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...