Tag Archives: God

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.”

When are my Prayers Meaningful?

“The way “sovereignty” is taught today can be a real faith killer. If God controls everything, then our actions are irrelevant, and our efforts are meaningless.”
Andrew Wommack

This has to be one of the dumbest and meaningless objections to God’s absolute sovereignty I come across. The objection is answered in the very statement the critic uses.

For example. “All men have sinned.” If it is true that all men have sinned then to say, “Oshea has sinned” is a logical deduction and thus is true. But if I say, cats have sinned, then we know we have a category fallacy, and thus the conclusion is irrational. Deduction is application of knowledge. “Oshea has sinned,” is knowledge contained in the original statement, “all men have sinned.” All I did was point out this specific knowledge and bring it to your attention.

Unfortunately, basic deduction is lost with most pastors and theologians so that if you say “All men have sinned,” they can say “therefore black cats have sinned.” They are then called intelligent and given a book deal.  Strangely, if I put forward an argument that mixes up categories like the able, that says, “All apples are eatable,” therefore, “because the sun is round like an apple the sun is eatable,” people would mock me? Maybe I should give it a religious terminology and I could get a book deal myself. Maybe something like this, “if God is sovereign over all things, then God does not control squires and human thoughts.” I see millions of copies already being sold.

As for the objection above the major premise is saying “God is sovereign over all things.” Wommack is saying this as the Reformed tradition would mean it. Martin Luther in Bondage of The Will says God is as directly sovereign in causing faith as He is unbelief or sin, as in the Elect or Satan. Thus, we will mean God is sovereign over all things as truly an “all” statement. A category statement is “all,” “some,” or “none.” Here we mean God directly and absolutely controls all things.  When the bible says the category statement “all have sinned and fallen short,” it does not mean only “some,” but “all” have.

And so “if God is sovereign over all things,” then according to Wommack the conclusion is that “our actions are meaningless.” His conclusion has new information in it that is not contained in the premise(s), thus it is irrational and stupid. He makes a category error with the term “meaningless.” It is a fourth term that is thrown in the conclusion with a slight of hand.

I will add an additional premise here that I believe the Bible easily teaches and is presupposed by the statement “God is sovereign over all things.” This premise is that “if God does something, it is meaningful by definition that God is the one who does it.” If not, am I to presuppose that God doing something is not meaningful because He is the one doing it? But I digress.

If God is sovereign over all things and whatever God does has infinite meaning and value, then God controlling my choice is by definition infinitely meaningful and valuable.

God is the only one with intrinsic worth and whose value is without measure. God’s Will, Word and Power are one in the same. As Vincent Cheung says in Only  Believe, “God can never lie, not because there are things that omnipotence cannot perform, as some would put it, but because lying is inapplicable to God, since the will, the power, the word, and the truth are one in him. If God says something, then even if it was not true before, it would become the truth.” Thus God who alone has value creates and controls all things by His thoughts.

Whatever God does by definition is “just” “good” and “meaningful or valuable.”

This should not be a surprise. Even with humans we are similar. When I played in the sand, or played with my Legos and made things and new people and new made up stories, it was meaningful to me, precisely because I was the one doing it.

Wommack is so arrogant that he thinks God’s sovereign control over him is the very thing that makes his choices meaningless, when it is the only thing making them meaningful. He supposes his choices apart from God’s sovereignty control have intrinsic value. I will ignore the issue of ontology on this, for it is impossible for any created thing to move without God’s doing it. God is the only real cause for everything; there is no such thing as secondary causes in the ultimate sense. God is the only real cause. God’s thought and power are the same thing in essence, or there is no dividing them. If God does not think of something, then it does not happen. If God thinks of something and wills it, then it happens. There is no other real causality other than this.

We are responsible and accountable because we are not free relative to God’s command and His sovereignty over us. Romans 9 answers the question why we are responsible even though God can harden or soften our hearts. The answer is that He is the Potter and we are the clay. He does this from a neutral lump of clay, that is neither good or bad. Thus, the Scripture’s answer for why we are accountable is because God sovereignly controls us.

As Vincent says in “More than A Potter,” if you say man is more than a pot, then God is infinitely more than a Potter.  And so the sovereign control aspect is therefore made infinitely stronger. The fact that we are accountable to God is therefore a limitation of our freedom, in the sense it makes it nonexistent. God controls us like a Potter over a pot. Does God form a good pot from a good lump? No. Does God take a nasty lump of clay and form a nasty toilet with it? No. God takes from the same lump of unformed (before they were born) clay and molds it to His own design (good or bad). Thus, there is no paradox, because Divine sovereignty negates human freedom and is the very thing that makes accountability work. The fig tree did not have any freedom, but Jesus held it accountable. Even without freedom, the everything that made it accountable was Jesus being sovereign over it and holding it to a standard. Freedom had no relevance to accountability. Romans 9 refers to our accountability in the same way. This is the opposite of how most understand it; thus, many are in direct public rebellion against God.

God is not accountable because of the very reason He is free.

In summary, God is the ultimate cause of everything. There are no other real causes. We are accountable to God because He has complete control over us. We are like clay in the hands of a potter. God’s sovereignty is what makes us responsible.

The criticism is essentially this, “if I am not the one who ultimately determines my reality then it is not meaningful.” Arrogance. That is, “if God does not give me His divinity then I will hate Him.” They don’t like that fact God has such exhaustive control and they don’t. What fool told you that meaningfulness is by your ultimate determination? The bible? The bible that says God hated Esau and love Jacob before they had made any choices and before they were born. The bible teaches what God does is meaningful, because God does it.

So prayer in the ultimate sense does not change anything. But this is true for all created things. However, on the relative level my prayers moves the heart of God, uproots mountains and makes the waves obey me.

Even though the Scripture informs me of God’s sovereignty over me, God mostly addresses me on the human or relative level. That is, God moving the chess pieces is the very thing that makes such things meaningful. However, God mostly addresses me on the relative level of “(Oshea) went to space b4,” rather than saying, God moves “White Knight to space b4.” Because God is mostly addressing me on this level, it is therefore good, just and meaningful by definition of God doing it. Because God wants me to mainly have relationship and fellowship with Him on this level, then it is good, just and meaningful.

What God has done is atone for all our sins by His only Son Jesus and gave us His Son’s righteousness. What He has done is commanded us to be forgiven and blessed by receiving His Son and all the glorious benefits contained therein. Therefore when I use faith and receive forgiveness, healing and miracles, then it is good and has immeasurable value.

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.

Let’s see if your Idols can Save

“Let’s see if your idols can save you when you cry to them for help.”
Isaiah 57:13

God mocks those who rely on idols. This is like the Israelites in Exodus who said the inhabitants were too big and strong and they were to small and weak. God punishes and mocks them by saying, “you will have what you said.” “You will be too weak and they will be to strong.”

Likewise, “you reject Me and trusted your idols, then let them save you from this trouble and calamity.”

The mistake is to think this only applies to obvious things like directly spoken unbelief or idol worship. Helpful tools in life can be abused into idol worship by trusting them more than God. Take for example Joshua going to the promise land. God told them to use swords and shields to drive out the inhabitants. God was not going to remove them like He did with Pharaoh, when they only watched from the sideline. However, this did not mean they were to trust their weapons as the real power that gave them the victory. They did fight. However, Joshua also told the Sun to stop by faith. The the walls of Jericho fell by their faith and praise in God. If they would have trusted their weapons more than God, then God would have rejected them. God would say, “since you trusted your weapons so much, then let them save you.”

The same with medicine. The bible does not condemn medicine but neither does it recommend it or encourage it.  Thus it is ok to use, but not ok to trust it as if it can save you. You only give this trust to God. He is a jealous God.

With Joshua using a Word of Faith to stop the sun, or Israel blowing horns to make walls fall, or Moses holding his hands up, it is obvious their trust is in God. They had faith in God as their salvation. They received supernatural and undisputed manifestations of God’s power and help. With faith, Samson did not even need a sword, but only a jawbone. The point is simple. If medicine is not an idol to you, then you will prove it by faith that shows supernatural healing that no one can dispute. If not, and medicine is an idol you trust to save you, then do not be surprised when you face a difficult medical condition and God says, “why are you asking me for help, let your idol of medicine save you.”

This is why cessationism is so damning. They rely on their own power and the power from men to save them in health, wealth, demons, and troubles. Let their human idols save them.

Only put your trust in God. Have faith in God. Do not fear, only believe. He wants to help you more than you want to be helped. He is faithful to do what He promised. All who came to Jesus were healed. If you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father. Jesus already was a substitutionary atonement for our sickness and pains. We do not bear them because He already did.

Confess Faith, Not Feelings

[“…I initially worried that what I had said may had been the unpardonable sin but now, looking back, I understand that it was not. Vincent Cheung’s materials helped me realize this…
I am a firm believer, a child of God, and deep down inside I know that God has me and loves me. I have OCD, and it never effected me so much spiritually as it has in the past year.
…The worry essentially comes back every now and again of “what if” I actually did say one of my terrible thoughts out loud. I love God, the faith He has given me is all that matters to me. I keep worrying though about what I might have said, because I literally have no idea what I might have said, and I fear I never will know. I keep moving forward in faith, but the fear keeps coming back. Can I ever have true assurance of my salvation ever again?”]

Billy,

I will give a few quick points, but I cannot promise I will engage you beyond this.

I am encouraged to hear you say you read Vincent’s material on the “unpardonable sin” and this was able to give clarity and relief. I am glad you are moving on with faith. This is the right way to go forward.

“Can I ever have true assurance of my salvation ever again?” Did you get this question from the bible or something else like your feelings? Obviously the bible teaches we can have assurance of our salvation by the Word, The Spirit and our faith. James says if you doubt, then you will be tossed to and fro, and this is what you sound like. One moment you are taking a stand with faith on God’s word, then the next you step off from faith, to then take a stand on feelings, as if feelings can give you knowledge.

There are several issues here in your letter, but the most immediate issue is that you are too focused on yourself, your feelings and even the psychological aspect of faith. Faith is simply an intellectual assent to God’s truth. Nothing more. There is no more to it. Any other focus is not a focus on faith. But only faith in God will save you. Take forgiveness of sins, as an example. Faith is not about “my” intellectual record of my wrongs. Sin is not a nasty feeling. Sin is a record of lawbreaking that God has in His own mind. In God’s mind, because of Jesus, God sees our report card as having no records of lawbreaking. None. It is irrelevant if you still consider it, because only God’s thoughts about it matter. Faith is not you thinking about, “thinking about” your sins or feeling if they still are attached to you or not. Faith is agreeing with God that He sees you perfect and blameless and loved. Anything else is not faith, but doubt and sinful worry.

This is why faith is often said with a faith confession. You are saying out loud what God has said and you agree with Him. Faith confesses and blows the horns of praise before the Wall of Jericho comes down, not after. Because the promises of God are certain, absolute and reality itself, you can praise and confess the reality before you see it. Abraham confessed over and over, every time he introduced himself, that he was the Father of Nations before it happened. He trusted God and so there was no doubting the outcome, no matter how dead his body was, or how he felt about it.

I say this because you confessed unbelief, “Can I ever have true assurance of my salvation ever again?” Out of the heart the mouth speaks. You cannot confess unbelief and expect to get better. You must only speak faith, in your mind and on your lips. There is still hope. Stop confessing unbelief and only speak faith. What you think and confess God will give you, is what God will give you. When there is a promise there is a way out.

I am sympathetic for struggling with inner weakness, for I had to craw my way out of a deep pit and take a stand on God’s wonderful promises. I had to play Christian music, listen to encouraging sermons, play promise verses on a recording over and over and over to the point I wanted to vomit. But I kept at it until I was able to renew my mind. You must put everything into agreeing with God. Also, praying in the Spirit and receiving interpretations and God’s anointing presence has been immeasurable in helping me overcome.

Also, it is not God who is resisting you to be sound in mind, filled with Joy and full of peace. God is the one person who is not hindering you. Jesus is a minister of the New Contract (See Vincent Cheung. Our Contract). He is the Vine we are the branches. He only ministers joy, forgiveness, peace, strength, answered prayers and power. He does not minister sickness, pain, suffering and troubles. Satan, your old man (the old way of thinking that needs to be renewed) and false teachers will hinder you, but God will always receive you.

If it is demonic you must resist Satan and he will run from you with his tail tucked under his legs. You must have faith and command the demonic harassment to leave. Vincent Cheung explains this in “On Spiritual Attacks.”

If it is wrong thinking, then you must renew it. If you gave Satan a foothold, then it might take some time to fully renew your mind (but with faith you can always make it go away in a moment), but God guarantees in the Contract that He will write His laws on your minds so that we love obeying Him. He promises to do it. Remind God of this in your prayers and thank Him for it. He is faithful. If you need somewhere to start, then confess Psalm 23 over yourself every day. God wants you to have a joyful sound mind more than you do. He is the only one not hindering you. Have faith in God. He did not withhold His only Son, and so He will not withhold a sound mind.

God has given you the power to renew your mind. Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 says we get stronger in our inner man by knowing and experiencing God’s love for us. The fear of God will start you on the path of wisdom and it keep your feet firmly planted there; however, God’s love will make you mature and powerful.

OCD. He wants you healed more than you want it. Pound healing verses in your mind day and night and confess them out loud. If you seek, then God promises you will find. With faith you can have whatever you ask for. See “Faith Override”

Lastly, it is power that will deliver you. (see my short essay, “Power is what will Finally Deliver You,” Also see Vincent Cheung,  “Cure for Psychological Trauma.” ) God’s power and love are yours for the taking. Through Jesus Christ and His promises, God’s power is a low hanging fruit that is easy to pick by faith.  Do not doubt, only believe.

It is good to rebuke and correct the old way of thinking, but you need to mostly focus on the positive. When you are marching around Jericho see the walls coming down, because they will. God will do His part. Think about God’s good promises and visualize yourself today, tomorrow, next week and next year, completely healed and happy. Give God thanks, knowing His promise are more real than anything you are currently feeling or experiencing.

In Christ, circumstances do not dominate us, we dominate circumstances.
In Christ, our old fears, now fear us.

-from email

What if Abraham Doubted that God will Make his Name Famous?

God cut up His one and only Son into pieces and gave these promises, say “I will do what I promised.” All our sins are forgiven and forgotten. God Himself sanctifies us by writing His laws on our hearts. He personally teaches us. God will never stop from favoring us. And God is forever our God and Father and We are His children and people.

This last promise carries a huge package of goodies and blessings. It is from the blessing and gospel of Abraham. Paul defines this promise as God giving the world to Abraham (romans 4:13) and the baptism of the Spirit and miracle (Galatians 3).  By defining the God’s blessing to Abraham by the words and context of Abrahams life, this blessing to be His God and Abraham His people, includes all sorts of favors for every aspect of life, including supernal health, military victories and prosperity.

Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:6

The first time God declares someone righteousness in His sight has nothing to do with sin or forgiveness but Abraham believing God will give him all the rewards and blessings God promised. At his faith for good things, God points His finger at Abraham and declares “you are righteous in my sight.”

What if Abraham said he only believes God will give him a son, but doubted that God will make his name famous, that God would prosper him and doubted God gave the world to be his inheritance (Romans 4:13)?

If Abraham did this God would not have declared him righteous in his sight, for James says if you doubt do not expect to receive.

Likewise if you believe God will forgive you but doubt He will heal, prosper and reward you, then do not expect to have God’s pleasure on you, for to please God you must believe He will reward you the good things He promised. How can you be a child of Abraham? How can God declare you righteous if you doubt He will greatly bless you like He promised?

Our identity is part of Abrahams’ blessing. Our definition is that the way God was a Father to Abraham and the way Abraham was singled out to be His people, so are we defined in the same category. God is our God and We are His people.

The blood contract guarantees we can make demands on God to always favor us, not because we forced God to do so, but because He wanted us to know the absolute certainty to receive the good things we ask for.  We can make demands on God to heal, prosper and make our names great, because we are sons of Abraham. Jesus said it was necessary to heal a daughter of Abraham on the sabbath. We can make this same demand on God. We can say it is necessary for Him to heal us and give us success because the Contract says we have these promised blessings. God went so far out of His way to make us have this guarantee, that gave up His one and only Son to prove it. God likes when we are confident to ask based on the Contract. Beggers are outsiders, but sons ask in confidence because they are indeed insiders.

God can do the same to us. God can call us to help our family member or to a ministry, by the Contract, and we are bound to follow. We are glad to do so, just as God is happy to be called on the bases of His Contract.

This Contract is a permeant definition about us and God. It stands forever. It is who we are.

We have the Dominion

Dominion: “right of possession and use without being accountable.” (1812 Webster)

This obviously belongs to God in the ultimate sense. God is not accountable because He is free from an authority being above Him. He is the only free being. This is why man is accountable to God; man is not free from God sovereignly controlling and holding him accountable. Thus man does not have free will.

However there is more. God has given His sons and daughters dominion over all created things. Paul says all things are ours; all creation belongs to us. Creation does not wait for the freedom of God, but our freedom. Jesus says all authority has been given to Him. Now think about this, He has given us the right to use His name. The same fullness of the Spirit that empowered Him is the same Spirit that has been poured on us to empower us! All things are under His feet and yet we are in Jesus. Thus all things are under our feet.

We are able to take possession of and use creation without being accountable. We are accountable to God, but we are not accountable to anything within creation. They are accountable to us. Demons are accountable to us. Angels will one day be accountable to us, for we will be their judges. Sickness is accountable to us. Even governments are accountable to us. Money and material substance is accountable to us.

We can do what we want with such things and we are not accountable for our actions to any. This is like eminent domain. The government can take my property and I have no legal right to hold them accountable by a lawsuit. As we advance the Kingdom we can take land by the name of Jesus and no one can hold us accountable. We can destroy the kingdom of darkness and none can hold us accountable. The gates of hell cannot stop us from tearing its gates down. We have the power and the rights to do so.

This glory belongs to the children of God. And their glory belongs to Christ and Christ’s to the Father.

Bait and Switch Scam.

“What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? — [Matt 7:9,10]

Billy gave this commentary about this verse.

“…No loving father would give a stone or a snake to his hungry son if he asked for a piece of bread or a fish. Jesus used the absurdity of that analogy in Matthew 7 to underscore the heavenly Father’s readiness to give good things to His children when they ask Him….”

Ok. So far this is saying what the passage says and so its good. But then the bait and switch scam starts.

“…He wanted them to have complete confidence in the Father’s provision for their spiritual needs…”

Billy says Jesus refers to “spiritual needs.” Both words are not defined, but we at least know from the way it is used by Billy they are meant as non-material needs. See Vincent Cheung for why the idea of “need” is absurd when praying. The bible sees need as anything you “want.” Billy wants it to only be spiritual things like forgiveness or sanctification and so on; however, this is delusional when the direct meaning Jesus is conveying are material things like food. Even if moralized for spiritual things, it does not mean less than the direct meaning of material things like prosperity and healing.

Then Billy continues saying,

“…I asked for health that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked God for strength that I might achieve;
I was made weak that I might learn to obey.
I asked for riches that I might be happy;
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power and the praise of men;
I was given weakness to sense my need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing I asked for but everything I hoped for;
In spite of myself, my prayers were answered—
I am among all men most richly blessed…”

Now the bait and switch scam is 180 degrees opposite from the original. If you ask for healing God drop kicks you in the face and you are bless for it?

This is nothing less than the shout of Satan. Satan asks for all authority and God kicks him down to earth and will soon body slam him to hell. Because Satan’s desire was answered, he is richly blessed? Supposedly we are the same. We ask for healing and God slaps our face. We ask for money and God round-kicks our stomach. We ask or a good spouse and God breaks our arms.

Every back and forth on this list is a bait and switch with definitions being changed to make you believe what he says out of an onslaught of nonsense. Basically he tries to bully you into believing what he says by mentally attacking with nonsense over and over. Oddly, this is something demons do when attacking people, but I digress.  

Lastly Billy says,
“…Yes, God always gives us what’s best for us.
We ask amiss, but God answers aright…”

I only have time to say a few things. The Bible says what is best for us is faith in God’s promises and us receiving a fish for fish. Healing, as Vincent says, is about the “will of man.” Let man’s will be done. That is how the bible defines what is best for us. What is best for us is not divining circumstance like a voodoo doctor, but defining our identity by the promises of God in Christ. Healing, miracles and prosperity are part of the finished atonement of Jesus and scripture says they are guaranteed to us on the demand of faith. This is our definition and identity.

To admit that you ask “amiss” or for wrong things means you are not even God’s friend.

“You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; 3 you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions. Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy.” (James 4:2-4 NET)

Scripture tells us you do not get your prayers answered when you ask for wicked things like adultery and murder. James defines “wrong prayers and passions” as adultery and murder. If you do this, then answered prayers are the least of your problems because you are God’s enemy.

If you ask for wicked things in prayer God will not give you a better spiritual thing, because you are now God’s sworn enemy. This is the only time the Scripture says God answers with a “no,” to our prayers, (with the exception to direct persecution for the gospel’s sake. But even then we are still equipped with powerful weapons.) Thus, people who keep admitting they are asking for wrong things and not getting prayers answered are admitting they are reprobates. If God keeps giving you a “no” to your prayers, then you are a reprobate and an enemy of God.

You need to repent and ask for good things that Jesus died for, such as healing, prosperity and constant miracles, both for yourself and those around you.  

If you asked for healing and God gave you cancer on top of your diabetes, then God is a bad Father. There is no way around this logic. It is because of the logic is so unbendable that there are only two choices if it does not happen. Either you lacked faith, or God is a bad Father. Since these supper humble people are so good at debasing themselves and saying how sinful they are, then obviously the one thing it can’t be is their sinful unbelief, thus, God is a bad Father. But they cannot outright say it, so they combine Scripture with voodoo, masochism, Buddhism and personal experience to give you a bait and switch scam that even Satan would be proud of.  

Excommunicate such people from your life at hyper-sonic speed. They are not your friends; they are not God’s friends. They are God’s enemies. You need to talk to them with apologetics as you do with outsiders.