101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT HEALTH AND WEALTH

January 2015 – Week 3

GOD’S WILL – OUR ANSWER TO EVERYTHING

We can blame people and point accusing fingers all day long, but in the end we are still faced with the facts – we learn according to how we have been taught. It is true that sometimes simple truths become foundational pillars within our understanding process. When discussing how we can know God’s will, the revelation of these “building blocks” will be crucial. We realize the main objective of the Christian life is to follow God’s will but if no one instructs us about what to do and we do not study to show ourselves approved, how do we comprehend what we are doing? Aha! That is the problem! The reason why many do not know about God’s will is because they have never been taught and have never wanted to learn. This is not an EXCUSE like, “call back later” or “I forgot my credit card” this is a REASON that is saying, “I have decided that “whatever it is” I am NOT interested.” Bingo!

It is time to realize that living in God’s will is going to take a complete “sold-out” determination. So, just exactly what does this mean? It means that we must INCLUDE our actions and reactions as the reasons for most of our circumstances. (This is where we pause and contemplate). Are you saying that when things happen that we cannot understand, we can actually know what the reason is? I am not saying that we will – I am saying it is possible.

When a scientist spends many years conducting thousands of series of experiments, we could agree they will learn certain things. Over the course of time knowledge is gained and even though they do not know everything there is to learn about whatever they are studying, at least they have gained insight and have answers to many questions. Likewise, in our spiritual development we realize that we know as much about God’s will as we do brain surgery because we have NOT invested our time learning about the subject. Now we are beginning to see that much of our inability to comprehend the mind of God comes from our lack of trying. Of course we will not know the secret mysteries of God when we hardly ever talk to Him.
Discovering that Noah built a boat will not help us understand why our life is falling apart but claiming that it is God’s will “conveniently” takes the attention away from us and implies we had nothing to do with it. Think about this, if we see everything that happens as God’s will, we are actually saying that it is His fault by making it happen or allowing it to happen. Either way we have taken the easy path of sliding out the back door and intentionally washing our hands of any responsibility or blame. In this light, we can clearly see where the religious idea of God’s “will” became a habit. Yes, it is true that many things that happen ARE God’s will – but NOT everything! If someone is texting and runs a red light and crashes into a van that kills three children, I would not want to hear in any way shape or form that this was God’s perfect will. There are always reasons why things happen and most of them are NOT God’s will but rather a failure on people’s part to do what God was telling them to do. If Jesus directly says, “Do not go into that Lion’s cage” and we roll our eyes and think we are just going to fill its water bowl and we go in and it EATS US – guess what? It was NOT God’s will for us to become a “meatloaf” for the king of the jungle! When we begin to take more responsibility for being AWARE of God’s presence and listening to His voice – then we will stop claiming that everything that happens is God’s desire. Blaming everything on God is a “win – win” for our conscience while living in denial.

5. Does God cause sickness and poverty for His children for no particular reason? No! Sin is the cause for all sickness and poverty. People can say they have not sinned but sin caused the fall in the Garden of Eden and is to blame for our problems. The world, the human body and the spiritual condition all changed for the worse. Mankind cannot blame God for his mistake! Sickness and poverty are consequences that are a part of the default system. Remember the default system is what happens to those who choose NOT to embrace the blood covenant realities of Jesus Christ. The result of mankind’s rebellion left the human race weak and vulnerable. But Jesus has come to DELIVER us with the “FULL GOSPEL invitation to accept Him as TOTAL SALVATION! This includes the opportunity to pray in faith to “receive” spiritual – physical – mental – and emotional liberation! It has NEVER been God’s intention to CURSE man – it was a consequence of disobedience! Jesus came to RESCUE the hopeless and RESTORE unto man what he originally lost. And that my friend, is an abundant life of victory! Yes, the curse of the fall is real – but does it have more authority than the blood and Name of Jesus? No! Praise God! Just because the devil is running around screaming like a wild animal does not mean that he has more authority than we do – because we have the Name of Jesus! Just because our bodies are vulnerable to decay does not mean that all hope is lost! Amen! Yes, God uses many different things to get our attention and try to teach us His ways – but He does not give us cancer for the fun of it. People will also say that God inflicts people with terrible problems so that He can use their suffering for His purposes. What do you believe? I believe there is a huge difference between someone having a disease and bringing God glory with how they react – verses God directly putting the disease on them.

6. How about when His children disobey or turn away from Him? I agree with the traditional view that God disciplines His children similar to the way we do. We understand that chastisement from our heavenly Father (just like our natural father) comes from a pure heart of love and concern. Human nature has a tendency to drift away from God when everything is going well and there is no doubt that it takes a strong spiritual lifestyle to resist this temptation. This is where the concept of “walking in His Spirit” becomes our most important responsibility because it keeps us on the designated path of our blueprint. “For whom the Lord loves, He chastens and scourges every son whom He receives.” (Hebrews 12:6) “For whom the Lord loves He corrects; even as a father the son in whom he delights.” (Proverbs 3:12) “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore and repent.” (Revelation 3:19) When we allow our will to control our life, we get in big trouble and just like the child that dis-obeys their parents, God must intervene. Now this is where there is some confusion. When our child does something wrong and we feel the need to discipline, we may spank them or deny a privilege but we have never considered giving them Ebola or breaking their arms. (Remember, the father of the prodigal son did NOT beat his son to death or cripple him with permanent injuries). This would be considered abuse in anyone’s way of thinking. Point one – this discussion is about God’s children – not the lost. The unsaved live each moment by the mercy of God and are in danger of being destroyed by the influences of the dark kingdom which is why we are so grateful for the truth, “For by GRACE are ye saved through faith; and that NOT of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8) It is only by God’s grace that all of us have not been killed. But once the blind are drawn to Christ and receive Jesus into their life, they are filled with the Holy Spirit, infused with the covenant blood of the Lord and anointed as joint heirs with Him as a member of the royal family of God. This brings them into COVENANT with the potential to develop into ALL that God has for them within His general and specific will. Amen! Point two – this question is NOT about what problems WE CAUSE to our own bodies and financial situations because of our disobedience. Most of our learning comes from making mistakes.