medical reports, or even bad theology regarding the Christian life and come to wrong conclusions about “reality.” Rather than meditating on the Answer, they focus constantly on the problem, so much so that they become thoroughly convinced that something bad is in the works. The result is that they speak these reports as “truth.”

Let me get one thing straight before we move on: there is a big difference between fact and truth. For example, the economy is factually in a down position, causing problems for people throughout the nation. However, the truth regarding you and me as believers is: my God shall supply all of my needs in accordance to His Word in Philippians 4:19. One of these statements is a fact, the other is the truth. Another example could be that there is factually cancer in the body of a believer. However, the truth is that by the stripes of Jesus we are healed (Isaiah 53:5; 1Peter 2:24); not someday, not in heaven, not if God is in a good mood and makes it happen. We are healed. One is a current fact; the other is the Gospel Truth. One of the definitions of “truth” is “the highest form of reality that exists.” When you apply higher reality to lower reality, the lower form must bow. I am not denying the reality of the Curse; I am denying its right to exist in the life of a born-again child of the Living God.

Speaking a reality (or a possibility) as the truth will inevitably bring that to pass. Jesus said “for the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart” (Mathew 12:34b). What you think about the most is what you will speak about the most. Proverbs 18:21 says “death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those that love it will eat its fruit.” What fruit is he talking about? The fruit of what you are talking about. What you think about and ponder about the most is what you will inevitably talk about the most. This becomes a problem for many people, because when you decree a thing, you are setting into motion spiritual laws to bring that thing to pass. Look at what Jesus taught His disciples in Mark 11:23, “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.” In other words, Jesus, the Master, the Lord, the Word made flesh, has told us that if we truly believed Him and His Word, we could go to Jerusalem, stand at the foot of the Mount of Olives and command it to be thrown into the Mediterranean. That power resides within each and every Christian that walks this earth. And if you will notice, Jesus does not use that faith-destroying phrase, “if it be Your will.” If you truly believed, you could reshape the landscape of Israel. I believe Jesus said this to His disciples, because He knows that nobody this side of heaven will ever attempt to do this. If they do, the faith won’t ever be there to see it to completion. Of course, when we get to heaven and find out fully how to use this power, no one will want to do that. The truth of matter remains: we have mountain-moving power in our faith – literally.

  

This concept is happening everyday to millions of Christians who do not even believe that what they say has all that much power. They believe all sorts of difficult, painful, tumultuous things are either happening or going to happen to them. They speak of confusion, lack, weakness and fear. As a result, their lives are full of difficulties, confusion, sickness, disease, lack and fear (interesting, isn’t it?). Then some well-meaning, but ignorant Christian begins telling them all about “the will of God” concerning these things – which is based in nothing more than a lack of understanding concerning the Scriptures.

God’s Word is His will; and we are instructed to know it and put it to good use for the edification of both our lives and the lives of others. His Word does not speak of lack, sickness, pre-mature death, fear, or confusion as part of the Christian life. However, a misunderstanding of the Scriptures has led many well-meaning Christians (both on and off the pulpit) to believe that these are elements of the “sufferings of Christ” that we all must endure to the end. Let me assure you: they are not. Remember the old adage “Jesus died on the cross so you don’t have to”? Jesus took upon Himself physical sickness on that cross so that we do not have to live a life of sickness or disease. Physical pain and weakness is not a part of the Christian life. That is not what the Bible is referring to when it talks about the “sufferings of Christ.” If we were meant to suffer like that, then what was the point of Jesus doing it for us? I have been led to believe that some Christians see Jesus as the type to say, “Hey, if I went through it, you gotta go through it!” This is simply not true. He took the pain and suffering in our place, so why would He expect us to carry it upon ourselves? Yet, in some form or another, this is what Christian people believe – and the Lord told us that if we believe what we say, we will receive what we say. Good or bad.

More to come...

Faithfulness

You have heard me say it before, and you will undoubtedly hear me say it again: Jesus said we would do greater things than He (John 14:12), so why aren't we? I was meditating on that passage again this morning, and it began to rise up very strong within me again. It got to the point where I was almost angry at the notions that churches (including the ones I have been around my whole life) regarding "the will of God." I have come to the conclusion that most of us simply have no idea what "the will of God" truly is. If we did, our lives would look markedly different from what they are today.

God promised us that His Word would not return unto Him void (Isaiah 55:11), so I am in no way saying that Christianity is not profitable in the world today. There are millions of strong, God-fearing Christians throughout the world. I will admit that I admire many people in this world for their faith in the midst of over-whelming circumstances. I pray daily that my love for God will rival that of most people I know. However, there is an irksome display I have experienced from churches regarding the Word of God. It is this "if it be Your will" mentality that is nothing more than an extreme lack of faith on the part of those involved. You see, faith has become synonymous with denomination or religion. That is not what faith truly is. Hebrews 11:1 describes faith for us, and denomination is nowhere in the verse (or the entire chapter). Faith is simply trusting God. It is, in the words of pastor and author Creflo Dollar, "a practical expression of your confidence in God and in His Word." Do you believe what God has said about you in His Word, or not? If you believed Him, why doesn't your life reflect what He has said?

I have struggled with this issue in my own life on occasions, because my life does not reflect what God said it should. God said I am healed, yet my back will often not feel that way. God said the Blessing of Abraham is already upon my life through faith in Jesus - yet my bank account is not reflecting the millions that came upon Abraham as a result of that Blessing. I am the righteousness of God, even though my language is not always conducive with that righteousness. So, what is the problem? I guarantee you it is not God. It is not some act of God's Sovereignty that is keeping me from living the full life of Blessing that He has pronounced on me. Take off your religious hat and think with your spirit on this one. If there is anything that is keeping you from living the full, Blessed, prosperous life God has pronounced over you, there is one thing standing in the way... You.

God is faithful to His entire Word. Saying that God is not entirely Sovereign down to the minute detail is not a means of blasphemy or disrespect. On the contrary, the greatness of God is found in the fact that, by His own design, He has limited Himself through His Word. God is so good, so great, so awesome, that He has bound Himself to His Word, and to what His Word says regarding our actions. What do I mean by this? We are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:28), and therefore we are the same creative spirits with the same creative power as "God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did" (Romans 4:17, NKJV). The Bible is flooded with passages regarding the power of the words that we use. In James 3, we learn that our mouths have the same steering power in our lives as bits in horses mouths or small rudders on great ships in turbulent waters. No matter what the circumstances may be, God has designed you with the power to navigate them using your words. Religion does not teach this. Even good, faith-filled Pentecostal churches do not fully believe this. They still pray "Lord, if it be your will" which is totally contrary to the Word of God. His Word says that you have the same power of He and Jesus have - which is to speak over your life and change the circumstances. Jesus said that if a person "believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says" (Mark 11:23b). Unfortunately, we have become proficient in doing this negatively; yet, most Christians do not fully believe this can be used to alter their lives for the better. God is bound, by His Word, to honor your words - even if it leads to your destruction.


Take the Children of Israel as a prime example. God promised to lead them out of Egypt into the land he had promised to Abraham. He did not decree that their children would inherit the Land. He did not declare that all the atrocities seen in the wilderness were going to happen. He did not, in His deep Sovereignty, know that all those things were going to happen, and thus it must have been His will the whole time (He probably knew it would happen, but that is a philosophical debate that has no bearing on the points I am trying to make, and would thus only cause more confusion, which is not of God anyway...). God promised that those who walked out of Egypt would inherit the Land we now know as Israel. However, most of them didn't go. They spoke nothing but death, doubt and fear over their circumstances - and died in fear and doubt in the desert. Their words had more power over their circumstances than the promises of God pronounced over them. Keith Moore, pastor of Faith Life Church in Branson Missouri, says "your words have more power over your own life than anyone else's, including God's."Keep your religious hat off and realize this one thing: just because God spoke something over your life does not guarantee it will come to pass. Your words can, and will, alter the course of your life it you let them. You must remain faithful to Him and His way of operating. Your faithfulness is the key to living in all that God has promised you. 


If you call Jesus the Lord over your life, then you do not have the right to say whatever you want. "I just call it like I see it" is not a biblical means of living. Ephesians 5:1 says, "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children." God spoke things into existence and He expects you to do the same thing. Jesus said that if you abide in Him and His Word you would do even greater things than He did. He did everything through speaking. Proverbs 18:21, says "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat its fruit." You are to say what God says all the time. Remain consistently constant in declaring what God has declared over you. Remain faithful to His promises so that they may come to pass in your life. Do not squelch the promises of God by constantly speaking negatively over your circumstances. Faith calls things into being. If your life does not look the way the Scriptures say it should, it is not because of some Divine re-write. God does not go "Well, I Am Sovereign, so I can do whatever I want" and then go off and do something that is contrary to His Word. That would make Him a liar, and He would cease to be God - and we would all be dead. You have to say what He says in order for it to come to full fruition in your life. You have to do it constantly and believe it in your heart. If you feel like you are lying, then go back to the Word and read it over and over until you are thoroughly convinced that His promises will come to pass in your life. Doubt is a cancer growth, it will kill your faith; "for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord" (James 1:6-7, NKJV). 


That is how God's will shall come to pass in your life. That is how you will do greater things than Jesus did. Meditate on this principle. Let it sink into your spirit. This morning my wife and I read 1Corinthians 2. In verse 14, it says "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." This stuff may seem silly to most Christians, but it is the truth of God's Word, and it will come to pass to those who let it. Remain faithful to the Word, and remain faithful to declare only what He says about you. Stop calling it like it is, and start calling those things that be not as though they were, and they will be. 

American Gift

"...in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them" ~Psalm 139:16b.


For those who know me, they have heard many rantings and ravings concerning the Heresy of Election (that religious concept of God choosing favorites and declaring those fit for heaven and hell prior to one even being born). It takes a very poor understanding of the Scripture to come up with such a horrible notion that our Lord only died for a select few, that God views different people in a varying degrees of admiration, and that "For there is no partiality with God" (Romans 2:11) means something other than "there is no partiality with God!" Election, Predestination, Sovereignty - all doctrines based in a poor, lazy reading of the Word of God. Most religious Christians teach that the Bible speaks of God being in absolute control over the most minute details of every persons life, so much so that it has left many Christians with little reason to try to accomplish much of anything. "God is Sovereign" is a phrase so eloquently described by Evangelist Jesse Duplantis: "Boy they rode that donkey 'til it died!" Well said, good sir. The Bible is clear that we have more power and authority in our lives than most ministers, priests, or pastors will ever realize or admit. And that in no way takes away from God, His might, His authority, or His Lordship. After all, He is the One Who made the system this way. We are the ones too ignorant (or arrogant) to follow His ways.


However, they are many things we cannot control - things that really are up to God's absolute Sovereignty. That is what I want to focus on, because it hits home especially close on a day like today. In the wake of yesterday's events, I am struck with a sense of overwhelming gratitude towards the Lord for making the decision I could not. Just hours before learning of the news that sent most Americans in exuberant celebration, I was reading through the book of Acts, just so happening to begin my reading with Paul's sermon to the Athenians at Mars Hill. What stands out the most at a time like this is 17:26-27: 

And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; (NKJV)

Every nation on this earth is a result of the Lord's Sovereign design. Every person is on this earth for a specific reason. In God's eyes, there are no accidents. The United States of America is a result of God's purpose and plan for the world we live in. You are a result of the purpose and plan of God for the world we live in. You did not get to decide who to be born to, where to be born at, or what time period to be born in. That was God's choice. That struck me deeply last night a my wife and I sat down to pray after watching the news. God chose me to be an American. Regardless of what you may think of the man, nothing any human being could ever do would be horrid enough to receive the punishment he is enduring at this very moment. I am moved by that thought today. God gave me the privilege and the advantage of being able to spend my time on earth as an American. I was born into a home with two strong Christian parents. I had the advantage of growing up in church - almost to over-saturation. I was never placed in a position to be exposed to ungodly teaching. I have never been exposed to the poisonous philosophies of our "enemies." The rough financial periods throughout my life pale in comparison to so may others throughout the world. My city is beautiful. The plumbing works. I have more than four t-shirts. My pants are in one piece. 

God never intended for this world to be splintered off into various nations and people groups. We were designed to be one. Yet, as a result of the Fall, things went off-course, and changes needed to be made. In heaven we will be one Nation once again. For now, though, I am given the privilege of God to spend my time on this earth as an American. There are so many Christians in this world hiding, giving their very lives for a Gospel that I still find intimidating to share with some. May we never again take for granted the awesome Blessing it is to grow up in such a Blessed and prosperous land. We were placed here in these Last Days for a purpose. Our freedoms are under attack, not just from radicals throughout the world, but within our own borders. If we get too comfortable, we will lose our rights to worship at the hands of our very own people. I do not believe the time has come for a shift in our nations time and boundaries, but that does not mean we can sit idly by. The people of Israel were promised a land flowing with milk and honey when they left Egypt. However, only .000001% of those who left Goshen ever entered the Promised Land. That was not God's plan. If we sit idly by, God's plan for us will never come to fruition. We could have been placed anywhere at anytime. But He chose us to live here, to live now. We get to be Americans. We get to be Christians. Treasure that gift. You will be asked to give an account for it one day.