Category Archives: Extra Thoughts

You Already GOT It.

I publicly proclaim bold promises.
I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner.
I would not have told the people of Israel to seek me
if I could not be found.
I, the Lord, speak only what is true and declare only what is right.
Isaiah 45:19 (NLT)

We start this section with a presupposition that the Father and Jesus have when engaging men. The presupposition is if God talks about good things, no matter how awesome and wonderful, it is attainable by anyone who has faith. God is no respecter of persons. Small or great, it does not matter. If God promised to make Abraham’s name great, give him supernatural health, and excessive fruitfulness, then Abraham can get these by faith, and it is very doable.  It is like God commanding a plant, “if you gather sunlight and water, you will have food.” In the context of a plant this is more than doable. God’s precious promises and definitions for man, is in context, that we more than able to walk in these excessive blessings.

When Jesus rebuked the disciples for not casting out a demon because of their lack of faith, the presupposition from Jesus is that the disciples are able to do this. When Jesus rebuked the disciple in multiple applications for their lack of faith, His presupposition is that they can have faith to do these things. When Jesus said, “if you seek, you will find, if you knock the door will be open,” and to pray and never give up because you will get what you pray for, the presupposition is that you are able to do this. Jesus would not said that if you bind something on earth it will be bound in heaven, if you could not do it. This is an encouragement. Jesus’ presupposition means casting out sickness or mountains, in His Name, is some as attainable as a plant getting food from soaking up water and sunlight. When you read the New Testament you realize doing miracles is an easy thing; it is only Satan and false tradition that teach the opposite. It is obvious why the devil is afraid of such a doctrine, but why do men conspire with him?

This presupposition might seem obvious, but some seem to miss this due to false teachings or the emotional hurt from being attacked by the devil. Be encouraged, God would not have promised these good things if you could not do them. He is cheering for you more than you are for yourself. He promised these good things because He likes you, because He loved you with and everlasting love.

The sword of the Spirit is already yours. You wield it, not God. You have been baptized in the Spirit with “power.” You wield this power, not God.  It’s yours. You have authority in Jesus’ name to command demons and sickness to flee. You have the status of a child to ask for whatever you want and to get it. You do this, not God.

You already have these benefits, power, authority and blessings, you simply receive them freely by faith. God has already defined you with these things, and so you do not beg for them. I remember Andrew Wommack saying in a sermon “What if I gave you my bible, and then while holding my bible you look at me and say, “Andrew will you give me your bible?” I would think such a person is missing a few screws and wouldn’t know what to say to them. I would likely stay silent, which is exactly how God treats many of your prayers for the same reason.”[1] Andrew’s point is an important one. Many Christians do not know the fullness of their new definition in Christ; they do not understand they already possess God’s blessings, power and authority.  And so, they end up begging God for things they think they do not have, but in fact already do. They walk in constant lack and defeat. This is why Christianity for many things is a Word of Faith Confession (“I am the father of many nation”), rather than asking God for things. This is why Christianity for many things is a command: “demon, sickness, mountain, trouble, Get out of my way.” You cannot confess something as true, when reality is a contradiction to it, if you do not have the power to make it happen. You cannot command something to leave if you do not already have the authority to do it. Jesus is an extreme faith teacher; He tells us to confess and command things because we already have His power and authority to do it.

Think about Christmas gifts, with your name on them, under the Christmas tree. They have already been given to you. Imagine picking up a present with your name on it and then begging your mom if you can have this on Christmas day. Your mom says “it is yours, your name is on it, open it!!” But then you continue to hold it and begin to beg even more if you can have it. Yet this is how many Christians treat God in prayer. This is why they do not see victory in their lives.

Faith is assenting to what God says is true. When you beg and hedge your prayers, it means you are not assenting to God’s definition of your new identity in Christ. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2 that the Spirit of God, who alone knows God, has been given to us to help us know all things that God has “freely given” us. You do not beg for a Christmas gift with your name on it, you simply receive it. You do not beg God for gospel benefits that have been freely given to you; you simply receive them by faith. They are already yours. You do not beg the bank teller to give you your money when it is already in your account; and likewise you do not beg God to give you gospel blessings that have been deposited into your account by grace. They are already yours. Faith is your access or admission to retrieve them and use them.

Jesus did not say, “God will feed them” rather He said, “You feed them.” Jesus did not instruct us to tell God about our mountain in prayer; rather, the most God centered man told us to speak to the mountain and make it disappear.  Jesus did to say God will cast out these demons and heal the sick; rather, He gave us the power and commanded us to do it (Acts 1:8).

The bibles tells us that it is not God who resists the devil and makes him flee, but that we resist the devil and he will flee from us (James 4:7).

Again, many things that people leave for God to do, God has already given us the grace, supply and authority to do it ourselves. They beg God to give them things that God has already given them. This is why God is silent for much of their prayers. It is hard to respond to insane requests.

They come to God saying, “we are nothing, we have nothing, and so we ask you to help us.” They approach God like beggars and outsiders to His Contract. The relate to God like reprobates. A person who is part of God’s Contract has the contractual right to boldly approach God as a prince of heaven, and by this same contract they have the authority to command demons, sickness and mountains to flee.

Because they said “they are nothing and have nothing,” then like God said in Exodus 14 to the Israelites by giving them what they said, He will say “ok, you are nothing, and you have nothing.”

Their faith in God’s Contract, by the blood of His only Son, is no greater than a brick wall. It seems unrealistic they can command mountains and sickness to flee, because they view the Contract by the blood of Jesus as insufficient to produce such great results. They reject God’s power and His love.

He clothes them in the full amor of God. He gives them His shield and even His sword of the Spirit. But these same people will leave God’s armor hanging on the wall, the shied of faith in their closet and the sword under their beds. Then they cry out for God to be a mighty warrior and come down to save them. It is not funny. It was not a suggestion for Christians to adorn God’s armor, use His weapons and be empowered with His power; It was a command. “Be strong in the Lord and in His might power.” They cry out for God to be a mighty warrior but God has given them the authority, power and weapons to be a mighty warrior.  God has given all Christians the power to be like David facing Goliath, no, He has given greater power. David said God made him strong enough to leap over a wall (Psalm 18), but by the power of God’s Spirit Phillip was transported to different cities.

Imagine having to be in God’s place. He gives us power and authority, and people ask God to use authority to make Satan flee. He not only has given us this authority but commands us to make Satan flee by resisting him. “Lord, please make the devil flee.” How would you answer such a contradictive request? Imagine they keep asking over and over? Yet many Christians pray to God like this. The keep asking for things God has already given them.

“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”
Matthew 18: 18-19.

Christian: “how much authority do I have?”

God: “Whatever you bind, I will bind;
Whatever you lose, I will lose;
Whatever you allow, I will allow.”

This is another example of what God has already given us. He has already given us the authority to gather, ask for anything and then God will do it. This is not something we do not have and then ask God to have the privilege to gather, agree and then receive whatever we ask for. It is already our identity and definition in Jesus. This is already our royal privilege and right. The ablity to lock and unlock something on earth and then have this to be the same in Heaven is something God has already given us. You do not need to be a Christian for 10 years, working to achieve 100 acts of charity and a 1000 years of soul cultivation to be able to do this. Because we already have this, we simple do it and walk in it. If things need to be locked and unlock on earth and in heaven, we do it in Jesus’ Name rather than begging God about it. If we want anything, then we come together, agree, and receive our miracles.

Take for example depression. If the reports are true, this is a rampant issue in the church. Yet, does not the scripture address this problem? Paul faced many hardships and overwhelming difficulties. How did he deal with this, so that he did not succumb to depression? He tells us how in 1 Corinthians 14. He says that praying in tongues “edifies” the person. This is referring to the inner man. The soul of a Christian is strengthened to edification and peace by praying in tongues. Why else do you suppose Paul brags about praying in tongues more than the Corinthians. He needed inner edification and so he used the power God has already given him. He suffered continually and so he prayed in tongues continually. It’s so simply a child can do it. When you read the book of Acts, praying it tongues is a gift for all. Not the gift of “tongues” spoken in a congregation to be interpreted, but the gift of tongues for personal edification appears to be given to all (or super vast majority) in the book of Acts for those baptized in the Spirit.

And so, God has given us the power to be strengthened in the inner man for peace and joy. Beyond this, those who are experienced in Spiritual operations know praying in tongues for personal edification is a gateway into other spiritual powers and operations to manifest. This is such a powerful tool and many under use and under value it. I can personally testify in my own struggle with depression that it was overcome by praying in tongues and power. More than once when praying in tongues in my fight over sadness, fear and depression it led to interpretation and powerful words from God. It led to God being my personal counselor.

I will give this quick testimony and example. The important point to remember is the you need the foundation of God’s word and to continually study God’s word. Sometimes you might need your pastor for advice and counsel, but the thing that will deliver you is POWER. God’s unadulterated power is what will deliver you. Praying in tongues is gateway to God’s power. It is like a game cheat that can bypass all sorts of things and suddenly load you with God-mod power.  

The other day I awoke feeling off and with a headache. Halfway through the day I saw a reminder to seek God in devotion for spiritual strength, and I felt the Spirit prod me to do this. As the day went on the headache got worse and I felt an irrational oppressive pressure on my mind. I even had a difficult time remembering things. Finally it got to a point where it was irrational fears and accusative thoughts coming out of nowhere.

I have been seeking personal inner strength as a priority for a few years. God has been delivering me from many of my old fears and even sins and etc. I remember as a young man I experienced a direct demonic attack regarding temptation. It frightened me. I lacked the knowledge and power to know how to deal with such a thing. It caused me years of terrible fear in my heart. Vincent’s materials were helping me, and his essay on Demonic Attacks was a moment when I began to experience real breakthrough.

However, I suddenly felt all those old fears suddenly being pressed upon me, like they once did. So, I did the easy thing and just began to pray in tongues and declares God’s promises over me. When I began this, the oppressive mental attacks ratcheted up strength. After about 15 minutes I felt a sudden power in speaking in tongues. This happens sometimes. You will be praying in tongues and suddenly, the power will increase. The bible says both the woman and Jesus “felt” power regarding the healing. There is such as thing as spiritual force and you can feel it. The bible is always true and men are liars. The moment this happened I heard the Spirit say to me, “You are a child of God, these things are to be afraid of you, not the other way around!” At this exact moment, all the oppressive thoughts and pressure vanished. Wonderfully, even my headache was instantly healed.

In a perfect world of mature faith, a simple word would have stopped this attack earlier on the day. And we are all to seek this level of faith. So, while you work on a strong faith, have compassion on yourself and those around you needing help, by praying in tongues and bringing down the power of God to expand His kingdom.

Vincent Cheung in the essay, “Cure for Psychological Trauma,” says, “Power is what will finally deliver you.” The foundation is first correct theology and promises. But the thing that will deliver from all your troubles is power. Unadulterated power of God. Mature faith will always do this. However, praying in tongues is one of the easiest ways to move the power of God directly into your soul, body and life. You should eagerly seek this gift. We need less talk and more power! God’s power can deliver you, your family, your church and even entire nations.

The point is God has already given you the power to be edified. And yet people will be depressed and cry out to God, “oh lord please help me overcome this depression.” Yet God has already answered their prayer by given the baptism of the Spirit and gift to pray in tongues. They keep asking for something Jesus has already purchased by His blood and given them free access to use. Jesus said the Father has given Him the Spirt, just as the Father promised, to freely pour out on His chosen ones. All you need to have the Power and tongues is faith and you receive it, just like you receive forgiveness of sins.

This is not to say we do not cry out to God for help in our troubles and emotional upheavals. Elijah was deeply saddened, and so God came down. He rebuked him and encouraged him. God gave him food that supernaturally sustained him. Elijah’s sadness was replaced with purpose and joy. We see God’s willingness to help. Because we see God in scripture wanting to help us in our sadness, and commands us to keep praying, we gladly obey Him. We pray continually until we get what we ask for. We seek and find. We knock and the door opens. The promise is that the door will open. The promise is that we will find it. The promise is if we do not give up praying that we will be given what we ask for.

The point is simple. Why cry out for God to help with depression if you are not willing to obey Him and do the things you are able to do, which is to pray in tongues. Being edified by praying in tongues does not mean this is all there is to fighting depression, but it means we are delusional if we seek God for help and are too lazy to do the things that are in our means to use. We see God’s love in both aspects. We see power that God has already given us, and recognize when there are closed doors that they will open, if we only keep knocking. God has predestined us to win. We win in both aspects. In preinstalled power and in opening shut doors, we are made to only win.  

Think about God’s generosity. He has given us divine power from heaven to beat back depression. He gave us supernatural power to fight. He gave us His personal lightning bolt. And yet, Christians will turn to human counselors and drugs and then act like beggars before God, hoping He might help them. Wait. What? This is not Christianity. It is literally a different worldview than the viewing the world through the Spirit and power. Christianity is about believing. It is believing your identity in Christ. They don’t see themselves as new creations in Christ. They have an anti-Christian view of the world.

Again, how would you respond to someone who keeps asking for something you already gave them?

“Wherever you set foot, that land will be yours, (Deuteronomy 11:24 NLT).

God delivered Israel from Egypt by Himself. They did not lift one sword to fight. God did all the fighting Himself. Yet, after they were baptized in the Jordon river (as we are baptized in the Spirit), God said He will empower them. He commanded them to use shields and swords. God will be the supernatural power in obvious miracles and in guiding their hands as they swing their weapons. It was not God’s footsteps that determined how much land they took, but their footsteps. They had to put their own feet on the ground and move forward.  

Imagin Joshua sitting at the foot of Cannan crying and begging God to give them Cannan? “Lord, please give this land to us?” How would God answer that? What if Josh kept doing this over and over? At one point God had to tell Mose to stop monologuing, shut up and cross over the Red Sea. People pray to God as if they are still in Egypt. But Egypt is an illustration of Jesus’ atonement. If you see yourself still in Egypt you still view Jesus as if He did not die and resurrect. Likewise, after God saved the people from Egypt, He then baptized them in supernatural power and they, not God, marched into Cannan. This is how we advance His kingdom today. With every footstep of faith in God’s promises, we march into the devil’s territory and take ground for our inheritance and our Father’s value.

We do not “wait” for God to move, we do not beg God to give, we do not sit around for a revival, because we already have God’s mighty power, rich supply, armor, weapons and authority to march forward. If you are a Christian you already have these things. And if we find closed doors, we are persistent at knocking and our God opens.

An illustration that Andrew Wommack uses on this same topic is to equate God as the powerplant pushing the power to our house, but if we want a light turn on in our house, we must flip the light switch. It would be unreasonable to call the power company and ask if a utility worker can come over to the house and turn on the lights, the stove, the fan and computer, because that is our job. This is a good analogy. We are not saying the that we inherently have the power, but that God richly supplies the power to us. We do not force God, rather, we enforce the power, privileges, blessings and authority freely given to us in Christ.

We pay to have the electricity directed to our house; however, in the gospel Jesus pays the tab for all the power and blessings of Abrham, faith and the Spirit to be directed to us. Not even an insane person would call the utility company to send over a worker to their house every time a light or appliance needs to be turn on, and yet people treat God this way. God has already provided us with blessings and power to do so much, and God expect us to turn on the lights, heat the stove and power up the computer.  He asks so little.

Unbelief is so disgusting that it makes people excessively lazy. Proverbs says a lazy man will not even lift his hand out of the bowl to feed himself. Many Christians are the same with faith and power. God has already supplied them with all the power and authority they could ever hope to use. And like the lazy man who will not even lift his hand out of the dish, the so-called Christian will not even lift bread from God’s table to their face. Jesus referred to healing as bread that belongs to Abraham’s children. But so-called Christians are so lazy they will not even lift it to their face? Jesus says if in faith you “say” to this mountain to move, then it will happen. Jesus showed us over and over to “tell” sickness to leave and it leaves. But Christians are too lazy to even open their mouth to “tell” sickness, demons, poverty and demons to leave. Do they expect God to come down from heaven a second time and spoon feed them and shove the bread down their throats? Do they expect God to force open their jaws and speak?

If there is sickness, the power is already yours to heal. Because of Jesus finished work and because you are already born-from-above, the power of God is already directed to you. It is already yours. It is your responsibility and accountability to turn on the lights. It is your responsibility to speak to sickness and command it to leave in Jesus’ name (John 14:13). Jesus went to heaven to sit on His throne and commanded us to be filled with faith and power, so that millions of His followers will turn on lights all over the world. The power is already yours. Oh, sleeper, when will you wake up. The bread is on the table. Eat.

This doctrine about “you already got it,” is simply the application of knowing your identity in Christ. Our identity in Christ is a foundational doctrine from metaphysis. The way you “apply” this doctrine shows if you have understood it correctly. When we know what we already have, through our identity Christ, we apply this by using it, rather than begging God for something we already have.  

God has given you so much power, authority and supply in your new identity in Christ. You should be so filled power and faith that when you see sickness your first impulse is to say “get out,” and it leaves; that when you see a demon, you say “leave,” and it leaves; that when you see a physical lack of a material substance you command it to multiply, and after it finishes multiplying, there are 14 baskets left over; that when you feel stressed you pray in tongues and joy feels your heart and God gives you a tailored word to help you; that when you need to make a house payment you go to your backyard and grab a random toad and pull out a gold ounce; that when you see a mountain in your way, you speak to it and it vanishes in a black hole. If this is not your first impulse, but rather to “ask or beg God for help,” then you are immature in knowing and walking in your identity in Christ. You still do not know who you are. You still do not know God’s power and generosity. You still approach God as if you are an outsider to Him and His Contract.

This is not to say we never pray to God by saying, “I need help for this or that,” because we are commanded to pray all the time and to boldly approach God for help. What we are saying is that when you understand your position in Christ this maturity will lead to you correctly use what God as already given you. You will correctly use your authority and faith in speaking to sickness, troubles, and demons rather than giving long winded prayers hoping God might help you. If God’s sword is in your right hand, is it a correct application to beg God to give you heavenly power?

“It makes no sense to knock on an open door, or ask for something you already have, or to look for something that has never been lost. Prayer makes sense when doors close, when there is need and loss. Prayer reverses tragedy, meets necessity, removes hindrance. Prayer is God solution to man’s problems.”[3]

Gabriel is correct. The fact the Jesus commands us to knock and the door will open, to seek and find, and to always pray for what we want and never give up, presupposes there are closed doors and hindrance blocking our progress in life, our desires and godliness. The way we face closed doors is to keep praying (knocking) until it opens. When we are lost and can’t find our way, we seek (pray, pray in the Spirit, read more scripture etc.) until we find. We are to be like Daneil and pray to God 3 times a day, if not more. When Jesus said “will the son of man really find faith,”(Luke 18:1-8) it was in the context of commanding us to pray and never give up. When you are mature and you know your identity and power as a Christian, it is easy to see a sickness and just command it to leave and it leaves. But to face a closed door is more difficult because it takes patience, diligence and constantly applying faith at all the fiery arrows telling you to give up. It is when we face closed doors that even the faith of a mature Christian can be tested.  Mature Christians do better with this knocking because they understand how much God has given them and how much God loves them, (Ephesians 3:14-21, 1 Corinthians 2:6-16) But God’s chosen ones do not shrink back. They keep knocking and the door opens.

As a summary this is a worldview issue. Knowing, believing and walking in your identity in Christ makes you view the world in a completely different way. It can be a lack of knowledge, but it can also be that many so-called Christian are not born-again, and this is why their worldview is so limited, powerless, blessing-less. They see themselves as limited, because they only see themselves. Jesus is just a slogan, but their true view of the world is only though their human limitations. God’s elect see themselves in and through Christ. Because the see Christ as limitless they see themselves as limitless. Because they see Jesus as righteous without measure, they see themselves as righteous. Because the see how great God’s love is for Jesus, the see how great the Father loves them. They see themselves in the world filled with God’s power, blessings, privileges and authority. The difference couldn’t be more glaring.

If I were writing for the sake of importance, I would write pages and pages on this, because it is so important. However, I will only say that if you want to walk in the type of victory and power you read in the bible the above doctrine is foundational.

[1] This is paraphrases from memory.

[2] Ephesians 6:18 NIV. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

[3] Gabriel Arauto. Google translate from Portuguese to English.

From my forthcoming Systematic Theology book.

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Stupid Cessationism Argument #2

Jackie: “Person “x” says they believe in faith for miracles but their spouse died of cancer, and (etc). Thus, healing on the demand of faith is not true.”

Oshea: My math teacher made a few adding and division mistakes in class, therefore, addition and subtraction is not always correct. LOL!! If you think your argument is any less stupid, then you are delusional. Also for your examples to be taken as a truth claim, you would need to provide proof that empiricism as an epistemology yields truth and induction/observation, despite being irrational leads to valid conclusions. But scripture both rejects empiricism and induction for a method to know truth. Therefore, I also reject empiricism and induction/observation. If you make an argument that uses them I will not proceed further with you until you can prove they yield truth. This burden of proof is on you to make. They are your presuppositions, not mine.

—

This type of critique is very damming to the opponent because it shows their extreme level of disrespect and arrogance toward God. No one ever thinks to themselves, because my math teacher made an adding mistake therefore, 2 + 2 = 4, is not always correct. I have never meet people who apply this type of irrational logic with sincerity in life (even if some people might act this way it is not common in my experience). However, when it comes to God they will attack His word with it, as if their life depends on it. They would not dare apply this stupidity to themselves, their teachers, or workers, but they will slap God with it. Such attacks are an autobiographical description for the type of person they are and who they view God.

When there is an adding mistake we assume the mistake is with the person and not math itself. However, God’s promises are no less exact, faithful, immutable and unyielding as math is. Thus, when there is a mistake in receiving a healing, we assume it is with the person and not God’s promise to do what He said He would do when we believe.

Going to Church is Now A Red Flag

“You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.”
-2 Corinthians 11:4

” After all, you think you are so wise, but you enjoy putting up with fools! 20 You put up with it when someone enslaves you, takes everything you have, takes advantage of you, takes control of everything, and slaps you in the face.”
-2 Corinthians 11:19 – 20

Since almost all churches are very bad, then it is a red flag when people congregate. We should look suspiciously at congregants and not trust them until they prove faithful and offer good excuses for their attendance in a local church. Congregation is a blemish in the spiritual curriculum of any believer today.

It’s a sin to allow spiritual abuse!

It is a sin to tolerate a different gospel, a different spirit and a different Jesus.

Apostle rebukes Corinthians for tolerating false teachers and their spiritual aggressions. It is a sin to tolerate another gospel. It is a sin to tolerate a different Christ. It is a sin to tolerate a diverse spirit. It’s a sin to allow your fake pastor to turn you into a slave. It’s sin to allow your fake pastor to use your money. It’s a sin to allow your false pastor to implant limiting doctrines in you. It’s a sin to allow your fake pastor to slap your face.

QUEST. “Which is better, congregating in a Cessationist Reformed church or congregating in an Arminian Pentecostal church? “

ANS. Best is to boycott false religion.

Gabriel Arauto

——————————–

Gabriel is correct.

If a church does not heal sick (there should be no sick member attending), cast out demons, and teach the absolute sovereignty of God, it does not have the right to assemble. So what if Satan assembles with its demons, you are not allowed to attend. You are forbidden to partake of the fellowship of Satan. Anyone who attends such a church shares in that church’s sin, and commits the sin of not exposing it.

A Christian does not have the right or privilage to assemble at whatever church they want. They are not allowed to assemble at a church that limits God or faith. If your pastor spiritual slaps your miracles down and smacks God’s sovereignty, they are not your friend. You do not have the right to be abused. You are commanded to stand up in courage and expose it. Your are under the command of God, at the very least to leave and boycott. (2 Corinthians 11:19 – 20, 2 Corinthians 11:4, Galatians 1:8)

I Do Care, That Is Why I Gave You My Power.

Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”

When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.  Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
(Mark 4:28-39 NIV)

Earlier Jesus gave them authority to heal the sick and cast out demons (ch.3). They have been seeing Jesus do miracles, and now they have been doing miracles.  This is the context.

I wish to point Jesus’ evaluation of the disciples behavior. He revealed they had “no faith.” Not even a little, they had “no faith.”

Here is what I wish to focus on. The disciples accused Jesus of “not caring” about them. Today, people are sophisticated and so they avoid accusing God of this, and instead say their bad situation was “God’s will.” They use this to show-off and parade how they are “suffering for the glory of God.” They have their reward.

The disciples accused Jesus for “not caring” about them. The emotion that lead to this irreverent accusation was “fear.” The fear was coming from a natural situation. The disciples, many being fishermen, knew from human experience that they were in trouble.

Jesus said their fear and irreverent behavior came from having no faith at all. They did not trust God to help them. You cannot give the option that they should have trusted God and suffered, because Jesus made the storm go away. Thus, the “faith” Jesus was referring to, had to do with trusting God to make the bad situation disappear. Jesus thinks this is the type of faith we ought to have.

But there is one more element to this. It is not merely trusting God to keep them safe, in a general sense; no, there is more to it. Jesus had already anointed them with authority to do miracles. In the pervious chapter Jesus gave them power and His authority. They had already been doing things that would elevate them above some of the Old Testament prophets in raw power. They are doing it with success. They were not helpless. They wanted to blame Jesus for not caring to help them, when Jesus had already given them the faith and authority to command the trouble to go away. Jesus loved them so much and cared for them so much that He put heavenly swords in their hands to expand His kingdom. It is like Zeus freely giving someone his lightning bolt to use. Jesus loved them this much. Thus, when they accused Jesus for not caring, because Jesus did not use a miracle to save them, they were blind to the fact Jesus already gave them the power to do it themselves. They had no faith.

In addition to this is that fact Psalm 91 still stands. Ten thousand will fall at your side and no harm will touch you. Sickness and armies and natural troubles will not touch the one who dwells with the Almighty. Thus, the type of faith we are talking about is not fatalism or Buddhism that says “what will happen will happen by God’s will,” but the type of faith that assents to the promise of God. The promise is that no harm will touch you.

Many do this today. They have no faith, and so they have fear, and the fear leads them to accuse God of neglect or blame His sovereignty.  If they are indeed Christians, they already have faith to move mountains, the power of the baptism of the Spirit and the right to wield Jesus’ name. They have the shield of faith in one hand the Spirit in the other. When troubles come they do not even raise their weapons, and when a trouble steamrolls over them, they become fearful and blame God.

No. Troubles of life are to be afraid of you, not the other way around. You wield God’s lightning bolt, and if you ever learned how to use it you will see the gates of hell explode.

Dominion over Time

“And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.” (Genesis 1:14-16 NIV)

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.” (Psalm 83-6 NKJV)

The Scripture tells us that God made everything in the beginning by the word of His power. He spoke and then reality was created. In Genesis 14-16 we read how the sun, moon and stars was for time keeping. It was for man to follow time. In Psalm 8, as it mentions the moon and stars by name, it says that God has put all reality under man’s dominion. This is the same we read in the 1 Corinthians 3:22, when referring to Christians.

Because time is part of creation, not God, and creation has been put under the boot and dominion of Christians, then time is subject to man. This is why Joshua told the sun to stop and it stopped. This is why the sun dial went back 10 degrees for the king and why when Jesus made wine from water it was good tasting “aged” wine. In fact, when people are healed time is in effect reversed for them in the healing. Joshua and Calab had time held back for 40 years, because their bodies did not age, and their clothes did not wear out. These aspects of time being dominated were by men who had faith in God. When there is faith, then there is a way out of every trouble. Even if time is standing in the way, yet with faith, time must yield to the will of man.

Time was made for man and not man made for time. Under the curse, time dominated man, but this was not the original creation of time. Those under the curse are dominated by time to the point time is a nightmare. For the reprobated time is a monster that hunts their dreams and never stops chasing them down and stealing their bodies, minds and dreams. Under the curse, time becomes a curse. Time was created by God to be dominated by man and to serve man, not the other way around. For those in Jesus Christ, the curse is reversed and through faith they have access to cause time to serve its original purpose, which is to be a blessing to man. In Jesus Christ the truth that creation is for man (the elect) is even more so, because they are not merely the image of God, the image of Jesus Christ, with His imputed righteousness and adapted as sons and heirs of God.

Let us ever allow man to hinder us in expanding our faith and expanding the Kingdom of God. Let us never put limitations the glory of God, by limiting the glory of man and glory of man’s domination over creation. Let us never see time as a curse, but a servant to the will of man, through faith in Jesus Christ. Reprobates speak of time from a position of fear and defeat, whether it is from false preachers, co-workers, or how it is spoken of in popular movies. Let us recognize, for us, time is under our boots and a servant for those who have faith in Jesus Christ.  

For those who fear time as a monster that ravages their bodies, minds, and dreams in this life, will find it will continue to do the same in the next life. Only those who have been born-from-above and make time serve them now in this life will find it will be so in the next.

Receive God’s Love & Give God’s Love

Lastly, we test to see if we have known and believed our new identity correctly when we can receive God’s love and give His love.

We are mature, as has been discussed, when we sit at Jesus’ feet and receive from Him and not giving to Him. We are mature when we receive His love for spiritual things such as forgiveness and joy, but also when we receive things like health, prosperity and fruitfulness in all our lives.

When we are strengthened in our inner man by receiving the full measure of God’s love that effects our entire lives, then we have even more strength to love our neighbor. It is not that we choose not to even try to love our families and neighbors without being mature in our inner man, but that there is a priority. The first effects the second to be better and not the other way around. Thus, there is always a priority to receive from God first, while never neglecting the second.

“The love chapter” is in-between “The Power Chapters.” But that is a little misleading because there is no such thing as The Love Chapter, as Vincent Cheung points out.

“There is no such thing as “The Love Chapter.” The topic of 1 Corinthians 13 is spiritual gifts, not love itself. Paul’s point is that spiritual gifts should be pursued in love, not replaced by love.

Don’t read 1 Corinthians 13 at your wedding unless you are prepared to put this love into action and lay hands on the sick among the guests as a couple after the wedding vows. That’s love…”[1]

The bible defines love in the middle of Paul defining different types of power. Paul’s answer is that supernatural power is to be used with love. The context is power and not love. Power is to be used with love. Thus, when people read 1 Corinthians 13 at their wedding, they should not do this without having a healing service right after, for this is the context for how to use power.

Because power and love cannot be separated, then Christian love cannot be Christian love without miracle power. We are to be like our Father in heaven. With God there is no such thing as loving without power. It is with great power that He loves us.

As Paul says, anyone who does not recognize that we are to zealously seek the spiritual gifts (power) is not recognized by God. We are not to merely seek them but have enough faith to have gifts regularly in our lives and ministries. Any ministry leader or pastor, who does not do this needs to step down immediately or be excommunicated. If God does not recognize such a person, then who I am to recognize them as spiritual? If God has disregarded them as trash, then who I am to treat trash as something different? If God has a low definition of them, who I am to define them differently?

 “Prophecy is said to be imperfect, not because the gift itself is defective, but it offers incomplete knowledge. So “when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.” Paul does not leave the time of “perfection” in doubt. He writes, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” When perfection comes, there will be “face to face” knowledge. When perfection comes, we will know fully, even as we are fully known. This is not a potential knowledge, as in knowledge revealed but not completely assimilated, but an actual knowledge, so that we will know as we are fully known. When this happens, the gifts will cease, and we shall not miss them, for we will lack nothing.”[2]

“Paul does not refer to a potential knowledge, but an actual knowledge, as actual as we are “fully known.” As perfect as the Bible is, we do not even know fully the Bible. It takes an extraordinarily delusional person to think that he already knows fully, even as he is known fully. A “face to face” knowledge should not need exegesis, reading, revision, debate, and research. If the way I will know fully is the way that I am known fully, then unless God himself needs to perform exegesis, revision, and debate in order to know me, “face to face” knowledge cannot refer to what we possess at this time. Thus if a person insists on his cessationism on the basis of this text by sheer determination, although even then it can apply only to prophecy, he loses his God, and so his salvation as well.”[3]

The gifts will be imperfect in the next life because we will have so much spiritual power that the gifts will be too weak, or imperfect. Paul also teaches we will know as God knows us. Even with the completion of the Scripture, in order to know God we do so by study, mediation, review and revise, and debate; yet, God does not know us this way. He knows us intuitively and immediately. This is what Paul refers to the “prefect.” Thus until we know God this way, the “perfect” has not come and the gifts are still in play to help us. Paul’s command to seek them and use them to love others is still on the books.

God intends for us to love with supernatural power. When someone is sick, God wants you to love them not merely by sacrificing your time to “be there for them,” and fix them a meal, but to make the sickness and pain go away by commanding it to leave. This is how Scripture defines love. Love that does not command the sickness to leave is not Christian love, or at best it can be describe as a defective form of Christian love. The same for lack of insight. Christian love will bring a prophecy to help their family member or friends so that they have more understanding and wisdom for their jobs, ministry, relationships, and godliness. If your neighbor needs a specific type of knowledge for their life, you cannot give them true Christian love without spiritual prophecy, insight, and visions. Anything less than this is not Christian love. Your church family will have all sorts of troubles thrown at them and the bible’s answer is to overcome these troubles by miracles. You do not qualify as giving biblical love without helping them by providing miracles to help. Human love is merely human power; however, Christian love is distinguished by God’s supernatural power. Christian love cannot be Christian love without this miracle working power. Worldly love can be defined without God’s supernatural power, but not Christian love.

When we are sick, the bible defines this situation as coming from Satan, Acts 10:38; Luke 13:10-17. This does not mean it is only from the devil (1 Corinth. 11:30), however, these are the exceptions. That is, the type of high-level sinning that would invoke God’s response in 1 Corinthians 11:30 is not normal or the average. Rather, Acts 10:38 shows us that the norm for sickness is from the devil. Your theology needs to include this. God is the foundation of sickness, just as God is the foundation for all things in the metaphysical sense. But this God who is the foundation mostly speaks to us on the human level, and defines sickness as almost always from Satan. Jesus, the apostles, and followers, were on a one-way mission to eradicate sickness; by destroying sickness they were destroying the devil. Jesus did not interpret all the sickness he encountered as the “will of God,” and so we are to just let people be sick. No. He saw sickness as demonic victimization of people. Jesus could have spent more time preaching but instead directly attacked Satan’s power by healing people. In the one act of healing Jesus had compassion on people and destroyed the kingdom of Satan. Healing is one of those spiritual acts of power that accomplishes huge amount of compassion, grace, gospel advancement and devastates the devils kingdom in one punch.

Satan has kept many Christians in bondage, helpless and weak through sickness. The one who is sick is shamed, time constrained, in pain, usually must take money meant for the kingdom of God and try to buy healing from men. They are experts in giving glory to man. Many hours that could be devoted to ministry or devotion to God are spent in shameful pain and prostrating oneself to glory of man to heal them. Depending on how bad the sickness is, those in the family must also divert money and time that could be spend in ministry or devotion to God to helping the sick spouse or child. The one person who wins in this situation is Satan. If your family member is sick, then you better help them, or you are worse than an unbeliever. However, God has not called us to love and help by power of man, but through God’s power. God has called to destroy the works of Satan, which includes sickness. We are not permitted to allow Satan to steamroll our families with sickness, and all the effects that come from this, such as shame, time constrained and money spent on human medicine.

When God strengthened barren women to give birth it is said that God has taken away their “shame.” We know, and God also knows, that such sickness and physical defects brings us shame. You can lie to yourself and say, “this deformity or sickness does not define me,” but you are deluding yourself. The bible defines it as shame and so it is. If you are a Christian it is not part of your new identity, but God still recognizes that it does bring shame to a person. God is compassionate and wants to heal and bring honor to you. If you seek Him, He will heal and take away all your shame and make you sit on a throne of honor among princes. Then and only them, will that shame no longer be part of your definition.  Satan wants you defined by shame, but God is able to destroy the works of the devil. With faith you can command Satan and sickness to leave. You can command the shame to run from you and it will.

Compassion that only helps the symptoms and does not cure the sickness is a human way to love, but not God’s way. Compassion that helps to only alleviate some pain, while drugging up your brain, is a human glory and power. If you are a Christian you are not a human any more, but a child of God, a new creation and the image of Jesus Christ. You have divine favor, authority and power to heal your family members. You can love like God does. You can love with real power. Compassion without power is how sinful, fallen men love, and it is pathetic. God loves with power that fixes, heals, transforms, and supplies miracles. When God loves the sickness is healed, the poverty is replaced with cash surplus, impossible situations are leveled to the ground, giant’s heads are cut off, bodies are transported to different cities, barren women give birth and the dead are raised to life. God’s way to love to is to make the bad go away and replace it with good; to make the trouble disaappear and command blessings; to make the sickness run and give honor with double portion. God’s powerful love destroys the works of Satan.

It is often said, “The Scriptures say that God is love, but it does not say that God is power.” Actually, it does. It says this in a way that is stronger than most Christians would want to admit, and in a context that is more intense than “God is love” in the letter of John. Jesus declared, “From now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62). In other contexts, the word refers to miraculous power, such as when Jesus said, “Power has gone out of me” to heal the woman with the bleeding disease, or when he said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” Power. This is what Jesus called God. He did not say that he would be seated at the right hand of Love or Wisdom. He did not use a different word for power to call him Authority, but he called him Power, raw ability and force. No matter what hermeneutical excuse you attempt to use, I know all the tricks and I have already considered them, and the fact remains that in this place he did not refer to God as anything else but POWER. God is Power as much as Jesus is Word. Where is Jesus? Power. He is next to Power. What kind of power? Power for miracles. Power over demons. Power to rule in creation. Christians are ashamed of power. And if you are ashamed of power, you are ashamed of God, for God is Power. If you refuse to seek power, you refuse you seek God. If you mock miracle power as if it is some sideshow, you mock God as if he is a sideshow.

Everything else that Christians have been saying about “God is love” can be said with even greater emphasis about Power. Do you worship the one who is on the throne? Do you raise your hands and praise the one whose right hand is your Lord? Good! But your Lord called him Power. Now do you still worship him? Do you worship Power? Are you now zealous to excel in power no less than you wish to excel in love? Or do you shrink back and insist on calling him something else? We do not worship power, as in some impersonal force. But Power? Certainly, we worship Power, as in God who is All-Power. If you do not worship Power in this sense, you do not worship God at all. As the Scriptures say, “No one has ever seen God, but the One who is himself God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” If you reject the God that Jesus himself declared, which is Power — miracle power — you will burn in hell. But Christians are ashamed of power. They are ashamed of such a God, who is All-Power. How often have you heard it said, “God has power, but God is love”? Jesus denied this. God is power at least as much as God is love. Power himself is on the throne, and Jesus is at Power’s right hand. This is the gospel. Accept this, or make up some other religion.

Satan has convinced Christians that it is unholy and unspiritual to seek spiritual power. But Jesus is at the right hand of Power. To seek the one on the throne is to seek Power. Thus it is most holy and most spiritual to seek spiritual power, no less than it is holy and spiritual to pursue divine love, because – you guessed it – God is love. Of course Satan has also tried to hinder Christians from walking in love, but it seems he has never tried to convince them that it is unholy and unspiritual to walk in love. Power is what he is afraid of. And love remains ineffective without the spiritual and miracle power that it is supposed to wield. If you love as God loves, you will want to preach the truth, heal the sick, and cast out demons. Power lets you do these things. Compassion is the strongest catalyst in the ministry of healing, but without power, it is either counterfeit compassion or compassion frustrated. Love and Power are not in conflict, but if you walk in love, you will seek the power. Pray that God would grant you, “according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man.” Power. You must have truth as the foundation. Then you must rise up in power. All this discussion about power is theological truth. But it will not release power if you only debate it and sit on it. Truth will release power when you boldly affirm it and act on it. Do it…[4]

When we can receive God’s love in powerful healing, prosperity, and miracles; and when we can give love to others with powerful healing, prosperity and miracles, then we have proof we understand and walk in our new identity in Jesus Christ.

[1] Vincent Cheung. From this wordpress blog commenting on the essay called “Way of Love.” Dec. 2018.

[2] Vincent Cheung. The Way of Love. 2011. Web. (www.vincentcheung.com)

[3] Vincent Cheung. The Worst Text for Cessationism. Web. 2016. (www.vincentcheung.com)
See ebook, Sermonettes Vol. 9. Chapter 1, page 6.  2016.

[4] Vincent Cheung. “On Spiritual Attacks”

From the ebook, Contract. 2020.

Health, Long Life & Promises Verses

(The blessing of Abraham, which we have today through Jesus, (Galatians 3) includes the baptism of the Spirit and healing. Healing, long and strong life, the Spirit and miracles is part of the ancient promise of God, and not even the law, which came after, or the atonement of Jesus can negate it; rather, Jesus’ resurrection makes it accessible to the whole world. Jesus also carried our curses on the cross, so that we have the blessing of Abraham today.
The blessings and curses of the law teach us about the blessing of Abraham, they do not negate it. The blessings of the law is nothing less than the Blessing of Abraham based on works and merit, rather than grace and promise. Yet, the blessing of Abraham came first, based on grace. In Christ the curses are gone and the blessing of Abraham is already active for the believer.)

(Always remember the promises are not just suggestions; rather, they are your new identity and they are God’s command. God is telling you this is how He has created and defined you in Christ. You are to agree with Him that what He say is true. You are to obey God by walking in the definition He has revealed to you in His word, which is in the blessing of Abraham and the substitution and life of Jesus.)

(Although the focus here is mostly on healing and strong life, it is for any type of miracle.)

“And Yahweh said to Abram, “Go out from your land and from your relatives, and from the house of your father, to the land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great. And you will be a blessing.””
–Genesis 12:1–2 LEB.[1]

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
… He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
-Genesis 15 NIV

“This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations!  What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations.  I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them! “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you.”
-Genesis 17 NLT

(The sicknesses of the law included things like skin problems, arthritis, cancers and even being feeble in old age.)

“And said, If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and will do that which is right in his sight, and will give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon you, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that heals you.”
–Exodus 15:26

“And you shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless you bread, and your water; and He will take sickness away from the midst of you.”
– Exodus 23:25

“O LORD my God, I cried unto you,
and you have healed me.”
-Psalm 30:2

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous:
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.”
-Psalm 34:19

Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you.
– Psalm 91:5–7 (NLT)

(This “satisfying long life,” is the life and favor promised to Abraham. If we follow in his steps of faith, we have the same blessing. Moses, Joshua and Caleb had faith like Abraham and so they walked in the same strong life, even in old age. God did not promise forgiveness to Abraham; rather God promised favor, fame, blessings, prosperity, health. Abraham believed God would do all these good things He promised. God then declare Abraham righteous in His sight. We to are righteous in God’s sight when we believe God will do all the good things He promised for us, including healing, satisfying long life, miracles and prosperity. If we do not have this type of faith we are not children of Abraham.)

With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.
– Psalm 91:16

“He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”
-Psalm 107:20

“He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.”
-Psalm 147:3

(The bible shows that health is not rewarded for right eating; rather, health and long-strong life is rewarded for righteousness. In Jesus we are already the righteousness of God. God Himself has already declared us righteous in His sight.
George Muller said it was verses like these in Proverbs, and confessing them continually, that lead him to live a long life with vigor. The same faith he used to bring in 100s of millions of dollars for the orphans is the same faith he said he used to bring strong life to his body. Faith.)

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear Yahweh and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones.
-Proverbs 3:7-8 LSB

My son, pay attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them deviate from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart.
For they are life to those who find them And healing to all his flesh.
-Proverbs 4:20-22 LSB

(Isaiah 53:4-5 uses the word “nasa.” It means to carry or lift-up. It is the Levitical word for substitutionary atonement as taught on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16). The escape goat had the sins “nasa” transferred from the people to it and the goat carried them away, and in exchange the people carry purity. Isaiah 53 uses this for “sickness” and “disease” (Matthew 8:17). Healing is a substitutionary exchange with Jesus. He bore our sickness so that we do not. Matthew 8:17 shows this healing is for this present life, and not the next one. Healing can only happen now, because in the next life we will have a new body that does not require healing. It is now or never. Jesus carried our sickness, we carry His health and life. Remind Him of this, He likes to hear you confess your faith in His finished work.)

(Absolutely,) our sicknesses He Himself carried(substitution),
And our diseases He carried;
..But He was pierced through for our(substitution) transgressions,
He was crushed for our(substitution) iniquities;
The chastening for our(substitution) peace fell upon Him,
And by His wounds(substitution) we are healed.
-Isaiah 53:4-5 (modified from the LSB)

“In order that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled, who said, “He himself took away our sicknesses, and carried away our diseases.”
-Matthew 8:17 LEB

“Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.”
–Isaiah 58:8 NLT

For I will restore health to you. And heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord,
‘Because they called you an outcast saying: “This is Zion; No one seeks her.”
– Jeremiah 30:17 NKJV

(Everyone who came to Jesus was Healed. Every last one of them.)

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
– Matthew 4:23

News about Him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to Him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon-possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—He healed them all.
– Matthew 4:24 (NLT)

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.”
– Matthew 8: 5–7 (NIV)

…Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” And the man jumped up and went home!
– Matthew 9:6–7 (NLT)

Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them [the] lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them.
– Matthew 15:30

Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed Him.
– Matthew 20:34 (NIV)

And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched [it] out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.
– Mark 3:1–5

A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind Him through the crowd and touched His robe. For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch His robe, I will be healed.” Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.
– Mark 5:25–29 (NLT)

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. “What do you want Me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
– Mark 10:49–52 (NIV)

When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.
– Luke 4:40

And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed [them] all.
– Luke 6:19

A funeral procession was coming out as He approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. When the Lord saw her, His heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” He said. Then He walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” He said, “I tell you, get up.” Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
– Luke 7:12–15 (NLT)

(Jesus is healing her based on the promise to ABRAHAM. Jesus thinks this ancient promise of God makes it necessary for her to be healed. Not Jesus’ ministry, not signs to confirm His ministry, not a foretaste of gospel things to come, but on God’s old promise, it is necessary. It is necessary for God to do what He promised, no matter how ancient the promise is. Through Jesus, we are part of Abraham’s blessing today. Our healings are therefore, necessary, because God is a God of truth and faithfulness.)

When he saw her, Jesus called her to him and said, “Woman, you are set free from your sickness.”  He placed his hands on her and she straightened up at once and praised God.
…Isn’t it necessary that this woman, a daughter of Abraham, bound by Satan for eighteen long years, be set free from her bondage on the Sabbath day?”
– Luke 13:12-15 (CEB)

(Because Abraham’s blessing is in full force for us today, then passages like Isaiah 51 can be applied to us, today. They are part of your inheritance. Yes, Look to Abraham because he belongs to you by right and necessity.)

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was only one man, and I blessed him and made him many.
The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
-Isaiah 5:1-3 NLT

“…how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
– Acts 10:38

(Again Abraham’s blessing is important. The children Jesus is referring to is Abraham’s children. He says healing is like daily bread. That is how common healing it is for Abraham’s children. Jesus says if a son ask for bread a good father will give him bread for bread, or healing for healing. Even though it was not her time, by faith she took some bread anyway, and Jesus approved of it. Faith always gives you direct access to God and always gives you bread when you as for bread.)

The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
– Matthew 15:25-28

(Jesus was the greatest and most extreme faith teacher there ever lived. Faith for everything and anything, which therefore includes healing and strong life. Jesus, the most God centered man who ever lived, said things like, “nothing will be impossible for YOU.” With faith a tree will plant itself in the dead sea and it will “OBEY YOU.”
Jesus puts you in the driver’s seat, not the “will of God.” Jesus puts you in control for your health and miracles and not some nebulous “will of God.” If you have faith, you will get what you ask for, if you do not have faith, you will not get what you ask for. It is this extreme faith teacher, it is this Jesus whom we will all face one day for Judgement. If you appeal to the will of God on Judgement day, Jesus will reply by appealing to your faith or unbelief.)

“Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
– John 14-12-13 NIV

“But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!
This brings great glory to my Father.”
– John 15:7-8 NLT

Jesus said, “You (unbelieving perverts)! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.”  Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him. From that moment the boy was well.
Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately,
“Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?”
“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible (for you).”
– Matthew 17:17-20 NLT

He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
-Luke 17:6

 (The first mention of this binding and losing, is in Matthew 16, when Peter confesses Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus responds that on this confession the church will march forward, and the gates of hell cannot stop its advancement. It is on this foundation Jesus says, what you unlock and lock, bind or lose on earth will be so in heaven. If you have the same confession Peter did, that Jesus is the Son of God, this authority belongs to you.)

“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
– Matthew 18:18-19 NIV

(We are righteous already in Christ; thus, we pray as righteous people in God’s sight. The promise is not that you might, but that God will heal you, just as absolutely as God will forgive you. Think about that. James connects the absolute surety of forgiveness and faith, to healing and faith.)

“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well;
the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
– James 5:15-16

[1] Unless noted the scripture is from the KJV (I did modernize “thee or you”) or NKJV. I did supplement some words in a few verses, with the footnote option, provided by the translation.
() by author.

Also, I what to give thanks to Vincent Cheung, and his essay, The Edge of Glory, for helping me understand the importance of God’s promise to Abraham.

What is an Evil Report?

And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.” (Exodus 13:32 NIV)

Notice the evil report was not because they said, “What God promised, He cannot do. God promised this Land but God is too weak to drive them out by our hand.” Rather what they said was focused on empiricism, or what they can see. They saw giants. They saw they were small compared to them in height. They saw the fortified cities and armies and saw they destroyed their enemies.

They did not directly attack God’s promise; rather they only reported what they could see, touch and hear. They gave testimony of sight. And God called this an evil report. God wanted to destroy them right there on the spot. Moses had to step in and plead with God, not to kill them right there. God relented but promised they would never see the Promise Land, and they would all die in the wilderness. God rejected them as reprobates saying, “You will never enter My rest.”  They reported they were too weak and the others were too strong, based on their sensation and observation. God said, you will therefore be bound to this report based on sight. You are too weak for them, and they are too strong for you; you do not have the strength to enter into my good land.

Based on their five senses, human observation, and inductive calculation, it was true that they were weaker than the inhabitance. They did not lie about what they saw. Thus, all they did was give a report based on sight. They testified correctly to what they saw and touched. And yet, God wanted to destroy them for giving a correct testimony of what they saw.

These people truthfully testified about what they saw, and God called them evil and rejected them over it. Think carefully about that.

It was evil and bad because “we live by faith not sight,” 2 Corinthians 5:7. If we see a contradiction with what we see and what God has said, God considers it evil to testify correctly to what you observe. God expects you to testify to what He has said. Because there is a contradiction, if you affirm one and just leave it at that, then you in essence deny the other. This is an either-or logic, where the two terms are a known contradiction and thus if you affirm one you deny the other (fulfilling the requirements of the deduction). It is two testimonies that contradict one another. It is like two people who give two contradictory answers: “2 + 2 = 4,” and “2 + 2 =7.” If you pick one, then you are denying the other. As Jesus said, if you are not with Him, you are against Him. If you do not directly choose Him, then you are against Him. If you do not confess the promise against what you see, then you are against God. If you do not confess faith against your observations, you are God’s hated enemy. 

The command of God is to speak faith. Abraham’s very name was a constant spoken confession of faith in God’s promise. We prove ourselves to be children of Abraham if we do the same.

An evil report is speaking what you see (empiricism/observation), rather than God’s promise. Even if your testimony truthfully describes what you observe, if there is a promise about the same circumstance, you are evil. You are the type of person who spreads evil reports. The more people who see you publicly confess your observations (even if true) rather than the promise, the more wicked the report becomes, and as a consequence the more guilt you heap on yourself. 

I can hear these self-righteous Israelites saying, “but we only testified to what we saw! They are bigger and stronger, with more weapons. They are aggressive people. WHY is God angry with us for speaking the truth?”  The same happens today. “I only testified to what the doctor and I saw. I spoke the truth. The cancer was stage four, all over my body. Why does God call my observation an evil report?”

Yet, God has commanded us to speak His word. He has commanded us to trust His promise. He has commanded us to agree that His word is permanent, faithful and true. He commands us to not only believe in our hearts, but to confess with our mouth.

Adam and Eve had a problem with this. God told them something, and they faced the contradiction that the tree looked good to eat. The first school lessen for mankind was one of faith in God’s word. Faith, as Vincent Cheung says, is the first primordial orthodoxy for man. No other doctrine revealed later will override faith. Faith overrides all doctrines because all other doctrines came after the orthodoxy of faith.[1]

Abraham had a similar situation. Romans 4 said he believed against all hope. That is, he believed against what he saw, felt and observed.  His name, “father of many nations, was a contradiction to reality itself. Yet, it is God’s word that creates and controls reality. If you have faith in God’s word, the Word will always prevail over your observations. This is why we live by faith, not sight.

It is not as if you cannot under any circumstances say what the reality is, but it needs to be said in a way that does not negate your confession that God’s promise is true over what you observe. Jesus said that Lazarus was only asleep. But then when pressed He admitted he was dead, yet again affirmed Lazarus was as good as being alive.

People want to see themselves like Caleb and Joshua, while they still speak like the Israelites who gave a bad (correct) report on what they saw. They read God’s promises of healing in the bible, but then they will get a doctor’s report. They will then give a true testimony of what the doctor saw and spoke. “The cancer is strong, and my old body is weak.” This is exactly what the Israelites said, and God was so furious He wanted to kill all of them, right there and then. If you want to be like Joshua, who received God’s approval, then be like Joshua. Say, “the doctor saw the cancer, but it is food for me. Jesus left my sickness on the cross because it died there with Him. The Father considers Jesus as a substitute atonement for my sickness in my place, and therefore, I do not bear it. By His stripes I am healed. I declare in Jesus’ name, “I am healed.” His promise is more real than what I feel or observe.”

The only way to be obedient is to directly and constantly speak the promise of God against what you see. If you merely omit this and only speak what you see, you are an evil person who spreads evil reports. You will partake in the same destiny as the Jews who died in the wilderness. You will not enter into the good land, into the good promises, into the good things God has. They will be denied to you, if you give correct testimony of your observation over God’s promise.

But why stay silent? If you only believe, then the promise land of blessings are yours for the taking. God has already spoken and revealed His promises. Stand up and agree with Him. Be like Abraham your father and speak the contradiction to all you see and observe. Speak the confession of God’s promise and receive it like Abraham did. The only way to speak good reports and spread good reports is public confession of absolute certainty in God’s promise over reality.  Be a super spreader of faith confessions, and you will have God’s approval. Men, especially church men will hate you, and even try to stone you for good faith reports, but God will approve of you. He will give you what you ask of Him. Joshua and Caleb was delayed from entering the promise land as God rejected that current generation, but they did finally enter. The good report they confessed is the reality they lived and experienced.

God is not the one holding you back. The unbelief spoken by the Israelites is what held them back from entering the promise land. The faith Joshua spoke what allowed him to enter the good things of God.  Unbelief or faith is what will cause you to be held back or move forward into God’s good things.

[1] See Vincent Cheung, “Faith Override.”

Jesus Presupposes Faith to Move Mountains Is Easy

In Mark 4:39-41 , Jesus calms the wind and waves, asking his disciples why they are afraid and lack faith. In Matthew 21:21 , Jesus tells his followers that with unwavering faith, they can do extraordinary things, such as commanding a mountain to be thrown into the sea. Luke 17:6 states that even with faith as tiny as a mustard seed, one can command a mulberry tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it will obey. In Matthew 17:19-21 , Jesus explains to his disciples that their inability to drive out a demon (and heal) was due to their lack of faith. He assures them that with faith as small as a mustard seed, they can move mountains and accomplish anything. Matthew 16:7-9 recounts a discussion among Jesus’ disciples about bread. Jesus questions their lack of understanding and reminds them of the miraculous multiplication of loaves in the past.

Is moving mountains by faith hard? Is using faith on demand to transmute material substance and multiply difficult or high-level Christianity? Is using faith on demand to make reality obey you as its servant a hard thing to do?

Jesus Christ does not think so. In the above passages Jesus rebukes the disciples for not making reality obey you, multiplying material substance, casting out demons and healing on the demand of faith. Jesus’ rebukes for doubting do not appear only at the end of His 3-year discipleship program, but start at the very beginning. Only after a little time teaching and showing examples, Jesus expected His disciples to do the same works. Think about that.

If Jesus’ presupposition is that faith to cause such things is difficult, high-level and rare, then His rebukes would not make since. If the were truly difficult and high-level, then Jesus would say, “do not worry, such things are for master petitioners, you will eventually get there over many years of practice.” No. He expects immediate results because faith can be done by beginners.

The deities of pagans are cure and capricious.  They give you a command but deny you the ablity.  Jesus is not so. Because He is commanding and expecting faith to move mountains, to tell reality what to do, transmute material substance and heal the sick, then He gives the ablity to do it.  Thus, He expects results and fruitfulness.

Imagine Jesus getting upset with you because your family member needing healing from cancer, and they did not get healed when you prayed. You expected Jesus to sympathize with you, but instead He said you were a spiritual pervert and filled with unbelief. Jesus did exactly this to the disciples in front of other people in public. Would you still follow Him? Imagine some family came over and you need 7 more chairs and Jesus gets upset with you because you were afraid and not did use your faith to transmute your armchair into 7 more. Yet Jesus was upset with the disciple for exactly this type of situation. Would you still follow Him, if He rebuked you in the same way?

Yet, the disciples got better. Later Peter’s shadow healed more people than entire denominations combined. Healing was so easy for Peter that he did not even need to think about, only his shadow was need. Jesus presupposed healing and miracles was easy. The disciples matured and by faith they showed miracles were indeed easy.

Imagine me saying something so ridiculous as “If you believe, no mater how big it is, it will happen, reality will obey you, demons will scream, body parts will be whole, and material substance will transform into whatever you tell it to become.” Yet, this is exactly what Jesus said. You can call Him a liar, or extreme, but I will not. Jesus is God. He creates controls and defines reality. If He has defined me with the definition of “if I use faith whatever I ask will be done,” then I believe He knows what He is talking about.

We Ought to be Healed

If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.
John 1:9

Because God cannot lie and is faithful, once He gives a promise He cannot break it. God is always true and never a liar.

God’s commandments, by definition are given to man, not Himself. This is why God can take vengeance and man cannot not. It is like saying green 7s and blue 9s. They are categories that do not belong together. Although God’s commands do not apply to Him, His perfect, faithful nature always applies, thus, if He gives a promise He will be faithful to do it.

To be righteous is acting and thinking that values God above all things. For man this comes in two main ways. One is to agree with all God has said is true, and reject human speculation. The second is to obey Him. We must make a quick note that many commands are in the form of precious and marvelous promise of good. It is not a suggestion to ask God to forgive you of all our sins and be reconciled or blessed or healed (etc.). Lastly, value is not a third way because to value the things God values is included in your intellectual agreement with Him and obeying Him.  When we believe His revelation and obey Him we are acting and thinking in a way that values Him above all others.

God being righteous is not about obeying, because God is free and not under an authority. God is knowledge, He does not receive knowledge and then must agree with it, as man does. God being faithful to His perfect nature and perfect understanding and God valuing Himself above all others as the greatest is good, because God is so. We can label this as God being righteous when He acts this way, which is always. Jesus says He is righteous because He does not His will, but the Father’s (John 5:30). Jesus values His Father’ will above all others. For God to seek His own desires and will is righteous. For us, it is to seek His will above all others.  

In relation to man, God is “just and righteous” to fulfill His promise. Before the promises, God is free to show mercy to whom He wants. No one forces Him to be kind and gracious. Because God is truth and is perfect, once He gives a promise, He would be unjust and unrighteous not to do it. He would be acting in a way that does not value His perfect nature and knowledge above all others.

This is why John says God is just or righteous to forgive our sins. He promised and Jesus finished the requirements. On the demand of faith God is righteous to forgive us.  We should be forgiven in order for God to value His own worth. It is necessary for us to be forgiven on the demand of faith.

The same with the promise of Abraham and the Contract by Jesus’ blood. See Vincent Cheung, “The Edge of Glory,” and “Our Contract” for more details of the promised blessings about this. These promises, already secured by Jesus includes things like healing, prosperity, miracles for all sorts of things, wisdom and blessings. On the demand of faith God is righteous to give us all such things when we ask. He would be unrighteous to His own value, if He did not. This is why, Jesus said it was necessary for a daughter of Abraham to be healed on the sabbath. She ought to be healed because she is a daughter of Abraham.

Thus, we ought to be forgiven, we ought to be healed, we ought to be wealthy, we ought to have fruitful relationships and ministries.  It is necessary for us to be healed on the demand of faith. It is necessary for us to be given miracles on the demand of faith. Anything less is to think and act in a way that would devalue Him as the greatest above all others.