101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
ABOUT HEALTH AND WEALTH

PART 11

A WORLD OF NEED

I have spent most of my adult life involved with singing within the church world and at times in prisons, nursing homes and other places on occasion. I have been a song-writer and have recorded songs and also have been blessed with the honor to serve as an elder, associate pastor, worship leader and teacher throughout the years. As I became older, I wanted to do more because I am a seeker and have always presumed there was more to ministry than just the organized church. When I was younger, I would question those in authority with the church and ask very difficult questions as to why they did certain things and why miracles were not being demonstrated. I can imagine that many of these leaders desired that I go sit in a pew and just quietly follow the rules. All of the politics and insincerity gradually weaned me away from depending on man and I began to see that true ministry is not based on what other people think we should do, tell us to do or even “allow” us to do – it is listening to God. Ministry is not just an act or a deed; it is a way of life. My eyes are starting to grasp the overwhelming Ocean of human suffering and it is ALL around us. I believe that many need to examine their heart and ask the question; do I want to work in the comfort of a social club with my friends or do I want to actually make a difference in someone’s life? I’m not trying to suggest that Christians should stop going to church, I am saying that church is only a tiny part of our Christian mission.

In the last few years, I have branched out into the community more than I ever have before. For those of you that have lived within the walls of the church world all your life, you would be amazed at what is out there. It is a wonderful perspective to notice the difference between people who do not go to church and those who do. I have come to the conclusion, (and I realize this may shock you) there is very little difference. Is this sad? Yes, I believe so. In fact, there are many similarities. It is true, the lost have a general lack of spiritual knowledge but the saved even though they may know more have a huge problem – they do not believe what they know. Some might say that it is better to know it than not know it but what good is it if information is not converted to revelation? If church members do not really know who God is or who they are in God – how is this any better than those who are lost?

Let us take a peek at a powerful scripture in which Christ is mingling with the worldly crowd and listen as He explains a very important “reason” why He devoted His life to true ministry. Let us turn to Mark chapter 2 and verse 15, “And it came to pass, that as Jesus sat at meat in His house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and His disciples: for there were many, and they followed Him.” Let us consider this scene for a moment. When God’s Word refers to someone as a publican and sinner what does this mean? The Pharisees and the rabbis were the highest leaders of Jewish society and were known to be strict and precise when it came to the law. For example, tax collectors were known to be cheaters and this definitely gave them a reputation as a sinner. They avoided the rest of society because they were trying to preserve their clean image which is why they could not understand why Jesus would want to “ruin” His integrity. (Verse 16) “And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto His disciples, how is it that He eats and drinks with publicans and sinners?” As Jesus’ ministry grew, so did His popularity and effectiveness among the social outcasts of society. Hello, are we listening? Jesus may have broken some societal taboos, but His presence with them proves that He looked beyond the culture or religious tradition and was focused on the people’s hearts. Whereas the Pharisees wrote people off simply because of their profession or their past, Jesus looked past all that and saw their need. Until the modern church can grasp the reality of what Jesus is trying to say here, there will be very little ministry to the world. We have a dilemma; the lost are not going to church and the church is not going to the world. The church like the Pharisees believes it is far too good to mingle with the sinners but they are in denial that they are just as much a sinner as the world. It is denial and deception for the church to think they are better than anyone else. Only by the GRACE of God are we not all given what we deserve. (Verse 17) “When Jesus heard it, He saith unto them, they that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” It is time for us to ask, what in the world does this mean? If Jesus was to reach the lost, He must have some contact with them. He went to where the need was because “it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” I believe that much of the church world has become numb to the gospel because they have an attitude they are well and all is good! They do not need the Great Physician because they have their ticket and everything is fine. What does this attitude remind you of? Exactly! The church at Laodicea! “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, miserable, and poor, and blind and naked.” (Revelation 3:17) I am not really sure what many in the church world is thinking but it seems the majority has never realized they have been called to fulfill a mission. God’s people are called to represent HIM in the midst of publicans and sinners and continue where He left off.

21. Would God ever include within His divine blueprint for certain individuals to live in divine health and enjoy a life of prosperity? This is an interactive Bible study and I would like to know what you think. This is a good question because it deals directly with God’s will. I would say that within each blueprint of God’s children, there would be included the possibility of divine health and wealth. I use the word possibility because much of the way we live depends on how much we know and the decisions we make. Of course He completely sees our lives before we are born and knows how things will turn out but allow me to say that His DESIRES and our CHOICES are two completely different things. I am sure that us being a soul winner is also included in our blueprint but again this depends on how much we care about serving God. Have you ever thought that some people have the “gift” and anointing to build wealth and some do not? And we all have seen individuals that live long lives of health and strength while others were plagued with diseases. I believe God has given us His general will to study and learn what we need to do to live in obedience and blessing. When it comes to His specific will for us, it is up to us to find our personal blueprint and with His power we can accomplish our destiny.

22. Why does it seem that asking God for material blessings is being carnal-minded? For some reason we have been influenced that Jesus came to the world only to give spiritual blessings. I agree that spiritual gifts are the highest of all blessings and that our spirit being redeemed from being eternally lost is the greatest blessing of all. However, we have been given the encouragement to approach God in prayer for whatever we need. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to HELP in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). Some people believe that Old Testament passages that pertain to Israel cannot be embraced by us as God intending the same message for us but, I have a difficult time with that view because there are so many passages that we do apply to our lives. Deuteronomy 15:6 is God talking about Israel BUT at least we can see an example of how He feels about wealth for His people. “For the Lord thy God blesseth thee, as He promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.” This is referring to material wealth, so why does God not want His children to borrow? Because being in debt is being in bondage to the lender. “The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). God’s people are to be living according to the divine wisdom of heaven and included in this way of living are the PRINCIPALS of receiving abundance. The promises of God are conditional upon obedience to His general Word and they do not fail. For example, if we give to God, He will anoint us and empower us to receive His blessings of health and wealth. “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a BLESSING that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10). I am not trying to convince anyone about what the storehouse is but rather trying to see that the principal of obeying God produces positive results. Another example of the principal of giving, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”

In these principals we can see that it is not just about begging or asking God to help us through prayer but when we learn about His promises and believe we have discovered His will, we can invest our faith and receive a harvest. When we have our heart right and are living in sincerity with God, we are not to worry or be afraid of not having what we need. “But seek ye FIRST the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). In this light, we must accept the covenant concept as a very real and valid part of our Christianity. As we have said many times before, it is not that we have to beg for Him to save us from healing and poverty – the blood of Jesus contains “total salvation” and gives us the honor and privilege to be successful and a leader in this world to represent God and His Kingdom. Chapter 3 of Proverbs tells us that if we keep God’s Word in our heart, we can expect a LONG LIFE and peace! “It shall be health to thy navel marrow to thy bones.” Verse 9 says, “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the fruits of all thine increase. So shall thy barns be FILLED with plenty and thy presses shall burst forth with new wine.” Verse 16 says, “Length of days is in her [wisdom] right hand; and in her left hand RICHES and HONOR.”
Let us be reminded that the Lord does not increase His people and bless them so they can live according to their own plans. Those who seek first His Kingdom are focused on doing exactly what He is saying with all of the blessings He has manifested. We give because we love God not because we are trying to gain wealth! We are NOT concentrating on being rich, we are trying to listen and obey God! The blessings come as a RESULT of doing what He is saying and living a sanctified life unto Him. “He that gives unto the poor shall NOT lack: but he that hides his eyes shall have many a curse” (Proverbs 28:27). Compassionate giving should be our nature.

101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT HEALTH AND WEALTH

March 2015 – Week 9

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL

We have been dealing with some very serious issues and difficult questions about life. It is good to go slow and discuss these thoughts because it hopefully helps us understand the difference between God’s truth and deceptions from the enemy. When we have questions, there is only one genuine truth and all the other millions of opinions wherever they may come from are just versions of the truth. I am not saying we can know ALL truth because only God is all truth but I believe we can know as much as the Lord feels we can contain. As we have said before, it is not about how much knowledge we can collect, but how much we can live. And when it comes to truth, a little goes a long way toward developing us into God’s image.

17. If Satan is really serious about trying to kill us and our family, burn our house, and give us cancer every chance he can, then why doesn’t he just destroy the whole world with a plague or a nuclear war? To begin with, Satan does not have this level of power and he certainly does not share power or is equal in power with God. I am sure he would love to destroy the world because that is his nature but in all reality he is on a very short leash. We only have a tiny amount of information about who he is and what he can do, so we are limited in our understanding of the big picture of good and evil. The book of Job is one of the most interesting books yet also one of the most confusing works of literature. We cannot cut out this piece of information just because it does not line-up with our theological world-view. There are so many difficult questions associated with our topic that we need to start with the basics and only lay the bricks that we know are true and hold off on the ones we are not sure about. 1. We know the devil is a strong negative and deceptive influence. He had a sinful attitude in heaven and persuaded many angels to follow his way of thinking. 2. He twisted God’s truth in the Garden and lied to Eve in order to influence the woman and the man to sin against God. 3. He was cursed but still has the opportunity to influence the human race by speaking his messages into the mind. Once he can persuade someone to embrace his views then he can use their voice to relay his message. In this light His power to influence is just as deadly and effective as it always has been. 4. Notice that he had to ask God about Job and was only allowed to do what was already a part of God’s blueprint. In this way of thinking we can conclude that God uses the devil to bring glory to Himself. I realize we do not like this arrangement and do not feel this is fair but as we have said before, nothing happens without God’s awareness. Spiritual warfare may not be as cut and dried as we thought. In Gods eyes it is not necessarily what happens to people but rather how they handle it. Many times the battle may not be with demons that hide behind every bush but rather on the battlefield of the mind with how we think and react. If we are truly WALKING with God in the Spirit, our suffering in the flesh hopefully is being used to teach us valuable lessons that is making us spiritually stronger. Yes, I believe that God wants us to prosper and be in good health but if for some reason this does not happen, the most important thing is to be obedient to Christ.

18. Why is there a devil at all? This is not a silly question. He is a created being that had the free-will to choose good or bad. Lucifer started out good but unfortunately he chose to be bad and used his influence to persuade many to follow him. I do not believe God made Lucifer to become Satan but rather fell from heaven all on his own. He betrayed God by planning a takeover but was quickly dismissed and removed from his position. He has never ceased from his rebellious attitude and has been given permission to continue his agenda in trying to convince the world against God. The devil is not a fable or a fictional character but is a real being and is the temporary leader of the kingdom of darkness. Why the Lord did not destroy him I do not know but I presume it is because he uses him to accomplish His will. One of the most simple yet profound promises and words of wisdom can be found in James chapter 4, verse 7, and “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” This simple instruction is crucial for us to be victorious in this life. The submission in this scripture means to surrender our will completely to the Lord and follow His voice. The resisting is completely up to our determination to turn away from being led by our emotions. The devil attacks our feelings and leads us around by the nose until we put a stop to it. Resist means to ignore and developing an awareness to his snare traps will help us turn away from his temptations. When he becomes tired of us not taking the bait, he will begin to back-off and focus on someone weaker and more vulnerable. When we were created we also had the choice to be good or evil and likewise we also face the consequences of our decisions. We should study to become wise as to who we are in Christ in order to learn the reality of spiritual authority. God has a wonderful reason for creating the devil because nothing is an accident and everything God does is perfect.

God created Adam and Eve to be free beings, to make decisions, and choose between good and evil. In order for Adam and Eve to truly be free, they had to have a choice. I do not think the power of good or bad was in the fruit itself but it was the act of disobedience that opened Adam and Eve’s eyes. Their sin of disobeying God brought sin and corruption into the world and into their lives. Eating the fruit, as an act of disobedience against God, was what gave Adam and Eve knowledge of evil. God did not want Adam and Eve to sin because He knew ahead of time what the results of sin would be. God knew that Adam and Eve would fall and would thereby bring wickedness, suffering, and death into the world. Why, then, did God allow Satan to tempt Adam and Eve? God allowed Satan to tempt Adam and Eve to force them to be decision makers and not robots. Their bad decision resulted in every person being born with a sin nature and tendency to sin. Adam and Eve’s choice is what ultimately required Jesus to die on the cross and shed His blood on our behalf so that through faith in Christ, we can be free from sin’s consequences, and ultimately free from sin itself. Learning what is wrong makes us appreciate what is right.

101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT HEALTH AND WEALTH

February 2015 – PART 8

15. Do you believe angels watch over those who fear and trust God? Absolutely! There are many scriptures throughout God’s Word that confirm and reveal how angels interact with humans. Many books have been written and many people have actually seen angels. I have no doubt in my heart that angels are not only limited to heaven but are all around us. Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 14 say’s, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Psalm 91: 11 say’s, “For he [God] shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” I personally believe that as we develop a stronger awareness of God’s presence that we will be more likely to notice angels. In fact, I see nothing wrong with thanking God for the angels and walking in faith, knowing they are working with us and for us. I have a book in my library by Terry Law called, “The truth about angels” and I will share one of the stories about an angel encounter from his book. This story was told by Dawn Tallent and how she witnessed angels protecting their home during a storm.

“My encounter occurred in 1976 when we lived in Missouri. It was in the middle of the night , and we had been having severe weather. We lived in a mobile home, and I was very fearful of high winds and strong storms. I remember waking up to a loud noise outside our bedroom window that sounded like a freight train. The window was shaking, and the whole house seemed to be moving. My husband was asleep but I was too sacred to move and began to pray fervently, asking God to please spare our home and our family because I knew that if He did not intervene, there was going to be a tragedy. In that moment the Lord began to speak peace to me. I felt He wanted me to get up and look out the window so He could show me something. I eased my way up to the window and pulled back the curtains. To my surprise and shock, I saw a very bright light and figures of tall, broad shouldered beings dressed in long, white robes. They had strong arms and were holding hands, standing with their backs to the wind and their faces toward me. However, I could not really see their faces because the light was so bright. At that moment I knew that angels were encompassing the mobile home. I sat on the bed, just gazing out the window in awe as all fear left and I felt safe and secure. In a few moments the winds became less and they disappeared.”

16. Do you believe that God removes people from the earth in the prime of their life because He needs them to work in heaven? This idea has probably been around since the beginning of time but I do not think that God really needs anybody for anything especially to do something for Him in heaven. I would tend to believe He could sure use all of His people here on earth to accomplish His work but what do I know. It’s just a way that humans try to comfort one another because many times they just cannot think of anything positive to say at funerals. God is sovereign and can remove from the earth whoever He wants because His ways are higher than ours. I have read and heard about and actually witnessed people through the years that were “taken” seemingly in the best times of their life and each time I am sad and shocked. It is human nature to be perplexed because it seems like a mistake or that it was not supposed to be. We technically know how they died but do not have a clue as to why and this is where we wonder whether God was involved or was it just an unfortunate situation. In my thoughts, I would hope that God’s perfect will (general and specific) for His people would be spiritual, mental and physical blessings along with abundance, happiness and a long life. We know that Genesis chapter 6 and verse 3 say’s, “And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.” It would be wonderful to fulfill this lifespan but would only be a blessing if we were in good health.

One thing we do know is that all death comes from sin. This is not saying that when someone dies unexpectantly they have done something to cause it but generally speaking it comes from living in a fallen world. I personally believe that Jesus coming to save our spirit included the power to also save our mind, and our body and this is why I believe in the FULL-gospel, the Spirit filled life and in faith I CONFESS the blood covenant promises of God’s Word. Do you believe the power of faith can conquer the curse of the fall? Do you believe God’s divine reality can overcome the default system? God’s general will is based on conditions, principals, standards that reveal how we are to live in obedience to Him with faith, love and hope in order to fulfill His perfect will. NOW – His specific will or blueprint is where the huge question comes in. Does God step into a life for no reason whose blueprint is barely even started? Why would He not want to see them enjoy a long and satisfied life walking in His presence? I can understand when intentional sin causes someone’s destiny to be shortened but for God to use our mistakes, accidents or other people intervening to accomplish His will then we probably will not learn the details until we all get to heaven. We can be sure that whenever we die it is not a surprise to God; the Bible makes it clear that our lives are in God’s hands. He knows the time of our death, and He has even appointed it. The Bible says, “Seeing his days are determined , the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass.” (Job 14:5). Does this mean we shouldn’t seek medical care when we are sick, or that it doesn’t matter if we do dangerous things because God will deliver us anyway? No, not at all; not one verse of scripture would support such a view. Satan urged Jesus to cast Himself down from the top of the temple and trust God to deliver Him, but Jesus refused to do such a strange thing. He told Satan, “It is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” (Matthew 4:7). This is a very difficult question and one I am sure many parents have wondered about as they have buried their children with war being an excruciating example. Just because God does not heal or rescue every person does not mean He is to blame for anyone’s death. God is perfect and just in all His ways.

101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT HEALTH AND WEALTH
February 2015 – Week 7

KNOWING IN PART

These questions are difficult. To try and take the bull by the horns with questions like these, one must be careful to not step in quick sand. It’s ok to say that we do not know. I have the honor to occasionally counsel those who need spiritual compassion and when I feel the Holy Spirit I can deliver what I believe God is saying – but I certainly do NOT have all the answers. The good news is that we know who does and this is where we must place our focus and TRUST. I am purposely not going into depth on these questions because I am not capable. Of course I have my opinions just like you and I might share some of those but I also sense the feeling of humility that Job felt when God would respond within their conversations. May The Lord give us more understanding and discernment as we continue in this journey together.

13. When it comes to children, if the family are not believers, does this spiritually give Satan the legal right and open an opportunity to bring death and destruction? Well, let us begin in John 10:10, where God say’s, “the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy” so we can conclude and agree that Satan has the intention and ability to attack us. I personally believe that an entire family that is without Christ is also without His protection. God is filled with MERCY and in His sovereignty can watch over whomever He wants to protect. Let us notice an example of scripture that makes somewhat of a difference between the saved and lost when it comes to being shielded from the enemy. Psalm 34: 7 say’s, “The angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear him [God], and delivers them.” This seems to imply the saints are less likely to be blindsided. The Bible is filled with “conditions” and this means that God’s SYSTEM of principals and laws are based upon our OBEDIENCE. Both the Old and New Testaments teach mankind that God’s promises are true and never fail and that He is a fair and just judge. He does NOT contradict His Word and guarantees to respond to His children when they develop such attributes as love and faith. You see, when Christian parents lay hands on their children and pray over them and teach them God’s Word, this sensitivity and trust in God’s Word ACTIVATES a security and shield of protection over the children. When they become old enough to accept Christ, then they can begin to learn and grow their own faith. Those parents who have heard the gospel and refused to accept Christ are putting their family at risk because they are intentionally choosing the default system which is controlled by the dark side and this is leaving the family open and vulnerable to attack. NOW – of course I realize there seems to be exceptions. We all know of Christian families that have been stricken with terrible disasters. Does this mean that God failed? No. It simply means that God knows all of the background events of life and these include every cause and every reason. “For we know in part, and we prophecy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” (I Corinthians 13:9-10) Now brother that is just a cop-out to the question. Not really. It is just a simple explanation that we only know “part” of what is happening. Do I think that God’s people that pray and obey have a hedge around them? Absolutely. Can I EXPLAIN thousands of circumstances that seem to contradict this view? No. I just know in my heart that I believe in praying for constant protection and I believe God listens to the prayers of His followers.

14. If they were Christian parents could there have been an “open door” of sin that caused God to withdraw His protective hand? I believe that it is probably not that God withdraws from a true saint even though I have mentioned before that it seems the Lord backs away when we fall into sin. I would say it is more like WE walk or drift away from Him as the story tells how the sheep wanders away and the shepherd leaves the ninety nine and goes searching for the one who is lost. It is true that His hand of protection is on the ones that reverentially fear Him but it is probably more like we have the free-will to venture out from underneath His hand. Nonetheless, the consequences of sin in the camp and the power of a tiny bit of leaven that can influence the entire contents, give us spiritual insight to the realities of God’s will. Most parents and Christians in general do not realize that what they do in secret has a direct effect on those around them especially their family. In the natural realm if Christian parents do not provide for the physical and practical needs of the home, the children suffer in MANY different ways. It is true that God tries to speak to other Christians to help the family but still many times children are subjected to neglect. This is an example of parents that sin as a result of not taking care of their responsibilities but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Christian parents that do not take their children to church or teach them the Bible are denying them the KNOWLEDGE of God’s Word. God said His people PERISH from this lack of knowledge and this is yet another example of negative problems arising and open doors for the enemy as a result of the sin of lukewarmness and rebellion. Fathers are the head of the house and that means they LEAD their families into life or death. Then there are deeper more serious sins like adultery and criminal deeds that put the entire family at risk for divorce, bankruptcy, prison, foster homes and the list goes on. When parents choose to live a carnal life instead of following Christ, the consequences of this intentional dysfunction can produce innocent “victims” and all that goes along with selfishness.

So what does all of this have to do with health and wealth? I believe everything. We are trying to build a foundation of basic truths that hopefully can expand our views about the big picture of life. We are not saying that God will keep those who follow Him in a bullet-proof container because we all know that life happens, but we must also not let go of the fact that God’s Word never loses track or makes a mistake. Everyone goes through TRIALS but this is not to be confused with intentional sin and deliberate dis-obedience. If we do what He says to do – we must believe that being faithful will be honored. If there were no absolute truths we would have nothing to count on! We must know in our heart that He BACKS His COVENANT Word without exception. Prayer is a crucial part of trusting Him in our personal relationship.

101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT HEALTH AND WEALTH

January 2015 – Week 6

WADING OUT DEEPER

I pray that throughout these articles no one becomes offended. I do not claim to be a faith healer nor an expert about healing or prosperity. I am just a man with many questions. I have read and closely observed the life of Jesus and I KNOW that He came to heal and deliver. He did not pick and choose who He wanted to heal – He wanted to heal everyone just like He wanted to SAVE everyone and I believe He still does! For example with healing, those who asked if He would heal them, He always replied, “I will.” With prosperity, the parable of the talents is not just for a few – it is an illustration for every Christian to increase what has been given to them so they can provide resources for others. If God had not wanted us to be prosperous and increase, He would have told them to give the talents away and not worry about it. Have you ever asked, “Does He still feel the same way?” To be a steward over little is to be blessed with more and this is another principal of His order. I remember as a teenager asking questions like these and the lack of answers launched me on a journey that I am just as passionate about now as I was then. What I am saying is this; if Jesus wants to use us to perform His miracles and to become an image of whom He is, then why aren’t we seeing them more? I know there are needs everywhere and that God wants to help everyone; I just want to know what I need to do to make it happen!

11. In the realm of life and death, did the Father allow Satan to take the life of Jesus? This is a very interesting question and the answer is NO and YES. No, in the fact that Satan cannot take the life of anyone because man’s days are determined by God, “Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with Thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass.” Job 14:5). And yes, because God allowed the wounds that were inflicted and these attributed to His death. “And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him” (Mark 15:25). So we can see that God can use situations and direct them according to achieve His will.

In John 10:17-18, we find Christ Himself speaking specifically about His death and He says, “Therefore, doth my Father love Me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it up again. NO MAN taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” I believe we can see this in anyone that has willingly laid down their life for God. If the Lord gives us a mission to stand for His truth and become a martyr, this is between us and Him no matter what outside forces contribute to the result! Let’s look down the page at what Jesus said in verse 27-28, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave to Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand.” We can agree that the first scripture is talking about the physical life of Christ and the second one is talking about the eternal life of His followers but in both cases the message is clear that God is in control. We look around us and see that many are suffering and dying that are members of God’s household and many times it is difficult to determine to what extent Satan is involved.
First, let us agree that God is the ultimate authority. God has set everything up to work within the principals of His truth. I believe instead of God “using” the devil to do His work, the devil takes advantage of humans whenever he has the chance. The creator of all things does not really NEED to depend on anyone to work for Him but is fully aware of the tactics of the devil. You see, the enemy is not waiting for God to tell them what to do – they are seeking those who do not have the knowledge of God’s will and are taking the opportunity to kill, steal and destroy. God’s PERFECT WILL is for everyone to accept Jesus when they are young and to live close to Him the rest of their lives but when they do not – they become vulnerable to attack and becoming calloused. Let us remember that Jesus was without sin, so we cannot say that in his mistakes the enemy took some cheap shots. We also know that Jesus not only knew the Word but was the Word and boldly confessed it in Satan’s face whenever he came around. I want us to also notice something else very important. The cross was a part of His specific blueprint. There are cases of people dying every day from drug addiction, alcoholism, involved in crime and so on and we are convinced this is NOT God’s perfect will. However this is not the same as someone being tortured and killed in the prime of their life for their faith because may be a destiny that was included in the blueprint just like Jesus which was the will of God. There is a huge difference between fulfilling our mission in the name of the Lord and failing our mission in the name of our disobedience. We know that God creates all things but we must consider that we have a certain amount of responsibility for how we live. We as mortals usually only see the immediate result of an event and focus on how it affects a very small circle. God sees how one situation involving one person’s obedience can have a positive life changing impact on thousands of people. God knows when every heartbeat will stop and the devil may not be able to steal anyone but he sure works overtime with negative influences.

12. Do you believe there are such things as accidents that cause disabilities or death where neither God nor Satan was involved? This is a very good question. As we repeat the view that God can see everything before it happens as well as while it is happening, this cast a definite light on the subject. Yes, there are times when God prevents something from happening and times when He does not. Each situation is unique and has many strings attached to it that are connected to God’s perfect will. Nothing happens that God is not aware of, but the question wants to know if the Lord was involved and I believe we can say that in all things He is involved by association. He lives inside of His disciples and knows our thoughts and is AWARE of everything all around us. For example, if we are doing electrical work and are handling dangerous voltage, He already knows what is going to happen whether He can get our attention or not. If He says do not touch that wire and we cannot hear Him, we suffer the consequence. Should He jerk the wire out of our hands or shut the power off Himself? Is there a demon watching and whispering in our ear for us not to worry about a little old wire that has no current in it? Since the question did not contain the word chance or luck the Christian should try to eliminate these from their philosophic and theological file because it makes it seem that God is continually surprised. So, do we conclude that it is possible things happen and no one is at fault? We know the devil would love to harm us but are there times when even he is not paying attention and we accidently fall over a cliff? Let’s look at one more thing as we keep contemplating. The word accident means; “an unforeseen, unplanned event or one without apparent cause rather than by design. Anything that occurs unintentionally, a misfortune or mishap. Lack of intention or necessity, an unfortunate event resulting especially from carelessness or ignorance, an unexpected happening causing loss or injury which is not due to any fault or misconduct on the part of the person injured.” Are there times when there are no answers? Probably. God has them all – but we do not. And yes, there are obvious reasons why things happen like, “they were texting and driving” nonetheless, in all of our times of crisis and emergencies we not only seek Him for comfort and the reasons why but also the strength to keep listening and learning.

101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT HEALTH AND WEALTH

January 2015 – Week 5

WORKING WITHIN GOD’S BOUNDARIES

9. Does the word “sovereign” mean that God can do anything He wants, to whomever, whenever? When we look up the word sovereign we see descriptions like supreme, absolute, unlimited, unrestricted and ultimate authority. I realize there are many camps of thought about God’s sovereignty but as we touched on this last week, it seems the bottom line answer would be yes – but within the boundaries of His own truth. In other words, in order for Him to be forever perfect, He will NOT contradict His own principals. It is absolutely correct that we are NOT created to live the way we desire but rather the way HE desires! His general will reveals who He is and what His plans are and His “specific will” leads and guides our moment by moment activity with the help of the Holy Spirit. There is a general agreement when our conversation comes to this point but when we go further it becomes more difficult to comprehend. The idea of limitations and boundaries about sickness and poverty creates an array of different opinions and ideas. What many have a difficult time understanding (like we mentioned last week) is the difference between God directly inflicting an individual with suffering and the situation being a “consequence” of intentional sin or the lack of spiritual knowledge. For example, if a Christian man goes to a auto repair place and gets in an argument about what he owes and ends up killing the guy in a fit of rage, we can say with all assurance that it was NOT God’s will that an innocent victim die OR that another individual would suffer the rest of his life in prison. It is a result of an emotional action. If he had learned self-discipline and been led by God’s voice this would NOT have happened. Another example is that many Christians have accepted the teachings that when Jesus and His disciples died, the miracles were completed and passed away. Let’s say that a young mother of four children receives a bad report from the doctor and everyone agrees (without praying or seeking God’s voice) there is no hope and that she is going to die – and she dies shortly thereafter, what do you think they will say? They are going to say it must have been God’s will. But, what people fail to realize is that the principals of God’s Word and the power of faith are REAL and in many cases are the deciding factor of life and death! Jesus declares in Matthew 18:19-20, “Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” This spiritual principal of agreement when combined with the promise in Isaiah 57:19, “I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him” reveals the wisdom of God’s divine reality. Many become sick and die because the living does not understand God or His Word. If we are standing naked and unprepared in the middle of the battlefield we are going to be easily destroyed. Again, it was NOT God’s will that she die but her loss was the result of her and those around her NOT having knowledge. What knowledge? The knowledge of God’s general and specific will. “My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge: I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” The miracles and blessings of God are many times conditional upon our obedience. We have been called to devote our entire life to the gospel and allowing our heart to be filled with God’s Spirit of truth. The closer we walk with God the more we will be filled with His wisdom. It is much more than just knowing what He said – it is allowing His Word to become revelation that will change who we are.

10. How do we know when to pray and how to pray in certain situations? God has a plan for each person and everyone is at a different place in their spiritual walk. The day the women reached out and touched the hem of Jesus garment, evidently she was prepared and filled with faith and ready to receive her miracle. I am sure there were many other sick people observing what was going on but they all remained a spectator – and were NOT healed. Why? When we study Jesus and His miracles of healing, we discover they usually do not fall out of the sky but rather are divine appointments that include the perfect timing of faith that has been “preparing” the heart and mind to receive. This is just one explanation why we do not go into the hospital and empty it out and is directly connected to the same reason why many in the hometown of Jesus were NOT healed. What do we learn from this? If someone does not believe that Jesus wants to heal them, they will not receive it! This is very important to us that are in the ministry and are always encountering situations that require praying. Jesus ALWAYS listened to the Father and likewise we are called to do the same. “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done.” (Luke 22:42) We learn when and how to pray when we learn how to listen.

If you have been redeemed you have been purchased with the price of Jesus blood. This means we are NOT our own. (I Corinthians 6:19-20). If something is completely yours it only seems logical that you manage it however you wish. Job said in chapter 1, verse 21,”Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” We must assume that God gives and takes and that His sovereignty gives Him every right to ask us and use us to accomplish HIS plans. Our spirits maturity is crucial for trusting God’s decisions but our emotions have a very difficult time accepting our losses and pain. God’s people are all ministers and in a sense they each have a ministry but let us not forget that everything we do must be channeled through God’s perfect agenda. Many times we become overwhelmed from everything we see that needs to be done while actually all that we need to be concerned about is what He is directly speaking to us. It is time to stop trying to do things that He has not said to do. Staying within the boundaries of our personal blueprint is our highest calling and if everyone would do that, His perfect will would be done. Staying in an attitude of prayer creates a constant awareness of His presence that enables us to know what He is saying and how to relay it. If we do not know – we should stay silent.

101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT HEALTH AND WEALTH

January 2015 – Week 4

A FAMILIAR ROADBLOCK

How many want more of Jesus? Brother Billy, what kind of crazy question is that? Well, do you realize there is NOTHING stopping you from having ALL of Jesus that you want? Do you believe that is true? Alright stay with me – I did NOT say that something would NOT try to hinder us or would NOT to TRY to STOP us! Amen? I GUARANTEE you that OUR carnality and every demon this side of Texas are trying to INFLUENCE us away from God! BUT – hallelujah – if we become determined that we are going to surrender our independence and we choose to follow the blueprint that God has drawn for our destiny – He promises – that we can be the victorious overcomer that He has called us to be!

When Christ spoke of His church He said the GATES OF HELL would NOT prevail against it! And Jesus said that you and I are MORE than overcomers through Him who loved us. You see, if the devil could stop us – He would! But the best he can do is “whisper” lies in our ears and hope that we believe them! We see in Romans chapter 8 and verses 35-39, all the things that cannot stop God’s love toward us, why – because His “will” chooses it to be so! Allow me to list them; tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, death, life, angels, principalities, powers, the present, the future, height, depth, or any creature. Amen? However – Who can tell me what can STOP our love toward God? THE WILL! We can control how much we love Him and how much of our specific destiny we accomplish!

The devil is NOT stopping us from being close to God! You see – there is a HUGE difference between something that tries to DISTRACT you – and something that has the POWER to STOP you! Maybe we should go back to the original question. Maybe the question is more like – just how much of JESUS do we WANT? Mmmmm…. Amen or oh my! One of the first songs I was ever given was called “ALL OF HIM – NONE OF ME” and I can promise you that my flesh has always hated that song! My carnality played a similar version but it was turned around backwards – it was called “ALL OF ME – NONE OF HIM!” Amen? And it was perfectly satisfied to sing and dance to that song every minute of every day. WHY? Because the human WILL, the un-renewed mind and the flesh knows that WITHOUT Jesus they can continue to live in rebellion – BUT WITH Jesus they must be crucified! It is NOT the devil that we should be concerned about today! We have authority in the name of Jesus over the kingdom of darkness – and God’s Word assures us that his “bark is much worse than his bite” Remember – the devil was DEFEATED at Calvary! Amen! It is our WILL within us that is our most dangerous enemy which is why spiritual warfare is fought on the battlefield of the MIND! Are there still any warriors left? Let us take a peek at II Corinthians 10:3-5, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Casting down IMAGINATIONS, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity EVERY THOUGHT to the obedience of God.” It is within US that we decide to cast down our will and love God completely. And when we make this sincere commitment to love Him with all of our heart – we will obey His will.

7. Do you think God “causing” sickness and disease is different from God “using” sickness and disease to teach us? This is a very complicated question. Many believe that since God can STOP anything from happening, that He is allowing (not causing) it to happen. In this light, we could conclude that He decides each moment which circumstances He will intervene and prevent – and other matters which He will allow to occur. This is DEEP in anyone’s view! For example, one child runs out into street after a ball and the Lord is standing there watching carefully. There are cars parked up and down the street which makes it difficult to see and the driver that is approaching the area is NOT aware that a young child is about to run out behind one of them. God COULD stop the child or stop the car – – – but will He? Does He want to see the child die? No, of course not. Has He intervened in other situations? Yes. Why doesn’t He do it every time? Many will say, “He can do whatever He wants to do” and this may be partially true, BUT His sovereignty cannot “trump” His integrity. What does this mean? God does not just randomly pick and choose who will live and die without any kind of divine order which is directly associated with His character. If God operated this way, we would have no security or confidence that he would be THE perfect judge! In Romans chapter two and verse 11, we find the context of an explanation about the law and judgment. “For there is no respect of persons with God.” This is saying that God does not CHEAT for anyone about anything. There are definite reasons why things happen and most of them are NOT what we think.

Do you believe that faith and prayer might have something to do with whether He intervenes or not? If a parent prays every day and seeks the Lord for a hedge of protection around their child – the Lord listens. There have been untold “close-calls” that have been miraculously prevented because of someone’s prayers. If a parent does NOT pray a “covering” of blessing and safety over their child, the family is more vulnerable to attack from the dark side. “The thief cometh not, but for to KILL, and to STEAL and to DESTROY: I [Jesus] am come that they might have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) This should sober us to the importance of praying for everyone we know because we might be saving others from destruction? Are you saying that prayers of faith are really that powerful? What do you believe? I just cannot accept the idea that God would intentionally cause a child to be run-over because He wanted to get someone’s attention. Some might say, God has a purpose for everything. Well, just because He can help patch up the holes in a wall, does not mean that He made the holes – it just means He tries to help us make the best of bad situations. Of course, He does have a plan and He makes things happen according to His will – but it is important for us to NOT confuse what is right and wrong! He bases His words and actions on His own divine principals of virtue, honor, perfection and incorruption. Yes, God functions within His own guidelines – He is good and always says and does what is TRUE! Well brother, His ways are higher than our ways – that is true, but He will NEVER contradict His own Word! Every day there are messages and instructions from God about His WILL but how much we learn depends on our sensitivity – and that comes directly from how close to Him we choose to be.

8. If we are living in sickness and or poverty what do you think God is trying to teach us? To begin with, I realize that many of God’s people are sick and poor. God does NOT “condemn us” if we are going through it – He just wants to help us “out of it.” One reason we know this is true is because so many are led by the Lord to help others. It is true, we do not need to be healthy and wealthy to love God or serve Him. I realize that I have a lot of learning to do, but at this juncture in my studies, I lean toward “faith” rather than God’s “will” as being the deciding factor when it comes to sickness and poverty. Condemnation is usually mentioned in the discussion but there needs to be a definition of the word to truly understand what is being said. Condemn means to – judge, blame, reproach, denounce, accuse and disapprove. The idea of an individual feeling condemnation from someone else would be a sense of “guilt” for the situation they are in and this would imply that it is their FAULT that they are experiencing this fate. Let us contend – there IS guilt! Besides the obvious failures and mistakes, we ALL are guilty of SINNING and sin has caused the cruel environment and intense warfare that we all experience. As we have said, there are reasons why things are the way they are and some of them may be a result of “self- infliction but it all can be traced to sin and the fall. In either case, just because we are caught in a “trap” does not mean we are sentenced to live in one! Amen! It is TRUE – physical health and wealth is NOT the highest priority – living in the Spirit with God is our most important treasure. However, that does not mean the “abundant life” is only limited to our spirit.

Jesus desires to teach all of us the same thing – His truth, whether we are sick and poor or not. If we are content to remain in our situations then He will allow us to continue this way. If we are influenced by FEAR and have been convinced there is no hope, then we shall have what we believe. If being sick and or poor awakens us and stimulates us to search for the revelation of God’s Word that has the solutions to our problems – then ALL glory to His name! If we believe that prayers in faith can move mountains and that NOTHING is impossible with God – then we can learn what it means to be delivered. We can testify that once we were oppressed but have now been delivered by the power of God! Being held in bondage refers to sin but also can mean that we are “confined” and limited to enjoy the fullness of God’s blessings. We must take into consideration that having a serious illness and or poverty not only reduces the quality of our life but prevents us from helping others. It would seem that part of our prayer life would be to ask the Lord to teach us how to be healed and be prosperous. Isaiah chapter 61, speaks of preaching a gospel of proclaiming liberty to all who are held captive by the default system and in verse 4 it talks about building, raising up and repairing – but all of this is not going to happen if we have no resources and are suffering and bound by the strongman.

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.

101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT HEALTH AND WEALTH
January 2015 – Week 2

THE WILL OF GOD

We could spend the rest of our lives discussing the mysteries of God and I believe we should. Even if we lived to be 120 years old, I realize we would not have the time or mental capacity to comprehend but just a drop within the Ocean of God’s Omniscience. For God to be sovereign over all of creation He must have knowledge of all things and this should encourage us even more to keep reaching out further and pressing in deeper toward God’s wisdom. The mind and will of God is accessible and we are NOT satisfied with focusing on things that are meaningless. His truth is available the same as His presence and is an oasis to those who are thirsty for Him! “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, NOT on things on the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:1-3) Bless you – seekers of divine truth.

Some topics are easier to comprehend while certain discussions leave scholars in tears as they throw up their hands in surrender. We agree that there are “paradoxes” if we believe in absolutes and in the context of knowing God’s “will” we have two definite ingredients. Number one; we have discovered through God’s Word that He not only knows everything about everyone (including their future) but has designed perfect (personal – specific) blueprints for each person to follow. Number two; the Lord has demanded that all of His people learn how to pray and develop into serious intercessors and has promised that holy invocation makes things happen. This is where our mystery begins because it appears on the surface that we have two different things going in different directions. If we are convinced that prayer can “change” circumstances and situations every moment, it does not mean that everything is already recorded as “history” in the infinite mind of The Almighty. Let us keep going.

3.Is there anywhere in the Bible that God says it is His desire for His people to be sick or poor? My first response is no. I would like to add that many of the ways we live compared to what the Bible is trying to say could be interpreted differently. There is a big difference between God supplying all of our needs and us being worth a hundred million dollars but generally speaking I believe it is God perfect will for us to prosper. It is also two different things to be sick or poor for a while until God heals and blesses us. I feel the key word that was missing out of the question is whether God wants us to REMAIN sick or poor. The miracle power of prayer is developed and generated through the enlightenment of God’s will and as we said earlier we can know the mind of Christ. According to God’s Word there is no indication that He would not want us to live an abundant life.

Since we are trying to see several examples, we need to include that there are people who live OUTSIDE of God’s general will and their specific blueprints that do become millionaires. Of course they are miserable without God but nonetheless they have managed to gain wealth. The kingdom of darkness is very well financed and there are millions of lost souls that are helping the cause. Being rich does not mean we are successful in God’s eyes as there are many accomplished people that have never spent one moment trying to find the destiny that God has planned for them. Likewise, there are many of God’s children that are rich and it IS included as a part of their divine destiny. As we have mentioned before, just because the rich young ruler was asked to give his fortune away did not mean he was to live the rest of his life poor. The principal of reaping and sowing is a proven generator of blessings. There are many disciples of Jesus that may not be rich or famous but He is watching over them in every way according to their OBEDIENCE (this is a huge subject). We can talk all day about what people “think” when it comes to sickness and poverty but all of that is similar to politics – it does not really matter. What we want to know is how Jesus dealt with these issues and where He recommended anyone to remain sick or poor just for sake of it! There are definite reasons for these problems and we will spend the entire year talking about it. In Third John Chapter 1 and verse 2, we are faced with a simple decision to believe or shrug our shoulders and walk away. The Bible is alive and filled with the power to “save” us from whatever is hurting us or holding us from being whole. “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest PROSPER and be in GOOD HEALTH, even as thy soul prospers.” Now brother, the writer is just simply wishing us well. Does this mean we are to start cutting passages like this out because we do not think they are inspired by God? God said this through His messenger and this is HIS perfect will! Amen!

4. Do you believe there is a difference between God’s “perfect will” and His “tolerance” for us choosing to live below His level of expectation? Yes. We will address this many times but it needs to be repeated over and over until we get it. I do NOT believe God forces His holy Word into someone’s spirit or makes them spend time with Him in the “secret place” of prayer. I believe we are DRAWN into salvation and continually invited every hour to come closer into our personal relationship with Him so that we might accomplish His perfect will. Faith is given to the saints so they can grow stronger and be transformed into the image of Christ but the ability to choose the way we want to live is included in the package. When we ignore divine appointments or do not pray or study, then we will be judged for these sins of omission because our rebellion caused us to fail. However, God’s love is NOT conditional. Praise Him forever! Yes, He tolerates our disobedience and yes we can live in the outer courts and still be saved because of His GRACE. We can be forgiven but the idea is to learn from these failures and become determined to change. Our Christian life is about growing and developing spiritual sensitivity and being more serious about God’s will. Why? Because we are trying to get on the SAME PAGE with the blueprint that has been given to us to fulfill. Where there is given authority – responsibility and expectation is required. Now, just how far will God tolerate our rebellion – only He knows as He is the perfect judge. Is He disappointed when His children do not fulfill His perfect will? Absolutely. Would you not be disappointed if your child spent their entire life in prison? However, is there anything they could do that would cause them to NOT be your child?

We are NOT going to fulfill every tiny detail connected with our blueprint and when we make mistakes by choosing not to follow His voice – He is present to manage and do the best He can with what we have done. For example, if He tells us to give someone a hundred dollars but out of fear and doubt we give then ten dollars, He can still make it all work out. He knew that we would disobey Him before we did it and was already working on another plan to finish the job with someone else. Giving $100.00 was included in our “perfect” plan so we missed this opportunity to be obedient and consequently the blessing that was to be a part of it. The $10.00 was still used but it was considered by the Lord as a failure to obey. There are endless illustrations that we could discuss but for now I want us to take a close observation of a beautiful section of scripture that can encourage us to keep pressing into our understanding of God’s perfect will. The closer we come to Him – the more we can know Him and what He is thinking. Our covenant relationship was not for us just be a mindless slave! Covenant means “mutual” consideration and until we see this partnership agreement between us and God we will continue to see through a glass darkly.

101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT HEALTH AND WEALTH

January 2015 – Week 1
DIVINE ORDER

Jesus is God and it is common knowledge that He designed and built heaven, the earth, the universe, every living thing and everything in-between. All creative ideas and abilities along with the mastery to cause everything to work together are called “divine order” and operate according to the Lord’s perfect principles and authority. Since God made everything and gives mankind the freedom to choose one’s own path, we can see that even the negative energy is enabled by the power of life.

Since we profess He is the Master “Engineer” of all things, it should not really surprise us that He also provides a highly detailed owner’s manual with each human being. When He came to earth as a human, it was only logical that He became a carpenter and was involved with building things. As we observe nature, the seasons and the cosmos, we notice a design of the highest dimension that should cause us to have a humble attitude. Sadly, it seems the more knowledge mankind learns, the more arrogant he becomes. The difference between knowledge and divine wisdom is miles apart which explain why knowledge in itself means very little. The revelation of absolute truth contains the power of true spiritual enlightenment. We learn about our divine blueprint when we meet and accept the covenant of Christ. As we “see” our position in Jesus through the eyes of our spirit and agree to His terms, we will become more acquainted with our specific blueprints and the desire to follow them. It is sobering to consider that we are being counted on by the Lord Himself to follow and accomplish a mission that was planned before the world was made. Though man is convinced that “his” plans are much more important – we can be assured that nothing in the universe is more important than doing God’s will? There are many questions related to this very important subject and our lack of answers is evidence of how little we have been trying to learn.

As we begin a new series for this year, I want us to spend a moment trying to establish where we are going. I cannot think of a better place to start than with a simple parable that Christ taught as He was trying to compare our life with building a house. Of course, when we build a house, we must always begin with surveying the land and making sure it is suitable to support the structure. In the ministry of Jesus, He was trying to emphasize the importance for EVERYONE to construct their life on the most solid ground in existence and that is the absolute truth of the Word of God – Christ Himself. The message that is woven within the Bible is clear and precise – if any individual at any time in history is NOT built upon God and His Word, that life will be lived in vain and come to ruin. Now brother, there are a lot of good people that have not been bad and have lived the best they knew how. Won’t God have mercy on them? The message of God’s mercy enduring forever is unmistakable, but that does not eliminate the true reality of the principals of condition. The law of reaping and sowing is a conditional law that is based on acts and deeds that are produced from thoughts and intentions. All humans that are in their right mind are accountable to the choices they make and the way they live. There are millions of excuses for NOT abiding by God’s blueprints but only one reason – disobedience. This is the absolute truth that cuts like a sharp two-edged sword and is the light that exposes rebellion. It is this piercing, demanding divine reality that the carnal nature avoids at all cost.

Let us stop for a moment and recognize that we have arrived at a familiar place once again where only the ones that are interested in proceeding with this level of spirituality will be enthused to continue walking with us. Have we arrived at some mystical place of holiness? Not necessarily, but we are weighing the demands and searching our souls for the courage to drop our nets and follow the Master. We are realizing what the Lord desires and we are taking baby steps toward giving Him our heart. We are taking a closer look at Mathew 22:37, “Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” If you have chosen your own building lot, drawn up your own plans and have made the final decision to live life your way, then you will NOT be enthused to gather wisdom about God’s divine order. True love will be the unit of measurement when weighing the scales of spiritual obedience. However, if you are trying to follow God’s general will and fervently seeking to know and fulfill God’s specific will, then we have been united together in faith, hope and love as a divine appointment to become what Jesus died for us to be!

Health and wealth are important to us. Amen. I realize that everyone does not agree with certain healing theology but there are many truths that we can rejoice and celebrate that Christ has clearly revealed to us. It is through the revelations of God’s Word and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit that we can study and build our faith. It is with encouragement that we can learn the truth about God’s will and what He is waiting for us to do. I can say with all confidence that I know He has called all of His children to accomplish His mission and He is ready to empower each and every one of us to do it. There is no doubt that if this is true (and I believe it is) then it will take an abundant portion of health and wealth. As always your comments and insight are welcome.
“Father, we thank you for a brand new year! We praise you for all that you helped us with last year and I pray that we can apply what we learned to make us stronger and more wise for the future. Help us to prepare our hearts for what is coming and convict us to become more sensitive to your voice. I ask you to use the book, “A Lifestyle of Worship” to minister edification to the hearts of all those who read it. Encourage us this year as we learn more about your covenant and walking in your Spirit. Take us deeper into relationship with you and help pry our fingers from holding on to this world. Teach us what real faith is all about and what it means to be a remnant disciple for you, in Jesus Name we pray.”

Question One: Why do many Christians insist that “suffering” from the curse of the fall is somehow earning them “respect” from Jesus, and that it may even be “beneficial” to stay sick and poor?
All of us in some way or another suffer from the curse of the fall but our difficulty does NOT prove in any way that we are designed for defeat. It is the devil that has LIED to us in order to implant the idea that nothing can change the course of our failure. Satan knows the power of God’s Word and what the revelations of God’s mysteries can generate to those who comprehend the blood covenant of Jesus! It is the devils mission to do everything he can to keep God’s people OUT of God’s book and OUT of a personal relationship with Him! The Bible clearly states in Hosea 4:6, “My people [He is not talking about the lost] are destroyed for the lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing that thou hast forgotten the law of God, I will also forget thy children.” What knowledge is He talking about? He is talking about the wisdom and revelation of His Word that has the power to transform us from trusting in this natural realm. God knows that if we believe the default system that the devil manages that we will NOT follow His divine blueprint that He has planned for us. This blueprint INCLUDES learning who He is and who we are IN HIM! You and I will NOT fulfill our destiny if we do break FREE from the world and our old nature!
Christians have always associated humility with being spiritual but this is only partially true. There is a true humility that is a spiritual attribute of reverence and respect for God’s sovereignty and there is a false humility that enjoys the attention from trying to be religious. True humility is a very important fruit in the believer’s life but has nothing to do with being AFRAID to step out with boldness in God’s Word and becoming what Jesus died for us to be. The world feels sorry and sympathetic for the unfortunate and many may associate poverty and disease with being down on their luck, lowly, discouraged, hopeless, depressed, unimportant, powerless, etc… but these are all just mental feelings of the earthly system. There are even extreme cases of twisted thinking that believe being held in bondage will control the “beastly” passions that would possess us if we were healthy and wealthy. However when we search God’s Word, we can find no basis for this view but will always come up with spiritual “deliverance” that removes us from darkness and brings us into His glorious light! When God intervenes He brings positive solutions so that in our VICTORY we can live in a closer relationship with Him.

Question Two: Where does this idea come from?
Let us begin by realizing that the average person retrieves their intelligence from the memories of past explanations that are molded into personal convictions. Bits and fragments of comments about life can act as puzzle pieces that form the reasons we believe. The human mind does not know the difference between correct information and lies until the spirit is re-born in Christ and the Spirit of God comes to live inside of us. Without the presence of God convicting us about error the un-renewed mind is open to receive and accept distorted information and when this happens it will create an aberration of the truth. We see from the past how Monks who lived in solitude were viewed as deep spiritual people who devoted their lives to prayer and Nuns have the reputation of individuals who sacrificed their lives for God’s service along with missionaries, priest and so on. It seems these examples of dedication which originated through the Catholic Church has been the basis of religious thought pertaining to the denial of the flesh to partake in the outward blessings of God. We may not realize it but these images of the lowly lifestyles have played a huge role in the development of our views of spirituality. While these ideas are perfectly fine as long as each one was a response to God’s blueprint, it is not to be used as a standard or example for all of us. Living for Jesus is not about being in seclusion – it is about allowing the light of His character to be seen to all people. Many have always attempted to figure out ways to “prove” their devotion to Christ but living victoriously in the joy and power of His presence is HIS way!