My Rights

In such an individualistic society, we often think it “wrong” or “evil” to believe that Christians have rights. After all, we are “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20), taking up our cross daily to follow Him (Luke 9:23), with our life being no longer our own (1Corinthians 6:19). These are all true statements; however, we have been led to believe that these passages indicate that we have no right to anything from the Lord. Growing up in the church my whole life, I have heard countless teachings and phrases at go something like this: “How dare we think we can demand anything from God? How dare we think we are indispensable to God? God owes us nothing…”

            

 To be honest, years of being involved in and around the church and the people of God has left me rather depressed. How is it possible to be full of joy when serving a God that you believe doesn’t actually care that much about your life? How can we be excited about a God that is portrayed as egotistical and self-centered? This God tells us to pay in faith (James 1:6), and yet a vast majority of His people believe ‘sometimes He does; sometimes He doesn’t. It all depends on Hs will.” Ladies and gentlemen, this line of thinking makes no sense. We have been so trained to believe that God’s sovereignty means he can do whatever He wants, whenever he wants, no questions asked, that we openly contradict ourselves in the way we think and speak about Him.

             

God says that anything is possible to anyone who believes (Mark 9:23). We say that God does what He wants. Jesus told us that when we ask anything in His name, we will receive it (John 14:14). We say that only applies to situations that are under His will (which we don’t know). The Holy Spirit speaks through the apostle James that when we pray in faith, the sick will be healed (James 5:15). We preach that sometimes God heals, sometimes He doesn’t. The Scripture tells us that Jesus took sickness and disease upon Himself on the Cross (Isaiah 53:4-5). We teach that He uses it as a means of gaining glory. The Scripture tells us we are Blessed (Galatians 3:13-14) with a Blessing that causes financial prosperity (Proverbs 10:22). The church often teaches that anyone who preaches that Blessing is a heretic. Jesus told us to take up our cross (Mark 8:34). Religion dictates that we should be taking His.

             

Get the picture?

             

Our God separated Himself, suffered and died, went to the furthest depths of Hades, itself – all so that we could have our lives put back right, to the state that it was designed to be at before the Fall. Yet, because we cannot help but look at the circumstances of life around us, we are not living that way. Rather than look to the Holy Word of God Almighty, we look to our lives, our friends and loved ones, the economy, politics, and all the mess that is going on globally, in order to ascertain the will of God. My friend, that ought not to be. It violates the very nature of faith.

             

Let’s settle this in our minds, once-and-for-all: God will always do what He promised us.

God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

~Numbers 23:19

My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.

~Psalm 89:34

 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

~John 15:7

God said He will do what He said he will do. He said that if we remain in Him and we go to Him, He will answer us and grant us the prayers that we ask of Him. He instructed us to approach Him with boldness (Hebrews 4:16) and great confidence. I have, through the work of my God and his great love for me, a right to his promises.

Correct. I said I have a right to the plans and purposes of God being accomplished in my life.  I have a right to healing and abundant provision (it is part of salvation, look up the Greek word and see for yourself). I have a right to the mind of Christ (1Corinthians 2:16). I have a right to His wisdom (James 1:5). I have a right to know His will (Ephesians 5:17). Through the work of the Cross, through the work of salvation, itself, I have a right to live the highest life there is. That runs contrary to the world’s ways of thinking.

Unfortunately, the world’s way of thinking has infiltrated the church. We contradict ourselves and our God without even realizing our error. We are painting our God to be double-minded and inconsistent. If we believe the words He has handed down to us, then we must put an end to this idea that God will do whatever He wants at His Own discretion, and that we have no right to question Him. We don’t have the right to tell Him how to be God, but we do have the right to expect Him (reverently expect Him) to do what he promised He would do. Otherwise, we unknowingly and unintentionally call Him a liar.

God has given us all the information we need in His Word as to why we do not yet see all the manifestations of His promises in our lives. Go find them. Believe them. Implement them. They are yours by right as a born-again child of God, co-heir with Jesus Himself (Romans 8:17)

Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits – Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases, Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy; Who 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]!

~Psalm 103:2-5, Amplified